Web Design Trends for Smart Business Owners

Is your website looking old or outdated? We probably don’t have to sell you on the importance of first impressions when you’re meeting someone for the first time. Likewise, first impressions are vitally important when it comes to your website .

According to a recent study, it takes just .05 seconds (that’s 1/20 of a second!) for someone to form an opinion of your website. That opinion will help determine whether they trust you, if your business is credible, and if they’ll stay on your website or look somewhere else.

So how do you make a good first impression with your website? Well… British researchers found that website first impressions are 94% design related . Simply put: if you want your website to make a good first impression, it should look good!

This is why it’s so important to keep up with the latest web design trends. It doesn’t mean that you have to jump on the bandwagon of every design trend that comes along. Truthfully, not every trend works for every industry, and thankfully, some design principles – like appropriate white space and contrasting font and background pairings – never change.

But keeping up with current web design trends will help ensure that your website doesn’t come across as old and outdated and that it continues to meet your customers’ expectations.

Clean, simple, and modern website designs are currently on trend. Plus, keeping your website minimalistic can also make your website look sophisticated, so if you’re trying to attract high-end clientele, this may be the way to go.

Big and bold fonts have been in style for some time, but designers today are experimenting with custom-drawn fonts and new on-page placements.

Check out Facebook’s colored backgrounds for your text-only status updates, and you’ll see examples of gradient color schemes. A color gradient – also known as a color ramp or color progression – is a gradual blend of multiple colors or different shades of the same color. There are many types of gradients such as linear, radial, and even diamond. We’re seeing gradient color schemes everywhere including website design.

For years, the trend in website design was flat design, which avoids anything that gives the impression of three dimensions such as the use of drop shadows and gradients and focuses on simple elements, typography, and flat colors. Today’s web designers have the opportunity to be more creative with hand-drawn illustrations (or perhaps illustration that appear to be hand-drawn).

Web designers today can look beyond the formulaic layouts and let their creativity loose with more complex and expressive layouts that don’t fit into a specific formula. Another way to create attractive complexity is through layering whereby a layer of text appears on top of an opaque background containing an image beneath it all. That underlying image may be stationary, or it may move at a slower pace than the text when scrolled, creating a sense of depth between the text and underlying imagery (known as a parallax). For examples of layering see the websites in PMI’s Web Design Gallery . Be sure to click on the links provided to view the websites in action.

“Engagement!” If you’ve heard that word once, you’ve heard it a million times when it comes to today’s marketing. The same is true of today’s website designs, and one design trend – interactive elements – is getting visitors more engaged. Those elements might include the use of a video header, live chat tools, virtual reality, or artificial intelligence features.

No matter how great your website looks, visitors are still coming to your site for information. That hasn’t changed, but what is changing is how that content is presented. Web designers are becoming more creative with content such as placing a popular blog post front and center rather than burying it or providing data more visually.

When deciding if it’s time to update your website, it’s important to remember who your target market is and what they expect. For example, a company that sells high-tech or innovative products probably needs a savvier and trendier website than your local dentist.

However, a website that looks old and outdated will not elicit a good first impression for ANY business and could mean the difference between someone staying to explore your site or moving on to a competitor’s site.

Good looks are important but they aren’t everything. At PMI we combine good looks with a marketing-driven web design strategy. We'll create a beautiful website targeted to your market that delivers new leads and sales. Your website can become a digital hub that unifies and integrates your entire online strategy.

To learn more, give us a call at 484-297-6395 or contact us online.

This blog is a summary of “ 7 Trends in Modern Web Design All Business Owners Must Know.”