The Latest Website Design Trends in 2023

There are currently more than 5.07 billion people that use the internet.

Almost all companies need some kind of online presence to compete in today’s world. If you want your business to succeed and grow, a website is one of the most useful tools at your disposal.

Website design isn’t easy, especially for those without any experience. You’ll benefit from hiring a professional web design agency to help ensure your website is functional, user-friendly, and appeals to modern audiences.

For some of the key web design trends in 2023, keep reading.

One of the most important aspects of a website is its load speed. The first five seconds are crucial for maintaining good conversion rates.

This has always been more important, but as competition increases and technology improves, standards become higher. People expect things quickly, and the majority of people will click off of a website if it takes more than a few seconds to load.

A professional web designer will be able to optimize your site so that load times are kept to a minimum. This will help improve the user experience, encouraging people to interact with your site.

Parallax scrolling is a modern effect that can make a website stand out. It makes various elements of a web page move at different speeds while scrolling.

This is seen more on full-width sites and generally uses images, video, and text to make a page look more dynamic. This may not change the overall functionality of the website but is one of the best ways to create a unique design.

When building a website, it’s easy to add various plugins, graphical elements, and other content that can use a lot of resources. To help improve load speeds and responsiveness, you can implement various technologies.

Lazy loading, for example, only downloads content as the user scrolls. People often don’t go all the way to the bottom, so there may not be a need to load all of the content on a page. This isn’t a new technology, but as websites are using more resource-heavy content, its usefulness is becoming more noticeable.

Many modern websites track user activity to improve the experience. A web designer can set up your website so that it shows content that may be more relevant to users based on their previous activity. When they visit for a second time, they’ll be greeted by something different that will be better tailored to them.

The kind of content that shows up could also vary based on location. Google Maps is a typical example of this. It will naturally search in the geographical location that a user is in. Such a feature will help users find information and content that’s more useful to them.

Many eCommerce sites use similar features. They often show products to users based on their past purchases. They might also highlight items that a customer has previously put in their basket but hasn’t completed the purchase.

The website interface you go with can play a large part in people’s opinions of your site. Asymmetric designs are becoming more popular, and this is achievable with a CSS Grid Layout. Web designers can use this to create an interesting, yet clean appearance on complicated websites.

Chatbots are being used more and more to provide support to website visitors. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are quickly improving,  making these more effective every year.

A business website can use these to provide visitors with information such as contact details or guide them to a FAQ page. They can also be used with websites where users have accounts to inform them of updates that are specifically related to the user.

Having chatbots can also help save costs by up to 30%. You won’t have to rely so much on a customer support team as these chatbots can take on some of the work.

Interaction is key, and offering more ways for users to interact can make things much easier. Google’s voice search feature, for example, lets people perform quicker, easier searches.

This isn’t ideal for every website but presents a lot of potential for the future. Like chatbots, the technology is quickly becoming more versatile and user-friendly. As the possibilities increase, more sites are likely to start implementing some form of voice-activated features.

Accessibility and inclusivity are growing trends in all aspects of life. The internet is becoming vital for many reasons, so for those with certain disabilities, many businesses are working to make their sites more accessible.

Some ways that websites can achieve this are:

These changes can allow more people to use your site, and may even boost your SEO (search engine optimization).

VR is quickly becoming popular for several types of websites. Property-based companies like Airbnb and estate agents use VR to allow people to take virtual tours of properties. This lets them get a better view of the space when they’re interested in renting or buying.

IKEA uses AR technology to let customers see how a particular piece of furniture will look in their home. This level of service is incredibly useful, and many more companies are likely to embrace it in the coming year.

Micro-interactions are a simple way to offer a bit of feedback to users. This is often seen in small changes to icons/buttons when the mouse is hovering over them. This helps people notice small details on sites.

Some other examples include the background colour slowly changing as the user scrolls down, or small animations when they click the mouse. These make websites more interesting to interact with.

Similar to micro-interactions, these are great for giving a website a more unique and interesting feel. They can also be useful if you want to guide users through your website in a certain way.

A common example that some eCommerce sites use is animations of models wearing clothes. This allows customers to get a better idea of how the product looks in real life. More businesses are finding innovative ways to use these, resulting in more impressive websites.

In recent years, geometric shapes were very popular in website design. This is now shifting to organic and fluid shapesthis means anything that’s not made up of straight lines.

This is because straight lines aren’t found in the natural world. Hills, rivers, and trees, for example, are all irregular and asymmetrical. These shapes can help break up different parts of your site, giving a softer, easier feel.

Smart video is a great way to add a bit more flare to your site without going over the top. Rather than embedding videos from an external site like YouTube, you can integrate smart videos directly into your site. Replacing the hero image on your site, for example, with a short video clip can make your site look a lot more interesting without directing it from the rest of the page.

When doing this, you want to make sure any videos you use are purposeful and relevant. Video content is one of the best marketing tools available with almost 61% of companies using it as part of their marketing strategy., so when done right this can be incredibly effective.

This is another design choice that’s becoming popular not just on websites, but on smartphone apps too. Many websites use light colours, but now have the option to switch to “dark mode”. This changes the overall colour scheme, usually featuring a black or dark grey background.

Using darker colours can reduce eye strain for users, which is ideal in today’s world as we can spend a lot of time looking at screens. On top of this, many people consider it more aesthetically pleasing. It gives a more modern look, and you can use it to highlight certain elements of web pages.

Websites can often be at the forefront of a business, so it’s essential that they’re as good as they can be. Keeping up with the latest website design trends will ensure your site works well, has a modern feel, and appeals to your audience.

If you’re after a website designer in Sydney, look no further than EB Pearls. We’ve completed more than 4,200 websites to date, so we have the skills and experience to ensure yours is top-of-the-line. To find out more about our services, click here to contact us today.