Web Design Best Practices for 2019
As we’ve been known to say: A great website is a game changer, it’s your own digital space to customise content and build your brand. Everything revolves around your website. Your success on social media and SEO, both organic and paid is all about increasing traffic to your website. A great social media and or adwords campaign is negated by a poor web presence. Responsive website design is an absolute must. Your audience will not accept anything less. Here are some of the trends that we think are going to make a difference in 2019. If you are looking at a new design then you’re in the box seat to make a splash with one eye on the growth and changes that will occur in your business.
Speed needs to be a priority in your website design. If your site is taking more than three seconds to load then your prospective clients are probably gone and looking elsewhere. That’s all the effort of improving your ranking and running campaigns down the drain. The worst thing is, it will probably be repeated. Fast loading websites are king in 2019.
Mobile first design should be a priority. That means clear, minimalist designs that aren’t heavy on content and won’t take forever to load (speed again) will win the day. Colour, clean crisp edges and lots of space are preferred to lots of images that impact on download times. The time your website takes to load is now part of the criteria for SEO and much of that has to do with the preference for searching on mobile devices. There’s a definite correlation between website speed optimisation and SEO.
The trend towards mobile over desktop design means sites are aimed at mobile over desktop users. If you are considering a new website then targeting mobile devices could hold you in good stead for years to come. There’s no sign that the trend is likely to diminish.
Last year we were quick off the mark to predict that broken grid / asymmetrical layouts would emerge in 2018. Well we were right then and there’s no reason why we’d be wrong about their continued success in the coming year.
Having a composition of text, animation, images and even video intersect and overlap while remaining distinguishable in the one grid is an attractive, highly effective way of aligning the key elements of your brand.
Having text separate from white space to overlay an image can increase the emphasis on both. Text running over margins to the edge of a page; strong lines and shapes within a grid; collages using vertical and horizontal shapes or an off balance combination of animation and graphics are a departure from structured grids which have always been useful in reflecting brand consistency and stability. But rather than being a departure from stable, structured content and messaging, Broken Grid Layouts complement stability and reflect a more evolved, interactive and engaged brand persona.
The same goes for single page websites. But both of these have come a long way since the early days of the web. They can be easily coded using HTML; they have a user friendly navigation menu; they load quickly; and their simplicity makes them a breeze to navigate especially on mobile devices. Both options are great alternatives for the cost conscious project.
Micro animations began to become popular throughout the past year. These small animations improve user experience both practically and visually. Changing colours when you hover, the appearance of a small animated figure to expand a search.
Online Consulting are a Web Design and Development Company in Sydney. We’d be happy to discuss these ideas and more if you get in touch with us by filling out the contact form below or calling us on 02 8916 6377