This post has been updated to include web design trends that are most popular in 2018.
When your business is marketing to customers through a website, there are several factors that you need to take into account. Can your customers find your website on Google? Is the content written in a way that engages with your target audience? These considerations are important, but having a website that follows modern web design trends is essential. Even if they’re not aware of it, your customers are subconsciously familiar with modern website and interface designs. If your website strays from these trends, then you might turn customers away before they even learn about your business. In this blog post, we’ll explore the web design trends that are helping customers land high conversions and ROI.
1. Strange (But Interesting) Color Combinations
When it comes to branding for your small business, the psychology of color can play a major role in shaping your decisions. This is true for your company’s logo, marketing materials, and any other digital or print mediums. Recently, though, web designers have been pushing the boundaries of design with bold color choices.
Without leaving brand identity in the dust, web designers are utilizing colors outside of the normal brand palette to create more vibrant color schemes. This is a stark shift in the standard fare for web design, which formerly prioritized readability. These detail-oriented designs are geared toward shaping a highly engaging experience for all users.
2. Unique, Brand-Centric Typography
Like color, font plays a crucial role in your business’s brand identity. The fonts that you use on your website can have quite an impact on your potential customers. And, in 2018, web design experts continue to commit to larger and more brand-specific fonts.
Especially on homepages, fonts that attract the user’s complete, undivided attention are becoming quite common. Using unique fonts draws the user’s attention to what you are trying to say– ensuring that your message is heard. This falls in line with the previously mentioned color trend, in that bold choices are making for higher conversion rates — when executed correctly.
3. Data Storytelling
Data is one of the best tools your business could possibly use to convey your worth to prospective clients or customers. When you present your customers with data that backs up your assertions, your argument will stand better ground. This fact-driven approach is important when establishing a sense of trust with customers, who might be skeptical of your value.
Leading web designers are utilizing this data-driven approach by creating designs that emphasize practical information. Incorporating features such as charts and infographics helps the reader to understand the value of your proposal. If your business relies on a certain process, then illustrating that process with data visualization may be the key to your customer’s sales. Data storytelling may even be as simple as graphically enhancing certain statistics.
4. Revamped Flat Design
Over the past few years, flat design has taken the internet by storm. This hot trend has not exactly disappeared, but it has evolved.
Flat design rejected the premise that websites should feature lots of overlapping objects and textures. Instead, flat designs relied on a simple digital interface. The revamped version of flat design continues this trend, but with slightly more depth than before.
Instead of conventional layering techniques, though, the revamped “Flat design 2.0” trend involves gradients and shadows. This new technique aids in demonstrating to customers where they should be looking and clicking. So, this improvement creates a better, conversion-oriented experience.
5. Practical, Attractive Illustrations
For some brands, a casual, light-hearted approach to web design can be the most effective. If your business is looking to stand out with an informal identity (without appearing incompetent), then including illustrations that draw user attention can be quite effective. Think of this technique as a mullet: business in the front, party in the back.
The logic behind this style is simple. Businesses have realized that they can impart meaningful information while still delivering a personalized experience. Unlike stock photography and out-of-the-box content management systems, illustrations are always custom made. This means that the website-specific illustrations will not be found in other corners of the internet, consequently creating a delightful experience. Illustrations accomplish all of this without limiting or otherwise compromising the function of a website.
6. AI-Powered Assistants
In the web design world, a quality user experience is just as important as an inviting exterior. That’s why artificial intelligence continues to play a huge role in web design.
Often called chatbots, these digital assistants are designed to help customers with any needs they might have while on the website. These chatbots communicate with human users using language, imitating a live assistant. So, the chatbot is a unique digital assistance designed to answer questions, or route these questions to a human who can. Some chatbots can answer simple questions– when somebody might be available to speak, pricing and more. Other chatbots can take advantage of higher-level needs like scheduling, and even completing transactions.
In a world where customers need an additional level of assurance that their needs are taken care of, chatbots play a critical role.
7. Mobile-Responsive Website
Gone are the days when people are only consuming internet content on the desktop. In fact, mobile traffic now accounts for over half of all traffic. Your website needs to be accessible to customers who discover it on a smartphone.
Having a mobile-responsive website is the best solution for this. This means that the same website that is designed for use via desktop can automatically be viewed on a mobile device, without any visual or functional hiccups. Without a mobile-responsive web design, you will lose out on plenty of valuable traffic from potential customers.
Mobile-responsive websites adapt to the unique screen size of the device that the customer is using to view the website. So, whether the user is on an iPhone, an iPad, or another device, the experience will be superb.
Responsive web design can be advantageous in other ways as well. Google’s mobile-first indexing policy will base all search results on the mobile version of a website, given the prevalence of mobile search. So, websites without a mobile version will not fare well in search.
Convert Your Customers With a Modern Design That Works for Your Brand
When it comes to website design, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Our web design team has decades of collective experience, and takes a practiced, results-driven approach to each project. We can create a modern website that works for your brand.