Is your website prepared for 2019?

There are nearly 200 million active websites on the Internet.

It can be difficult identifying ways to stand out from such a large crowd! This is especially the case if you depend on site traffic for business purposes.

One of the ways that you can keep your website competitive is to implement a cutting-edge design. Your site’s design alone can retain or repel visitors. It can even play a hand in conversions.

In this post, we discuss the leading website design trends you should make note of this new year. Read on for insight!

1. Clean Designs

Gone are the days of cluttered, image-heavy websites. Site developers are recognizing the ease and great value of clean, minimalist web design.

This may seem like a simple trend, but think about how it works from a marketing perspective.

Users are getting more selective about the websites they want to visit. Websites have always functioned liked digital business cards.

But as we get progressively digital, websites can be solely responsible for a business’s first impression.

A clean design is almost always professional. It is also likely to be easy to navigate and striking in its own way. It can showcase rich content rather than drown out what’s likely to be useful to visitors.

If your website depends on images or if it currently boasts a busy, cluttered look, swap it out for something simple. Opt for a minimalist theme and a clear, simple color palette.

2. Highly Relevant, Easy-to-Find Content

In its guidelines for creating a Google-friendly site, Google emphasizes the value of relevant content. If you are using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to drive site traffic, don’t forget this stipulation.

From a design perspective, this is also a great reminder. As mentioned above, users are getting pickier about the sites they choose to visit.

They want to drop by sites with easy-to-find content. That content should be organized clearly and logically. It should also be immediately relevant and valuable.

Ensure that your site’s navigation is on point. Think about the content that your visitors are likely to find useful, and make sure that this is easy to locate and clearly defined.

Often this means losing a lot of graphics, animations, and banners that get in the way of what really matters. That’s okay. The best visitors won’t need these to stay on your site!

Check out this helpful article to learn more about the value of website content.

3. Fast-Loading Sites

In order to retain visitors, your site has to load quickly. If its content takes longer than three seconds to load, it is likely sending visitors away rather than keeping them.

Make sure that your site is loading at lightning speed. This may require changing up your web host to one that can provide reliable hosting services.

It may also mean compressing and optimizing code and images to ensure faster loading. When designing your website, keep compression and minifying at the fore.

Another way to secure a fast-loading site is to build your content through a platform integrated with hosting services. Squarespace, for example, often generates fast-loading, professional sites.

4. Mobile-Friendly Everything

Roughly 77% of American adults have a smartphone. This means that a huge percentage of the U.S. population relies on mobile access to websites.

Google will also likely use mobile indexing when ranking sites in the near future. This means that it will rely on websites’ mobile versions when ranking search results.

With both of these facts in mind, mobile-friendly web design is taking 2019 by storm. The most competitive designs will be automatically responsive, meaning that they will adapt to fit the screen size of the access device.

They will also have mobile-friendly content, including images and other multimedia.

Some site owners may even want to consider supporting their sites with a custom app.

Design your website with mobile access in mind to cater to your mobile audience.

5. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is starting to take a significant role in web development. In 2019, AI will be making even more of a splash, largely in the form of chatbots.

Chatbots have already entered the scene. They are those automated messenger bots that appear on certain sites, designed to aid in general customer service.

Yet this year, chatbots will be more advanced and universal. They will have more capabilities, enabling them to provide more nuanced assistance to visitors.

Consider integrating a chatbot on your website if you provide services or products of any kind. You can actually create one yourself.

Learn more about that here.

6. Video Content

Video content has always been popular. It is almost always engaging.

It also offers business owners a quick and effective means of delivering key information to audiences.

You may already have video content embedded on your site. But do you have a video background?

Website owners can now upload videos to play in the background of home screens or other prominent pages. The result is a deep visual experience that occurs as soon as a visitor navigates to your site.

Video backgrounds give you a great chance to showcase products, services, and team members. They can also set the bar high for site user experience.

Website Design Trends

In this digital age, it’s vital to keep up with evolving trends. In the business world, this means keeping pace with technology in order to keep pace with your clients!

The heart of any website lies in its content and design. Making note of these current website design trends can ensure that your site is both user-friendly and authentic.

As you modify your site design, prioritize a clean, minimalist theme. Make use of a few captivating images rather than an aggregate of subpar, stock photos.

Ensure that your content is relevant and easy to find. Think about your mobile users as you design your site, and make sure that your content is loading at the highest speeds possible.

At Kapokcom Tech, we have the information you need to craft a powerful online presence.

Curious about what role web design plays in customer experience? Read our thoughts about that here.