Most trends for small business websites go unnoticed by us designers and are therefore hardly worth our time. What is useful is to ask yourself the question of what will change for you and for your visitors in order to keep them on your website. In the following you will read what we think is worth paying attention to at the moment, and what not.
1. Speed is the trend that isn’t visual
Your main consideration for your new website should be the speed at which it loads. When comparing various design choices, it doesn’t matter how they look. A fast website is far more important than a beautifully designed one. People will leave your website before they’ve even had a chance to see any of the content. A slow website will have a negative impact on your search engine rankings as well. This is because search engines consider the load time of a website when ranking them.
2. Accessibility has moved from nice-to-have to baseline
Accessible design is not longer a nice to have but a must have. Designing for screen readers and ensuring that users can use your website using a keyboard is no longer an extra. It’s a standard feature for all websites and it is only going to get better.
3. Mobile-first is no longer a choice
Designing for the mobile phone screen first, followed by adjustments to fit larger screen sizes such as those found on computers, is currently more effective than the reverse approach for designing websites that contain content intended to be read on the Internet. That’s because most website traffic consists of visitors who use mobile phones to visit websites on the Internet.
4. Minimalism, but warmer than it used to be
As the trend towards minimumism develops, the idea of “less is better” will become even more fixed in the design psyche, however, designs will become warmer and more human than previous trends. Instead of focusing solely on achieving the cleanest and most minimalist design possible, designers will look to incorporate more natural, rounded and human touches into their work. Organic shapes, natural colors, subtle design elements, and human-centric design will all feature heavily in modern websites as designers seek to find the perfect balance between clean design and warmth.
5. AI features, used carefully
AI-powered chatbots, personalization and smart recommendations are increasingly being used by websites to enhance the user experience. They can be particularly useful in answering frequently asked questions outside of normal business hours. As with anything, though, be careful to ensure that you are using the latest technology for the right reasons. The worst chatbot is likely to be one that has been included on a website simply because it is available to use.
6. Sustainable, lightweight sites
Sustainable or lightweight websites are better for the environment and also are faster, cause they use less energy to run and contain less bytes. That means a sustainable website is also a fast website.
7. Purposeful motion, not decoration for its own sake
Small animations like a button clicking or a section opening and closing can be used to guide the visitor through the website. These animations should be purposeful and not only used for decorative purposes. A well-placed animation can for example indicate that a section has been opened. Heavy animations are however typically very slow and therefore not suitable for a website. Such animations also often appear to be used for decorative purposes only.
What to actually do with this
As always, we recommend to check if a redesign based on a trend list is really needed first. The really important aspects of a website should not be replaced by trends in the first place. Thus, check if your website is fast, can be used on smartphones and in the best case on all devices by everyone, and then add the trends that fit your website and company best.