Trends in web design change quickly, so what is modern day will be considered “old school” in the future. But for now, here are some of the web design trends that every business owner should know for the New Year.
The Minimalist Approach
It’s no secret that modern website browser are impatient, to say the least. The only thing a modern day searcher wants to know is if the website they’re on has the information they need. And they want to find that out as quickly as possible. This is one of the main reasons why the most successful websites always place information based on its importance, the most important getting prime real estate, which is the top half of their home page, while the rest is packed into sub categories that are easy to find via drop down menus.
The minimalist approach to web design means that the website is user centric, as in, providing the user only with the information they need. That being said, the ecommerce market demands the effective use of white spaces in a website, which makes it easy to read. Moreover, the selective use of design, graphics, videos and animation works wonders in setting the tone for your website, rather than just using a wall of text, which will not only be confusing, but will result to the visitor moving on to another site, that’s more easy to understand.
Rise of the Hero Image
More and more businesses are incorporating high resolution images to help them tell the story of their business. This image is often times placed in the background of the page, with only a small amount of content overlaid on to it. Using the right imagery for your website can do wonders to draw in the attention of your visitors and make them interested in what you have to say, and more importantly, your brand. That being said, it is important to use images that are responsive so that they can change in size, depending on the resolution and screen size being used by the searcher.
Putting Your Footer Down
In the modern website, the footer is the perfect place to provide additional information of your business and your brand to the visitor without having to break the flow of the web page. This can include contact or company information, along with a small site map and links that could be useful to your audience. It is important to use the minimalist approach when it comes to footers as well, keeping things clean, simple and easy to understand.
Mobile Friendly
Almost everybody owns a smartphone these days, if not everyone. This means that more people are searching for information using their mobile devices than ever before (60% to be exact), and is one of the reasons why your website has got to be mobile friendly, in other words, use a responsive design. In fact, if your business website isn’t already mobile friendly you are leaving a lot of cash on the table, and that’s no laughing matter. So, along with making your website look slick and easy on the eyes, it should also look great on mobile devices as well.
Using Typography that’s Web-Safe
Modern day websites boast of bold typography that’s clean and easy to understand. This also includes the following:
- Appropriate sized text which is usually bigger than 16px.
- Using web-standard fonts.
- A limited use of multi-colored fonts.
- Using grey or black typography, depending on the page’s background.
- An adequate use of line-spacing, to enhance readability.
Full Screen Background Videos
We are also seeing a rise in use of full-screen background videos in websites. These custom videos that play in the background header are growing in popularity because of their ability to keep the viewer’s engaged.
Ending Note
Looking at the pace at which website design has evolved it wouldn’t be wrong to say that website design is a moving target, as designers and developers look to find more better ways of creating websites that offers a complete and satisfying user experience. Keeping in mind the aforementioned tips will ensure that you are able to create a website that is able to provide the best user experience for those who visit your business website.