Most modern WordPress themes include Google Fonts selection directly in the theme's settings. This is the simplest method — no plugins, no code.

For Themes with Font Customisation (Astra, Kadence, GeneratePress, etc.):

Astra:

1. Go to Appearance → Customize
2. Click Global → Typography
3. Click Font Family for Body or Headings
4. Search for your desired Google Font name (e.g., "Inter" or "Lato")
5. Google Fonts appear in the dropdown — select your font
6. Choose the font weight (Regular 400, Medium 500, Bold 700, etc.)
7. Click Publish

Kadence:

1. Go to Appearance → Customize
2. Click Typography → Body Typography
3. Click the Font Family field → search and select your Google Font
4. Adjust size, weight, and line height
5. Repeat for Heading Typography
6. Click Publish

GeneratePress:

1. Go to Appearance → Customize
2. Click Typography
3. Select font families from the dropdown for body, headings, and navigation
4. Publish

If your theme doesn't include font selection in the Customiser, a plugin handles it.

Google Fonts for WordPress (Free — by DanielBoxer)

1. Go to Plugins → Add New
2. Search "Google Fonts for WordPress"
3. Install and activate
4. Go to Settings → Google Fonts
5. Browse and select fonts for different elements (body, headings, etc.)
6. Save settings

OMGF (Optimize My Google Fonts — Recommended for Performance)

OMGF serves Google Fonts from your own server instead of Google's servers — combining font loading with performance optimisation.

1. Install OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts (free)
2. Go to Settings → Optimize Google Fonts
3. Load a page — OMGF detects any Google Fonts currently being used by your theme or plugins
4. Click Save & Optimize — OMGF downloads the fonts and serves them locally
5. Your site now loads Google Fonts from your server, not Google's

OMGF is particularly useful if:

• Your theme loads Google Fonts from Google's CDN and you want to self-host them
• You want to comply with GDPR (fonts loaded from Google's servers send visitor IP to Google)
• You want to improve your PageSpeed score by eliminating external font requests

This is the developer-preferred method. It gives you complete control and follows WordPress best practices for enqueuing resources.

Step 1: Find Your Font URL on Google Fonts

1. Go to fonts.google.com
2. Search for your desired font (e.g., "Lato")
3. Click the font → select the styles you want (Regular 400, Bold 700, etc.)
4. Look at the "Selected families" panel on the right
5. Under "Use on the web," you'll see an <link> tag

Copy the URL from the third link — e.g.:

https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Lato:wght@400;700&display=swap

Step 2: Enqueue the Font in functions.php

Open your child theme's functions.php and add:

function my_theme_enqueue_google_fonts() {
    wp_enqueue_style(
        'google-fonts',
        'https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Lato:wght@400;700&display=swap',
        array(),
        null
    );
}
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'my_theme_enqueue_google_fonts' );

Step 3: Apply the Font with CSS

The font is now loaded — but not yet applied to any elements. Add CSS to your child theme's style.css:

/* Apply Lato to the entire site */
body {
    font-family: 'Lato', sans-serif;
}

/* Apply a different font to headings */
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
    font-family: 'Playfair Display', serif;
}

If you're using a custom Google Font for headings only, enqueue that font separately or add it to the same Google Fonts URL:

https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Lato:wght@400;700&family=Playfair+Display:wght@600&display=swap

For a quick test or minor CSS additions without editing files:

1. Go to Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS
2. Add your @import and font application CSS:

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Lato:wght@400;700&display=swap');

body {
    font-family: 'Lato', sans-serif;
}