Web design has come a long way in the last decade. While the average page size in 2011 stood at lesser than 500 KB, the number now stands at over 6 MB – for desktop and mobile sites alike. This is because of the introduction of a variety of elements in the form of heavier fonts and imagery, multimedia experiences, and use of augmented and artificial intelligence. Incidentally, some of the most important aspects of web design in 2021 move beyond the designing table. For instance, almost half of all internet users expect websites to load within two seconds, which is why you need to invest in reliable web hosting. Here are the top aspects that need your attention if you want your website to serve its intended purpose.
1. Identify Your Website’s Purpose
You need to determine what purpose your website will serve at the very onset because this has a direct bearing on its design. It could be to generate leads, describe your expertise, build your reputation, or make sales and provide customer support. For example, if you wish to generate sales, your website will need clear calls-to-actions that address your customers’ needs through every stage of the buying cycle.
2. Think Brand Credibility
Using different web design elements in the right way can make your brand appear more trustworthy, credible, and professional. Incorporating the message you wish to convey in your website’s design helps make your brand easily recognizable and increases its recall value. Effective branding in your website requires use of typography, colors, and elements that are specific to your business. The downside of not getting this aspect right is the fact that more than 35% visitors stop engaging with websites they find unattractive.
3. Provide Personalized Experiences
Personalization plays a vital role in improving user experience (UX). Over the last year, providing more personalized user experiences has found an increasing number of takers – be it through giving users the ability to customize a website’s appearance or providing customized navigation capabilities. By addressing the needs of your target audience in the right manner, you increase the possibility of their entering your sales funnel and converting into loyal customers.
4. Keep it Simple
If you wish to provide a great UX, keeping your website as simple as possible is your best bet in 2021. Web design factors that you need to pay attention when dealing with this aspect include the right use of colors, typography, and multimedia. Colors Since colors have the ability to convey messages and evoke emotional responses, you need to narrow down on ones that align with your brand and work in influencing the behavior of your target audience. Ideally, the fewer the colors your website uses the better – and they should limit to no more than five. When you use colors that are pleasing to the eye, you may expect increased user engagement. Typography The fonts that your website uses should command attention and provide a visual interpretation of your brand’s voice. For instance, while handwriting-like fonts are not the best for business websites, they might work well with ones related to the arts. When it comes to typography, keep these in mind:
- Using easily readable fonts is crucial
- Limiting the number of fonts to three is ideal
- Using size-heavy fonts slows down your website’s loading time, and are best avoided
Multimedia Multimedia refers to the different types of imagery that your website uses, be it in the form of pictures, illustrations, animations, or videos. All the multimedia content you provide should capture your brand’s personality. The first impression you want your website to convey in 2021 is that of credibility and professionalism, which is why using high quality multimedia is vital. Resizing content to make it lighter and quicker to load is equally important.
5. Better Functionality and Navigability
Visitors should be able to find the information they’re looking for with ease. Web design best practices in 2021 revolve around making websites easy to navigate while keeping choices as simple as possible.
- Highlight primary services through the main navigation
- Categorize alternatives to simplify the browsing experience
- Make your contact information accessible via every page
Conclusion
A significant number of people judge the credibility of a business based solely on how its website appears and functions. This requires that you keep up with the latest web design trends, even it if means employing the services of a website management firm. In 2021, addressing customers’ needs in the right manner has taken precedence like never before. Business that fail to address their web design requirements to this end are bound to suffer, whereas ones to do may look forward to increasing the bottom lines.