Web Design Trends for 2018

What are some signs that it might be time for a mobile responsive web design in 2018? At KEO Marketing, we ground our expertise and experience in responsive web design services for a wide range of clients. For this article, our experts culled the design issues we see most often. The following points out why your website needs redesigned for 2018.

Greater Use of Negative Space

Negative space is the space that surrounds an object. It is just as important as the object itself because it helps to define the boundaries of positive space and bring balance to your design. Website designs are focusing more intently on creating positive spaces and shapes that cleverly carve out shapes in negative space.

Rather than serving as awkward, empty areas with no purpose, properly integrated negative space can direct your visitors’ attention and provide a seamless user experience. While sometimes difficult to incorporate, negative space keeps your website from being excessively busy and cluttered.

Secure Websites

With malicious hackers, malware, and Ransomware more prominent, security in 2018 will be of even greater importance. Your website visitors need to trust they can download files and access your contact forms safely and securely. They need to know they can trust you with their email and other personal information on your website.

If you have not updated your website in a few years, it is time to upgrade your site’s security. Using HTTPS to protect confidential online information, especially transactions, is the standard today. Your users, and Google, expects a secure experience and will demand a trusted certificate on any web page they visit.

AMP Optimization

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open source website optimization initiative that makes it easy for web pages to load quickly without waiting for any resources to download. AMP makes it easy for website designers to create mobile-friendly content once and have it load perfectly on various sized screens, like smartphone, tablet, laptop, and desktop.

KISSmetrics reports that 40% of people will abandon a web page if it takes over 3 seconds to load. A slow-loading page on any device could cost you sales in 2018. When your web pages load quickly, your users will view more pages on your site, reducing your bounce rate. Google rewards websites with an excellent user experience, so AMP optimization is a key consideration in 2018.

Chatbots

Chatbots are the future of customer interaction. With the smarter, more responsive chat bots existing today, they can do everything from fulfilling orders to provide customized help and send automated messages. B2B customers have longer sales cycles and spend about 70% of that time researching their purchase beforehand. If a buyer has a price question or another question, he or she is more likely to go to your website and interact with a chatbot to get immediate answers.

Chatbots are a win for both you and your customers. They save your customer care representatives from routine, easily answered questions to spend their time on complex customer issues. In addition, they provide quick and easy support when and where your target audience needs it.

Artificial Intelligence

You need to learn more about your customers to provide the kind of experience they expect, and artificial intelligence (AI) helps. Designing or redesigning your website to accommodate advances in AI-powered applications should be on your list to do in 2018. Look for clever virtual assistants, natural language chatbots, and web-based mapping apps to help differentiate brands in 2018.

Use AI to help you achieve more accurate and effective ad placement. With the help of AI and machine learning, you can optimize your marketing campaigns to get the most conversions out of your social media ads. AI means not relying on guesswork like many marketers do today.

You need the latest and greatest for your website if you want to stand out from the multitude of websites out there. Considering these strategies will help place your brand at the top of search engines while providing your users a truly magnificent experience.

If your website needs updating or a more significant upgrade, turn to a digital marketing agency. such as ours, with proven, award-winning experience creating websites that get results. The website optimization services you contract with can mean the difference between mediocre and extraordinary website design.

About KEO Marketing

KEO Marketing, Inc., a leading B2B digital marketing agency in Phoenix, Arizona, develops and implements strategies to help clients significantly increase leads and sales.

If you are ready to transform your website into a powerful marketing tool in 2018, contact KEO Marketing to get started with a free website design audit.


Author: Sheila Kloefkorn

With more than 25 years of hands on marketing strategy and operations experience, Sheila Kloefkorn is dedicated to developing marketing strategies and plans that help clients succeed. Some of the world's largest brands have depended on Sheila for marketing programs that delivered tangible and substantial results. Specialties: B2B marketing, lead generation, lead nurturing, sales strategy, marketing strategy, competitive marketing strategy, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), mobile marketing, email marketing, website design, marketing plans.