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Tip-Top Typography For All

If you’ve used the Internet in the past, like, three years, you’ve probably noticed something: Fonts are looking good these days. Custom web typography is huge, and it’s a trend that’s here to stay. Here’s why.

  • It’s insanely easy to implement. Plenty of free services can help you get beautiful fonts up and running on your site. Typekit and Google Web Fonts are great online apps. You can also use CSS3’s @font-face query, which lets you upload custom fonts to your site’s server. Even visitors who don’t have the font installed will be able to view the font in all of its typographic glory.
  • It doesn’t limit designers’ creativity. Quite the contrary. Advanced typography multiplies what web designers can do. For us at Atomic, it allows us to create more beautiful websites, and better represent our clients’ brands.
  • It’ll only get better with time. Back in the day (you know, 2008), if you wanted to use a special font, you had to apply a Flash plugin. But Flash is no good on mobile devices, and now there are easier ways to flaunt your fonts. Plus, font libraries will continue to grow, and fonts themselves will become more standardized. As a designer, that’s a lot to look forward to.

 

But there’s a catch: even as gadgets and programming languages surge ahead, advanced fonts can still mess with layout on older browsers. That’s where responsive web design comes in. Programs like Modernizr can sniff out compatibility issues, and input queries to tell a site to switch the font based on screen size, browser version, and so on.

Custom typography is making the web more beautiful. And it can really add value to your site. It’ll set you apart from the rest—and look awesome while doing it.

Still stuck in a Times New Roman time warp? Contact Atomic and we’ll get you up to speed.

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Attack of the Penguin (Update)

Google rolled out version three of its Penguin algorithm a few weeks back, and SEO folk everywhere took note. The original Penguin was released in April, and targeted sites that Google considers spam. (In contrast to last year’s Panda, which went after low-quality sites, Penguin is built to weed out violators of Google’s anti-spam guidelines.)

What’s new with Penguin 3

Victims of Penguin’s wrath include keyword-stuffed sites, link schemes (manipulation of links to or from a site), “cloaking” (showing search engines and users different content), and content that’s purposefully duplicated from other pages.

With each update, Penguin has gotten smarter. The first version of the algorithm affected 3.1 percent of sites across the web; the latest update affected just 0.3 percent, as most sneaky sites have already been sorted out.

Who cares? You might be wondering. If you’re not one of the sad content creators still trying to boost rankings the shady way, you’ve got nothing to worry about, right? Well, yes and no. If you’re following Google’s quality guidelines and aren’t doing anything clearly unethical, you shouldn’t get hit too hard. On the other hand, you could be racking up penalties unintentionally.

For example, maybe you haven’t updated your site in a while, and some of your outbound links are now defunct. Or maybe you have just one more keyword per paragraph than Penguin likes. You may not notice a huge ranking change, but you’ll pay the price.

How to fight back

What’s an upstanding SEO manager to do? Stay informed on updates like Penguin. There are plenty of plugins and software you can download to make sure you’re in the clear (I use free plugin SEOquake). Also, check out SEO news sites, blogs, and head Google spam-slayer Matt Cutts’ infamous Twitter feed.

At Atomic, we keep our clients’ websites search-friendly by running a checkup every few months using a checklist of SEO guidelines. Staying current and updating regularly saves us time in the long run—and ensures that we’re prepared for what’s ahead. That way, when the SEO gods at Google unleash their next beast (Platypus? Prairie Dog?), we’ll be ready for it.

SEO still a total mystery? Contact Atomic and we’ll help you fight off Penguin and Panda alike.