Unveiling Top Website Design Trends for 2024

Website design trends are not just about aesthetics. As the digital world rapidly evolves, a vital part of your strategy is to enhance user experience, boost SEO performance, and drive meaningful engagement. A good-looking website is just a great first start. As digital marketers, keen on SEO, incorporating these trends into your website can significantly impact your online presence.

In our recent blog post, we looked at some of the ongoing digital marketing trends and discussed some of the key areas for 2024. Some trends have been ongoing but as we know, there will always be room for improvement. The technological age that we live in thrives on innovation, so new and improved isn’t a fad.

How we execute our content and SEO strategy should also evolve with web design trends. We recently read an article by Crystal Carter, Head of SEO Communications at WIX, that highlighted some of the 2024 SEO trends we should look for in the coming year. To no one’s surprise was the use and involvement of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to maximize efficiency. AI has been a long-time tool for many large companies but now with mainstream utilization, the benefits are evident.

Let’s explore some key web design trends that align seamlessly with your content creation and SEO efforts. We admit that some of these trends overlap but they all serve their purpose in executing and enhancing your respective strategies.  To help with improving your web user experience and conversion rate optimization, our guide is a great place to start.

Website Design Trends You Don’t Want to Miss

Mobile-First Design

The dominance of mobile devices in online interactions makes mobile-first design a non-negotiable trend. Mobile-first indexing means Google’s web crawler prioritizes indexing the mobile version of a website’s content over its desktop counterpart. This informs rankings. Google’s emphasis on mobile responsiveness for search rankings underscores the importance of optimizing your website for various screen sizes. Ensure that your content is not just readable but that it offers a seamless experience across devices. Ensure that your site is crawlable. This means that Google can find your site and assess your content. Here is how to set this up:

• Use structured data markup (a type of code that helps search engines understand your content)
• Avoid blocking any resources like CSS, JavaScript, or images
• Regularly audit your site for issues

Example: Take inspiration from Airbnb’s mobile interface, which prioritizes simplicity and functionality, providing users with an intuitive experience on any device.

Dark Mode Delight

Dark mode isn’t just a trend for aesthetic appeal; it also contributes to reducing eye strain and enhancing visual ergonomics. A dark mode option can attract users who prefer this alternative and may even boost engagement. Google’s John Mueller, states that dark mode is not a ranking factor particularly based on how it’s implemented. It is a cool feature, but you must pay attention to how this affects overall user experience. This might be a feature your visitors can appreciate or not.

Example: YouTube’s dark mode option offers users a sleek and comfortable viewing experience, especially in low-light conditions.

Interactive User Engagement

Engaging your audience goes beyond compelling content; it involves interactive design elements. Remember: users expect websites to be intuitive, visually appealing, and responsive to their needs. An interactive design aims to meet these expectations by providing a dynamic and interactive interface that facilitates a positive user experience.

Interactive design helps with understanding and measuring user engagement. High user engagement indicates that users find the design compelling, enjoyable, and valuable, while low user engagement suggests that there are issues with the design that need to be addressed.

To improve user engagement, you can incorporate scroll-triggered animations, interactive forms, and other dynamic features to captivate your audience and keep them on your site longer.

Example: Stripe’s website uses subtle animations to guide users through their content, making the browsing experience engaging and enjoyable.

Voice User Interface (VUI)

As voice-activated devices become increasingly prevalent, optimizing your website for voice search is a must. Voice interface design depends on the intelligent use of voice commands and speech recognition to ensure a unique user experience. Using a voice command for efficient interaction requires a blend of graphical user interfaces with voice recognition software. Bear in mind that a good voice user interface is not just efficient at automatic speech recognition; it can synthesize natural conversation, understand spoken commands, and transmit messages accordingly.

Consider integrating voice search capabilities and ensuring that your content is structured in a way that accommodates natural language queries.

Example: Google’s search engine is a prime example of how voice search capabilities have been seamlessly integrated, providing users with spoken responses.

Accessibility Is Key

Prioritizing web accessibility is not just a trend; it’s a fundamental aspect of creating an inclusive online space. It is rather unfortunate that many websites are still not up to par with web accessibility standards and requirements. Data from Utah State University’s Web AIM Million Project in 2023 revealed a startling trend: 96.3% of the top million homepages did not comply with ADA standards, each exhibiting an average of 50.0 barriers to accessibility. In our post, we identified some of the common issues these websites might face and included ways to fix them. ADA and the WCAG have taken recent steps to address AI technologies and accessibility. New technologies require new and improved rules and that’s also important for disadvantaged populations.

To improve accessibility, use semantic HTML, provide descriptive alt text for images, and ensure that your website is navigable with a keyboard. This not only improves user experience but also aligns with SEO best practices.

Example: The World Health Organization (WHO) website exemplifies accessibility, catering to a diverse audience through clear navigation and alt text for images.

Page Speed Optimization

User experience and SEO are closely tied to page speed. Slow-loading pages and content deter users from staying on your website. How do you find out if your website is slow? Common page speed metrics include the following:

• Time to First Byte (TTFB): How long it takes for the page to begin loading.
• First Contentful Paint (FCP): How long it takes for the user to see the first element of a page (like an image)
• Onload time: How long it takes to fully load the content of a page.

To optimize page speed, you also need to understand core web vitals. Ahrefs indicated that core web vitals are three metrics that Google uses to measure a user’s experience on a webpage by looking at visual load speed, visual stability, and interactivity/responsiveness.

We covered a few tips for WordPress sites in this post. Optimize your website for fast loading times by compressing images, minimizing code, and leveraging browser caching. A faster website not only improves user satisfaction but can positively impact your search rankings.

Example: Amazon, a global e-commerce giant, prioritizes lightning-fast page loading times, contributing to a seamless shopping experience for users.

Chatbots More Like Chatbuds

Chatbots are another feature that has been popular for a few years and will continue to be relevant in 2024. As AI and machine learning continue to get more sophisticated, we expect to see chatbots become the norm for simple customer service requests and “personal shopping.”

For example, a customer visits your website, looking for phone support and the chatbot knows they have an available free phone upgrade. The chatbot can let them know about the upgrade. This can lead to a positive experience for the customer and save the business the customer support cost associated with talking to a live person.

Concerned about not having enough staff to manage a web chat? Utilize tools that can forward your web chats to your mobile phone, enabling you to engage with customers while on the move.

Incorporating these web design trends into your content creation and SEO strategy can elevate your online presence, enhance user engagement, and contribute to the overall success of your digital endeavors. Keep an eye on emerging trends, adapt them to suit your brand identity, and watch as your website becomes a dynamic hub for both content and user satisfaction.

Your content and SEO strategies must be adaptable to changes in the digital landscape. Every quarter, marketers encounter a new phenomenon that forces them to change course or abandon a campaign. Establishing a foundation and having the right tools to help you move your marketing efforts forward is key. As an integrated marketing agency with expertise in creating innovative websites and sharing quality content, WDB’s position is unique to help you navigate the next website upgrade.

Selecting the right agency takes time. Here is a guide to help you.