By now, most businesses have accepted that they need to regularly review and overhaul their website’s design. After all, technology changes and so too does the way in which we read and interact with online content.
Then, of course, design preferences also change and while the design of your site will partly be dictated by your business and brand, it never hurts to keep an eye on some of the latest design trends coming through.
But web design is about more than just how your site looks. It’s also about how easy it is to use and how well it showcases your business, values and products or services. It’s certainly worth working with an agency on web design in High Wycombe to make sure your site hits the mark.
Although technology is always evolving, that doesn’t mean you can’t do a few things to help future-proof your website. A recent article for Search Engine Journal highlighted some of the top trends that are emerging in this area and noted that by factoring those into any website redesign now, you’ll be ahead of the curve.
First up is personalisation. The key to getting this right is to carry out user testing with the different types of visitors to your site early in the design process. Find out what they’re most likely to do and which pages they tend to visit.
The aim is to make their journey as simple and smooth as possible. If your business is based in different locations, a good place to start is with landing pages that change based on a person’s location to provide tailored content that’s most relevant to them.
When it comes to people finding your website in the first place, voice search is growing in importance. Although it’s still a comparatively new area, it’s worth bearing in mind when you’re optimising your content with keywords and phrases.
You need to think about search engine optimisation (SEO) when you’re designing a website and now you also need to consider how your site will be found by those using voice search. Think about whether people will phrase search queries differently when they’re speaking as opposed to typing, for example.
In terms of the design aesthetic itself, expect minimalism to continue to be a popular option. “This is even more important with the continued shift to mobile browsing. Mobile users should never be treated as an afterthought,” the news provider stated.
Card-based layouts are another option that make it easy for people to navigate around a website and that can look very effective when done well.
Mobile App Daily also recently offered some advice on things to consider when designing a new website. The news provider noted that “pretty is useless” if your site isn’t easy to navigate and makes it difficult for users to find the information they’re looking for, for instance.
Another top tip is to make sure that your site is tested on every browser. There are browser testing apps to help speed this process up, but don’t neglect a particular browser or type of device when you’re trying your site out and getting ready for launch.