Are you hoping to impress your website visitors with an updated look in 2018? The latest designs and web solutions are sure to wow your visitors and keep their attention focused on you rather than your competitors.
The buzzword for 2018 for web design is performance. Mobile performance is key.
Once limited, mobile design is now at the forefront of web design trends. Today’s mobile technology with voice search, language processing, conversational bots, and geolocation is driving the web design trends for 2018.
Let’s take a look.
Web Solutions: Negative Space Matters
Negative space isn’t a new concept, but web developers are finding inventive ways for making the most out of white or negative space. This is especially true for mobile technology.
Simple, fast, and light-weight solutions are the trend leaving gimmicky web designs in the past. The trend focuses on the idea that what’s on the page matters and everything there has a purpose.
And that purpose is to increase your conversions, of course. Every visual should have a point. Does it illustrate a service or product?
If not, you are better off without unnecessary visuals. Instead, the use of negative space helps to draw visitors attention to a conversion point without distracting visuals.
It’s true that clean and simplistic design was popular for 2017. But minimalism is even hotter for 2018.
Bold and Expressive Typography
In 2018, expect to see lots of bold, colorful typography in web design. Artistic fonts will be used more and more rather than images.
For mobile technology, this makes sense for web solutions. Images take over and add additional weight. Bold typography uses clean lines and incorporates more negative space into the design.
This enables your logos and your calls to action to pop and draws your visitor’s eye to what matters on your page.
Bells and whistles are fading away. Tons of clickable images are distracting and can be tacky on a web page.
A more text-based look, dynamic headers, and bold calls-to-action are on trend.
Using Cinemagraphs
A cross between a video and a static image, cinemagraphs will be a popular web design trend in 2018. Cinemagraphs add dynamic images that aren’t as sluggish as videos.
With the focus on mobile technology, cinemagraphs aren’t just for show. The purpose is to draw the visitor’s eye to key points of the web page.
The idea is visitor engagement. Cinemagraphs can be programmed to dance or spin when touched on-screen.
Adding cinemagraphs to your menu or product page is a new idea to increase conversion and update your web solutions for 2018.
Progressive Web Apps
Mobile apps are very popular, and designers are now blending the best of traditional apps with the best of web pages. This has resulted in Progressive web apps.
This will improve the function of website push notifications, page transitions, splash screens, and offline modes. Many prominent websites such as Twitter utilize progressive web apps and are easy to access with only one click.
As this type of app gains popularity, you will notice more automation and use of natural language processing. These apps will react to you and your preference.
Expect to see progressive web apps at the forefront of design trends for 2018.
Conversational Bots
As web pages and traditional apps are blended more and more, you can expect the use of intelligent conversational bots to increase as well. And they can be used in many interesting ways.
You can program them to your Q&A or use them to allow visitors to ask questions verbally rather than reading your basic questions and answers.
Think about this. You could have a website where your visitors could ask anything they are wondering about in regard to your business – even your store hours.
Your website could use a virtual helper to assist your customer and converse with them while you increase your conversion rates.
Natural Language Processing
Natural Language Processing or NLP allows your computer to understand human language and understand customer questions. This will take the place of reliance on keywords as search engines do currently.
This unique technology is the way of the future. Technology that talks to your customers in a natural way could help you increase conversion rates by engaging customers longer than they would otherwise stay on your site.
Using Micro-Interactions
Micr-interactions enhance the visitor experience. Facebook uses this technology.
You can choose multiple reactions now rather than simply liking a post.
Micro-interactions solve the old problem of page reloading. That may not seem like a big deal, but any delay for the consumer means potential revenue lost for your business.
This technology makes the visitor path smoother by eliminating speedbumps and improving interactions. Users can communicate in real-time.
Micro-interactions help improve communication issues while increasing connectivity in a world where consumers expect things quickly accessible on their mobile device.
Destination Facebook
Facebook can’t be overlooked as it is the most popular social media site for all ages. Facebook is used for business content, blogs, live chats, reviews, and live streaming.
Your customers may first learn about your business from Facebook before they ever visit your website. If you aren’t following this trend, it’s only growing for 2018.
Using Facebook as a business tool will drive traffic to your website and get your customers calling and messaging you.
Bottom vs Top Sticky Elements
A trend that will continue is the influence of mobile apps on web design trends. People are used to reading left to right.
We don’t really think about it. And as more and more of us read from our phones, we are becoming accustomed to clicking from the bottom to control navigation.
Developers are now adding sticky elements to the bottom of sites rather than the top. Progressive web apps are leading this trend as a push for functionality dominates the trend.
Security Concerns
It’s an unfortunate reality that security concerns are always with us. Malicious hacking was a regular occurrence in 2017, and that’s only expected to increase in 2018.
Your visitors want to feel secure on your site. They need to feel safe leaving their contact information or clicking on your downloads.
HTTPS is the norm for online banking and shopping these days. But due to malware and even the dreaded ransomware, users are demanding a trusted certificate and security more and more.
Stay Up-To-Date
Having an old or outdated web design can negatively affect your conversion rates. That’s reason enough to make sure you are knowledgeable about the latest web solutions.
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