Web Design Trends and Predictions for 2016

If you’re building or updating your website today, there’s really no point in following older web design trends. What you need to do is take a look at web design trends for 2016 to accommodate the ever changing needs and preferences of today’s Internet users.

 

Here are our predictions for web design trends for 2016:

 

1. Faster loading pages.
More and more studies show that Internet surfers are fed up with slow loading times. One survey revealed that for 52% of the respondents their brand loyalty is dependent on the quickness of the website’s page loading. Consumer satisfaction is also reduced by 16% when the loading time is more than 1 second!
This only means that businesses that want to stay popular will simplify matters by ensuring that their web pages load as quickly as possible. For large websites, lazy loading (or loading only small portions of the content at a time) will be the key.

 

2. Limited scrolling.
The single page scrolling design is a very common web design trend nowadays due to Facebook scrolling, but by 2016 it won’t be as popular. That’s because more and more surveys are discovering that surfers find it tiring to scroll for more than 3 seconds. They also don’t appreciate the unclear division of the web page content. So look to more compact web design for 2016, where Internet users will use clicks instead.

 

3. More originality.
Many readymade websites these days use themes to really spruce up their websites. Admittedly, the designs can be really nice and they have a great colour palette and well organised content. But many design experts are noticing that somehow, more and more websites look similar to each other, which is not exactly a good thing.
You can still use themes so you can set up your site’s infrastructure quickly but you should also incorporate unique custom illustrations and other original artwork to make your website look more distinctive.

 

4. Centered and split content.
If you have minimal web content, it’s best to put it right at the center of the page. You can emphasize your main message by surrounding your center with either a smooth texture or arresting visuals.
For pages with lots of content, a spit layout is going to be a trend next year and in the years thereafter. In this design, the screen is divided into wide sections, and not in the Tile-style made popular by Pinterest.

 

5. Greater focus on typography.
Google Fonts offer a free font collection and there is also a wider professional choice available through TypeKit.com and Fonts.com. You can now pick the most appropriate typeface for your website without having to resort to the usual suspects like Arial and Helvetica. Different styles and font families are now available to give the kind of impression you want for your brand.

 

If you have an online business then your web design is crucial. About 85% of the people you deal with will check your website first before they decide to do business with you. So if you have a bad web design, studies show that 46% of potential customers are less likely to buy from you. After all, if your website looks unprofessional, then those prospects will assume that your products and services are just as bad.