Website Trends 2020
They say February if the new January in the small business world so I’m not too late with my 2020 website trends blog…
The last decade saw so much development in the website world – we moved away from cluttered copy heavy websites to simple & clean websites with user experience in mind. Responsive design was a key element as well as social media integration.
What is in store for the next decade? It is hard to predict 10 years in this changing industry but the next year is already shaping up with new trends.
Here are some of the key trends we are starting to see and will see more of in 2020.
WEBSITE IMAGES
Graphics combined with imagery – more and more we see photos that have graphic elements incorporated on them – for example branding elements or graphics. This makes the photography stand out as unique and more professional.
Less stock photos – as much as we like stock photos as they are affordable and easy to access, we see lest use of stock photos in the design of business websites and more authenticity by using own photos. This is not only for products / people, but a branding photo-shoot can include elements in the business environment – for example a desk with coffee cup.
Stock photos are still used a lot for blogging – just less in other website pages.
WEBSITE GRAPHICS & TYPOGRAPHY
Large headings and play with fonts – this is especially seen on websites that do not have a product or personal brand to promote and instead of using stock imagery a simple large bold heading in branded font and colours works well.
Use of animations instead of imagery – another solution is use of animations or graphics which is fun and creative and is unique and makes the website stand out in the crowd.
Dark design - with the increased use of mobile to view websites, more and more users are opting for ‘dark mode’ for apps. The same trend is staring for websites - we see more websites with darker colours and see an option to switch to dark mode giving user the choice.
WEBSITE COPY
More conversations - copy is more conversational , we see less corporate ‘talk’ and more conversation and personal copy talking direct to visitors and making them feel connected.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is no longer a side element to a website. to work well all social platforms should work alongside a website. This means using integrations and inviting visitors to join your community instead of only using icons to direct to social channel. The look and feel of social accounts also must work together with your site and have the same look and feel and messages.
