Website trends 2023 – Content and Communication

Smart Content loading

Many of us might be guilty of having resource-heavy websites that take too long to load because of all the graphical elements and third-party integrations. Fortunately, there are many different ways to develop smart websites that only download the content that you see and need. Lazy loading and infinite scroll are not brand-new technologies – the top social networks have been using this for years, especially when it comes to infinity scroll. The approach is also popular with long single-page websites.

Many of us might be guilty of having resource-heavy websites with many graphical elements and load times that are far from ideal. All websites should consider how implementing one or two technological approaches might help them outrank or outperform their competition. These features can help improve the user experience for all website visitors, which can improve your conversion rate and ranking. Lazy Load is one such approach that can help reduce load times by ensuring that the web browser (like Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox) will only download the content that is visible on the screen without wasting valuable server resources and time to load offscreen content that might never be seen.

Personalised content

It’s no secret that many websites track your browsing history and know your location. But advanced web agencies will advise their customers to display dynamic content, content that is customised for each individual user. This way, users will always see relevant and targeted content instead of generic content that is made to serve everyone.

Custom content helps keep users engaged with your website so they keep coming back – which can ultimately lead to increased conversion rates. You’re probably already familiar with this concept if you’ve ever used Google as a search engine. The results you see when looking for a nearby restaurant in one town will be different than the results users in other towns see. A great directory website will also take into account the user’s past interactions and preferences when displaying search results. For example, if you’ve previously reviewed or saved Italian restaurants, those restaurants will be given more weight in your search results the next time you’re looking for a place to eat.

Personalised content is more important for eCommerce website owners than ever before. By displaying recently viewed, saved, or liked products for online shoppers, you can increase conversions and keep people coming back to your site. Highlighting abandoned cart contents for returning customers is also crucial to maintaining a higher conversion rate. Personalised content has become the norm for online users, and those who don’t provide it will be at a disadvantage. Plan to make personalised content a focus of your web presence to ensure success.

Chatbots

Chatbots have been popular for a few years and will continue to be relevant in 2023. As AI and machine learning become more sophisticated, we expect chatbots to handle more complex customer service requests. For example, if a customer visits your website looking for phone support, and the chatbot knows they have an available free phone upgrade, the chatbot can let them know about the upgrade. This can lead to a positive experience for the customer and save businesses customer support costs associated with talking to a live person.

Voice-activated interfaces

With the rise of voice chatbots and virtual assistants, the way we access information is changing. Instead of typing into Google, we now ask questions or make demands. This means web design must also adjust to keep up with this emerging trend. While a voice-activated interface isn’t commonplace for most websites yet, it’s likely that this will change in the near future. More and more websites are likely to integrate voice search as an option for traditional text search.

Accessibility

Making your website inclusive and accessible to everyone, regardless of ability, is not only a growing trend, but it’s becoming a necessity for all businesses. By ensuring that your site can be navigated and interacted with by everyone, you’re not only providing good customer service and creating a positive experience – you’re also increasing conversions, boosting your SEO, and reaching a larger audience.

There are several elements that can help improve accessibility, including:

  • Creating strong colour contrast between text and backgrounds
  • Adding focus indicators, such as the rectangular outline that appears around links when using keyboard navigation
  • Using labels and instructions with form fields instead of low-context placeholder text
  • Using functional alt tags for images

Smart Video

Video has long been touted as a must-have for websites. People love videos! The video is engaging! It’s the most effective online marketing tool! While video is great, it needs to be thought out. That’s what smart video is about: a video with a purpose and meaning. Gone are the days of embedding a YouTube video on your site just to have one. One well-thought-out, high-quality video is better than a dozen haphazardly assembled ones.

Full Page Headers

Full-page headers will likely be popular in web design come 2023. A common approach to this style includes placing important text or call-to-action buttons on the left side of the header, with enticing graphics to the right. The reasoning behind this has to do with the fact that visitors tend to spend most of their attention on the top-left portion of web pages.

Data Visualisation

Communicating data in an engaging way is a struggle. But the struggle is worth it because using data visualisation takes advantage of the fact that humans are visual creatures and still conveys the message you need to get across. Data visualisation creates images out of your data that engage your reader and makes them want to learn more about your brand. Infographics and graphs are some of the most popular ways to bring data to life.

Interactive 3D content

3D web elements are becoming more and more popular, thanks to maturing web technology and designers wanting to create stand-out webpages. The results can be truly stunning. And because users can interact with these 3D elements, they offer an immersive experience that other web content simply can’t match.

Text only heroes

Newspapers have long used the “above the fold” technique to increase sales by putting their most important and eye-catching information in a spot that is easy for readers to see. The website equivalent of this is the “hero section” at the top of a page. A current trend in web design is to remove the typical background image in the hero section and replace it with eye-catching typography. A bold, unique font can be just the thing to get a user’s attention quickly.