Having a strong web presence is now a necessity, both for businesses and professionals. It starts with having a website that represents your brand and provides valuable content to a target audience. in the old days, developing a good website was difficult. Today, however, the different frameworks and tools available are making it easy for anyone to develop a site quickly.
As the World Wide Web landscape changes, we are starting to see new web trends developing. Which trends do you need to anticipate in the future? That is what we are going to find out in this article.
Mobile-First Websites
According to Maryville University and its online masters in software development department, over 60% of today’s internet visits come from mobile devices. Smartphones and tablets are more common than laptops and personal computers, so it is not surprising to find more internet users accessing websites on the go. In answer to this shift, more websites are focusing on their mobile users and bringing the best experience to mobile devices.
Mobile-first development shifts focus to elements that deliver a fluid user experience on mobile devices. Instead of large images and animated content, websites are now developed to be as light and as pleasant to use as possible. Minimalist designs are making a comeback and websites are becoming more functional than ever.
The education world is also responding to this new trend. Students pursuing their online MSSD degree are learning more about the seamless integration between web programming languages and native frameworks. Today’s mobile websites, for instance, can pull location information and take advantage of smartphone cameras just as fluidly as native apps.
Platform for Video Content
We are also seeing a big shift towards video marketing. While articles are still generating a lot of traffic for websites, more site owners are investing in video content for better engagement and increased traffic. Videos do generate up to 80% more responses and user engagement than articles, making them more valuable than ever.
As a result of this shift, websites are now making more room for video content. Embedded videos are still the way most video is displayed, especially with video sharing platforms offering HTML5-based players and better streaming efficiency. However, there is a growing number of websites that self-host their videos for better performance.
Enhanced Narratives
Lastly, we have the fact that the most successful content tells compelling stories. Websites are being designed to deliver compelling stories in a better way. Elements that enhance those narratives are now seen in top sites more and more.
A simple divider made using a parallax effect and a full-width image is a good example of this new trend. This type of divider is often used to separate one part of a story from another, allowing readers to experience a smoother flow and much-improved user experience.
At the same time, the use of highly readable fonts and better color schemes are making web reading experiences better. Some sites even go as far as offering a reading mode or a night mode, where the background automatically turns to black and white text is displayed on the screen.
These trends have one thing in common. They all focus on delivering the best user experience under different circumstances. If you are planning your own web development project, make sure you take these new approaches into consideration.