Since the introduction of the internet web design has continued to evolve over the years. Growing from a philosophy of simple text to dynamic features web design has improved greatly over the past twenty years. KISSmetrics explains the growth of web design over the years in their infographic. Here are the highlights:
Early 1990s – simple text based websites with single columns, no emphasis on design
Mid 1990s – introduction of tables and online based web page builders, introduction to web design with background images
Late 1990s – Flash introduction in 1996 allows for advanced designs, php introduces dynamic elements, design becomes more prominent
Early to Mid 2000s – CSS improves design options and Javascript improves web page layout options, design sees many advancements
Mid 2000s – web standards are created to help improve user experience, designs continue to try new elements
Late 2000s – the introduction of Web 2.0 and the web design seen today, design improves with interactive and dynamic content
Mobile Web Design
Today the trend continues to evolve and web designs are moving towards being more mobile friendly. Web designers tend to create two website designs, the original web based design and a more “mobile” friendly alternative. It’s predicted that mobile internet will take over desktop internet usage by 2014. This is why mobile web design is so important for businesses today.
Responsive Web Design
A website that has responsive elements is rapidly growing in popularity with website designers today. This style of design outperforms previous web designs in search results and tends to have a shorter development time. The same website is seen differently based on the device used to access it. This means users will see a modified version of the same website depending on whether they are using a traditional desktop computer, a tablet or a mobile phone. The web design does not technically change, however, the elements shift to make it visually appealing for the device itself. Usually this allows larger monitors to show multiple column designs while the mobile phone will show a single column to avoid scrolling left and right.
Web Design Matters
Recently 99designs found that 80% of the 1,500 small businesses surveyed believed web design is important to the overall success of the business. The majority of businesses choose to hire a professional web designer for their knowledge and expertise with only 27% doing the design themselves.
Hiring a Web Designer
Professional web designers are familiar with the latest trends in web design world. This includes the color palettes and their affects on users, the typography and popular fonts, and how to retain more web visitors. Why do visitors leave? There are usually a few reasons why visitors will leave websites and professional designers are well aware of how to solve this problem. The most common reasons for a poor retention of visitors includes:
- poor navigation layout
- poor organization of content
- overuse of audio and/or video elements
- hard to read fonts
A professional web designer helps businesses convey their message online with the latest tricks and trends of the design world. For more information about hiring a web designer, please contact us.