7 Outdated Web Design Trends in 2020
In today’s day and age, web and technology are changing fast. Every year, new web design trends emerge. As such, your site may contain one or more the following outdated web design trends. This leads to a poor first impression and can mean all the difference between visitors taking action on your site, or hitting the back button in their browser and going to your competitor.
In this post, we’ll tell you what’s outdated and what to use instead so you can make sure your website’s design is up to date.
Outdated Web Design Trends To Avoid In 2020
This is what we’ve observed as web design trends that are quickly becoming outdated.
1. Homepage sliders
The first trend we are going to talk about are the homepage sliders. Various statistics show that homepage sliders hurt the user experience more than help convert visitors into customers and clients. They lead to overwhelm and make it harder for visitors to focus on the desired action.
According to a study done at nd.edu, only 1% of visitors clicked an item in the home page carousel (and that was in 2013). Of those 89% of them clicked the item in the first position. And the numbers have been dropping. So basically your carousel items #2-X are not being seen or clicked, which is why there has been a movement in recent years to drop home page carousels.
In an era where white space and minimalism are in, you don’t need full height or full width hero sections. Avoid scrolling your announcements and instead use the space thoughtfully. In the above example, Marvin J. Perry draws your focus by using one hero image with concise content.
2. Complex navigation
Simply put, drop-down menus are out. Instead, simple and minimal navigation will make it easier for users to find information on your site and lead them towards the action you want them to take.
This menu bar contains too many sub-menus and requires the visitors to read numerous small links to find what they are looking for.
The goal of your navigation is to help users find what they are looking for and this will ultimately lead to more conversions so simplifying your navigation is crucial. Users browsing on desktop computers should not have to hunt for navigation items since they have plenty of screen real estate, make them visible without a hamburger menu.
3. Sidebars
Nowadays, most sites don’t use a vertical sidebar for subpage navigation. Thanks to the overuse of banner ads, most users tend to ignore the sidebar which makes them pretty inefficient and pretty static.
Instead of a sidebar, go with a horizontal navigation and sub-navigation. If you need or want the sidebar, limit its use to your blog page as you can use it to display similar or related posts and lead visitors to different categories.
4. Obvious stock images
Cheesy stock photos and clipart used to grace every website on the Internet but luckily, they went out of fashion a long time ago.
Instead, consider setting up a branded photo shoot. Not only will this help you show the people behind your brand but it will also set you apart from your competitors. Brown Bag uses branded photo shoots to showcase their delicious food and build trust with their audience.
Keep in mind that a professional brand photo shoot is not the only option. You can also use take your own photos with your smartphone and use original images for your products or services.
Alternatively, if you have artistic skills, consider using hand drawn elements as this can be a great way to infuse your personality into your brand and set yourself apart.
5. Overly corporate or professional look
Directly in line with the tip above, remember that people are losing trust in big brand names and want to do business with real people instead of faceless corporations. As such, avoid making your site look overly corporate or professional.
This is the reason why big companies like Home Depot are hiring social influencers like Mallory and Savannah to promote their products.
Make your website more personal with real photos and easy to understand language. Avoid putting your mission statement on your homepage and referring to your business in third person.
Instead, add personal elements that inject emotion and humanity into your website. Don’t strive for perfection as little imperfections can go a long way towards showing your human side.
6. Super flat design
Super flat design was all the rage for a while. It was heavily used in web design as well as in graphic and print design. Nowadays, it’s less popular and we’re seeing websites move away from this trend.
When Microsoft released Windows 8 Metro in 2012 it helped fuel the flat design trend that we’ve seen for much of the last decade. The challenge with flat design is that it lowers the emphasis of all of the items to the same level and makes it difficult for anything to stand out and can feel overwhelming. Be sure to use hover or overlay effects to give visitors cues on what can be clicked on.
Instead of flat design, consider layering some soft textures to add more interest to your website pages. Adding shadows behind images is another great way to make your site visually more appealing.
A few other things you can try include using 3D elements, floating buttons, images, and text to create a dynamic look throughout your website.
7. Dull color schemes
Lastly, dull color schemes are out. Those muted, boring corporate colors are no longer in so there is no reason your website should use them.
Instead of opting for muted colors, consider using vibrant colors that are getting more and more popular. A few examples include:
- Duotones where one color is superimposed over another. This technique was made popular by websites like Verge and Spotify.
- Futuristic color schemes are in as well which make websites appear more modern and technologically savvy.
- With the advent of dark mode on both Apple and Windows computers as well as iOS and Android devices, it’s no wonder that the Internet is following in the same footsteps. Dark mode makes other colors pop so if you want to draw attention to certain calls to action, consider having a website with a dark background.
What’s Next?
Using the latest web design trends for your website shows that you care about your brand reputation and image. That’s why you have to keep up with current and emerging design trends so you can avoid having a website that looks outdated.
Have an outdated website? Need a re-design or enhancements to your website? Contact us today for a free quote and see how we can employ the latest web design trends to give your site a fresh new look.
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