Technology trends are bound to change every year and it happens more with digital marketing. So, if you are owning a WordPress website, it is obvious that you have already begun your search to find out which trends are making their way this New Year.
To begin with, your WordPress web design should have a fresh and updated look in sync with the latest technology out in the market. Your job as a WordPress developer is to find out which web development features and wordpress development trends would give your website that long lasting look throughout the year. For this, you need to identify the trends that are currently popular across all platforms, understand which ones are more likely to stay and which ones are slated to become oblivion and last but not least, which ones are more likely to give a good customer experience.
Your decision would depend on your own personal preference and your design brief of course. So I would leave that upon you to decide. You can even consider taking the help from a WordPress development company, where there are professionals skilled enough to take good care of your project.
With that said, here are some of the key trends that you are likely to look around for your web development strategy this year in 2016.
#1. Scalable Vector Graphics Images
One of the new wordpress development trends is using SVG Images. The Scalable Vector Graphics or SVG eliminate the need to create multiple versions of graphics and logos for different screen sizes. In the case of SVG images, there is no need for using actual pixels, for these include shapes and curves, made of mathematical data.
You may use a SVG mobile app and expand it into a bill board size. Nevertheless, it will look all the same and sharp. The fun part of using SVG images is that you can change the icon color by hovering the cursor over it. Yes with SVG, you can create a single file icon that can flash, bounce and finish with the help of a pirouette.
The negative side is that, you cannot use SVG images to replace the actual photographs. However, there is nothing better than SVGs when it comes to creating icons and logos and is a key trend in your WordPress theme this year.
#2. Responsive Design
Since being mobile friendly is now an important Google ranking factor to consider, you cannot simply ignore this from your plan. Apart from the fact that you can cater to your mobile audience, the rising emergence of a large number of mobile based technology made responsive web design a compulsory factor for an online business to keep its pace on the road.
There are plenty of WordPress themes that you can make use of to update your website design layout. This is not just because you want to give your target audience a flexible user experience, but because a website can build a strong online reputation if it can serve different audience coming from different mobile devices.
#3. Parallax Design
Using Parallax Design has become a popular trend that a lot of websites are adapting to quickly. Though considered in certain cases to be gimmicky and distractive, parallax design is the reason why the thought of scrolling down an entire web page sounds much better than just clicking here and there.
It makes a slight change to the position of a background image on downward scrolling. It insists visitors to check out a complete web page instead of pissing them off. It might turn out to make a website feel heavy and goofy in case you have overloaded your website theme with the Parallax Design. However, if used minimally, it can give the overall web design a kind of polished look.
In one word, Parallax Design when used carefully can give your website better user engagement, reduced number of clicks and smoother transition for your visitors.
#4. Interactive Design With Moving Background
This is a very recent design trend that a number of websites are seen to be using and which even seems to make websites stand out of the crowd. Speaking of which, Flipkart, Paypal, Spotify are some of the popular websites that are using moving background in their design. You can use this in your upcoming web design plan and there are numerous free and premium interactive web design themes from where you can take your pick.
#5. Ghost Buttons
Clean and classy, these Ghost buttons are being used on every web design and that too for a good reason. The Ghost Buttons enable one to add hover states without having to switch colors or go completely cheesy with shading.
Though they can add elegance to one’s web design, the down side is that they might tend to get lost if the background seems to be overly busy or does not provide enough context. These are usually seen on landing page and on home page themes and one can find them either in WordPress themes or even create one using a little bit of CSS.
#6. Flat Designs
These are the simplest and the most effective ways to improve a website’s user experience. They not only make a web design look great but help to convey the message to the target audience faster. The great thing about Flat Designs is that, by focusing more on the content and the broader color palette, one does not have to deal much with the pictures that make the background textures.
#7. Modular Designs
It makes information appear more interactive, by putting them in small contained boxes instead of placing them in broader contained boxes. It provides users with visual patterns that can be easily recognizable. Modular designs encourage users to areas that can interest them quickly and efficiently. Besides, they are known for complementing minimalism and flat design in order to give shape and context to the otherwise spare elements.
#8. Infographics
Infographics are fun to create and read. That is because they make a plain text sound interactive through the combination of content, colors, movement, images that are capable of drawing user attention. However, they might seem to be a jumble of information that have been overdone with too much of cartoon graphics if not done carefully. One needs to approach them from the data perspective, where the information is used to craft a convincing story.
With that said, the best thing about WordPress is that there are plenty of choices from where you can take your pick. Which other wordpress development trends do you see coming this New Year? I might have missed out a point or two…but maybe you could help me out here in the comments section below.
Images “programming concept: text wordpress with gears over businessman hand / Shutterstock.com“
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