You may not worry too much about how you design your website, but actually trends come and go with regards to designs and it is important to stay on top. I recently read a post which inspired me to put this quick and easy list together of the most common trends we’re seeing in 2016. You do not want to look old fashioned as it may put off your customers. If you have been looking at websites you may have noticed some changes yourself and perhaps even considered taking them on yourself.
Videos
Websites now have a lot more pictures and videos on. They know that they need to be eye catching and draw the attention. Lots of text just does not work for people and videos can be even easier as they do not even have to bother reading. Some people use videos for advertising or post other peoples videos to draw attention to points that they are making. However, you can also make your own videos or animated shorts to get information across. These can be fairly easy to make these days and they can have a big influence on your target market. However, it is important to make sure that you are targeting the right market. Ensure that the videos you choose will engage your target audience as some can be pretty annoying!
Card Layouts
This is where the content is spread in small areas over the screen. Therefore you have pictures and small pieces of text about a selection of things rather than just one item on the screen at a time. This allows people to see a selection of features of your site at once rather than having each page laid one over another. It is rather like comparing a magazine page where you have a selection of short articles on one page, compared with a page with just one article on. It allows visitors to see more options as to what is available in other parts of the website, rather than just looking at headings.
Responsive Design
It is almost essential these days to make sure that your website has a responsive design. This means that it works on smart phones, tablets and PCs. There are many platforms that you can use that will allow you to do this, but it is important to also check the site yourself. Just because it is set so that it fits on the screen, does not mean that it is practical. One site, for example worked on a phone, but had recipes which came up in a pop up. The pop up did not fit in the phone window and could not be scrolled so if you were in a supermarket shopping for ingredients for the recipe you would not be able to see what you needed.
Conclusion
Although it is important to be aware of trends and make sure that you do not get left behind in your design you still need to do what works best for your site and your customers. Do not adopt new things and then keep changing them so that you look modern. Consider whether it really will work for you or whether you are just taking it on because you think that it will keep you looking good. Looks are not everything!
