What does it take to have a professional web design in 2016? Let’s explore some of the must haves in high quality design trends.
Responsive design
I am really surprised at the amount of websites I see still not having this in their design. Responsive design is the ability of the website to adjust content to fit clearly on different size devices. So text, images, sliders, contact forms, etc. can be easily read on any device from large desktop to mobile devices.
Why is this important?
Today over 60% of Internet traffic is now originating from mobile devices. People are more likely to stay and navigate through websites that are responsive. You wouldn’t want to loose 60% of your online market due to users not liking your website.
Full width layout
As important responsive design is for mobile devices so is providing full width layout for those who surf the Internet on large screens. Older designs were focused on a block width of about 960 pixels. This covered the resolution of most screens. That worked then but now people are using larger and wider screens with higher resolutions.
Full width layout involves using all of the browser’s space to place content. So we cut the margins on the left and right and place content.
This can be seen in full width background images, banners, titles, horizontal menus, feature boxes, imagery, etc.
Menus that stay on the top of the page
An important new trend in design is having the website’s menu stick to the top of the page when the user scrolls down the page. Why is this important? It gives the web surfer quick and easy access to any other page on your website thus retaining engagement.
Page navigation
Latest designs often involve lengthy one-page layouts or often the person browsing would like to go back to the top of the page quickly. This is where page navigation is handy to have. It can be as simple as a one-button “arrow up” always located on the lower right hand side of the page, or a more sophisticated page navigation bar.
Media rich and highly functional menus
For many websites this is probably one of the most overlooked item. Menus that provide more than text are a nice unique touch in modern design. Many top websites are now using images with their menu items to get users to click on them.
Mega menu designs are now being widely used to make lengthy menu selections more manageable in presentation style and selection.
Interactive media driven banners
Today’s new banners are not simply pictures that scroll across a screen. They now can have video, interactive text, animation, and navigation to other parts of the website. These digital billboards can help emphasize certain qualities of your business.
Video
People love watching video. Video can have a strong impact to the engagement of a website and a more personal connection to the business. Want proof of the power of video? Less than two years ago Facebook introduced video to their postings. Today people’s post feeds are cluttered with video posts.
Video can be as simple as banner background on a home page or quality presentations of what your company is all about.
Invest in a professional when doing informative video presentations to do the pre and post production work.
Parallax scrolling
This started a few years ago with some of the top websites and has grown to many websites. Parallax scrolling is visual effect when you scroll down the page and certain actions are in place to reacting to the movement.
For example you might scroll down the page that starts a video at a point on the page, or a box with an image appears from the side of the page and moves towards the center of the page.
Most websites use full width image parallax scroll techniques to provide a visual break in the website’s page. The movement also provides a 3D effect to the page.
These are some of the most important elements of what a modern website should have. Don’t neglect one of your most important digital asset.
If you would like to have these in your website or looking for a custom design to that uniquely describes your brand contact Success Media Services. We have helped many businesses by creating high quality websites with the latest design trends. Let us know how we can help you.