10 Website Design Trends you May Hate – But Can’t Ignore6559146
2014 is introducing major changes in web design. Ideas and thoughts that SEO and responsive website design thought were trends are becoming mainstream. Trend #1: The Return to Retro Flat Graphics Flat design replaces content marketing. Realistic templates are replaced with flat templates containing bright colors, creative typography, and minimalism that focuses on the message. Flat design focuses on clean, open spaces, with crisp edges and two dimensional illustrations. Trend #2 Focus on Customer’s Needs Internet marketing is learning to focus on the consumer instead of telling them ‘look how great I am’. Now the message is, ‘how can I help you.’ To achieve this, a website needs to educate the consumer and give them enough information to make a decision to buy. Trend #3: Mobile Marketing Mobile marketing is not a trend. Statistics show that 50% of all purchases begin online. This trend spiked December 2013 (comscore). The truth, if you are not ‘online’ will not sell. Flat design allows the user to focus on their needs and their wants. It is about relationship, not ‘advertising’. This is because the average consumer is disengaged and dissatisfied with advertising.
Trend #4 Metro Designs Apple and Windows brainstormed and the flat, Metro template was born. Its purpose is to keep content at the users fingertips. Metro is the next step in creating User Friendly Interface replacing ‘designer inspired,’ or ‘easy to create. Trend #5 Scrolling A few years ago the website trend was, ‘if it isn’t above the fold, then the message will not be read.’ Today, the internet user is scrolling on their cell phones. It is easier to access everything on one page. Menus do not always work on cell phones. Trend #6 User Focused Marketing There are some who believe that SEO will be ineffective on a single page. This is not true. Written For SEO Content Is A Thing Of The Past. One of the biggest side effects of voice search is the demise of ‘written for content’ articles. The transition from keyword focused articles to articles that answer questions will improve website’s reputation and trust factors. Content will educate the consumer, instead of stuffing a blog to tweaking the ranking positions. Trend #7 Google Knowledge Graph and Audio Search Keywords are ‘weighted’ with the most important keyword being the one ranked. When Google released ‘hummingbird’ in September 2013 they evolved their focus on audio search and Google Now. Google is looking for answers to the user’s question, not keywords. Those websites that have the answer will rank in the SERPs. The spike in mobile use, and the development of wearable computers are driving fundamental changes in how people search. Google has invested years into GLASS, a computer you wear as glasses and they are not about to let all that work go to waste. Trend #8 HTML is Good HTML5 empowers a website to push the boundary of interaction. The days when users needed to download plugins for multimedia are gone. Flash and Quicktime players are not needed. Webdesigners can create animations, sound, motion, etc without worrying whether a browser will play them. HTML5 has finally made it possible to design a consistent user experience no matter what web browser or device it is used on. Blog #9 Website Design = Trust and Relationships = Generating Revenue The first purpose is to build trust. That trust improves reputation management and increases revenue. Increasing the User Conversion To Buyer Ratio has always been a challenge. Online business owners attempt to skip the marketing stage of website design uk. This has created misconceptions about online business. Trend #10 Media Marketing Only 20% of a website’s visitors read the content, but 70% will watch a video. Media marketing is replacing content marketing. Infographics are becoming the preferred method of passing on information. Youtube.com is becoming one of the top Google search engines.
