Popular website trends for 2020
Over time website trends and user behaviour can significantly change. With that in mind, it may be time to either update or redesign your website. In many instances, a companies website is one of their shop fronts and in some cases their only shop front. Therefore, it is important to make sure customers feel informed and at home when visiting your online presence.
Imagine walking around your local town or city, there is a high chance that you would be unlikely to visit a store that looks, dated, unwelcoming or closed for business. However, the opposite could be said for a store that clearly states its opening times and seems welcoming. The same can be said for your website, an easy to use and well-trusted website is one of the fastest ways to communicate and build credibility with your customers.
With the fast pace of technological changes and consumer requirements, we are seeing several new trends when it comes to website design and user experience. Take a look below at some of the most popular and upcoming website trends of 2020.
Upcoming website trends:
More videos & interactive content
More companies are taking the approach of using videos and interactive content to engage and educate their website users. Videos are great for many reasons and can be great fun to produce.
Tell a story – Whether it be about your brand, new product or something you feel insightful to your customers, videos are a great way of telling a story.
Quick & informative – Videos are a quick and easy way for website visitors to obtain the information that they want and when they want it.
Personal touch – No matter what video you are creating, you can add a personal touch that will make you stand out from the crowd.
Increase engagement – A well put together video can help to increase engagement on your website and decrease its overall bounce rate.
Minimalist design
Many website owners are increasingly adopting a more minimalist website design. This allows putting more emphasis on the use of space, visual graphics, colours and statement fonts.
You can also achieve an attractive and modern design with the careful use of layers and floating elements.
When done well a minimalist website design not only looks great but can improve usability and readability. As an added benefit a website with a minimalist design can also increase page loading times!
Dark mode
Dark mode reduces the amount of white light produced by the screen, often having a black or dark background with white text. This is becoming increasingly desirable for website users, who use their devices in dark or low lit conditions. Some of the advantages of using a dark theme for your website includes increasing the battery life of AMOLED screens, enhancing visual ergonomics and helping to reduce eye strain.
It is important to consider your audience when deciding if a dark themed website design is for you. Unfortunately, some users especially those with Astigmatism (approximately 50% of the population) can have difficulties reading white text on a dark background.
Abstract colours
Colours can evoke a number of emotions and help to portray your desired vibe. For years scientists have studied the effects of colours and have found that the use of colour can help guide visitors through website content and even draw their attention to key information and calls to action.
Recent trends have seen many more sites using bright and abstract colours, these in particular can evoke a sense of vibrancy and energy while also being eye-catching. This is often done using geometric shapes, blocks, typefaces and even graphics.
It is important to remember that this approach isn’t right for every website and your company brand and ethos need to be considered when selecting your website colours.
Thumb friendly navigation
With so many website visitors using their mobile phones to browse the web, a mobile ready and fully responsive website is now a basic expectation. Many website designers are taking “mobile-first” to the next level and ensuring their mobile design provides a positive user experience. This includes making sure you can’t accidentally click buttons and links when scrolling the page, the navigation menu is easy to use and one-click purchase buttons have a clear confirmation before submission of the purchase.
SSL certificates
So, maybe not so much a design trend for 2020, but an SSL certificate (Secure Socket Layer) is an essential part of your website’s security. An SSL certificate is installed on your web server and serves the purpose of authenticating the identity of your website to your visitors. Secondly, it encrypts all of the data being transferred from your website to your visitors, helping to keep your user’s data safe and prevent “man in the middle attacks”. Having an up to date SSL certificate is not only a great way of protecting visitors to your website, but it also is one of the quickest ways of improving your Search Engine ranking.
Are you looking at redesigning your website or want to give your current one a breath of fresh air? Contact us today for some friendly advice and find out how we can help your website meet your needs.