Web design trends and features are continually changing. Often new features resonate well with patients, while others can actually downgrade your website’s functionality. It is important to update your website every two years, but you do have to be mindful of which features are worth investing in.
Predicting trends and making sure your new design will land with your patients can be difficult. Some website designs can seemingly be cutting edge and cool but might make the loading time substantially longer. Others might make your website look busy and confuse visitors.
Here are 5 website design trends that you can skip in 2021.
Animations
Animations on your website are distracting. They shift your web visitors’ attention away from important information. Not only that but depending on how vivid the animation is, it can take the visitors aback.
Another reason web animations shut down visitors is that they add loading time to your webpages. You may have high-speed internet, but your patients might not. If they’re spending too much time waiting for your webpages to load, patients will click off and go to another practice.
Auto Starting Videos
Much like animations, auto-playing videos disrupt the user experience on your website. Your patients want to be able to decide whether or not they wish to view a video. The auto-play feature leaves the visitors feeling imposed on and unsettled.
Again, it also slows down your website’s loading time. 57% of web visitors will leave your website after 3 or more seconds of load time. These videos are what is known as bandwidth-intensive. Essentially meaning that it takes up a lot of your internet speed. Not only are the videos unwanted, but they’re also generating you fewer leads, which hurts your business.
Overcrowded Information And Imagery
What does your website homepage look like at an initial glance? Websites that draw in users have clear and concise information, compelling images and value statement headlines about their business. In terms of design layout, that’s pretty much it.
Anything more than that is not only going to make your website less appealing, but it also makes your business less credible. An overcrowded website usually doesn’t use the benefits of white space. White space increases the user’s attention span, which keeps web visitors on your page
Long Pages
Long paged websites or even single page websites that keep users scrolling have recently gained popularity. While these pages can look beautiful and incorporate many creative designs, having only one page to store all your practice’s information has some downfalls.
- There is a tendency to have minimal content on these single pages websites. The lack of relevant content can be frustrating for a patient who wants to find out more about what kind of treatments your practice offers.
- Flash Videos, images with text and the parallax browsing effect (web page’s background moving at a slower rate than the foreground) all combined can cause a severe increase in loading time. Prospects who might not have the patience to wait for your web page to load will navigate to a competitor’s website, and slow loading times also rank lower on SEO.
Cheesy Stock Photos
Having good visual content on your website matters. Users respond better to images than to text. The conversion power that visuals hold is quite remarkable. Stock photos become overused very quickly, making it difficult for web visitors to take your practice seriously.
If your practice is going for a classy and sophisticated look, a website filled with cheesy stock photos will miss the mark. Luckily there are accessible alternatives to the stock photos that will make a lasting impression on your web visitors. Whether it’s choosing them from a different image site, adding personalized edits, or completely DIY-ing the operation, there are many ways to avoid having your website’s images looking like everyone else’s.
Final Thoughts
Your website is the visual representation of your eye care practice, you want it to be appealing, effective and quick to load. The above-noted website trends are some that we recommend you skip in order to make your website generate conversions and keep your patients navigating.
