A great website has many things that make it good, from a well thought out color theme, to attractive yet informative graphics and media.  Probably one of the most important aspects though is good typography.  If you have a website, chances are there is something you want someone to know and if they have a hard time being able to read the text on your site or the text fails to keep their attention then the site is basically useless.  Good typography will make or break a website, and these guidelines will help to ensure that it does not make it a flop.

1.  Readability is key! At the end of the day, your choices in type face do not matter if your visitors cant physically make out the text itself.  Have a good readable font (or fonts).  There is plenty of debate over whether or not to go with a serifed or sans-serifed font and I recommend thinking about your audience.  To some people whether or not the font is serif make no big difference, but if your user base is older or more likely to be heavy book readers a serifed font is a safe bet.   Avoid using heavily decorated fonts in paragraphs as they are less legible (think about an online news article done entirely in 10pt Old English type-face)  Also do not use different typefaces or colors in paragraphs this can be confusing or jarring to readers.

2.  Regarding Multiple Typefaces If you are planning on using different typefaces for different levels in hierarchy of information, stick to three or less different fonts.  A whole array of different fonts in different places can be confusing to some and is generally not recommended.  One thing that helps in using different fonts is to find a serif font and a sans-serif cont that compliment each other.  If you go with this route pick two that are structured similarly and are equally readable (a good and simple recommendation here is Times New Roman paired with Helvetica)  Doing so while having a suitable different color for different hierarchies will help each portion of your text stand out and be easily read while users will naturally see the different levels you have in the site.

3.  Alignment and Orientation Write out your content thinking of your audience.  If your audience reads from left to right, align your text to the left.  Centering or right alignment makes the paragraphs feel sloppy.  A centered heading or caption can work sometimes, that usually is a judgement call on a case by case basis though.

4. Originality There are many things you can do while following these guidelines to make your text content original and attractive while making it legible and informative.  Avoid overly used decorative fonts for paragraphs and headings (Yes that means Comic Sans and Papyrus to name a few)  Moreover than not, they are unattractive, do not add any personality to the site itself and to some look like a lack of effort.  Instead of using these types of fonts, create a plan to use two or three typefaces to separate the levels of information and add color to some to make it pop.

If you put effort into this aspect of your site it will be an original, and informative environment that will keep a users attention.  Do not be afraid to be creative with your typography choices, just make sure that your choices do not adversely affect the readability of the content or the structure of the entire site itself.