Your website is perhaps the most powerful tool your business has. With more and more people exclusively using their site to attract customers, close deals and advertise their company, it is vital that every competitive company makes sure their web presence is aesthetically pleasing, optimised for the user and a real endorsement of the company it represents.
It is no longer just about colour schemes, as consumers get more and more savvy, they expect more from the websites they use.
It is now more important than ever for brands to stay on the cutting edge of web design and development in order to beat the competition.
Here are 4 top web design must-haves from 2015 and why businesses need to take them into 2016:
1. Be mobile ready
In 2014, a ComScore report on internet usage in the US revealed that mobile browsing officially surpassed desktop traffic and this trend continued to soar in 2015. In fact, earlier this year Google announced that it now responds to more mobile searches than desktop worldwide. Having a mobile responsive website is crucial to minimising bounce rates and keeping users on your site. There are several free resources that you can use to regularly check how your site appears on different devices; with sites like Am I Responsive? and Screenfly, you simply copy and paste your URL and the tool presents your website on the screens of a variety of devices, making it easy to see your brand through your users’ eyes.
2. Image is everything
Good imagery is one of the most important elements to a great website, yet it is often overlooked. Stock photos are the go-to but their generic nature can often put users off a brand because they lack authenticity. However, the biggest problem with stock photography is the lack of control and knowledge of how many other brands have used the same image. The worst case of this is when university graduate Jennifer Anderson shot for a stock photo shoot which was then used by PC technology rivals Dell and Gateway at the same time, undermining both brands’ attempts to create a distinct identity. Creating your own bespoke imagery means you have visual resources that actually reflect your brand because they have been directed by you.
In 2015 the online arena saw the increasing rise of hero photos and video, this is where the visuals occupy the entire width of the screen. Large visual content helps illustrate your brand story from the minute a user lands on your page. This can help keep their attention for slightly longer, and really allow you to convey the look and feel, giving your brand a better opportunity to showcase products and ultimately boost conversions.
3. Pick a card, any card
Card-based design has seen a surge in popularity as more brands are opting for a website layout similar to popular social media app, Pinterest. The clean, organised nature of card-based design allows brands to present large amounts of visual or written content on a single page, which makes it much easier for the user to digest. The main benefits of a card-based format is its ability to reposition and shuffle content to fit the screen of many devices making it immediately mobile responsive.
4. Keep scrolling, scrolling, scrolling
One of the biggest changes in web design has been the shift from publishing content above the fold to the adoption of the long scroll. For a long time web developers believed users spent most of their reading content that sits above the fold, hence why brands disseminated information across several links that sat at the top of the page. However as internet browsing increasingly veers away from the desktop to smaller screens, brands have had to embrace the long scroll or sacrifice cutting valuable content and placing it on another page. Having all key messages and content on a single page means users can find what they need quicker than having to laboriously click through all parts of a site. The layout of long scroll pages also allows users to uncover your brand story in a fun, interactive way as you can present something new and exciting every time they browse scroll further down. In fact, a study conducted by Chartbeat revealed that over 65% of user engagement happens below the fold.
Your website is one of the first places prospective customers are going to interact with your brand so giving the right impression is crucial. It takes a user 50 milliseconds to decide how they feel about a website, so capturing the right emotions and conveying the right message, in the right way, is what will keep customers coming back to your site to see find out about new products.
By Jessica Laporte, PR and Content Executive at Expert Market.
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