When was the last time you landed on a website that caught your eye? That surprised you? That was super easy to navigate without sacrificing style? 

Odds are, that website’s undergone at least one redesign to get there. Why? Because web design trends change a ton from year to year. 

The best web designers know what’s up with website trends, and smart businesses take it into account. If you’re not thinking about assessing your website to stay ahead of the best web design trends 2019, you should be.

Read on to learn what they are.

Minimalist Design

Minimalist design, also sometimes referred to as flat design, is huge in 2019. 

The word ‘minimalism’ is trending big-time now, thanks to Netflix hits like Marie Kondo’s “Tidying Up” and the documentary  “Minimalism.” The concept has translated across all aspects of design, from interior design to web design.

It focuses on removing visual clutter in order to champion the important parts of your site. Minimalist sites use clean lines, tons of white space, and don’t fuss with extraneous details. 

Flat design, the web design trend inspired by minimalism, prizes pops of color and illustration over photographic imagery. This not only keeps the design simple, but it also helps with SEO.

How? Because images take a long time to load. And if your site doesn’t load within 3 seconds, 40% of your visitors will leave.

Those are great leads left on the table. A speedy site is essential not only for user experience, but also to rank higher—Google likes pages that load faster.

Ask yourself these three questions to guide a minimalist website redesign:

  • Which images can be replaced with illustration and tell the same story?
  • Is your brand’s messaging easy to understand and easy to access?
  • Where can you maximize white space?
  • How fast does your website currently load? 

Answer these questions honestly, and you’ll at the forefront of the minimalist/flat design trend in no time.

Huge Focus on Mobile Sites

It’s been two years since mobile searches finally edged out desktop searches. Since then, the divide has only gotten bigger.

And Google’s responded.

Google now prefers sites with great responsive design. Your site needs to smoothly and seamlessly translate from desktop to mobile. Don’t get left behind as the world around you picks up their cell phone. 

Responsive design used to be a perk, often offered by web design pros as an add-on for web design services. It’s not that way anymore. Now, it’s a must.

It’s so essential that many web designers now design for mobile first instead of desktop first. Yes, you read that correctly. Smartphones are where it’s at in 2019. 

Check out pros like Mojo Media Web Design and SEO on your phone to see an example of a great responsive site in action. On a smartphone, their site is clean, simple, and easy to navigate. On a desktop, it’s still simple and easy to navigate, while featuring a few awesome design elements to help them stand out.

Smarter Bots

Bots: they’re one of the hottest current web design trends undergoing a massive overhaul.

As AI gets smarter, so do chatbots. Businesses are able to customize their bots more and more now. Bots can even hold entire conversations now, organically and naturally leading your customers to exactly the place you want them to be. 

Another hot bot trend to look out for in 2019? Mascots.

Look to companies like Apple, Bank of America, and Amazon for inspiration. Names like Siri, Erica, and Alexa come to mind? 

They may not have faces, but it may not be long before they do. Consumers like getting the answers they need instantly, and AI can help with that in 2019. 

Custom Illustration

The rise of custom illustration in new websites design focuses makes sense in conversation with trending minimalist and flat designs. Imagery makes sites load slower, which harms your SEO and user engagement. 

Custom illustration, on the other hand, is light, nimble, and quick. If designed well, it can communicate your brand messaging without the need for heavy-handed imagery and blocks of text.

People love makers nowadays, and illustration is in line with that movement. Give your business a small-biz feel with illustrative design your visitors can connect with.

Video Backgrounds

On the other end of the spectrum from the minimalist design trend? Video backgrounds. 

They’re way more interesting than still imagery for a background, and you can use them to convey brand messaging quickly and efficiently. Another added perk? They’ll keep your leads on your site longer, which’ll help your conversion rates and your SEO.

Here are a few tips for your video background:

  • Use brand colors in your video
  • Feature human beings to forge a connection
  • Show process work
  • Make sure it’s quality!

The last point can’t be stressed enough. Your video background is the first thing your audience is going to see; make it awesome!

The Rise of the Video

Our attention spans wane in the digital age. Although long-form content is trending when it comes to content marketing, so is its converse: video content.

Videos offer a fun, digestible way for users to consume content. Think about this little recipe videos you see on Facebook all the time. Aren’t they so much more fun to watch than reading a recipe?

Google loves to answer user questions as quickly and efficiently as possible, which is why it’s started to rank mixed search page results even higher. That includes unique and valuable video content. 

Try to share at least a video per week to YouTube. Answer your audience’s questions, show them a how-to, or feature a guest to interview in your industry. Your audience will eat it up!

More Expressive Typography

Typography: it’s not just for communicating information anymore. It’s the newest design trend with a thousand possibilities.

When it comes to headlines, go for big and bold. This impresses and conveys authority to your site’s visitor. 

Choose your fonts with care. Take note of the emotion they hold. 

Is your brand sympathetic and warm? Or are you trying to convey expertise and hard value? Your fonts can communicate those messages for you.

Consider having your own typeface designed for your brand specifically. That way, your audience will be able to recognize you at a single glance, regardless of the platform.

Beyond Web Design Trends

You’ve read up on the hottest trends in web design for 2019. Are you ready to redo your site?

Despite being in the loop on web design trends, overhauling your website can still feel overwhelming. We’ve got you. check out our other technology articles for more techie tips and tricks so you can hit the ground running!