Introduction
It doesn’t matter what industry you are in; trends constantly change and evolve. Consumers are faced with endless choices, and your website’s design plays an integral role in whether or not you keep your customer’s interest.
To put it in perspective, according to First Site Guide, there are more than 1.98 billion websites online; however, only 198.4 million of those websites are active. Therefore, first impressions are key when it comes to having an online presence.
If you don’t keep up to date with the latest design trends, your site will look dated, and you are faced with the risk that your potential customers will move on to your competitor’s site. Their offering may be inferior to yours, but their website has created the impression that they are on top of their game
What do the statistics say?
In a previous post on why your small business needs a website, we quoted statistics from Graffiti9, a digital marketing agency. Some of those statistics are also applicable to website design, and we’ve included a few more:
- It takes about 50 milliseconds (that’s 0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they like your site or not, whether they’ll stay or leave
- 57% of internet users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed website on mobile
- 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive
- A study found that 94% of negative website feedback was design related
- Once on a company’s homepage, 86% of visitors want to see information about that company’s products/services
- Once on a company’s homepage, 64% of visitors want to see the company’s contact information
- Once on a company’s homepage, 52% of visitors want to see ‘about us’ information
- 47% of website visitors check out a company’s products/services page before looking at any other sections of the site
- 44% of website visitors will leave a company’s website if there’s no contact information or phone number
When you take the above statistics into account, you can see why it is imperative that your website immediately captures your current and potential customers’ interest – especially considering that it only takes them 0.05 seconds to form an opinion!
Your website's goal
Your goal is to immediately capture a user’s interest. Your website needs that all-important edge to stand out in an overly-crowded space.
Once you have successfully grabbed a user’s attention, you need their experience to be engaging. Website design is not only about aesthetics; the design should always consider your customer’s needs and wants.
Another goal of your site is to convey information about your company and what services or products you offer. Your website’s design must reflect your brand’s identity, and your messaging is crucial to who you are, and your website’s design should enhance your message and not detract from it.
Your aim is to engage your customers, provide valuable information, drive conversations, and convert all of these interactions into revenue growth.
As we say at Expanza, you want your website to inspire and be professional, modern, and responsive!
Website design trends in the future
So what are the trends for the coming year? The consensus is that we will see more use of custom illustrations, animated cursors, and interactive elements.
Custom illustrations and images
Custom illustrations provide the ability to make your content stand out while adding a unique aspect to your website design.
Those standard stock photos are a thing of the past as website designers are now making use of customised visuals and templates. The main problem with using standard stock photos is that your competition is most likely using them as well. It is far more preferable to invest in unique images that differentiate you from everyone else.
And then we have those standard corporate photos which either appear in the “About Us” or “Meet the team”. Companies are moving away from those stiff and awkward photos and are looking at other creative ways to showcase their teams. Going forward, the team images will include brand elements like colour to create cohesion across the site.
Minimalist designs
Say goodbye to busy, cluttered website design. The trend is definitely moving towards simplicity and minimalist designs. These types of designs are far more functional and easier to navigate.
This doesn’t mean your website design has to be boring. Simple layouts are enhanced with custom images, bold colours, and typography, giving websites an edgy look and feel. With a minimalist design, the clutter is reduced, and your content becomes the focus.
Bold colours and typography
We expect to see a lot more use of strategically placed colour. A touch of colour has the ability to make a website pop and adds that much-needed energy and differentiation. Another trend is the increased use of gradients and duotones, which have the ability to add depth to any website design.
Oversized typography is a trend that is here to stay. It has become a crucial element in making your message more impactful. In addition, it also easily draws your customer’s attention to where you need it to be; a perfect example is for those vital call-to-action (CTA) items. CTAs are vital and are often neglected, research shows that nearly 70% of small business websites don’t have a CTA on their homepage.
Research has shown that consumers are more likely to remember what was written in bold. The key is to choose the right font and to ensure that you only use it in moderation otherwise, your key message will be lost, and your site will look far too busy.
Interactive elements
Adding these types of elements makes your site far more engaging and interesting. Video elements and animations are prime examples. They have the ability to bring your website to life and can add a bit of fun. Animations can be used effectively, guiding your customer through your site while highlighting important information in an exciting way.
Micro animations are becoming more popular; these small animations are the perfect way of providing subtle feedback to your customers. A prime example is when a link changes colour when your cursor moves over it. Other examples include gradients slowly changing as your scroll down a page or a bold colour change occurring when you click on a specific element. A big advantage of micro animations is that they engage your customer without distracting them.
Website design and technology
As we’ve discussed, website design trends are constantly changing, especially when you take technology into account. As we all know, technology changes and improves at an incredible speed, and website features that were once considered innovative and modern have now become old and outdated.
This means that website designers must ensure they stay on top of the latest digital technology trends and standards. Some aspects of web design aren’t negotiable and are here to stay, like user-friendly navigation, data security, and fast loading times. And talking about fast loading times, research shows that most internet users expect a website to load in no more than two seconds after clicking a link. Beyond that, they are likely to move on.
At the end of the day, your customers expect websites to be intuitive and offer a seamless experience. You never want to make it challenging to navigate your site or interact with your business.
And lastly, a responsive website design is key, especially when it comes to your mobile version. The majority of users access websites via their mobiles, and you will inadvertently lose customers if your site is not mobile-friendly. But one of the coolest trends in web design is the focus on creating thumb-friendly websites.
It’s all about how we use our phones; generally, we navigate with our thumbs, and that is why thumb-friendly navigation will definitely become the norm. This will involve having the navigation bar, menus, etc in the space where your thumb can reach, making the site far easier for mobile users.
Conclusion
Your website’s design should be easy-to-use, functional, perform well (let’s be honest, you will lose customers if your pages take too long to download) and look fantastic. Your site is the digital window into your business, and you certainly don’t want people “walking past” without popping in for a while.
As you can see, keeping up to date with website design trends is crucial, and it is always a great idea to research your competitors’ website and compare it to yours. But don’t be scared of being original and unique; the key is to spot trends early so that you can optimise your site and keep up with the current trends – this certainly doesn’t mean that you must be permanently updating your website design.
Some new trends won’t be the right choice for your company, and you never need to follow each and every one of them strictly. Sometimes creating something fresh and original is the way to go – for all you know, you may be the next trendsetter!
