4 top web design trends of 2012 to pep up your website

One of the most important elements of a good website is ‘spectacular design’. Earlier, websites were static and design elements played almost no major role in them. But with the emergence of Web 2.0 and the new web tools and technologies, websites have become more dynamic with design playing a vital role. Today, you can use your website(s) to interact with your users, engage them and prompt them to take a call to action easily. However, there are many fine points to consider while designing a dynamic website that is in sync with the changes in WorldWideWeb. Let’s go through four such web design trends of 2012, which will help you pep up your website and make it an instant hit with the end-users.

Responsive Interface

It is no secret that most of the users nowadays access the Internet from a number of mobile devices due to speedier connectivity and unlimited data plans. Since most of these mobiles are touchscreen devices, clicking on various elements on a web page has become redundant. Today, web designers provide users with websites that sport responsive interfaces.

You can use dropdown menus, large buttons, search boxes, breadcrumbs and other such elements and make your website more responsive for your end-users, so that they can easily browse, navigate and use your website irrespective of their devices.

Infographics

Infographics are the latest sensation. They are commonly found in various social media sites and for good reason; they provide important information and put them together in a way that is easy to read and comprehend at one go.

You can use infographics on your websites to present interesting facts, statistics or anything and everything under the sun (as long as they make sense). More importantly, infographics can be shared on social media sites (and accessed on various mobile platforms as well), which will help increase your website’s visibility online.

Parallax Scrolling

Parallax Scrolling combines static images and scrollable text. This new method enables users to scroll website elements in different and more interesting ways and is particularly useful, when you want to show more information on a single web page and yet, maintain a clean, uncluttered and user-friendly layout. To get a clear idea about Parallax Scrolling, you can search for some of the best sites that have used this method on their web pages.

Minimalism

Small is the new big and less is the new more. Today desktops with 10 inch screens or laptops with 14 inch screens are making way for 7 inch tablets and 4 inch smartphones. This calls for minimalistic web design, where only relevant information is displayed on each web page and any sort of clutter is totally done away with.
These sites have a clear design; display only the important links; contain simple backgrounds and big fonts; use a color palette with 2-3 colors at the most; are easy to navigate etc. In a nutshell, minimalistic websites provide information to the site visitors clearly without distracting them with unwanted design elements and wasting their time.

To Conclude

These were some of the latest web design trends on 2012. Use them on your website to make it more attractive, engaging and last but not the least, interesting for your target audience. This in turn will help you increase your conversion ratios and also increase the footfalls on your site.

About Guest Blogger

Alan Hall is a Los Angeles based Website Design with PLAVEBAPPS and has worked on numerous successful projects for his company. He also likes to research and write on various technical topics for guest blogging platforms when he gets the time.