In 2016, people use Google for everything. From diagnosing their illnesses to buying living room furniture, many online users never even make it into the brick and mortar store. For that reason, it is vital to have a search engine optimized, user-friendly website to serve as the hub for all of your marketing communications.
According to Adobe, 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content/layout is unattractive. Yet, having an awesome website isn’t just about an attractive design. Business websites must be intuitive, easy to use and easy to understand. Three of the top web design trends that really took off in 2016 achieve these goals.
1. Interactive Design
Interactive design encompasses anything that a user can interact with, from hover states to animated gifs. Long gone are the days of Adobe Flash. However, we can still achieve some of that same movement and interactivity with present-day technology.
New technology allows you to feature interactive on-site elements without slowing down your website load time or crashing the browser. On-site animation is perfect for drawing attention and increasing time spent on your website.
2. Iconography
Icons are everywhere! Icons started out as an easy way to navigate the applications on your mobile device but quickly turned into a preferred method of website navigation. Icons are typically very easy to decipher. Users can come across a telephone icon on a website and instantly know that by clicking it they will receive a phone number.
Icons are also fun and friendly. They add an element of simplicity to your website and make your company seem more approachable.
3. Hero Video Headers
Hero video headers have also become increasingly popular in 2016. Have you ever visited a website and been greeted with a full video on the homepage? According to Thomas McKee, “Higher speed Internet connections and better video plug-in integration is making it easier for more websites to include an immersive movie-style experience” and users love it! If your services, products or culture lend themselves to video, consider a hero video header in your next redesign.
Are you ready to redesign your website? Contact Informatics today. We can help modernize your website by implementing some of the above design trends from 2016.
