Common HTML Fonts

• A common font can make your website more user-friendly. Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images

  Experienced Web designers use common fonts on their websites to ensure words look the same on all computers, regardless of the user's browser or operating system. These Web-safe fonts are available on most computers and are designed to be readable. Do not specify fonts directly in an HTML document. Use CSS and an external style sheet.

Times New Roman / Times

• Times New Roman made its debut in the The Times in 1932 to replace the outdated font that the British newspaper had been using. Times has been a ubiquitous typeface ever since. Microsoft has bundled the font with Windows since the 3.1 days and many Microsoft applications use it as the default typeface. It is a very readable serif font. Of course, it is also so common that many people are tired of seeing it.

Arial

• Arial is a standard sans serif font for Windows, Mac and other operating systems. It was invented in 1982. Microsoft ships Arial with its operating system and other applications. Arial is a very plain-looking font. While it does not have much going for it on the aesthetic side, it is clear and easy to read on a screen and in print.

Helvetica

• Helvetica is very similar to its sans serif rival, Arial. In fact, it is difficult for an untrained eye to see any difference between the two. Differences include the lowercase "a" in Helvetica, which has a tail -- while the one in Arial does not; the uppercase "G" in Helvetica has a spur, while in Arial it does not; and the tail in the big "R" in Helvetica curves downward, while in Arial it goes straight down to the right. Helvetica was conceived in 1957 in Switzerland and is named after that country's Latin name, Helvetia.

Courier New

• Courier New was designed to look like a typewriter font. It is a fixed-width font. Use Courier for a technical look. It is not as clear or readable on a screen as other common Web page fonts. It is rarely used as the main font on a Web site.

Verdana

• If Arial and Helvetica strike you as too plain for your Web designing ends, try Verdana. Online bookseller Amazon first made this font popular. Verdana uses bigger characters than the average font does. This makes this typeface highly readable. When setting the size for this font, go down a size or two or you might be surprised at how large the letters turn out. Note that Verdana might not be available on all systems (such as Unix).