The do's and don'ts for typography online.

1. DO ensure that your main navigation is clear and legible.

If your target audience has to look around for the main navigation, you've lost the plot - finished and klaar! Clear, simple, legible and well highlighted main navigation helps people get around and that's the whole point really.

2. DO define links clearly on every page.

Clear links are not just the domain of the navigation system. By using a variation of accents, colour, weight or pixel size in your style sheets you can create a set of link styles that differentiates links from general copy.

3. DO layout a footer using a typeface that is clear at smaller sizes.

Footers are increasingly being used as supplementary navigation and using a small but legible font helps them become an asset to your site. Click here to read more about the benefits to using your footer for navigation.

4. DON"T use overly stylised typefaces for large amounts of copy.

That fancy font might work well for a header, but when you've got to read a paragraph or two of it, it can get quite irritating and negatively affect your website's search engine optimization.

5. DON'T use too many typefaces on a page.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should! Too many typefaces often leads to copy that is distracting rather than enticing. Rather use various styles of the same font to create some variation than different fonts altogether.

6. DON'T offset Flash bitmap typefaces.

Try to use specialised pixel typefaces for content in Flash sites if you can't use HTML type. You can also use Flash replacement techniques which show the font face you want and keep the font intact (so it is selectable and can be read by search engines), but only use those for short phrases or headers.

BUT never fear! Better typefaces for the web are near...

There is a good chance that the next generation of web browers will support more and better font usage without having to resort to images or special Flash tricks. This means that pretty soon we'll be able to use your corporate font instead the dreaded Arial! And beleive me we'll be the first to let you know when we can.

PS - Free fonts here...

Try 1001 Free Fonts for a categorised selection of free fonts. Not your classics, but there are some good ones.