28 Dec
It’s almost a new year and this holiday season, it might be the perfect time to take a second to refresh your website. 2021’s trends may give a boost to your website’s engagement and will definitely help your business look fresh and modern. Let’s see what 2021 will bring us.
Speed Is Everything
Patience for webpage loading has diminished to 2 seconds. Longer than 3 seconds and you’re at risk for losing 40% of your viewers. Although this is not a new revelation, as more and more websites increase their response times, you won’t want to get left in the dust!
Smart Content
Images, videos and animations can bog down a website’s speed however, there are ways to circumnavigate this issue. Lazy loading, paired with infinite scroll, can help reduce the amount of content your website needs to load immediately.
Personalized Content
Personalized content can be achieved by assessing your visitor’s geolocation and browsing history. Custom content created for returning visitors can increase conversion rates. By utilizing a viewer’s browsing history and location, websites are able to tailor the information they provide. Generic content is a good place to start. Once your site collects enough information, custom content will increase the probability of your viewer to return.
Online Lead Generation Tools
Online forms are an excellent way of increasing potential leads. Lead forms shouldn’t ask for too much information but just enough to follow up with a potential customer later. Consider using a progressive form approach instead of a non-progressive lead form.
Chatbots Become More Humanized
Through 2020 you probably noticed an increased number of chatbots on various websites. Chatbots are useful for basic customer service requests and can assist in “personal shopping”. In 2021, chatbots will continue to appear. As artificial intelligence and machine learning continue to improve, chatbots will continue to become more sophisticated.
Voice Activated Interfaces
Did you notice any increase in your verbal commands or questions to Siri or Alexa? It’s becoming a new norm. Making your website verbally searchable can be helpful in finding text specific to your business.
Availability & Accessibility
Accessibility is no longer a trend. It’s become an expectation to include people with disabilities and make your websites available to them. Having a site that visitors can easily navigate and interact with can increase conversion, boost your SEO as well as help you reach a broader target audience.
Interactivity
Including interactive sections to your website can engage your viewers. Offering value via online tools and calculators can be helpful. Feedback forms, polls and surveys are useful to learn more about your customer’s experience. Quizzes and contests can improve your marketing and branding techniques.
Virtual Reality (VR)
VR can be an incredibly useful tool. VR enables your customer to be immersed in your product or service. For example, if your business sells furniture, enabling your customer to imagine your couch in their living room simply by using their device’s camera. Similarly, car manufacturers are able to create imagery that lets you feel as if you are in the car you’re researching. VR can enhance the sales process and serve as meaningful content.
Organic Shapes
These were an emerging trend in 2020 and will definitely continue into 2021. Organic shapes are classified as fluid shapes that don’t involve straight lines. This includes things in nature like hills and river edges. Try and use symmetrical and winding lines on your website instead of harsh lines and angles.
Colorful Minimalism
Minimalism doesn’t always have to be white. Utilizing the same concept but incorporating a limited amount of color can keep your site looking fresh. When choosing your colors, keep in mind colors evoke certain moods. Make sure that the color you choose fits the mood of your business.
Thumb-Friendly Navigation
Our thumbs work hard! With the majority of users visiting websites via their phones, it’s important to keep in mind your visitor’s thumbs. If your site is easy to navigate simply by their thumb, they’re more likely to stay on the website longer.
Material Design
Material design is all about using color and shadows to give icons and photos an extra boost of life. Adding physical world features and textures can help to make your website more visually appealing.
Vintage is In, Again
Text and colors that have a vintage flare are still the rage. Nostalgia has always been a clever marketer’s way of grasping at our childhoods. Try mixing vintage-inspired fonts with contemporary imagery. This way your site is still modern but reminds your visitors of “the good old days”.
Data Visualization
People love to see data, not read it. If your business has a heavy amount of data to share with the public on its website, put it into a visualization tool. People are far more likely to study a picture than scroll through lines of data.
Illustrations
This appeals to the kid in all of us. Illustrations, rather than stock photos, can be helpful in creating a fun and friendly feeling for visitors. If you’re artistic enough to make these by hand, they can be tailored to fit your business perfectly.
Blending Photos with Graphics
Overlapping graphics on images is a trend that has taken social media by storm and it will continue to. It adds creativity and fun to an otherwise standard image. This type of image can be particularly eye-catching.
Need to bring your website into 2021?
Trends can be hard to keep up with. We’ve got an easy solution for you – email us at [EMAIL] to set up an initial consultation. Don’t worry – initial consults are free.
We’ll work with you to better understand your business, your competitors and refresh your website to truly stand-out in 2021.
