Five important trends in web design

There is a lot going on in web design. If you have a website that has been developed more than three years ago, it will look old fashioned right now. Time for an update! That’s why we have put together the five most important trends in web design for you.

1. Responsive
More and more websites are visited from a mobile device. An important driver for mobile visits to websites is e-mail. Visitors read mail on their mobile and click on links to visit your website. If your website does not look good on a mobile, visitor numbers will decrease. A responsive website that adapts to the screen of the visitor is a must and the new standard. A responsive design looks good on a smartphone, tablet and desktop. It automatically adapts to serve an optimal user experience.

2. Flat
A flat design is, like the name says, flat as a pancake. Everything that is superfluous has been removed from the design. It therefore has a very clean and crisp look. Lots of big players like Microsoft (Metro), Apple (iOS7) and Google have taken there first steps on the road to simplicity. If you think about it, it’s kind of strange that up until now we have tried to replicate the offline world by adding depth to web and app designs.

3. Parallax scrolling
In a parallax design all the content of a website is presented in one single page. That’s why parallax design sometimes is also referred to as parallax scrolling or ‘one page website’. A parallax design shows a lot of big images and the content scrolls over these images. Hereby creating the illusion of a 2d effect. Parallax scrolling is attractive for website visitors and appropriate to do great story telling.

4. Minimalism
Users want simplicity in a world in which we are overloaded with thousands of messages per day. Less is more, also for websites. We see more and more landing pages with a large background picture and a spare use of text. But also a platform like Twitter Bootstrap, in which minimalism, simplicity and standardization are important values, is an example of this trend.

5. Content first
Content marketing has been growing at a spectacular rate in the last years. Content works like a magnet. Websites in Flash, where design is more important than content, are dying slowly but steadily. The design has to support the content, because your content makes sure your found on Google. A good example of a content first platform is Medium.com.

Last but not least
Next to these five trends there are a couple of other important facts. Websites become less important in the communication mix. Clients and prospects stay in touch on social media like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Mobile apps are growing at a high pace. And also keep in mind that wearables like Google Glass can reshape the digital landscape in the future. 

Did we miss any important meta trends in this article? Please let us know in the comments!