Website colors and fonts: how to choose them for your business

Colors and fonts are what a person notices before reading the text. A good style makes a website recognizable and comfortable to read; a poor style tires the eye and distracts from the offer. Below - how to choose them without a design education.

Why does a business need well-chosen colors and fonts?

Style works for recognition: if the website colors match your sign, business cards and social media, it is easier for a client to understand they have come to you. And well-chosen fonts make the text easy to read.

A random set of colors and fonts looks like a website assembled from pieces. Even good text in such a design earns less trust.

Where should you start choosing colors?

Start with what you already have:

Logo and brand identity - if you have them, the website colors come from them.

Sign, packaging, staff uniforms - colors your clients have already seen.

Niche and audience - if there is no brand style, consider what mood suits your field: calm, strict, bright.

Do not copy competitors' colors exactly: your website should stand out, not blend in with its neighbors.

How many colors does a website need?

Fewer than it seems. A working scheme looks like this:

Main color - the brand color, sets the character of the website.

Accent color - for buttons and important elements, so they stand out.

Neutral colors - background, text, lines: white, gray, almost black.

When a page is full of bright colors, the eye has nothing to hold on to, and the request button gets lost among the rest.

Which color should you choose for buttons?

The request button should stand out against the page. That takes contrast, not a specific "right" color: a red button on a red website gets lost just like gray on gray.

Use the accent color only for actions - buttons and links. If you paint headings and decorative elements the same color, the button will stop being noticeable.

How do you choose a font?

When choosing a font for a website, readability comes before character:

Language support - you need a font that correctly displays Cyrillic and Uzbek Latin, including letters with an apostrophe. Check this before you approve the font.

Readability on a phone - letters do not blur together at a small size.

Character - strict, soft, modern - to match the tone of your business.

A beautiful font that reads poorly in a paragraph is better kept for headings.

How many fonts should you use?

A font for headings and a font for text are enough. Or you can take a font family in several weights and make do with it.

A set of many fonts looks untidy and makes the page heavier.

How do you check that the text is readable?

A simple check before launch:

Contrast - light gray text on a white background looks stylish but reads poorly.

Text on a phone - open the website on a phone and read a paragraph without zooming in.

Line length - lines that are too long on a wide screen are tiring.

If the website background is dark, check the contrast especially carefully. I wrote about the pros and cons of dark and light design in the article Dark or Light Website: Which to Choose for Your Business.

How much does a website with style selection cost?

A landing page - from $190, a multipage website - from $490, a complex project - on request. If you have no brand identity, I suggest colors and fonts for your niche, and instead of a logo you can have a text logo - the company name set in a neat font. What to prepare before work starts, I described in the article Website materials: what to prepare before work starts.

If you are not sure your current style suits a website, send me a link or your logo - I will tell you what is worth adjusting.