Each year we see new innovations in web design and technology in the digital sphere. 2017 has been no different, with some truly exciting ideas emerging in the field. At BSO Digital, our aim is always to give you a beautiful website that will improve your conversions. That means more customers and more leads to boost your business. So here are our top 10 conversion-based web design trends that we just love!
10: Age Responsive Web Design Trends
With the world of metadata exploding, there are more ways than ever to make your website truly responsive to your audience. Age responsive web design allows you to vary the website experience for your audience, based on their perceived age. Different age groups react differently to content, layout and aesthetic choices. This allows you to increase the chance of connecting with a broader audience!
9: Skeleton Screens
No, we’ve not gone Hallowe’en crazy! Skeleton screens are the new way of staggering content loading. Quick loading pages are extremely important with the modern digital age. The slower your website content loads, the higher your bounce rate. Skeleton screen style loading allows you to load content in stages – from simple to complex. This creates a sense of visual anticipation for your users in the short wait time. It makes your load speeds feel faster and keeps those bounce rates in check.
8: Engagement Bots
8: Engagement BotsWhen people hear the word “bot” they often have a negative reaction. Bots can be the bane of our existence, especially the dreaded spambot. Engagement bots, however, when properly automated, can help you provide better customer service. They can help you generate leads and streamline your sales processes – all through automation. You can garner more leads by running your engagement bots during non-working hours, to catch customers visiting your website during later hours. While chat bots aren’t exactly a new invention, they are becoming far smarter and far more useful with the evolution of technology, and is one of 2017 most interesting web design trends.
7: Shopping Cart Marketing
e-Commerce is one of the biggest digital markets. It is also one of the most competitive, with hundreds – even thousands – of businesses competing for the same customers. In this day and age it is almost vital to offer upsells, cross-sells and bundles. In fact, 10-30% of e-commerce revenues are generated by upsells and cross-sells. Further, it is around 10 times more difficult to sell to a new customer than upsell a current customer.
This is why current web design trends are leaning toward offering bundles, upsells and cross-selling at checkout, catching customers before they pay and before they leave the site. This means you can generate more revenue in your shopping cart and you can stop leaving the metaphoric money on the table.
6: Animated Call-to-Action Buttons
Animation, for a long time, was extremely popular online through the use of Flash. But as Flash became more outdated, the use of animations on websites became almost passé. However, 2017 has seen the re-emergence of the animated call-to-action button. By keeping the animation minimal, simple, and only one per page, it actually effective draws more attention to the hero of your page – the call-to-action button. But remember the old adage – less is more!
5: Cinemograph Hero Images
A very underused element of web design, the cinemograph image is still an instant interest grabber. Large, immersive images and video can cause a user to stop and take notice, but cinemograph ups the ante by tricking the eye and pulling the user in. Maximum impact is generated by adding a carefully crafted call-to-action button over the top of the hero. In fact, Facebook analytics have shown us that advertising with cinemograph elements are clicked up to 60% more than static advertising. Imagine what that could mean on your website!
4: Persuasion Videos
4: Persuasion VideosThe digital sphere has brought brand and customer into very personal contact. Many users, these days, expect to have a relationship with a brand, to feel as if they are speaking to real people on the other end of the screen. Persuasion videos convert amazingly well because their use of real people not only creates the feeling of this valuable relationship but also gives your brand a sense of authenticity. You become real people, not an unreachable, unfeeling entity. Animated videos are out of favour, but videos featuring real staff, managers and owners are highly popular. And by using a number of tactics in each short video – such as testimonials and demonstrations – you can overcome many objections and close the sale easily.
3: Value Based Exit Overlays
We’ve all encountered those overlays when visiting a site. You go to leave and suddenly a little message pops up, encouraging you to stay. In the past, these overlays have been annoying and users have been conditioned to ignore them. Google has even gone so far as to inflict penalties on sites that overuse overlays or make them too obtrusive. However, 2017 has seen a dramatic shift in the way overlays are used, making them more valuable to the user. These overlays offer discounts, specials and other perks for the visitor while asking very little – or even nothing – in return. These new, kinder overlays have proven to create far higher conversions than their past iterations.
2: Behavioural and Audience Specific Landing Pages
While 2017 hasn’t seen the death of the website homepage, per se, it has been the emergence of targeted landing pages. These landing pages are variants of your homepage, targeting different demographics and what matters most to them. 2017 is the “landing page first” approach. Delivering carefully crafted messages to different audiences you can increase conversions and audience engagement.
1: Scrolling Webpages
Finally, one of our favourite web design trends this year has been the emergence of the scrolling webpage. Menus, complex navigation and websites with a large volume of pages are all falling by the wayside. “Above-the-Fold” real estate is no longer as important as it used to be. With the Google update this year and the increasing focus on quality content, web design and copywriting is now leaning more toward telling a compelling story, overcoming objections and converting leads on a single page. This new web design trend allows you to take your users on a carefully planned, conversion-based journey rather than leaving them to navigate alone.
Interested in a web design refresh? Or do you have a new website you’re dying to set up? Contact BSO Digital today to get your exciting new project started!
