Web Design Trends in 2018
The world of internet web design is changing and keeping up with the latest trends is a balancing act. Here we list our top web design trends for 2018 that you can implement to improve your online presence and increase lead conversions.
Mobile Friendly Design
At the risk of sounding repetitive, we can’t over-emphasize the importance of designing responsive websites that respond to all devices. Mobile usage is becoming increasingly popular in internet search usage, so your site must be designed accordingly.
This requirement is even more critical, due to Google’s plan to rollout Mobile First Index in 2018, which prioritizes mobile versions of website in search results.
Additionally, the AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) HTML coding standard allows publishers to load sites more quickly on mobile devices. This open-source tool enhances the mobile experience by using external resources for media files and running scripts in parallel, which allows for web pages to load a lot faster.
Brighter Colors, More Patterns, Enhanced Graphics
The emphasis in web design is moving more toward enhancing the user experience and how they feel when on a site. Hence, the movement toward more interactive and visually appealing web design will grow in 2018.
Bright colors gained popularity in 2017 and will continue to be a choice for web design in 2018. Multi-color gradients are replacing flat colors. Bold font styles will also help to highlight your content and quickly catch the users’ attention, as long as you include enough white space to facilitate skimming and reading it. It also helps to hone in on your calls to action.
The trend to use more patterns in web design, such as grids, parallax layouts and shadows will still continue in 2018. The usage of gradient in logos, buttons or the background of web pages are replacing some more traditional elements, like photography.
Combining flat and material design into a “semi-flat design” can add the appearance of more space in the design, making the design elements more appealing to visitors and more likely to generate leads.
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVGs) will be used instead of PNG, GIF and JPG type images in many cases. This is due to SVGs being more scalable, while still maintaining quality. Adding animation to them will not impact page load speed. SVGs also allow 360-degree views, 3D images and Cinemographs.
Micro-Interactive Design
The electronic devices, appliances and apps we use all have micro-interactions. Every time you change a setting, sync your data or devices, set an alarm, pick a password, log in, set a status message, mark a favorite or “like” something, you are engaging with a micro-interaction. For instance, when you set the iPhone to mute, it will be accompanied by a vibration reminder, plus a mute icon on the screen. The micro-interactions add a level of richness to the website with an added layer of branding included.
Including micro-interactions on your website allows users to communicate in real-time. It also increases the speed and connectivity, because they don’t have to reload pages to take actions. Even if this reload action only takes a couple seconds, it could be enough to cause the user to bounce out of your site.
The Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is basically machine-to-machine communication. It is a network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances, and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity which enable these objects to connect and exchange data.
Web design in 2018 will need to use IoT technology to interact with smart devices. There will be new devices (Amazon Echo, Google Daydream, etc.) with associated user interfaces that will need to be considered.
Kalamazoo SEO for Growth Can Design Your Website to Compete in 2018 and Beyond
We stay on top of web design trends so you don’t have to! Contact us today to review your existing site and learn how we can design and develop a website that will get you found and generate leads in 2018.