By Adam Wozney
Community Manager @ Wix
www.adamwozney.com
The first website launched in December of 1990. Remember 1990? Paula Abdul had a number one hit with “Opposites Attract,” the number one movie in America was “Home Alone,” and you may have owned a pair of parachute pants just like your idol MC Hammer. Over the last quarter century, styles and tastes have come and gone. Just like fashion and culture, web design trends constantly change. Keeping up with all of these trends can be difficult for a small business owner. But why even bother paying attention to web design trends? How does web design increase your bottom line? Well, you’re not still wearing parachute pants, are you?
At Wix, we would argue that web design is one of the most important factors of a business’s marketing strategy. Why? Designing an intuitive and engaging experience for your customers increases your customer lifetime value (CLTV). This is a prediction of the net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer. At the end of the day, a happy customer will lead to more sales and leads.
Lucky for you, Wix has been in the web design business for over a decade. Founded in 2006, Wix has over 96 million users on its small business management platform. With so many businesses across the globe using our services, we constantly search the Internet for the latest web design trends, bringing that information to our users. We have compiled a list of trends that will have an impact on website design in 2017.
Background Videos
– A website with a moving background –
Some folks say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that’s the case, then a video is worth a thousand pictures. When either building or updating your website, consider adding videos. Well-constructed videos deliver meaningful content quickly. Studies show that users who find a website, leave it within 10-20 seconds! A lot of new businesses actually put videos into the background of their websites. Doing so delivers content to potential customers, lightening-fast.
Pro Tip: When using a background video on your website, the subtler the imagery, the better. Sometimes, having moving images can be distracting — think strobe light, eek! Keep your video backgrounds simple and visually appealing.
Single Page Websites
– A website that scrolls all the way down, then a “back to top” button is clicked, repeating the process –
A single page website is a website that is designed to hold all the information a user would need on one, simple, scrollable website. For example, if you want an “About Us” or “Contact” section on your website, you would place that directly beneath the fold instead of creating a separate page for that information. One of the main benefits of having a single-scroll web page is ease of use. All a user has to do is scroll down to see all of the site’s information. Single page websites are best for businesses that only want to show the basics: business name, address, phone number and company history.
Pro Tip: When building a single page website, be sure to include a ‘back to top’ button, like the ones offered by Wix, so visitors can easily navigate.
Animations
– A mobile website that opens a menu and closes –
Animations can be a great way to tell a rich story on your website. With Wix, it’s easy to add animated menus, pictures and text, but that doesn’t mean you should. Don’t add animations just because it’s easy to do. Make sure you build the animations into the theme of your website. For instance, if you’re a coffee shop owner, have an image of a steaming cup of joe in the background. Give users a fully immersive experience! The more memorable your website, the more likely users will come back to it or recommend it to their friends.
Pro Tip: As with background video images, when adding animations, make the visuals as subtle as possible. Don’t distract from the purpose of your website.
The above trends will help give your website the look and feel of most modern sites. However, design is just one part of your website. To learn more about all the things you need to consider when building your website, visit the Wix Blog. For more on Wix and our involvement with America’s SBDC network, check out WixSBDC.com.