Web Design Trends for 2016 – Nashville, TN

Web design and digital marketing firm JLB, location in Franklin, TN, researched articles from across the web to find the most consistent strategies trending in website design for 2016.  JLB also supports clients in the surrounding areas of Brentwood, TN and Nashville, TN.
Website design is considered the #1 best return on investment for your digital marketing budget so identifying the trends in web design for Nashville TN, Brentwood TN and Franklin TN businesses in an important initiative that we provide each year.
Below are the top trending:

#1 Responsive Web Design

Responsive web design is adjusting your website for mobile devices for easier navigation, viewing and interaction. Any desktop website can be made responsive but of course it is better to design your website with responsive in mind for the best flow of content creating the most optimal user experience. Even when Google announced that they would be penalizing website’s that were not mobile friendly earlier this year, an astonishing 43% of websites are currently still not mobile-friendly.  If you don’t have a responsive website you run the risk of dropping in Google rankings and being buried under millions of pages of search results.

#2 Cinemagraph Web Design

If you’re undecided on whether to use a photo or a video for your site, consider using a cinemagraph instead. A cinemagraph, or moving image, expresses more words than a still photo, but uses up less bandwidth than a video. It can also liven up your site’s background, break up excessively long blog posts, and keep a curious visitor entertained for up to 15 percent longer than usual.

#3 Typography Web Design

Typography isn’t just the art of designing letters. Done right, it can breathe life into your text content, enhance the rest of your site’s design elements and help your brand stand out. Done badly, it can become a huge flaw in an otherwise flawless site.  It’s possible to download free fonts from around the Web. However, a professional designer’s customized typography is better for emphasizing your brand’s uniqueness.

#4 Interactive Storytelling Web Design

When done intelligently interactive storytelling can more effectively convert users than any other call to action strategy.  From page elements like typography or videos to the overall design principles, web design will be fully integrated with a brand’s strategies of storytelling – it will serve as a medium for communicating brand narratives.  The curiosity of knowing the answer to “What will happen next?” is what eventually results in building the website’s ‘fan-following’. It’s a big plus point where you are capable of telling a story through your content. And, when the story ends, there are either satisfied readers or the ones who want more.

#5 Long Scrolling Page Web Design

With mobile traffic now having exceeded traditional laptop and desktop traffic, websites have combined and purged pages to create longer scrolling pages because it is easier to scroll rather than tap or click on smartphones and tablets. Navigation paths have become increasingly shallow and similar information on these long pages is grouped into what is known as card design to further improve the mobile experience.  Scrolling has become popular for several reasons: it’s intuitive, it offers an interactive experience with the website and significantly improves the user experience. It also helps to speed up the page – and that’s something that will always be important in web design.
A trend to keep watch for in the coming years is custom drawn illustrations.  While it may be easier to grab an existing photo from the web, few design elements add personality to your site better than hand-drawn illustrations. They give this quirky, yet friendly edge to your brand, and can’t be easily replicated by competitors. Whether you’re a creative, a business that wants to appeal to creatives or simply a brand that wouldn’t touch the words boring and ordinary with a 10-foot pole, this is a must-add to your site.  Photos will be replaced with more relatable illustrations that connect to the viewer in a more personal manner.