The design of your website says a lot about your business before anyone has read a word of it. From the small details like your choice of font to the look of your branding as a whole, these are the things that make a visitor stay or click away. In this article we explain why it pays to keep an eye on where web design is heading, and how to tell a useful trend from a passing fad.
The last thing you want is a potential customer looking at your site and choosing a competitor instead. One of the most common reasons that happens is that the branding or the products look dated. Staying fresh and relevant is how you avoid it.
There is also an advantage in spotting a trend early, before everyone else has used it. If someone lands on your page and sees something that feels current and well made, they are far more likely to want to find out more about you.
We understand that keeping up with the latest ideas is time consuming, particularly in an industry that moves as quickly as web design. That is the part our team at Strand Creative is happy to take off your hands.
Here are two of the trends shaping web design at the moment.
Bento grid layouts
Bento style grids are one of the more modern approaches to a collage or a showcase of your best work. They manage to be classy and playful at the same time. You build the grid by softening the sharp corners of each image or video and dropping in content at different sizes, so the whole thing reads as a collage rather than a row of identical boxes.
Bold is in and cursive is out
Bold, simple text has become very popular over the last year or so. Cursive fonts can be hard to read, and with inclusivity an important thing to get right, plain bold type tends to land better with visitors straight away.
How to tell a trend worth following from a fad
Not every trend is worth your time, and being honest about that saves you money. A good test is whether the idea makes the site easier to use. A clearer layout, larger type, faster loading, better contrast: those changes help every visitor and they do not go out of date. Heavy animation, unusual cursors and scroll effects that hijack the page tend to look clever for a season and then simply annoy people.
Think about your own customers too. A restaurant needs its menu, address and booking button to be obvious on a phone. A dentist needs opening hours and an easy way to get in touch. If a trend does not help with that, it does not really matter for your business, whatever the design blogs say.
Small updates beat a rebuild every few years
Plenty of businesses leave their site untouched for years and then feel they have to start again from scratch. It is usually cheaper and far less disruptive to make smaller improvements as you go: refresh the photography, tidy the typography, review the enquiry form, and check the site still behaves properly on current phones. Handled that way, your site never drifts far enough out of date to need a rebuild, and you keep the content and the search history you have already built up.
It is worth remembering that visitors judge speed and clarity long before they judge style. If you are weighing up a visual refresh, look first at how quickly your pages load and how easily someone can find what they came for. Those fixes nearly always pay back more than a new colour scheme. You are welcome to look through our recent work to see how that balance plays out in practice.
FAQ
How often should I update my website design?
There is no fixed rule, but a yearly review suits most small businesses. Check that your photos, prices and services are still current, that the site looks right on recent phones, and that your pages load quickly. Small, regular updates keep you from reaching the point where a full rebuild is the only sensible option.
Do I have to follow design trends at all?
No. If your site is clear, quick and easy to use on a phone, you are already doing the important part. Trends matter most when a dated look is actively putting customers off, or when your competitors look noticeably more current than you do. The rest of the time you can treat them as optional.
Will changing my design affect my Google rankings?
It can, which is why a redesign is worth planning rather than rushing. Keep your existing page addresses and content wherever you can, and make sure the new design is at least as fast as the old one. Done carefully, a cleaner and quicker site usually helps your position rather than harming it.
Is a trendy design worth it for a very small business?
What matters for a one-man band or a small shop is that people trust the site and can contact you easily. A current, tidy design does help with trust, but it will never make up for a missing phone number or a contact form that does not work. Get those basics right first, then think about styling.
If you would like a straightforward opinion on whether your site looks dated or simply needs tidying up, get in touch. We are based in Sale, South Manchester.
