If people have been feeling so-so about your simple site, we’re here to help. In this guide, we give you four staple trends you should always include in your own site, so it stands a chance against the most popular websites on the internet, and we’ll also give you six design trends to help your website outstrip the competition!
Let’s get into it! We’ll start with the basic trends you absolutely need to incorporate into your own site.
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4 staple trends you should always include in your own site
1. A catchy domain name
You might not think of a domain name as an essential part of your website’s design, but the truth is that your domain name influences every single aspect of your site’s design. A fun, trendy domain name will inspire a website with lots of bold, eye-catching details, while a more subdued domain name will inspire a more minimalistic design.
Whether your website is silly or serious, you need a catchy domain name if you want to attract visitors. So, spend time coming up with one that captures the spirit of your own website.
2. Quick page-load speed
A website that loads slowly will make your visitors leave quickly. In this decade, people have too many website options to spend time sitting around waiting for your website to load. So, try to keep your design simple, so that your website doesn’t lag behind the competition.
3. SSL certificates
An SSL certificate isn’t so much a design feature as it is a security feature. But thanks to the work of popular search engines like Google, a website that’s protected by an SSL certificate will look a lot than one that’s unprotected. Depending on your browser, a website that uses SSL certificates will show up in your browser with a padlock, or some other symbol that lets you know it’s safe to proceed. An unprotected website will have a “caution” sign, or show up with a red bar, or some other sign that if you enter the website, you’ll be doing so at your own risk.
To create credibility for your website, install an SSL certificate.
4. Mobile-friendly design
Most people will navigate your website on their phones more often than they’ll navigate it on their laptops. This means that if you want to create a comfortable scrolling experience for your visitors, you’ll need a mobile-friendly design. (If you use our website builder to create your website, your site is already guaranteed to be mobile-friendly!)
Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, here are six trends to add to your own site if you want it to stand out:
6 hot design trends to jazz up your own site
1. Smart content load
Lazy loading and infinity scroll are technologies that have been around for ages. When you add this design feature to your website, you make it so that your visitors’ browsers won’t waste time trying to download every single bit of content on your website. Instead, their browsers will download only the content they’re currently seeing on their screens. This is a great way to save time and resources, and more importantly, it creates a more enjoyable experience for your visitors.
2. White space
White space is often overlooked, but it’s just as important to your design as your text, images and videos, because white space is what makes all these other design elements stand out.
If your website is cluttered with huge blocks of text or with lots of images and videos, your visitors will be overwhelmed. What’s more, they’ll find a less stressful website to visit. You can’t have a well-designed website without incorporating white space.
3. Micro interactions
Micro interactions make a big impact on how much your visitors enjoy using your website. Micro interactions are tiny animations or changes to your website that make the experience of using your website a little bit less passive.
One popular example of a micro interaction is having a link change colour when a visitor clicks on it. But your micro interactions don’t have to be this basic. Get creative and come up with fun ways to make your visitors feel like they’re truly interacting with your website! (Remember: You can incorporate audio, too.)
4. Bold color and fun fonts
Some websites take a modern, minimalistic approach to design. But if your website is aimed at a younger crowd, you might want to lean in the opposite direction. Don’t squash your creativity by choosing drab, ho-hum neutrals and prim, sensible fonts. Go for bold and watch your visitors pour in!
5. Hosted exchange
Hosted exchange is a Microsoft email system that makes it easy to sync your contacts, calendars and tasks with your clients. The best part is that hosted exchange works offline and on multiple devices, so you’ll always stay connected to your website. This gives your website that extra bit of polish that puts it ahead of the competition.
6. Dark mode
With good reason, people are starting to get really concerned about the effects of excessive screen exposure on eyesight, sleep patterns, and overall health. Protect your visitors by making dark mode a design element of your website.
Wrapping up
You now have ten design elements to add to your website, but you don’t have to stop here. Get creative and have fun brainstorming even more designs you can add to your own website to attract visitors in droves!
