On an e-commerce website, all font, text, and content should be easy to read, properly formatted and well-presented so the customer is able to make an informed decision about the products the site is selling. Like in any type of business, poor presentation can be the difference between a sale or not.
Small Font can be too Small
One major aspect of good website design and presentation is the font size of the content. The font size is the primary factor as to whether the website is readable and accessible or not. The most important tip is to not make the font size too small. A recent trend is to make the font small which makes the website appear sleek. It also provides more space per page for more content.
Unfortunately this often results in extremely small font sizes. With many platforms besides computers that display these websites, such as cell phones with small screens and projects hooked up to computers, excessively small font will distort the website. This will cause it to be difficult to use. Most website visitors are extremely impatient so if they cannot read the text, they will move to a site where they can.
How to Adjust the Font Size
It’s correct to set the general font size in the body selector of the style sheet. For example:
Body {
font-size: 100%
}
In general setting the base size for a document to 1em or 100% is the same as setting the font size to the user’s preference. It’s best to avoid sizes smaller than 1 for the actual body of the text unless used with fine print like copyrights. Once set, other base font sizes can be set by percentage, absolute sizes and relative sizes.
Base Font Setting
The percentage sizing increases or decreases the font size for the new element based on the original size in the main text. Absolute sizes are defined by CSS specifications including xx-small, x-small, small, medium, large, x-large and xx-large. Finally, relative sizes can be set in either large or small.
Font size can be the difference in a website visitor staying on the page and potentially turning into a sale or leaving. A font size too small can have detrimental effects on the website. Experimenting with font sizes and styles is beneficial, but try to stay close to the default.
