The typefaces you choose for your Web site are important as part of the entire design. Some of them are easier to read than others. They also convey different feelings of formality and informality.

Here are some rules to follow:

1) Faces. You will normally not use serif type faces, such as Times New Roman, which have a little stroke or underline at the bottom of the letters. These are more difficult to read, especially in smaller type.  They are old-fashioned and outdated.   Instead, use sans-serif type.

2) Type width.  Do not have full-page text widths.  They make for very dull reading.  It is easy to lose one’s place. Try and keep the length of the line to about 70 characters.

3) Multi-Faces.  Do not have over three type faces on a single page. Instead use colors, bold, and size to differentiate copy. But don’t go overboard on these either.

4)  Italic. In some type faces, the italic is difficult to read. Before using italic too much, see how it looks on your site and if it’s easy to read.

5) Underline.  Readers are used to seeing underlines for links, so do not underline anything that does not link to another page.

6) Size.  Your typeface should not be any smaller than 12 point. Anything smaller is difficult to read.

You will have to try on for size the size of your headings. Here is a suggestion for most sites:

Heading 1: 

Put in bold and make it three times larger than body text.

Heading 2:

Put in bold and two times larger than body text.

 Heading 3:

Put in bold and one size larger than normal type.