Posted by Good web design is a key component of any digital marketing strategy. Directing lots of good-quality traffic to a website is great, but that’s just a small part of the challenge. A website will then need to encourage visitors to stay and, ultimately, to buy something.
This means that web designers need to employ certain features in their designs to help drive conversions. These features are constantly evolving as our technology and understanding of sales develops, so here’s a look at some of the latest trends.
1. Mobile-first design
More people use mobile devices to access the internet than PCs and laptops, and the trend looks set to continue. As such, web designers are responding accordingly and designing websites increasingly with mobile devices in mind. This means taking into account that smaller screens can become cluttered, and typing can be harder, to name just a couple of examples. Not taking these usability factors into account might have a considerable negative impact on your digital marketing plans.
2. Interactive content
Content has always been important for any marketing campaign – even before the arrival of the internet. Written content has long been a mainstay for websites and many web builders have invested in a grammar checker and other tools to ensure their content is of a high quality. With advancing technology, however, interactive content is being used to help digital marketing campaigns further. Content like calculators and augmented reality tools can be very powerful in helping to drive conversions, and we can expect to see them used more often in 2021 and beyond.
3. Chatbots
It’s important to respond to queries and complaints as soon as possible, but it would also be very expensive to have customer service and sales teams working around the clock to reply to messages. The good news is that chatbots have now become so sophisticated that it can be all but impossible to tell them apart from real people. With website visitors being serviced as soon as they need something, digital marketing campaigns become much more effective.
4. Mobile-responsive design
This could fall under mobile-first design but deserves a mention of its own. Different devices have different-sized screens, making it extremely difficult to make a website that fits perfectly on them all. Except – a mobile responsive website will automatically adjust itself according to the dimensions of the screen it’s being displayed on. This will help ensure all visitors to your site have a positive experience, and this will provide a boost in conversion rates.
5. Personalization
People like to feel treated as people rather than just another statistic, making personalization very effective at enhancing digital marketing campaigns. Such is the impact of personalization that it can help with customer value management – even just treating somebody how they want to be treated can help add value to your brand. Websites are becoming increasingly sophisticated at being able to deliver what people are looking for on an individual basis, and it’s likely to be a big deal in 2021 and beyond.
6. AI
Following on from personalization is artificial intelligence (AI). We can expect to see more and more websites employing machine learning services to help them learn more about their visitors. As the website gets to learn more about certain individuals and demographics, the website can respond accordingly to provide an enhanced user experience. For example, it could help make sure the right content is delivered to the right person, and this will help boost conversion rates considerably.
7. UX
Web designers have been working on improving user experience since the first website was made, and their efforts show no sign of slowing down. For modern websites, this means pages that load quickly, minimized clutter, and easy navigation, among other things. A good website user experience is critical for digital marketing campaigns because it helps keep bounce rates low and improves conversion rates. Take yourself on a tour of your website in the shoes of a visitor, and ask yourself honestly if you think the experience is a good one.
8. White space
In the world of web building, white space means the areas that are left empty, and in 2021 we will see a trend toward more empty areas. How is this beneficial? Well, taking a minimalist approach helps to make any content that is there more visible. This, in turn, helps people find what they are looking for more easily and helps people navigate the site. Not only that, but it can also be very aesthetically pleasing when done right. It’s something that may not work with all websites but can be very effective for those it is suitable for.
9. Micro-interactions
Up until recently, interacting with a website has meant clicking on the various menu items to take you to the next page, but 2021 looks set to change that. We can expect to see an increase in micro-interactions being added to designs. This means small on-screen “buttons” that let you make changes like changing the color scheme or similar. They will help to make websites a lot more pleasing aesthetically and functionally, improving the user experience further.
10. Voice interactions
It wasn’t that long ago that speaking to machines would have had people question your well-being. Nowadays, however, it’s becoming commonplace. In 2021, we can expect more websites to have voice interaction features, such as being able to verbally tell a website to open a different page. This will surely improve accessibility and user experience, especially when using a mobile device with a keyboard that can be difficult to use.
Watching trends gives you an edge
Not all of the trends above are new, but we can expect to see most of them more often in the coming year. We are also likely to see some that have not been mentioned. If you are a web designer or are involved in digital marketing, it makes sense to pay attention to the latest trends. Doing so will help you keep up with the competition.
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