In forecasting the future of websites, predicting a year of trends is almost impossible. The speed of updates and changes is exhausting, but the following five are definitely on every web owner and web designers mind.
Mobile
On a world level, mobile has spiked to unprecedented levels. From receiving your daily newspaper to being approved for a loan, anything and everything you would do on a computer is done on your smartphone and tablet. So when designing or updating your site, make sure mobile AND tablet compatibility is part of the project. The techi keyword is “responsive”, where a site re-sizes based on the screen. Even if your site doesn’t have that capability, invest in a mobile version … you can blame Apple/Samsung later.
Social
This is a no-brainer from Facebook to Instagram but the key is to BE social and show it. Having only social media icons on the site misses an opportunity to display your interactivity. Utilize all the widgets offered and make sure your not only talking but also interacting on social media. Remember to tag, follow/like and converse with your audience
Informative
Regurgitating other people’s content at this point is like vomiting someone else’s vomit. There are definite pluses in sharing or retumbling other people’s content but if you have nothing unique to share from your own world, then your audience will just go to the original source and skip on listening to you.
Personal
Many of us are too shy or look down at sharing our personal life online but the reality is the more personal you get the more viewers will want to hear from you. It’s not to say you have to put your life on blast BUT it is to think of a “online personality” based on your reality that viewers can relate to. If you sound too much like a computer because nothing you have to say is human-like, then viewers will just shut you down.
Ever changing
The only constant is change, especially online. The longevity of your sites functions and online content marketing plan will get shorter and shorter and change faster and faster. All you can do is stay flexible. Know your site is a looooong term investment with a never ending list of updating. It’s not your hosting service or web designers fault when a new “anything” comes out that would be great for your business but unfortunately is not compatible or an easy task to just “add” to your website. It’s definitely a race and if you don’t embrace that change is part of this race, then don’t count on getting to the finish line.