If you’re thinking about building a new website for your small business, you need to make sure it catches some attention. A website is something that needs constant love and attention. If it doesn’t keep up with the times, no one is going to want to look at your site. Before you begin the design process, make sure you know the hottest web design trends of 2016.
Card Layout
The card layout is where there are squares and rectangles long the screen filled with content. It looks like the main page with your Windows apps. This is a fantastic layout because it gives you bite-sized tidbits of information on the website. Someone can look at the main page and see not only titles but images that will let them know what is behind that door. People seem naturally drawn to the look. It’s futuristic and simple at the same time.
Animations
Humans are visual creates. Animations are wonderful for catching the eye. You have to be careful with animations, though. Don’t just stick them on your site to be trendy. They need to add to the story of your website. If you’re selling something that no one has heard of, maybe you can add an animation that tells the customer what it is. This way, they won’t have to look around your website for 20 minutes just to figure it out.
With information being so easy to get, people are less patient than they used to be, and you need to give them the information as quickly as possible or they’ll move onto something else. Don’t stick a dozen animations on the same page. It could ultimately end up with your website loading slowly. Put one on your page that’s short and snappy.
Hover Animations
Hover animations are important for e-commerce sites and great for small business website design. These are the types of animations that give you an instant visual. For example, on Amazon, you can hover over a product and it instantly shows you a larger image or a different angle of the image you are looking at. This gives customers an immediate view of the product they want to see without having to click and navigate away from the page they’re on.
Hero Images
Hero images are great for many websites. They are large headers that catch people’s eyes. These images provoke emotions in people that they haven’t felt for a long time. They love feeling emotions about making a difference, catching the dream they have been chasing, and finding their place in the world. Humans feel more lost than ever in this busy age of technology. If you can find one image that makes people feel like they may have found themselves, then you’re doing your website justice.
Personal Images
You can go the other way on the images. Meaning, ditch the stock photos and take some of your own photography. This can make your website looks less corporate and more “business next door”. People want to shop small business if they’re at your website, so make sure it feels small business.
Websites are one of the most important parts of your business. Make sure you reel people in with a compelling site that they can’t stay off of.