How has web design changed over the years?

Did you know that in 2000, there were 361 million web users worldwide, and in 2020, there is an incredible 4.57 billion people browsing the web? There’s no doubt about it – web design and development has completely changed over the last decade. With the growth of e-retail accelerating to new heights, now more than ever, mobile and tablet responsive web design is critical to increase sales.

If you are looking for top website design companies there are many options.

Many e-retailers have shifted to use websites like Shopify and focus on dropshipping their products around the globe. Many businesses have opted for the ‘do it yourself’ methods where they build a website using platforms like SquareSpace or Wix to save costs on bringing in a specialist design team to do the site for them. However, one limitation of using such sites is that they offer very limited functionality. For example, if you want to move a button or contact form across the page, it’s simply difficult.     

For decades, WordPress has been the platform of choice, and today, it is used by over 75 million websites, taking up nearly 4.5% of the internet. The functionality that WordPress offers is incredible, thanks to free plugins like Yoast which allow designers and developers alike to really hone in on SEO and target specific keywords for localised SEO.

There has also been an increase in the number of animations and visual graphics in recent years – early websites were very text heavy and didn’t really focus on keeping users engaged. Often they used simplistic HTML and JavaScript.

Advancements in online tracking platforms like HubSpot has also offered limitless functionality to web design and SEO companies, who are able to keep a close eye on statistics and track conversion or CTR’s at the click of a button. The emphasis on email marketing has also encouraged marketers to focus on building a regular mailing list using platforms like Survey Monkey to keep site visitors coming back to visit.

Tracking platforms like Google Analytics are also supporting with the tracking of key analytics such as site behaviours, user journeys and important demographic information such as age, device, browser and key terms used by the searcher. These statistics are incredibly useful for web design London companies who are able to use the statistics to optimise their websites.

Nowadays, with mobile internet surpassing desktop usage in 2016, many web design agencies also look to build sites ‘mobile first.’ This means that the overall design of the site is centred around optimising for mobile devices and tablets. It might mean re-arranging forms or adding extra columns for better usability on such device or changing image size to suit different screen sizes. Web designers need to make sure that websites don’t appear too cluttered and that the customeror the user is in mind whenever pages are built. There’s nothing worse than stumbling on a site, only to be bombarded by uselessinformation that doesn’t lead anywhere!

So there we have it – how web design is changing. There’s no doubt, the future landscape will most certainly look different to how it looks today. We’ll have to wait and find out!

For decades, WordPress has been the platform of choice, and today, it is used by over 75 million websites, taking up nearly 4.5% of the internet. The functionality that WordPress offers is incredible, thanks to free plugins like Yoast which allow designers and developers alike to really hone in on SEO and target specific keywords for localised SEO.

There has also been an increase in the number of animations and visual graphics in recent years – early websites were very text heavy and didn’t really focus on keeping users engaged. Often they used simplistic HTML and JavaScript.

Advancements in online tracking platforms like HubSpot has also offered limitless functionality to web design and SEO companies, who are able to keep a close eye on statistics and track conversion or CTR’s at the click of a button. The emphasis on email marketing has also encouraged marketers to focus on building a regular mailing list using platforms like Survey Monkey to keep site visitors coming back to visit.

Tracking platforms like Google Analytics are also supporting with the tracking of key analytics such as site behaviours, user journeys and important demographic information such as age, device, browser and key terms used by the searcher. These statistics are incredibly useful for web design London companies who are able to use the statistics to optimize their websites.

Nowadays, with mobile internet surpassing desktop usage in 2016, many web design agencies also look to build sites ‘mobile first.’ This means that the overall design of the site is centered around optimizing for mobile devices and tablets. It might mean re-arranging forms or adding extra columns for better usability on such device or changing image size to suit different screen sizes. Web designers need to make sure that websites don’t appear too cluttered and that the customer or the user is in mind whenever pages are built. There’s nothing worse than stumbling on a site, only to be bombarded by useless information that doesn’t lead anywhere!

So there we have it – how web design is changing. There’s no doubt, the future landscape will most certainly look different to how it looks today. We’ll have to wait and find out!