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6 Reasons Why Serving Google Fonts Locally Is Important

Greg | CEO & Developer
Written on: December 21, 2023
The CEO & Lead developer for Ark Web Design. Let me personally help take your business to entirely new levels across the Internet.

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serving Google fonts locally

Embrace Speed and Security: The Case for Serving Google Fonts Locally. Let’s take a closer look at the importance the serving up your fonts is important to both your site’s performance and the protection of your site’s visitors.

Believe it or not, it can even have an impact on your overall SEO score as well as Web Core Vitals.

In the vast realm of web development, the pursuit of a seamless user experience has become paramount. From elegant designs to intuitive navigation, every aspect contributes to the overall satisfaction of website visitors.

One often overlooked yet crucial element in this pursuit is the use of web fonts. Many developers turn to Google Fonts for a wide array of typefaces, but there’s a growing trend that advocates for serving Google Fonts locally.

The Rise of Google Fonts

Before we dive into the advantages of serving Google Fonts locally, let’s briefly understand why developers initially gravitated towards them.

Google Fonts, launched in 2010, quickly gained popularity for providing an extensive library of free and open-source fonts.

This repository made it easy for developers to enhance the typography of their websites without worrying about licensing fees or restrictions.

Google Fonts’ widespread adoption can be attributed to its simplicity and accessibility. Developers can integrate fonts into their projects by adding a single line of code to their HTML or CSS files, making it an attractive choice for web designers and developers worldwide.

The Need for Speed – Serving Google Fonts Locally

One of the primary reasons to serve Google Fonts locally is the potential for significant improvements in website loading times.

When you link to Google Fonts directly, your website’s rendering speed becomes dependent on external servers. This means that if Google’s servers experience downtime or slowdowns, it directly impacts your site’s performance.

In a world where users expect websites to load in the blink of an eye, shaving off even a fraction of a second can contribute significantly to a positive user experience.

Google itself has emphasized the importance of website speed as a ranking factor, further emphasizing the need for optimization in this area.

Enhancing Security and Privacy

Security and privacy are paramount in the digital age, and serving Google Fonts locally can play a role in bolstering these aspects of your website.

When you link to external resources, such as Google Fonts, you expose your users to potential privacy concerns. By serving fonts locally, you regain control over the data flow on your website.

External font requests can be logged and tracked by third parties, potentially compromising user privacy. Serving fonts locally mitigates this risk, providing a more secure environment for your users.

Additionally, it reduces the likelihood of issues related to content delivery network (CDN) vulnerabilities, ensuring that your fonts are delivered securely without relying on external servers.

Implementation: How to Serve Google Fonts Locally

Watch the video below for one of the easiest ways I have come across to serve up your fonts locally.

Obviously, the first thing you will want to do is download the fonts you will be using for your project. I recommend two but no more than three to be used across your project to help maintain both the consistency and reduce any possibility for cumulative shift to take place.

Next, you’ll need to actually upload the fonts that you will be using. Most of the more popular page builders and paid themes offer you this capability. Check with the developer for documentation on how to upload custom fonts.

Now let’s take a look at how to remove Google fonts from loading on your website. It’s pretty straight forward an online involves a minimal amount of code that you can place into something like Code Snippets to achieve.

The video below is using Elementor as an illustration of how you can achieve this, however, if you utilize ChatGPT you can have it generate the code for your specific page builder.

As developers and designers seek to create digital experiences that captivate and engage users, every decision, no matter how seemingly small, contributes to the overall success of a website.

Embracing the practice of serving Google Fonts locally is not merely a technical adjustment but a strategic move toward a more efficient, secure, and personalized web.

You can, additionally, learn more about the importance of loading Google fonts locally here.

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