The new year is here at last and we’re excited to share the latest web design trends for 2021.
The unprecedented events of 2020 have certainly impacted the role that your website plays in your business and how it is being viewed by your potential clients. With more people continuing to work from home, the role of your business’ website has expanded into a critical hub for information and communication.
From User Experience & Conversion Optimization to Purpose Driven Animation, taking advantage of the latest trends will help your business stand out from the growing competition online.
The Top Web Design Trends for 2021
1. Greater Focus on UX & Conversion
With the next Google update in 2021, the search engines will be factoring the User Experience (UX) of your website and conversions into the algorithms, and these will have a bigger role in rankings.
Having a greater focus on relevance and making sure users can easily find what they need on your site is one of the best ways to improve your site’s user experience.
With more daily functions moving online, more users are judging a business based on the quality of the site and expecting a high-quality UX. If your site doesn’t meet those expectations, visitors may quickly leave.
Therefore, it’s an incredibly important time to have a high-quality site that is both easy to navigate and that builds credibility.
2. Open Design Styles
If you haven’t noticed this design trend yet, you definitely will this year. In the last few years, website designs have been shifting to more open layouts where content is less defined to strict horizontal sections.
You’ll also notice that page designs are getting steadily longer and content is more spread out in a vertical layout. This shift is happening because visitors now tend to scroll very quickly as soon as landing on a website page.
The open layouts also allow for a much cleaner and modern design since the content isn’t condense to a few panels.
3. Purpose Driven Animations
Every year the technology for website animation gets better. While we’ll continue to see the use of micro-animations and scroll animation in 2021, purpose-driven animation refers to the strategy behind where and when you use movement on a site.
Web designers are now using animation to encourage visitors to take their next action on a page, or draw attention to a key component on the page.
Performance is another reason that we’re seeing more careful selections of animation. There is a delicate balance in making sure the added animations don’t overload the page and hurt the website speed.
4. Calendar Scheduling & Booking Tools
Due to COVID-19, we saw a huge demand in 2020 for requests to integrate calendar or booking systems on websites. With this set up, visitors can easily book an appointment for a phone call or video call through the website.
We expect this trend to continue in 2021 as many businesses have already shifted to video calls instead of in-person meetings for the 1st interaction with prospects.
Most of the popular calendar and booking systems like Calendly and Acuity Scheduling offer easy integration options for WordPress.
Before setting up the integration, you’ll want to consider your business’ sales process and whether this option is a good fit for your sales team.
5. Web Accessibility Tools & Design
Web accessibility is now an important consideration for all businesses, and there are constant developments in our industry around the legislation and best practices.
In the past year, web accessibility tools & widgets have become more popular as the technology has improved and we’ll see these tools on more sites in 2021.
Since web accessibility is an ongoing task, many businesses are starting to utilize paid services that offer AI technology to assist with maintaining accessibility.
All of this focus on accessibility is also affecting design trends, and web designers are selecting more contrasting colors and intuitive layouts that are easier for all visitors to access.
6. E-Commerce Shifts in Shipping & Delivery
It’s no surprise that e-commerce sales continue to skyrocket and more businesses have been forced to pivot into online sales in the last year.
Due to COVID-19 safety measures, shipping and delivery options are now a critical aspect to the online shopping experience.
Visitors are now expecting different shipping or delivery options and looking for information on safety protocols. These offerings have become an important way to build trust and credibility with potential customers.
Luckily, with WooCommerce, there are numerous shipping and delivery extensions that allow you to customize your shipping options and track orders accurately.
