4 Web Design Trends that will Change the Face of Small Businesses
Small business owners who make the most out of these trends will go a long way in expanding their entities.
Can you remember how the first websites looked like? Some looked funny while others appeared complicated enough to launch a rocket in the moon. A couple of years down the line, significant changes are evident. Modern websites are not only sleek but also user friendly. They also contain answers to most of our daily needs. That is enough. We might want to say customers have reaped huge benefits from such changes, but the truth is business owners have gained even more.
The web design evolution is on; it never stops. In future, trends are expected to shift further. While it is good to remain optimistic and wait for more changes in the future, it is fair enough appreciating the existing trends. For any business owner aimed at boosting revenues and taking his business to the next level, having in mind certain revolutionary web design trends in the business world is necessary. Let’ take a walk through some of them.
1. Responsive Web Design
In a world where smartphones control nearly all activities, it is irrational to ignore the influence of responsive web design. Several years back, internet was all about desktops, and spending countless of hours behind huge computer screens. That has changed over time. Many people now prefer phones for browsing, reading online, and even making purchases online. In a recent survey, it was revealed that 75% of all American adults use both desktop and mobile device to view contents on the internet. Ignoring such a powerful statistic is almost suicidal.
Business owners who care more about their brand and have a soft spot for their customers have embraced responsive web design, almost entirely. Responsive website takes into consideration the gadget used. All visitors using different devices are able to access information in a seamless way. If you think this is going to change anytime soon, I can just try to imagine how wrong you are. For smaller businesses, this trend provides you with a perfect platform for battling it out with the market giants.
2. Micro-interactions
Paying attention to the tiniest details in websites is bound to revolutionise the business world. Maybe it has done so already. Every business owner aims at engaging customers on their sites. You want website visitors to spend as much time on your site as possible. Micro interactions achieve exactly that. Dan Staffer, the interaction design director at Smart Design, says that a successful interaction follows a four-part structure;
-
Trigger; this involve initiation of action
-
Engagement; takes count of what happens during interaction
-
Feedback; factors in what is happening
-
Modes and Loops; it has everything to do with what follows
For brands that have felt the essence of micro-interactions, they have enhanced their web interface to factor in this. Through web developers, they have exploited avenues of making micro-interaction not only efficientbut also delightful. Smaller businesses have even more to gain from this recent innovation. With the services of a good web designer who understands your industry, you can be certain of achieving substantial outcomes.
3. Motion and Animation
It has been there for long. You might want to argue so. Well, animation is making a massive comeback, bigger and better this time round. Initially, animations were just for fun-filled tutorials, not necessarily serious. That has changed however. A glance at Slack’s loading animations clearly proves that. The best a small business owner can do is to stage a comeback, together with animation. Whether you are going for a completely new site or upgrading the existing one, embracing animations provides you with the perfect opportunity of making more conversions.
For a rather static and boring site, animation can be used in the background to add motion. There is also the other option of animating objects while scrolling through, an approach adopted by Spotify. For web developers, there is so much to explore with animations. You can consider;
-
Hover Animations
-
Animation in background videos
-
Scroll Animations
-
Loading Animations
-
Motion Animations
If used appropriately, animations can work perfectly in engaging customers delivering essential content to visitors. Instead of lengthy reads, you can go for animated videos. Vision is the strongest of the human senses. Everyone likes watching. Why don’t you take advantage of that? If incorporated with data compression and better bandwidth, you will put away the fear of slow load times and have your visitors enjoy a seamless browsing experience throughout your website. You can take a couple of lessons from Brikk, an animation company that provide samples of how best to use animation in delivering brand messages.
4. Reduced Reliance on Custom Codes
Small business owners have traditionally opted for renowned web design agencies when it comes to developing their sites. For most people, websites are complicated and highly technical things best left for certain people, just like Venn diagram template in data presentation. Even more, some people believe that websites are generally difficult to maintain. However, the recent surge of drag and drop web design platform has taken the game to a whole new level. Many small business firms are now opting for DIY alternatives.
For someone who is not so experienced with web design, the lesser you will rely on codes to design a website, the easier it will be for you to end up with a glamorous site. Currently, less than half of American small businesses have their websites. With entry and continuous promotion of drag-and-drop web design, we should expect to see a rise in that number. For small business owners, this is a massive opportunity worth taking advantage of. However, it is worth observing that customisation of front-end design of websites still requires coding. It is paramount seeking the services of professionals where there is need.
Conclusion
Web design industry is consistently changing. In the next couple of years, we expect to see more explosion and better user experience; thanks to revolutionised web design. For now, the best you can do is to embrace the trends that are already with us. Small business owners who make the most out of these trends will go a long way in expanding their entities.
Bio
Jane Anders is a PowerPoint template designer. She has made many ppt, Venn diagram template, etc. To know more, please visit the site.