As this year comes to a close, we want to look at 5 website trends we’ll be seeing in 2021 that will make your website compelling and engaging to all your users.

1.  Minimalism

Minimalism is making a comeback in website trends. It has been previously referred to as ‘flat design’ and predominated with a lot of white space.

In 2021, website visitors want simple, sleek, and easy to use, intuitive interfaces. Users have no patience for your pop-up windows and irrelevant push notification permissions. This is just slowing them in their search for an appropriate solution to their problem.

A great way to establish the best way to optimize your website is to conduct an eye-tracking test that shows your website’s segments that users interact with most. This can be done through heat maps or saccade pathways software and equipment. It’s expensive, but you can remove any excess elements or content from the page once you have relevant data.

Another way to enhance your site’s minimalism is to make sure no unnecessary pop-ups and notifications are included. You want to opt for simple and time-saving design features that promote seamless navigation.

Minimalism in 2021 isn’t just about white space. It will use colorful, bold backgrounds with clean text and minimal design elements to be attention-grabbing, easy on the eye, and provoke emotion. This trend will help your brand stand out from the crowd.

2.  Dark Mode

The dark mode has been a popular website trend through 2020 and will increase in popularity over the next few years. There is an increasing trend for websites and social media apps to switch to dark mode.

You may wonder why it’s trending. Well, it’s modern and sleek. It also allows designers to play with design elements that wouldn’t have worked with a light background. Some people prefer to use dark mode because it can be less harsh to the eyes at night and helps people with visual impairments.

3.  Ultra-Fast Load Times

This is one of the most critical web design priorities and has been a ‘must-have’ for years. Quick load times are a top priority if you want to rank and convert. Most users expect a website to load within two seconds of clicking a link. If it takes longer, they will leave and most likely never come back.

Some websites can’t get away from being resource-heavy due to the graphical elements and third-party integrations. But it doesn’t mean your load times need to be slow anymore.

How is this panacea of ultraquick load times achieved? By two inter-related technologies.

Infinite scrolling is used to enhance user experience and performance. The site loads with some data, and then as the user keeps on scrolling, more data gets loaded. Think Facebook and Instagram. This saves time as data is only loaded in parts.

Lazy Loading is an optimization technique for your website’s content. When a person arrives at your web page, instead of loading all of it in one bulk go, lazy loading assists in loading only the required section and delays the remaining elements until needed by the user. This saves valuable server resources and time by not loading offscreen content. If the user doesn’t reach the end of the web page – it isn’t loaded.

4.  Custom Content Creation

Have you ever browsed a website and then come back a few hours or days later and noticed the content has changed? But when you pull up the same website on another browser, it has gone back to the original content you saw the first time you visited.

It shouldn’t be any secret now that advanced websites track our location… but this is starting to become next level. Some sites are now following past user behavior AND browsing history and everything else they know about the user.

You see this when randomly search clothing websites. When you return, they will pop up suggestions based on your previous search history.

Soon there will be no generic content on an eCommerce website that is visited more than once. This is because custom content created after a user’s multiple visits can increase conversion.

Personalized website content is developing rapidly. Consumers love it to the point it will need to be a dominant focus if you own an eCommerce website.

5.  Chatbots for websites

Chatbots have been popular for a few years but will continue to be trending into 2021. As AI and machine learning becomes more sophisticated, we should expect to see chatbots on every website, answering simple customer service requests and being a personal shopper for the user.

Into 2021 and beyond, our simple chatbots are going to become voice chatbots and virtual assists. Asking a question or making a demand will be more integrated on websites with voice search as an option…this isn’t just for smartphones, Google Home, or Cortana anymore.

So just to recap – in 2021, expect to see a lot of clean, bright, eye-catching websites that are ultra-fast at loading and have the versatility of your own personal shopper who knows precisely what you are looking for…before you even do. Embrace these 5 website trends for the new year to refresh your website, and you will be converting like crazy.

If you want a modern and user-friendly eCommerce website, make sure you contact our Allea Marketing team. Book a discovery call today to find out how easily and quickly we can turn your eCommerce vision into a reality.