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Web Design Trends 2023 – 2024: Stay Up to Date on Your Digital Marketing

Web Design Trends 2023 – The web design industry has made a lot of changes over the years. Web design tactics that were considered cutting edge a few years ago are now obsolete. Search engines now monitor your visitors’ interactions with your website closely, and if visitors give indicators they are not having a positive experience, search engines push you down in the SERP’s. Site speed has become more important than animation. Mobile first responsive web design now takes precedence over the desktop version. And these are just some of the changes web designers need to keep up with in 2023. Now more than ever it is important for designers to keep current on technology and trends if they want to do well in this highly competitive environment. 

From simple aesthetics, to providing functionalities in a website, every element in web design is essential. Web design tools and trends continue to change as do web design trends and tastes.

When performing web design, web designers must pay attention to all the details — from the fonts and graphics used to the way content is organized — to ensure consistency throughout all of the visual elements. This will help create a visually appealing, user-friendly experience for your visitors.

Branding

Branding has become a big deal to companies who are working on or considering working on a website re-design. For a long time, most of the requests at our agency were simply to “get busy and build us a website.” But now, companies are looking at their overall brand strategy, or realizing for the first time that they never had one, and asking for a complete brand workup to go along with their website. This is what distinguishes a full-service digital marketing agency from a website designer – having a full background in marketing rather than only building or coding websites. 

Web design and web development must take search engines and search engine optimization into account. Search engines are always changing their criteria for search engine optimization. Each web page must show up on Google and other search engines in one of the top spots, otherwise, even though you’ve put together a great web design, it doesn’t matter much if nobody is ever going to see it.

Mobile First Web Design

Mobile First Web Design (also knowns as responsive web design) has become critical and is no longer an option. In 2023 and going into 2024 all web sites need to be designed with mobile phone screen display and interaction as the priority. This is what is meant by “mobile first” web design. Your first priority must be how a website looks/displays on a mobile device. This used to be something web designers started thinking about AFTER they build the original desktop version. In 2023, that is not going to work for you or for your clients. 

In 2023, websites must be responsive – which means they must display properly on all screen sizes including the mobile version, desktop version, tablets, and screen size. Ignoring responsive design elements in today’s website creation marketplace is unacceptable – site visitors will notice, search engines will notice, and your customers will notice. 

Site speed has become a major issue in SEO in 2023.

If it takes more than just a few seconds for your web page to load, users tend to click the “back” button. You might be thinking, “hey, this has been an issue for a long time.” While that might be true for larger companies with massive websites, for the smaller websites, site speed hasn’t hurt them all that much, but with the August 2022 Google update pushing mobile first – site speed is now “for everyone.” 

ADA Compliant websites

ADA Compliant websites are becoming a hot topic in 2023 and this trend is going to continue. ADA Complaint website requirements are here, and companies need to get on board and get their websites ready. In 2022, Dominoes lost a major lawsuit for their website not being ADA Compliant. Shortly after that, lawyers began marketing to people to begin filing lawsuits against companies whose websites are not ADA compliant. You can bet they will go after the big companies first – but you can also bet your business that sooner or later, new lawyers will figure out that suing even small businesses is a great way to make more contingency fees. So get ahead of this 2023 website trend now. 

And these are just a few of the trends businesses and web designers need to be onboard with. The rest of this article is dedicated to exploring many trends we are seeing in the web design world in 2023. 

Front, Back, and Full Stack Web Design

In 2023, as you are thinking about websites, and web design, it might be helpful to break up web design into three main branches: front-end, back-end, and full stack web design/web development. 

Front-End Web Designers focus on the user interface or “look” of a website. They create the visuals, layout, and overall design. 

Front End designers focus their attention on how a website looks, UX/UI (User Experience), and the overall feel of the website. To be a good front end web designer, you need to be creative and be excellent at graphic design. You have to understand the best ways to develop and present information, so the user has a pleasant experience when they visit the website.

If you perform a web search for “website design,” most of the results you will get back will be for companies who primarily focus on front-end web design. Some companies do offer full-stack (front end and back end), but most back end work is considered web development, rather than website design. 

That being said, in 2023, most web design companies need to have at least some back-end web development skills, even if it is understanding which plugins and API’s to use, and how to connect them up to a new website. Most web design customers today are asking for at least some functionality, whether it is connecting pay app, a calendar, scheduling software, or connecting the site to SAAS providers like SalesForce.com or Hubspot. Front end developers need at least as much technical skill as is required to implement these types of requests from their customers. Very few front end designers are “purely” graphic designers in 2023. 

Back-End Web Designers 

Back end web designers focus on the functionality of the website and generally referred to as web developers or more commonly as “coders.” If you perform an internet search for the keywords “web developer” – the results will mostly be back-end web building companies. 

Back-end web designers build databases, APIs, and write server-side code to ensure that users can perform tasks like logging in or making purchases. Back-End Web Designers focus on the behind-the-scenes functionality. They use different programming languages and frameworks to power the website, ensuring that it runs smoothly and securely. They also develop APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) so that other applications can communicate with the website.

In the web design world, back-end developers are the people who do the “heavy lifting” in the web world. They perform nearly all custom web functionality work. Anything you need your website to perform where you either can’t find a plugin for it, or need to modify a plugin to meet your requirements is going to require a back-end web developer. 

Back end web development is also extremely expensive. A simple web development project can cost $35,000. Complex back-end web development runs into the tens of millions of dollars and often requires multiple teams working around the globe twenty four hours per day to complete projects, test them, and launch them successfully. So remember, if you can’t find a plugin, or you need something modified or custom built, you should expect a hefty price tag. 

Full Stack Web Designers 

Full Stack web designers can do both front-end and back-end skills. They can create an entire website from scratch, from designing the look and feel to building out the databases and server code. They have a deep understanding of both the design and the underlying code. In truth, you do not find too many single individuals in the world who are full-stack web designers. If they offer front and back end, this is usually a team effort, or they are outsourcing either the front end or the back end. 

This isn’t to say that there aren’t people out there who are fully competent graphic designers who are also excellent coders, but they are a unicorn – you don’t find them often; and if you do, most people can’t afford to hire them because they are so rare. The type of creativity that lends itself to graphic design and understanding UX/UI are simply different (generally speaking) than the type of creativity that makes a good coder. As we said, it can happen, but it isn’t common. 

The Bottom Line – in 2023 and through 2024, it is important for web designers to understand all three types of web design to create a well-rounded website that meets the needs of their clients. No matter which type of web design you specialize in, there is always something new to learn. As technology and user expectations continue to evolve, it’s important for web designers to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices so they can create websites that are functional, beautiful, and accessible. A front-end web designer needs to be aware of trends in the back-end web design world, and the same is true for back-end builders. We’ve all experienced websites that were built with only the back-end in mind, and end up with a terrible user experience. We have also experienced websites that were built entirely for the design team’s eyes, but the back end is clunky or out of date, or slow. In 2023, to be a competitive web designer, you need to understand a lot about the front and the back-end of the website, even if you are not a true full-stack web design firm.

Branding and Web Design in 2023 – 2024

Over the last few years, at our agency we are getting more and more requests for full branding work up’s – and not just designing a logo, but a full-on branding package including messaging, color palettes, multi-media decks, branded email templates, and more. As companies begin considering an update to their website, they are looking around at the competitors’ websites and seeing that their entire look is outdated. And rather than just change the website, they start looking at their branding. 

A good branding strategy helps distinguish a business from its competitors, build consumer loyalty, and create strong relationships with customers. For example, if your company specializes in selling organic fruits and vegetables, you may want to create a website with bright colors, natural imagery, and informative content that reflects your brand’s mission.

Every website should accurately reflect the company’s message and values. To do that, you must take the time to learn all about the company, what their goals are, what their position in the market is relative to their competitors. You need to understand how web design elements will land with the target audience and how to organize content in way their customers will understand and attribute to the brand of the business. 

We have had a few business executives tell us that they came to us after the company they originally hired began writing content and designing their website before they had even talked to the executives. These companies had done no research. They had not held an initial creative brief. They had just started building. They weren’t taking messaging or branding or the company’s culture into account at all. This is what differentiates being a full-service digital marketing agency from being a web builder – knowing marketing, sales, consume psychology and branding instead of just knowing how to slap pictures and words on the screen. 

The Importance of Good Graphic Design in Web Designing

If your website doesn’t look awesome people are not going to take you or your business seriously. You HAVE TO HAVE a great website going into 2024. New statistics show that people judge your credibility based only on the design of your website. What is your website saying about you? Remember, you aren’t going to be around to defend it with your great warranty or customer service – because if your website sucks, visitors just click the back arrow and never return. 

A web designer must be able to create visually appealing designs that both match the brand and the goals of a website. Using typography, color, images, icons and other graphics, web designers can create a unique look and feel for any website.

A professional visual design also plays a major role in reinforcing the message of a website and ensuring that it effectively communicates with visitors. A web designer should be able to use graphic design tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator to create images, icons, and other graphics for websites.

An effective web graphic design will also understand UX/UI design to create user-friendly and intuitive interfaces. The User Experience process is an essential part of web designing and a key factor in creating a successful website. 

By using strong design practices, color scheme, and making good use of white space, web designers who are designing websites can engage visitors and encourage website visitors to act. In the end, a website’s design is all about creating an engaging experience for users that will keep them coming back for more. 

The Importance of Website Content in Web Design

Web design is all about creating the perfect environment for your content to shine. As a web designer, you must make sure that your site looks visually appealing, but also presents the written content in a manner that is well-structured and easily accessible. 

Good web design requires more than aesthetic; it takes thoughtful consideration about how content will be displayed and navigated by your website visitors. As such, it’s important to take the time to plan out how you want the content on your website to be organized. When it comes to content, web designers should think about how best to convey the message or story they want their website visitors to understand.

When it comes to web design, it’s important for a web designer to choose fonts and colors that will make your content pop. Choosing the right visuals can help draw attention to the most important parts of your content and create an aesthetically pleasing experience for visitors. Quality images, videos, and other visuals also help to create a more immersive experience that helps drive visitor engagement.

Lastly, web designers should also consider how their content will be displayed across different devices. Web design is no longer limited to desktop computers; today, a website must look and function the same regardless of whether it’s being viewed on a laptop, tablet, or mobile device. Ensuring that your content is appropriately displayed on any device will ensure maximum accessibility for all of your visitors.

As web designers continue to face new challenges in the digital world, understanding how to effectively design around content is essential in creating compelling websites. Taking the time to plan out how best to present your content will ensure that your visitors have a positive experience and are able to quickly find what they’re looking for. Good content, combined with an aesthetically pleasing web design, is the key to success for any website.

The Importance of UX and UI in Web Design in 2023 and 2024

User Experience Design is become a big deal going into 2023. In a recent survey, 88% of users indicated that if they have a negative first experience from the site’s layout, a slow website, or the website’s structure, they will never return to that website again. 

What constitutes a negative experience? Making it hard to find things on the site, making it hard to navigate, hard to interact with, hard to figure out how to contact someone, hard to sign up, hard to sort through products, hard to check out, or hard to pay. Basically, if your website is hard to use in ANY WAY – people are just going to leave. So don’t do that – make sure everything flows in a logical way makes it easy to transition back and forth, find information (or products), and contact someone in your business if they have questions. 

UX and UI are two of the most important elements in web design. When thoughtfully implemented, UX Design (user experience) and UI (user interface) can make for a great experience for site visitors. 

UX design is about understanding the needs and wants of users. UI on the other hand (User Interface Design) focuses on making sure that those needs are met by creating an attractive and intuitive interface. It involves understanding the users’ goals and how they interact with your website to meet them. UI design should make it easy for visitors to navigate their way around, understand the content quickly, and act when needed. UX designers focus on creating an emotional connection between a user and a product while UI focuses on the visual elements of a product that make it easy to use.

When it comes to web design, the combination of UX and UI can result in a website that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also intuitive and enjoyable to use. This makes for a great overall experience for visitors, which will encourage them to stay on the page longer and convert more easily into leads or customers. Working with a professional web designer ensures that your website is designed properly and effectively, considering both UX and UI. A great web designer will be able to create a website that looks good, functions well, and helps you achieve your goals – whatever they may be!

In short, UX and UI are essential elements of web design that must work together in harmony to create a great user experience. Working with a professional web designer is the best way to ensure that your website is designed for maximum success and usability.

And it matters. Users now say in surveys that if they have a negative user experience, they are unlikely to ever return to that website. That’s why web design isn’t just about creating a visually pleasing experience anymore, but also one that is intuitive and enjoyable for users. A great web designer will know how to strategically combine UX and UI elements to create an amazing web experience that meets your goals. So, if you want your website to be successful, make sure you choose the right web designer and make UX and UI a priority.

Responsive Web Design

Having a responsive web design is essential going into 2023. Web designers must understand the importance of adapting to different devices and screen sizes, ensuring that users have a great experience no matter where they are accessing your site. 

What is Responsive Web Design? 

Responsive web design is a technique used in web design that allows websites to be displayed differently depending on the device being used for viewing. It helps make sure that your website looks great no matter if it’s viewed on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. Responsive web design is important because it allows websites to be more easily accessible and usable across a variety of devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. This ensures that all users can access the same information without needing to zoom in or out on their device to read content.

Responsive web design requires the use of HTML and CSS code to ensure the website layout renders properly on any device, whether that device is a phone, laptop, tablet, game console, or large screen display device like a digital billboard. It also takes into consideration the user’s device orientation and viewport size. Web designers must understand how to write code that is flexible to create a website design that looks and works great on any device.

Using best practices when designing for responsive web design can help make sure that your website looks great and functions well across all devices. Some best practices include designing a website with relative units such as % instead of fixed units like pixels, using media queries to define different styling rules for each device size, and leveraging content delivery networks (CDNs) to ensure faster loading times on mobile devices.

Responsive web design is important because it ensures users have a positive experience when they visit your site, regardless of the device they are using. Sites that are not optimized for mobile devices can be difficult to navigate, with tiny text and images and links too close together to be easily clicked with a finger. Responsive web design solves these issues by ensuring all elements are easy to read and interact with on any device. It also helps to improve your search engine rankings since Google now rewards sites that provide a great mobile experience.

By investing in responsive web design, you can ensure your website looks and works great for all visitors, no matter what device they are using. 

Mobile First Web Design

Mobile first web design is an approach to designing a website with mobile users as the primary target. This means that all designs and content will be optimized for smaller screen sizes before anything else. Mobile first web design takes into consideration the limitations of a mobile device, such as limited bandwidth and slow internet speeds, but also looks at how users interact differently on mobile devices. 

For example, web designers may design a website with larger buttons and fewer pages to make it easier to navigate on a small screen. It is important for web designers to apply the concept of mobile first web design to ensure that their sites are accessible and convenient for all users. Mobile first web design can help create an enjoyable experience for users, regardless of the device they are using. 

It takes a lot of skill and experience to become an effective web designer. It is important for web designers to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in web design and understand how mobile devices interact differently with websites. Only then can they apply the concept of mobile first web design to create a website that is optimized for mobile users. With the right techniques and tools, web designers can create beautiful and functional websites that are designed with the user experience in mind. 

How Mobile First Web Design Impacts SEO

Mobile first used to be a good idea – but in 2023, mobile first design is a MUST. If you are not designing with mobile first in mind, it is going to kill your SEO (search engine optimization). 

Gone are the days when search engine optimization (SEO) was exclusively meant for websites. The advent of mobile web design has revolutionized SEO and it’s now more important than ever to make sure your website is optimized for both desktop and mobile users. 

Mobile first web design involves creating a website that can be seamlessly used on both mobile and desktop platforms. This means that the website should be made with a responsive design, ensuring that it’s easy to use and navigate regardless of the platform the user is using.

Having a website designed specifically for mobile users has numerous SEO benefits, such as improved load times and easier navigation. Mobile friendly websites tend to rank higher in search engine rankings and are more likely to be shared on social media, leading to more organic traffic. Additionally, mobile-friendly websites have larger click through rates as users find it easier to use the website on their phones.

Whether you’re a web designer or a business owner, investing in mobile first web design is essential in today’s digital landscape. Not only can it make your website easier to use on mobile devices, but it also helps to improve your SEO rankings, increase organic traffic and ultimately drive more conversions. 

In fact, in August of 2022, Google released a major update to their algorithm that gave heavy weighting to websites that were designed for “mobile first” – making mobile first web design critical to the design and architecture of any website design going into 2023. 

Website ADA Compliance

2023 is going to be the year everyone either gets on board with ADA compliant website design – or gets sued because their website is not easily accessible with individuals with disabilities. By 2024, everyone in web design should know about and have their website set up ADA Compliant, or be well on their way to having it be ADA Compliant.

Web design isn’t just about making a website look good – it’s also about ensuring the site is accessible and compliant with digital accessibility regulations. ADA Compliance has been an important part of web designing for years now, helping to ensure that people with disabilities can access the same content as everyone else.

To create a website that is ADA Compliant, web designers must be aware of the rules and regulations regarding digital accessibility and should ensure that their website is designed with those guidelines in mind. This includes making sure images have alternative text, videos are captioned, any form fields are labeled properly, etc. 

While this may seem like a lot of work, it’s well worth the effort to make sure everyone can access the site and all of its content – plus, you should hope to avoid a lawsuit for having a website that is inaccessible by individuals with disabilities. 

The good news is many website platforms like WordPress and Wix have plugins you can use that will help make your site more ADA compliant and also give you pointers and tips about what you need to do to make your site more accessible. Here is an Article in GreenGeeks that talks about various ADA Compliant Plugins for WordPress: https://www.greengeeks.com/blog/best-wordpress-accessibility-plugins/

You can also use Google Lighthouse (a Chrome Extension) to help check your site over and see any issues that might impact accessibility. 

So be sure to keep ADA Compliance in mind when designing your website!

Summary Website Design Trends 2023 – 2024

Web design is a creative process that is used to create aesthetically pleasing, functional websites. Content can also be an important part of web design, as it provides visitors with information they need while adding visual appeal. UX and UI are two essential elements of web design that must work together in order to create a positive user experience and help your website reach its goals. By working with a professional web designer, you can ensure that your website is designed for maximum success and usability. So, make sure to take the time to find the right web designer for your project, and always prioritize UX and UI when creating or revamping your website.

The end result will be a website that looks great, functions well, and helps you achieve your online goals. Good luck!