Glossary · Performance
Web fonts.
Typefaces downloaded by the browser so the site can use something other than the fonts already on the visitor's device.
Why it matters.
Each weight of each family is a separate download unless the font is variable, in which case one file covers the whole range. Two rules save most of the damage: serve fonts from your own domain rather than a third party, and give every face a real fallback so text is readable while the font arrives instead of invisible.
How to check it yourself.
Open the network panel while your site loads and count the font files. More than three or four means weights are being downloaded that the design never uses.
Questions
Asked often.
How do I check web fonts on my own site?
Open the network panel while your site loads and count the font files. More than three or four means weights are being downloaded that the design never uses.
Your turn
Same check,
run on your site.
The check behind this page is the one we ran on every business above. Put your own address in and it will load your site on a phone screen, look at the certificate and the page age, and tell you what a visitor meets. No email, nothing stored.
Want the same for
your business?
Tell us what you do and where you work. We will look at what you have now and say plainly whether it is worth rebuilding — including when it is not.