Staying on top of the latest website design trends is a must if you want your brand to remain fresh and relevant.
Technology keeps on evolving, and very quickly if I might add. Much can be said regarding website design trends.
Design elements and website features that were once modern and innovative may now appear as tired, overdone, and cliched.
The last thing you want to happen is for people viewing your website to immediately lose interest because your website looks outdated or ignores critical web standards.
Having said that, let’s take a look at 15 of the website design trends that you should take advantage of this 2023.
Let’s begin.
Design Trend #1: Website Load Time and Page Speed
Ultra-fast load time is a crucial web design standard for good user experience (UX) and search engine optimization (SEO).
Studies show that over half of internet users expect a website to load in under 2 seconds. If a website takes more than 3 seconds to load, visitors are likely to leave and not return.
Website performance directly affects a company’s revenue, as demonstrated by a study that showed a 40% reduction in perceived wait times led to a 15% increase in search engine traffic and sign-ups for Pinterest.
At HoopJumper, our focus is on conversion, and website loading times are a key metric we consider to ensure a positive user experience.
Design Trend #2: Smart Content Loading
Lazy loading and infinite scroll are not entirely new technologies. The top social networks have been utilizing these for years, particularly in regards to infinite scroll. This approach is also popular for long single-page websites.
All websites should consider how incorporating one or two technological approaches can help them outcompete their competition. These features can enhance the user experience for all website visitors, leading to an increase in conversion rates and rankings.
Lazy Load ensures that the web browser (such as Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox) will only download the content that is visible on the screen, without wasting valuable server resources and time to load off-screen content that may never be seen.
Many website visitors do not reach the bottom of a webpage, so why load that content and prolong site load times? A more efficient approach is to load the content as they begin scrolling down the page and approaching it.
Design Trend #3: Personalization of Content
When you visit a website and return to it later, you may notice that the content has changed. This is because many websites track your browsing history and location to display dynamic content tailored to your past behavior and preferences.
For example, if you’ve previously searched for Italian restaurants, a directory website may prioritize those in your search results. Similarly, a bank’s website may display different offerings based on whether you are an individual or business customer.
This type of personalized content is becoming increasingly important for e-commerce websites, as it can lead to higher conversion rates by displaying recently viewed or abandoned cart items to returning customers.
Overall, personalized website content is becoming more expected by users and is crucial for a successful web presence.
Design Trend #3: Integration with CRMs/Marketing Platforms
Online lead generation forms are one of the most important elements of a marketing website. We want to get to know a lot about our website visitors, but we can’t ask too many questions at any particular time. We place progressive/dynamic contact forms on the landing pages and display fields according to the lead’s journey.
Ideally, we don’t want to display too many fields in a form, but we can always adjust the form fields according to the data that we already know about our leads. We might ask the name, company, and email address at the first conversion and then ask for the phone number, title, company size, and company revenue fields at the next conversion opportunity.
Our CRM, like HubSpot, stores the information of our leads by integrating it with our website. The CRM can recognize the lead when they come back to our websites and display form fields on the landing pages that we don’t know about the contact.
Design Trend #4: Chat and Voice Interaction
Chatbots have been a popular feature for several years and will continue to be in high demand in 2023. As technology advances, we anticipate that chatbots will become the standard for handling simple customer service inquiries and assisting with personal shopping.
For instance, if a customer visits a website and is searching for phone support, the chatbot can inform them of any available upgrade options, resulting in a positive customer experience and reducing the cost of customer support for the business.
In addition to this, the way we access information is evolving, with more and more people opting to ask questions or make requests rather than typing into a search engine. This shift has prompted web design to adapt to the growing use of voice chatbots and virtual assistants.
While voice-activated interfaces may not be common on most websites yet, this trend is expected to continue to gain momentum in the future.
As a result, we can expect to see more websites incorporating voice search as an alternative to traditional text search.
Design Trend #5: Accessibility and Availability
Inclusivity and accessibility are more than a trend, but there is a growing need for web design to factor in the needs of people with disabilities. Having a site that every visitor can navigate and interact with is more than just part of good customer service and providing an excellent experience. It can increase conversion, boost your SEO, and help you reach a bigger audience.
Elements that improve accessibility include:
- Creating strong color contrast between text and backgrounds;
- Adding focus indicators, such as the rectangular outline that shows up around links when using keyboard navigation;
- Using labels and instructions with form fields rather than low-context placeholder text; and
- Using functional alt tags for images (which also boosts SEO!).
Design Trend #6: Interactivity
Incorporating interactive elements on your website can be a beneficial strategy for both visitors and businesses. These interactive sections can provide value for visitors by allowing them to engage with the website and learn more about their interests and needs.
For example, a realtor could add a mortgage calculator to their website, which would not only offer value to visitors but also provide valuable information about their potential clients.
Interactive marketing can take many forms, such as assessments like quizzes, polls and surveys, calculators, and contests.
Additionally, micro-interactions can also be used to enhance the user experience. These small animations, such as a link changing color when hovered over, can add subtle feedback for users.
Elevated micro-interactions, such as a gradient shifting hues as you scroll down a page or a pop of color when clicking an element, can also be used to make a website stand out.
Design Trend #7: Micro Animations
As the name suggests, micro animations are tiny animations that may seem insignificant at first glance, but they play a crucial role in guiding users through their interactions with a website.
They can also add a playful touch to a website, as seen with Smashmallow’s use of micro animations in their hero image.
Though micro animations have been popular for a few years, in 2023, the focus will shift towards incorporating them in a more organic way.
Our UI/production designer mentioned that designers will consider using curved or circular motions instead of flat animations.
One of the latest trends in web design for ecommerce sites is the use of micro animations to improve the user experience and provide shoppers with a more dynamic view of the products.
For example, a yoga clothing store may use micro animations to demonstrate how their clothing fits and moves on real people.
Design Trend #8: Organic Shapes
Geometric shapes were a big website design trend in 2020, but in 2023, it’s all about organic shapes. Organic or fluid shapes are anything that doesn’t involve straight lines.
Think of the shapes that happen in nature, like hills, and the edges of a lake or river, and how they are asymmetrical and winding.
Fluid shapes are a great way to break up sections of a website without harsh lines or angles. They’re also great to use in the background, like how Android uses circles behind products on their homepage.
Design Trend #9: Thumb-Friendly Navigation
Responsive design isn’t enough anymore. Your website should work well and be user-friendly on all mobile devices – regardless of the size! But in 2023, web design will continue to be focused on creating websites that are thumb-friendly.
What exactly is “thumb-friendly”?
We’re talking about the way we use our phones. If you’re reading this on your phone right now, look at how you’re holding it. Your fingers are probably wrapped around the back of your phone (or around a phone grip), leaving your thumb to do all the work.
That’s how most of us use our smartphones, and that’s why thumb-friendly navigation is essential. Putting the navigation bar, menu, and even contact buttons in the space your thumb can reach (the center of the screen) makes your site more comfortable to use and improves your UX tenfold.
Design Trend #10: Smart Video
Video is often considered a crucial element for websites, as it is engaging and highly effective for online marketing.
However, it is important to approach video with intention and purpose. The trend of simply embedding a random YouTube video on a website is no longer sufficient.
A single well-planned, high-quality video is more valuable than multiple poorly produced ones.
Design Trend #11: Full-Page Headers
Full-page headers are expected to be popular in web design in 2023. A common approach includes placing important text or call-to-actions buttons on the left of the header and using enticing graphics to the right. This is because visitors tend to spend most of their attention on the top-left portion of your page.
Design Trend #12: Dark Mode
Dark mode web designs serve multiple purposes. Practically, they assist in reducing eye strain, which is a common issue as people spend increasing amounts of time staring at screens.
Aesthetically, dark mode provides a sleek and contemporary appearance for your website, allowing you to emphasize other design elements by darkening the surrounding elements.
Design Trend #13: Data Visualization
Presenting data in an interesting manner can be challenging, however, the effort is worthwhile as utilizing data visualization capitalizes on the human tendency to process visual information and effectively communicates the desired message.
Data visualization transforms data into visually appealing images that capture the reader’s attention and generates interest in your brand. Infographics and graphs are effective techniques to make data more engaging.
Design Trend #14: Blending Photos with Graphical Elements
You might have noticed overlapping graphics on images in your social media feed. This mixing technique brings a level of creativity and fun to a typical image.
The trend is also catching on with websites. Mixing photography with graphics can reinforce your company branding and keep website visitors engaged with your content.
Design Trend #15: Interactive 3D Content
Thanks to maturing web technology and web designers wanting to stand out from the average webpage, 3D elements that users can interact with have been increasingly used.
The results can be breathtaking – like the use of interactive 3D content on the Campo Alle Comete website.
In Conclusion
Understanding the importance of keeping up with the latest website design trends will help stay at the top of the digital marketing game.
HoopJumper knows this intimately, which is why we ourselves stay updated with these design trends so we can build our clients websites that will reflect their brand and get more leads.
Want to learn more about how you can get a Great Small Business Website that helps you stay on top of the game?
Contact us today.