Website Design And Development Best Practices For 2020
Your website is your brand’s ambassador online. To make a positive first impression and nurture a customer, your website design needs to be attractive, well-functioning, and SEO optimized. These website development best practices for 2020 offer a few concepts to consider as you plan your website design or redesign.
Pay Attention to User Experience
When someone visits your website, their experience influences how they feel about your brand and how likely they are to become a customer. If you invested in a paid campaign, a poorly designed landing page or website can crush your chances for generating leads and conversions. Websites that are easy to navigate, use helpful chatbots, and load smoothly have a much better chance of bringing you new business.
Pay Attention to Security and Trust Signals
It is common knowledge that you need to install an SSL certificate to encode the information exchanged between your website and visitors. Still, even in 2020, many small businesses maintain websites lacking this basic security protocol. In 2017, Google announced not having an SSL certificate can negatively affect a site’s SEO rankings.
In addition, use a website developer who understands the latest in security protocol. Unnecessary security breaches cost customers and brand reputation.
Mobile Responsive is Essential
More than half of all internet users accessed the web through their mobile phones or tablets in 2018. This trend will grow and continue throughout 2020 and beyond. A site that isn’t mobile responsive also hurts your SEO since Google issued guidelines and favors mobile-enhanced websites.
Use of Engaging Optimized Images and Media
Over 65% of the population are visual learners. For most people, graphical elements like photographs, infographics, and visual elements engage them most than plain text. Working with a designer who incorporates functional, yet attractive visual elements will significantly increase your brand's trustworthiness. It will also increase the chances of a visitor willing to stay on your website and actually read your content.
Graphics also may appear in Google Image Search, potentially bringing more traffic to your page. To make the most of this opportunity, those images need to be optimized for SEO and to load quickly.
Attractive On-Brand Design
Design trends come and go, so if it has been a while since your site was designed it may be time for a refresh. Beyond trends, effective design is easy on the eye and coordinates with your company branding elements like signature colors and logos. Design in 2020 is more user-experience oriented. Many people experience eye fatigue from hours looking at their LED screens. Web design trends like dark mode strive to offer relief and make it easier for people to read your content.
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If your company is not seeing the results you need, perhaps it is time for a website redesign. Contact L7 Creative today to discuss how a new look can better attract and convert new customers.