5 Must Have Website Design Features

design_trends_emailThe first day of fall is only a week away – and that means it’s time to really focus on planning for the 2016 calendar year. While some of you may have already set your budgets for the year, it’s crucial that website updates, or possibly an entirely new website, are factored into your plans. Why? Because your website is one of (if not THE) most important marketing asset you have and it needs a good scrubbing once in a while to perform at an optimal level. Whether you’re planning for a new website altogether, or just making some essential housekeeping updates, we recommend you consider incorporating any of these 5 web design features to polish off your site in 2016:

  • Mobile Responsive – With the increasing number of website views coming from a phone or tablet, web visitors are expecting that the content they seek on a mobile device to be just as helpful, easily-navigable and aesthetically pleasing as if they were viewing it on a PC. Don’t turn off interested customers with a less-than-optimal mobile website experience.
  • Smart Content – Optimizing for devices is one (important) thing. But did you know that you can create a completely custom website experience for first time or return visitors? Imagine visiting a website and being presented with the exact types of content that you love and consume. This isn’t some marketer’s futuristic dream – this is NOW. We use HubSpot to collect information from web visitors in exchange for some of the content that they’re looking for, which then allows us to develop future content that meets their needs and appears upon revisit.
  • Visual Storytelling – One page websites with large-scale graphics and key messages available with just a scroll are gaining traction (and fans – myself included) across many different industries. Our industry just so happens to have gorgeous products, so this style of website is perfect for showcasing your stories and appealing to those looking for visual content.
  • Background Video – No longer must your video content be relegated to a small player module on your website! We’re seeing more and more sites bring video front and center by using it as a background rather than a static image. Check out the perfectly understated, but super cool use of video on the Air BNB site – watch closely!
  • Flat Design/Custom Illustrations/Typography – We’re still talking visuals here! Flat design – the type you often see used in infographics and which is used in this rad Russian example – is trending as a clean, easy-on-the-eyes alternative to photography. There are a lot of stock vector images available (click here for an example), but custom created images that are unmistakably “you” are becoming more popular. Along the same lines, the creative use of typography adds emphasis and personality to your content.  

We look forward to seeing your reimagined, reinvigorated sites all across the World Wide Web next year. We’re also happy to help you determine what your website needs are and help you bring a new website to life from start to finish. Click here to request website pricing based on your needs.