The Latest Web Design Trends That Are Here To Stay

Web design is an ever-changing field. Things that were well-liked and very popular a mere few years ago are entirely out of date today, and many of the themes we seek out today won’t last very long into the future. But some web design trends are indeed here to stay. Following these trends when designing or redesigning your website in 2021 will help you create a website that serves you well for years to come. So what is the latest and greatest of web design today, tomorrow, and in the future?

Web design trends to follow in 2021

Take a look at some of the biggest and most visited websites in your industry. You’ll probably notice some commonalities between them because everyone wants to follow the latest trends. And you should, too – at least when it comes to the trends that are here to stay. So what should you include in your web design?

Mobile optimization and responsive design

At this point, roughly half of all internet traffic comes from mobile users. This percentage has steadily risen over the last few years and is predicted to continue growing in the foreseeable future. And since it’s crucial to make sure that your website is accessible to all users, you’ll want to invest in making your design mobile-friendly. To achieve this, you’ll want a responsive design that can adjust to differently sized and oriented screens. The content itself should, of course, stay the same. But the website should adapt to the smaller screens on mobile devices.

However, simply making your design responsive is not enough. To truly improve the mobile users’ experience, you’ll also want to:

  • limit the number of images you include in your design so that they can clearly see the content instead of scrolling through photos the entire time
  • use high-contrast colors for the background and text to make text easy to see even on a small screen
  • pick a simple, non-cursive font to make reading easier
  • increase page speed so your website will load fast regardless of the type of connection

Scrolling

When creating content, you typically want to put important and attention-grabbing pieces of it above the fold. This piques the interest of the reader and encourages them to continue reading. But when it comes to website design, you should forget about this rule. People who are browsing your pages are already interested. You don’t need to bombard them with everything in the first few pixels of the screen. Instead, use the scrolling feature to build a narrative and tell your story. Combining scrolling with lazy loading will let you reveal bits of your website at different times and be a great narrative tool. Not to mention, it’ll make your website faster.

Hero images

Having too many images is not good for your website. It will increase loading times and distract from the rest of the content. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use images; you should just use them the right way. One good idea is to choose one photo or video that truly represents what you’re trying to get across and showcase that. This image can be at the top of the page, the first thing users see. Or it can take up a whole page with just an overlay of text on it. Either way, it should be the main focus of the page it’s on. To make your hero image even more poignant, make it an image of your actual business for authenticity and add your logo to it to truly get the best representation of your brand.

Classics with a unique twist

You should never try to make your website exactly like somebody else’s. No matter how much you like another website and how good their design is, you should have a website that is uniquely yours. So only work with custom web design companies to create a website specifically for your brand. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get inspiration from somewhere else.

Certain design features have been on trend for about as long as web design has been a thing. It’s a safe bet that they will continue to be popular in the future as well. So don’t be afraid to base your design on the classics and add your own unique twist to them. For example, take a minimalist aesthetic, but create it using the color palette you’ve chosen for your logo. If your website is on WordPress, this will be even easier. You just need to find a theme you like and customize it!

Personalized user experience

You are ultimately creating your website for your users. So it’s important to give them what they want. And users want to have an experience that is uniquely tailored to them. This is the best way to use web design to increase conversion rates – show each user what they are there to see, and you will turn visitors into clients easily. All you need is a little bit of information about your visitors – where they are from, how they interacted with your business before, and what they have shown interest in. Good CRM software can help you collect, analyze, and operationalize this data. Then, you can show each user content based on their preferences. Not only will this make it easier for them to find what they’re looking for, but it will also help you upsell your products and services.

Web design trends that you don’t need to pay attention to

When designing a website you plan on using in the future, it’s important to parse out relevant web design trends from those that are just a flash in the pan. For example, certain color schemes will grow and wane in popularity over time; don’t pay attention to that – focus on the color palette that represents your brand instead. Many websites will also include a large, colorful message in a handwriting font pointing to the social media sharing buttons on their posts. If your brand trends more toward the classic, professional, and elegant, such a feature will clash with your design. So take a look at the trends that are sticking around. Mobile optimization, personalization, and customization of classic designs, for example, have been the talk of the industry for years. These are the trends you want to place your bets on.

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