First impressions are important in business, and I’m not talking about your elevator parking space.
It only takes 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) to form an opinion about your website. For some, this first impression of your website is the only impression they will ever leave about your company.
How do you make a good first impression – and make it last? Understand and, more importantly, use the web design trends shown to impress potential customers and make your business stand out.
That’s why I’ve narrowed the 2018 web design trends, as projected by the web flow team of design experts, to the four that make visitors fall in love with your business … at first glance. Because the first impression is important and we are all too busy.
The <Video> element
It’s no secret that the Internet is becoming, or maybe has already become, a medium for videographers. The video will account for 82% of all Internet traffic in 2021. This trend is not to be taken lightly. After all, the video shows this incredible potential since 1979 (when it killed the radio star).
First, the bad news: Video production requires more time, money, and resources.
I’m glad we got it over with. Now the good news: Video makes an excellent contribution to capturing your business values ??in a way that is neither possible by copying nor by static images alone.
When you sell a conceptual product or service, video is especially important. Take, for example, the Stripe Sigma feature page, where videos are seamlessly integrated into the design to present a complicated concept in a digestible and appealing way.
There is more good news for SEO fans out there. According to Video Explainers (via MarTech), adding a video to your website can increase the likelihood of a Google result on the homepage by 53 times. That is if it is good.
Immersive “multimedia” long-form
Another means to bring your products and services to life is immersive multimedia in the long-form. A multimedia format is larger than any infographic or blog post, so your customers can visualize the experience of doing business with you and hopefully be excited.
To convince your audience, bring your products and services to life, and demonstrate your expertise in the ecosystem you play in, you need to create an experience.
Start with a custom layout and enrich it with video, sound, diagrams, graphics, maps and much more to tell a long but exciting story. Media like CNN, ESPN, and National Geographic use this innovative way of storytelling, and now companies are following suit.
Dropbox, for example, turned its brand redesign into a compelling and engaging story in Dropbox design.
Content hubs (or web books?) Are cool
The demand for information is increasing and makes valuable content one of the best ways to generate leads and build brand awareness. Do you know what information your ideal customer is looking for? Can you or someone on your team provide this information?
If the answer is yes, you’ve just come across an outstanding and subtle content marketing strategy: web books. Web books are the e-books of the future that have been developed for the web.
If you are an expert on something and your customers (or potential customers) can benefit from your knowledge, create a web book and tell the world about it.
Intercom Books, for example, offers readers valuable information and insights without PDFs or aggressive sales talks.
Principles-First Design
Not everyone is a Ray Dalio (Principles: Life and Work author), but all companies can and should think in terms of principles first. The same principles that guide your product or service should guide your website design process.
Let’s say someone stumbles across your website without first knowing about your company. For this user, your website becomes your brand. After your marketing team generates this lead, you need to make sure that your website correctly reflects the values ??that your company lives by.
Make sure that your designer knows, understands, and represents these values ??in the design of your website. This is a conversation that should take place at the beginning of the design process and continues to inform the stages of this process until your website is complete.
This seems to be just another variable that complicates the already fragmented design process. At Webflow, however, we found that our brand principles help our team make faster, cleaner, and more determined design decisions.
I’m not a Ray Dalio, but I’ve seen principles in our company’s web design work wonders and believe they can do the same for you.