Friday 6 April, 2018
I’m often asked to design websites that are at the cutting edge of technology and visual appearance – websites that follow the latest trends.
But will an open brief like this deliver more sales and enquiries? After all, in most cases, isn’t this the number one priority for a website – to deliver engagement.
Let’s unpick some of 2018’s website design trends…
1) Less is more
A beautiful website doesn’t need to be complex. An open design can look fantastic and it can focus the eye on what you’re wanting to bring to the viewers attention.
YES – this trend holds weight, but, don’t let your website designer go to town on the minimalist approach. You’ve only got a few seconds to grab a viewers attention – if you’re hiding key content in small, but well designed text, or behind a link or a fantastic picture when hovered, you may miss a sale.
I recommend starting with a wireframe. Decide on the key information and routes to core content and products, plus your calls to action – put these pieces on paper before letting a designer loose.
Also, if you run a business where customers might be put off by flashy graphics or fancy and expensive looking navigation (the latest trends) you may miss your target audience completely. Keep it real for your customers.
2) Video is still king
But who’s watching!
Thinking that you need a flashy video that proves that your company is No. 1? A YouTube that showcases your indestructible widget in shiny chrome?
YES – it works on some websites. But the latest trends are to use video in a more subtle way, without viewers even knowing that a ‘video’ is playing.
A well structured video or group of videos within a page can enhance the message and create a sale without a viewer getting put off by the fact they’re watching a video and being ‘sold to’. Videos don’t always need to include people.
Not all videos need a play and stop button. But, be careful – auto play on videos can impact the SEO of a page.
3) Get animated!
Animation within websites is starting to get less gimmicky – web designers are really starting to use animation to enhance messages on a page. Instead of adding yet another fancy hover effect that they found in a Wordpress plugin to zoom an image.
Work with your website designer and get animating. Just imagine your key sales pages with added animation that focuses the viewers eye on your USPs, and then highlights a customer testimonial as they scroll. Perhaps you could even showcase a product’s sales points as a viewer scrolls, then subtly lead their eye to the call-to-action.
Designing movement and animation into a page can boost sales.
But don’t add it at the expensive of Page Speed...
4) Page speed - Google wants the web to speed up. Fast!
And that means your website too!
Run your website through the new and enhanced Google Speed Test to find out the speed of your key website sales pages. Mobile load speed is as important as desktop speed, and in some cases more so.
Is your website built using a bloated Wordpress theme? Is it using too many plugins that are slowing it down?
Don’t panic, there are answers… I’ll write about these in a future post + plus more 2018 trends.
If you want to know more about the latest website trends – what’s hot and what’s not, drop me a message below.