Web Design Trends To Watch In 2020

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Web design trends are always changing – not just year to year but even month to month. Majority of these trends come and go, but a few beneficial ones come around every so often and are worth taking note of. That’s why we’ve carved out some of the trends that we think are going to make a difference to your business this year.

Minimalism

The minimalism trend has been around for a while and for good reason – it’s a incredibly effective and easy web design trend to follow. It’s exactly what it says on the packet, a very minimal design. Think about simple navigation bars, limited CTAs and stylish yet minimal images. Distraction free websites are a great way to encourage users to take the conversion path you want them to do – like ordering a product, filling out a form or even making a phone call. 

User-centric designs

User experience should always be at the heart of any design, whether it’s a website, a brochure or a product. Making it easy for users to navigate your website is imperative if you want to convert them into customers. So, in order to make this conversion, think about what users want to see or do on your website. Then, once you’ve satisfied their first interaction and needs, what do they need for their second, third or fourth visit? By addressing these needs you make your website a simple transaction where users know that can get what they want easily. This is is the key to get them returning again and again.   

Overlapping layers

Making your website stand out against your competition is important – a great way to do this is through your website’s design. One of the latest trends in the web design world is overlapping graphics in order to create the illusion of layers. This is not only fashionable at the moment – it also works well if you want to create space or highlight certain visuals on your website. 

Realism and graphics collisions

Images whether they’re photographs or vectors are an important part of any website. However when you combine graphics with photographs you can create an interesting juxtaposition that can convey messages to your audience you may otherwise struggle with. This works particularly well if you sell a product. For example you could have a simple image of your product than around it illustrations to show it’s benefits – an arrow on a target to illustrate accuracy for instance. Not only does this look pleasing aesthetically – you’re conveying important messages about your business.   

So are you ready to change up your website this year? What web design trends are you going to implement this year? If you need any further assistance with any website or online marketing projects then please don’t hesitate to contact us right here on our website. Until then, happy marketing!

Why You Need a New Website In 2020

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The new year has finally rolled in and our social feeds are full of #NewYearNewMe posts. Whilst everyone seems to be thinking about starting 2020 with a new perspective, we’re thinking about new websites. Even if you’ve updated you’re website in the last two years there could still be a few things that your website is falling down on. Whether it’s performance, user experience or conversions – there’s always room for improvement. So why not start off 2020 on the right foot and look forward to a year of success with your website? 

To improve on performance

Website performance is now a key factor for ranking in the top spots on Google and other search engines. So when re-designing your website this year, make sure you put website performance at the top of your priority list. A few things we would recommend focusing on are: loading speeds and SEO performance. Last year Google really put an emphasis on pages that don’t load in under two seconds. Websites that didn’t meet this requirement wouldn’t be able to secure the top organic search engine results. As you can probably imagine, this wreaked havoc on many SMEs organic listings. Although there are no more loading speed requirements set to come from Google this year – it’s always worth making sure your website is in top peak performance for the remainder of 2020 and years to come.   

To keep up with browser behaviour

Technologies are always changing and evolving so that means user behaviour is too. For example back in 2015 only 38% of all internet users were using their mobile devices to access the internet. However at the end of 2019, this rose to 51% and it’s only set to increase even more. Therefore you must ensure that your website is optimised for mobile users by creating a responsive website. Responsive websites adapt to whatever screen users are viewing it from. This makes them perfect for future-proofing. Whilst we are still viewing websites from mobiles and tablets, how long will it be before we are using our smart watches and smart glasses to view the web? 

To reach your 2020 business goals

One of the most important things your web page needs to do for you is help you achieve your business goals. Business goals can be anything from improving online sales on your eCommerce store to building a database of qualified leads. Whatever your goal for 2020 is, there will be a way for your website to assist you. After all, if your online presence isn’t improving results across your business what is the point in having it?  

So are you ready to start building your new website? If you need any further assistance with any website or online marketing projects then please don’t hesitate to contact us right here on our website. Until then, happy marketing!

Why You Need A New Website This Year

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With the “new year, new you” finally off everyone’s radar, we think it’s time to discuss “new year, new website”. While it doesn’t need to be the new year for you to start thinking about a new website, it’s a pretty good reason to explore more possibilities for your business. When we say “new website” it doesn’t necessarily have to be completely new – it could just be re-designed. There are many different reasons as to why you should re-design your website but below, we’re just going to list a few of the most beneficial ones.

To keep up with fast and responsive design

First of all, you need a responsive website if you want to rank in search engines. Also, even if you do have a responsive website at the moment, it may not be tailored to the latest responsive design technology. Not only does responsive design allow your website to fit perfectly onto different screen sizes and types, it also can help improve page speed. Both functionalities of which, Google has made major ranking factors. Therefore if your website it responsive but still rather slow, or fast and not responsive, Google is going to rank you well below the first page.

To boost your SEO

This links into the above point. Re-designing your website can help boost your SEO efforts in a multitude of ways. For starters, if your website is currently not built on a CMS that caters for easy SEO implementation then you could use this as an opportunity to move to a CMS that does. For example, WordPress is a great CMS for those who want to improve their SEO, as many plug-ins and tutorials are available to help you execute basic SEO tasks. Furthermore, re-designing your website in terms of layout could also boost your website’s rankings. By focusing on adding in H1 tags, paragraphs with your chosen keywords and relevant images with alt tags, you could see your business appear higher up in search engines.

To use it as an opportunity to re-brand

If you’ve had the same brand colours and logos for a while they can become quite uninspiring. So why not use 2019 to re-design your entire brand image. This is a great way to put your business back in the spotlight but also a great chance to re-evaluate your business’ messaging and goals. For example, you may have started your freelance business many years ago with the intention of just selling one service – however now you sell many services. Therefore you probably want to re-brand as more of a consultancy service who can cater to different clients’ needs. So you need to change your branding to communicate this more effectively to prospective customers.

To improve user experience

We all know that user experience is paramount when designing any website. How a user clicks through your website and how they get to their final goal is important if you are measuring your online stats and leads. But as time goes on a website that was ideal for users may no longer be so. This is due to changes in trends, user behaviour and ultimately user expectations. Unfortunately for businesses, user’s expectations are changing all the time therefore we must make sure our website’s always change to fulfil their expectations.

So those are the most beneficial reasons why you need a new website this year. However, of course, remember that these are just general tips and that how you should utilise and market your business is very dependent on what industry you are in as well as your target audience.

As always, if you need any further assistance with any social media marketing projects then please don’t hesitate to contact us either here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Until then, happy marketing!

 

Five Festive Web Design Ideas

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Twas a few weeks before Christmas, when all through the 3mil house, not a web designer was stirring, not even with their mouse. The last amends had been made, and final designs were sent off with care, in hopes that positive client feedback would soon be there… With Christmas slowly creeping up on us we thought it would be a great time to talk about how you can make your existing web design a little more festive. So whether you’re a coding extraordinaire or a less technical web design enthusiast we have something for you that can spice up your website this Christmas!

Snow flurries

Nothing quite says Merry Christmas like a subtle snow flurry. Even if you don’t have a white Christmas yourself, at least you can make it snow on your website! If you have a WordPress website, you’re in luck because there are many plug-ins you can use to get a variety of snowy effects. However if you’re using a different CMS you can always code something yourself or scour the internet for a relevant widget.

Christmas colour schemes

Red, greens, golds are all colours that come to mind when we think of Christmas. So why not implement them throughout your website this season to create a more festive feel? You don’t need to use all of the Christmas colours you can think of – just adding a few in more subtly will work just fine. We think the easiest way to do this is to incorporate them into borders, link text and button backgrounds. This way, they can easily be changed back once the festive season is over.

Festive functionalities

This festive web design idea is a little trickier. But if you remember when we spoke about micro-interactions then you’ll able to understand what we mean. So when someone interacts with a common feature on your website like a button – you can could have a some streamers, snow or sparkles burst out from behind it when it is clicked. This is sure to make your visitors feel some festive magic without going too over the top.

Starry light widgets

Similar to snow flurries, but a little less intrusive are starry light widgets. Frame your website with some Christmas lights for a few weeks to spread some festive cheer. Not only will they brighten up your website but also the days of your visitors. Again, if you’re on WordPress there are already some plug-ins for this, if not you may have to code your own.

Pop up presents

Instead of populating your website with pop-up ads, why not populate it with pop-up presents? When a user lands on your page, after a few seconds make a festive window appear. The window could contain anything you like from a festive promotion or money off code to a Christmas cracker joke.

So those are our top five favourite festive web design ideas for Christmas! Which was your favourite? And which one are you going to implement on your website this holiday season?

As always, if you need any help with your own web based projects please don’t hesitate to contact us directly or send us a tweet! Until next time, happy designing!

Why Some Web Design Trends May Not Be Working For Your SME

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We’re all guilty of trying to keep up with the latest trends – be it fashion, sports, movies, music or web design. However we all must learn that trends are simple just that. They come and go. While they may look fashionable at the time of creation, they’re not always going to remain that way. Additionally, implementing trends for the sake of appearances can actually do your SME more harm than good.

The trend is irrelevant to your SME

This is the first and biggest reason as to why your chosen web design trend isn’t working. For a website to be successful it has to convey the main messages and goals of the business it is presenting. The message needs to be strong, to the point and completely undeniable. So if you’ve implemented a trend that doesn’t aid that messaging then you are diluting the whole point of your website. In the end your business gets lost in a sea of parallax scrolls, micro-interactions and video backgrounds.

The trend brings no value to user experience

If the web design trend isn’t making it easier for users to navigate your website then it has no function. So if the trend serves no purpose it should at least ignite some kind of feeling with the user for it to be deemed a worthy part of the web design. Web design quirks that bring no value to the user experience are simply redundant. After all, these kind of quirks take up space on your website and can potentially slow it down, or dilute your messaging. The complete opposite of what you need for a successful SME web design.

The trend is hindering your website’s main goal

When you create a website you should always have its goal and purpose in mind. A purpose or a goal are the reasons you create a website in the first place. Therefore using a web design trend that gets in the way of this is seriously damaging to your SME’s sales funnel. For example if you use your website to sell items and a complicated web design trend makes it difficult for users to check out – this is simply makes no business sense.

The trend is so obscure that only web designers know what it is

Our final point is actually one of our favourites. When you’re heavily involved in the web design industry and keep up to date with all the latest trends sometimes it becomes difficult to separate a functional trend from one that is just simply “cool”. Once you use this trend, after all the research you’ve put in to it, most people won’t actually know what it is. When users see somethine on a website they are unsure of or confused by this can create a bad user experience.

So those are our simple reasons as to why some web design trends aren’t working for your SME. However, of course, remember that these are just general tips and that how you should utilise and market your business is very dependent on what industry you are in as well as your target audience.

As always, if you need any further assistance with any social media marketing projects then please don’t hesitate to contact us either here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Until then, happy marketing!

Getting Creative: How Real Web Designers Find Inspiration

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It’s no surprise that many web design professionals struggle to find the right inspiration to get their ideas off the ground. With so much competition out there and original ideas being few and far between sometimes it can seem impossible. However we have a few simple ideas that could help you source some inspiration for your next web design.

Not counting on lightning bolts

One of the biggest mistakes that many web designers make is expecting a lightning bolt of inspiration to strike. This pretty much never happens so don’t rely on it. Some of the most creative web designs come from alot of research, hard work and problem solving. So don’t just sit there and wait for ideas to come to you – go out and find them.

Everyday stories

As cliche as it sounds the best way to find inspiration and get creative is through experiencing everyday life. So many things happen in life, the good and the bad. However all of them have the potential to act as little pieces of inspiration that slot together to create a fantastic web design. Take some time to listen to friends, colleagues and clients. You never know what they could say that may spike a creative thought.

Problem solving

Sometimes problems that arise when creating a web design can be the reason why a web design turns out so well. Problems and obstacles force us to approach the issue in a different or unconventional way. This forces us to solve the problem in a way in which we usually wouldn’t, creating a more original outcome.

Looking at other web designs

One of the easiest ways real web designers find inspiration is by looking at other designers work. However don’t look at work to copy it exactly – just take a few elements from it you really admire. If you’re not sure where to start researching other designers work take a look at some of our favourite web designs. You can also take a look at a few inspirational web design award sites like Awwwards.

Taking a good break

Like we said before, just letting life happen and listening to a few stories can be a good source of inspiration. But sometimes it’s better to stop actively looking and take a break for a while. We’re definitely not telling you to take a break to get inspiration though, we’re telling you to take a break to actually have a break. Taking breaks is a proven way to boost productivity and ensure you come back to your work feeling fresh.

So those are our simple tips and tricks on how real web designers find inspiration. However, of course, remember that these are just general tips and that how you should utilise and market your business is very dependent on what industry you are in as well as your target audience.

As always, if you need any further assistance with any social media marketing projects then please don’t hesitate to contact us either here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Until then, happy marketing!