Website Design Trends to Watch Out For and Implement in 2021

Web design is always evolving. What is innovative and groundbreaking today may be obsolete and old hat tomorrow. You don’t want you to miss out on any potential business because your site looks antiquated or does not comply with current web standards.

For this reason, it is important that you regularly collaborate with your web designer to ensure you are always up to date with the current trends.  

  1. Increase loading time and page speed by using smart content

Speed has always been a critical factor in enhancing user experience (UX) and improving your SEO strategy. Studies suggest that more than half of your potential customers may leave your site if it takes more than two seconds to load. 

There are reasons why websites can take longer to load, such as too many images, large files or third-party software. Fortunately, there are various approaches you can use to enhance your site’s loading speed. One useful tool is infinite scroll – the content will only load when the user begins scrolling the page, thus speeding up the loading time. Your website designer will be able to offer you more guidance on the strategies you should adopt.    

  2. Use geolocation and browsing history to personalise your web content

Many websites track their visitors’ browsing history and location. If you own an online shop or are a service provider, this information can prove extremely useful in terms of boosting your sales.   

When a visitor first lands on your page, they will see generic content. However, on their second or third visit, you can present them with customised content based on their previous on-site behaviour. This will help increase your conversion rates.

For instance, a restaurant’s website may feature a menu type for which a frequent customer has shown a preference. So, if they have reviewed Italian meals on your site, it pays to show them this type of food at the top of the search results.

Personalised content can also help e-commerce site owners see their online customers’ viewed, saved and liked products. It can also provide insights into how you can reduce the number of abandoned carts or increase the conversion rate.    

  3. Incorporate human-like chatbots and a voice-activated interface

Chatbots have become popular and will continue to be so in the coming years. Advances in technology, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, have also enabled chatbots to give ‘human-like’ responses. 

Chatbots can be designed to respond to frequently asked questions and this can lead to positive experiences, save costs and increase conversion rates.

Although at the moment it is rare for a website to have a voice-activated interface, this type of tool will soon become popular.

  4. Make your site interactive, accessible and available to all

Interactivity is an essential feature that every website owner needs to bear in mind. You can use it to:

• Give value to your visitors
• Engage customers
• Gather insights

For instance, you can offer value by incorporating an application, such as a calculator. Customers will then be able to use this tool to work out how much they are going to spend on their purchases. At the same time, you can learn about them based on the data they input.

You can also add other interactive components to your website, such as surveys and quizzes.

  5. Consider adding parallax animation and micro-animations 

Incorporating animation is a popular and useful engagement strategy. The latest tool used by many web designers is parallax animation. This presents visitors with an optical illusion where the object nearer their eyes appears to move faster than items further away. This perspective is very familiar in the real world but on web pages the animation provides both real and surreal effects.

Meanwhile, micro-animations can help guide visitors through a website while adding some playfulness to the process. They are popular because they can enhance the user experience and showcase your products and services.           

  6. Colours and fonts are still essential

It is safe to say that colours and fonts are always important in web design. You can use colours to influence human behaviour. Depending on the colours people see, different emotions are stirred. For instance, red can arouse passion, while green represents nature.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are spending more time online, staring at their computer screens. Naturally, this will give rise to eye strain. Therefore, you need to adopt a colour scheme that is easy on the eyes.         

Another colour scheme gaining popularity is gradients or three-dimensional transitions, such as Apple’s Big Sur OS. This operating system can provide convincing illusions, such as taking an object out of the screen.      

Dark mode, white spaces and minimalism were the prevailing trends last year, and they are still popular in 2021.

Text is an essential feature of your website content as it can attract the attention of your customers and help your site stand out from the competition. You should begin by choosing a bold and unique font. You can then combine this with neutral colours to emphasise your headlines. 

Vintage colours and typography schemes are another trend currently appearing on many websites. These design strategies can be used to elicit feelings of nostalgia from your audience, especially if it will benefit your products.       

  7. Incorporate a mobile-first design 

Mobile responsiveness is no longer just an option, it is an absolute necessity, both now and in the future. In fact, Google has included mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor since 2018. If you are designing a website, you need to make sure that it looks good on mobile devices first.

You can also improve the responsiveness of your mobile design by making it thumb-friendly. You should position the navigation menu and buttons in an area where people’s thumbs can easily reach (usually the centre of the screen). This will improve the user experience and enhance your sales conversion rate.          

Conclusion

Business owners, with the help of designers, need to update their websites on a regular basis. In fact, if you don’t do this, it could hinder your chances of increasing your sales and conversion rates or even maintaining your current ones. Although there are new trends such as human-like chatbots and micro-animations, many of last year’s web design features are still valid today. Remember, sites still require a fast loading speed and engaging colours and fonts.