There are about 200 million active websites in the world, but many of those are changing regularly. With new technology and web design trends coming along, websites are finding new ways to serve visitors as time goes by.
If you want to stay ahead of the times with your website, you need to pay attention to the latest trends. Using new design elements and techniques can be useful for connecting with your visitors and standing out online.
In this guide, we’ll list some of the most important trends in web design that you should know about.
Data-Influenced Decision Making
One of the top trends that you can expect in the future is that web designers will continually make better use of data to make design decisions.
Paying close attention to data analytics is important. It can help businesses and web designers better understand exactly how a site is used by visitors and how they interact with it in practice. With this information, a site can be optimized based on user preferences and behavior rather than on the whims of the design team.
You can expect that data analytics and even AI analysis tools will play an even bigger role in web design decisions as time goes by.
Pageless Website Design
Another trend that many businesses are jumping on these days is the “pageless” or “one-page” website.
These websites don’t have pages in the traditional sense. Instead, they feature the information a visitor might want to see on one continuous page. Visitors can still select the part of a site they want to see by clicking on a menu, but there’s no need to load a completely separate page.
Especially for a straightforward small business website, this style of web design can be a great choice. It can allow them to present information in a clear way. Expect that many more businesses and designers will recognize the usefulness of these types of sites in the future.
Increased Chatbot Integration
Chatbots are popular right now and are popping up everywhere. Chatbots can help visitors easily find what they’re looking for. They can perform many actions such as answering questions, scheduling appointments, and more.
As AI becomes smarter and as more businesses recognize the value of chatbots, they’re likely to appear even more often online. More chatbots and conversational web design systems will likely become prevalent in 2022 and in future years.
Voice Search and Design
It’s no secret that many people are now searching the web using smart devices such as Amazon Alexa, smartphones, and Android devices.
What you may not realize, however, is that this is having an impact on the way websites are designed as well. Websites that are mindful of voice searchers create content in different ways.
Primarily, web designers ensure that websites feature more “conversational” content. They also add more questions and answers to website content.
Website owners and designers also work to ensure that search engines can easily crawl their sites. They also work to make their sites more mobile-friendly.
On top of this, another related functionality is beginning to appear on websites as well. Similar to chatbots, some websites are starting to use speech recognition systems. These allow visitors to communicate with a site’s interface through voice or through video.
VR and AR Technology
A major change you can expect in website design in 2022 and in the coming years is the greater adoption of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies. The market for these unique types of media experiences is growing fast, and smart websites and businesses are getting in on the trend early.
AR and VR technology can be used to connect with customers and website visitors in new ways. It can give them interesting and impactful experiences.
Stores selling products such as apparel can let customers see products up close and personal. Entertainment, travel, and real estate businesses can allow customers to take remote virtual tours.
The possibilities are endless with VR and AR, but it’s clear that this type of technology is going to play a part in the future of web design.
Increased Web Accessibility
Website design is also trending toward more inclusivity. One of the ways this is happening is by web designers making those with accessibility needs a priority.
For legal compliance and protection from lawsuits, it’s important to keep accessibility in mind. Website owners are commonly putting more emphasis on accessibility these days.
Website owners should ensure that a site can be used with screen reading tools. They should also prioritize excellent readability, relevant image alt text, and video captions.
More Gender-Neutral Designs
In addition to including those with accessibility issues, gender-neutral designs are also becoming common.
More websites are opting to provide multiple drop-downs for genders aside from just “male” and “female”. Website owners and designers are now taking a more inclusive approach and including more pronoun options as well.
Clothing retailers, for example, are designing sites in a way that makes all visitors feel welcome. Many are adding more clothing sections to their sites for various genders or making gender-neutral sections.
Dynamic Web Experiences
Websites have already become smarter and more dynamic over the past few years. This has happened through increased mobile friendliness and a focus on responsive design. However, websites will be even more dynamic in the future.
Many businesses and web designers are creating personalized experiences. These change based on who is visiting the site. A person’s interests and past behavior can change the way a company’s story is told on a site and can allow businesses to connect more deeply with consumers.
Expect to see more dynamic websites in the future. Websites will aim to offer more unique experiences to users based on their specific needs and interests as time goes by.
Knowing What to Expect From Future Web Design Trends
If you want to make your website amazing, be sure that you pay attention to the latest web design trends. The trends above are likely to become even bigger in future months and years, so make sure that you get ready for them early on.
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