8 web design practices to follow in 2021 for an outstanding site

Web design impacts 94% of the first impressions customers get when surfing your site. Follow these eight web design practices to leave outstanding impressions. 

Web design is a very common thing to talk about in 2021. These days, almost anyone can get a website up and running with ease. But, getting a website running is one thing, while making sure that it will be effective for your business is another. And, it all comes down to outstanding web design from a professional Atlanta web design company.

Think about it: your business's website is like your 24/7 storefront. Customers can "visit" your online store anytime they want and form an opinion about your business. Wouldn't you want to leave them with an excellent first impression? We're guessing the answer is "Yes." For this, you need an appealing, intuitive, and effective website design. Here are eight web design practices to follow in 2021, and beyond, to design an outstanding site:

8 web design practices to follow in 2021 for an outstanding site
(Photo : Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash)

1.     Speed optimization

Like it or not, today's Internet users have very high expectations in terms of page load speed. Over 40% of them will leave your website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. They now know that websites can and must load fast for them to have good experiences with the interfaces. So, don't expect they will settle for less any longer, especially when there are millions of other websites to choose from. 

Now, the page load speed is determined by the complexity of the page. In other words, the more complex it is, the longer it will take for it to load correctly. So, speed optimization is really mostly about keeping the design simple and optimize all its elements to load fast. 

2.     Intuitive navigation

What are you most likely to do when you enter a website page but can't figure out where to find what you came looking for? Most likely, you'll leave and open another website. Well, that's precisely what your prospects and customers will do, too, if they can't figure out how to navigate your site easily. 

As the web design experts from Webpop Design explain, "Simple navigation is one of the main elements that impact the way your visitors interact with your website. If they spend several minutes finding something they came looking for (which they often won't, but just choose to leave), their overall experience with your website will be cataloged as POOR. In contrast, if a user enters your website and sees clear buttons and categories, and easily figures out where to click to get to what they are interested in, they will perceive their interaction with your website as a pleasant and intuitive one."

When you organize the content on your website, try on the shoes of its visitors to see where people will expect to see the potential things that they enter your website in the first place. 

3.     Mobile-first design

As of 2020, 50.81% of all Internet traffic comes from mobile devices. That is more than half of all Internet traffic. What's more, find out that 74% of Internet users are also more likely to return to mobile-friendly websites. So, you probably can guess why design optimization for mobile devices is more critical than ever before.

Over the past couple of years, Google has been trying really hard to make sure that all websites are user-friendly, announcing even mobile-first indexing back in 2018. For this reason, now, the top results Internet users get when searching on Google are mobile-friendly websites. What's more, the search engine giant penalizes those websites that still don't take mobile-friendliness seriously with a 50%+ traffic reduction. 

So, make sure that your website design displays correctly on smartphones and other mobile devices. 

4.     Prioritized SEO

Prioritized SEO in web design is all about increasing the quality and quantity of website traffic. In other words, a responsive design, relevant header tags, proper title tags, and meta descriptions, short descriptive URLs, and relevant links from high-quality websites are all SEO-friendly practices that can help your website land a high-ranking placement on search engine results. Obviously, this increases your chances of getting more visitors. 

5.     Chatbots support

Easier is always better for today's busy and inpatient Internet users, especially when it comes to communication with brands. They don't like to and often don't have the time to make a call or fill in an endless form with multiple questions only to find the answer to their queries. No! Today's Internet users want immediate answers and to have control over the conversation in terms of when it starts and how fast they get a response. This is where chatbots shine. 

Chat interfaces are programmed to make the visitor feel like they are having a conversation in a human-like manner, even if there's a robot answering at the other end. Chatbots allow your visitors to get the answers they need effortlessly and quickly. 

6.     Text minimization

The era of huge blocks of text is long gone. Today's Internet users are all about great visuals that transmit messages through images, not words. Well, that's something related to human nature. Science actually proves that the human brain can process visuals 60.000 times faster than written text. So, it's no surprise that, over the years, web design trends reduced the amount of written content and increased the number of visuals used. 

When you do add some written content to your website, make sure that it keeps the message short and gets straight to the point. 

7.     Enhanced visuals and colors

Speaking of how much Internet users today love visuals on websites, you need to level up your visuals game to make your web design more attractive and engaging. There are many trends in web design related to visuals, including the use of human faces, 3D visuals, interactive visuals, and bright color schemes perfectly balanced with enough white space to avoid overcrowding the pages. 

As a general rule, no matter in which direction the wind blows in terms of the latest trends when choosing visual elements, make sure to choose those that suit your brand and message. 

8.     Storytelling

Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of transmitting messages engagingly. In today's digital era, storytelling is just as important as it was at its earliest beginnings. Stories help humans connect and perceive the messages transmitted in a more engaging way. So, make sure that you tell your brand's and products' stories through your web design elements, including text, visuals, features, and overall look. 

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