Making your business continuously relevant is always going to be tough in times of change – and we can all agree that times seem to change every time we blink right now. There is not a lot that any of us can confidently predict about the near future, let alone five or ten years into the future. However, what we can say is that business is going to get ever more digital for at least the next few years. So it would be wise to get a handle on how to manage that change in your own business, and one way in which you can make a move is to focus on making sure your website is up to date.
Your website is, as the experts never tire of saying, your shop window for the digital world. Getting it right, both aesthetically and functionally, is an important consideration, and if you join us, you’ll find out below just how trends are going to shape what is recognized as an on-the-money business website in 2022…
Chatbots: More functional, less irritating
The application of chatbot functions on business websites for the last several years has received a mixed reception. For many users, it has resulted only in an additional layer being placed between a customer and an actual human being on Live Chat. However, there is an increasing push to make the software do what it was always intended to – making life easier for businesses and customers alike.
In 2022, the standard for chatbots will be to use the information they have more intelligently. That means, for example, if a customer is contacting Live Chat to request a repair on their contract cell phone, the chatbot will check to see whether the customer is due an upgrade free of charge – and if they are, to arrange for the phone to be sent out. This will save businesses the cost of handling more calls than they need to, while increasing customer satisfaction at the same time.
Mobile Browsing: Give your thumb a well-earned break
Stats show that more than 54% of web use these days is on mobile devices, and that’s not counting tablets. That means that if you’re using the internet, you’re more than likely browsing on your mobile. That in turn means that you’re almost certainly using your thumb to scroll, press buttons and zoom in on various features. In 2022, any top-rated web design firm is going to be aiming to offer thumb-friendly browsing – which involves putting buttons and scroll bars closer to the center of the screen, rather than hiding elements away in corners where they are hard to reach.
We’ve known for a while that mobile devices were the future of web use, and now they’re very much the present. Any interaction with a web design expert needs to take account of this fact. You can be sure that the firms you are speaking to will have strong ideas for the mobile site, and may even make it the centerpiece of any overhaul. So it behoves you to be aware of what is possible, and what you want to prioritize in your own business website.
Hero Cards: No picture, just words
Newspapers tend to put their most eye-catching images, and their attention-grabbing headlines, in a specific position on the front page. The idea behind this is that even when the newspaper is folded for display on newsstands, the main story will stand out. It’s from this convention that we get the term “above the fold”, which has passed from newspaper lingo into websites. When a site initially loads, what you see immediately is referred to as being “above the fold”. This space is often mostly taken up by a “hero card” or “hero image” – basically, an image that will quickly relay to viewers the salient information about a company.
While the tendency has been to use actual pictures for this purpose, 2022 is going to be very much about boldness. This is true of all parts of a website, but perhaps even more so for the hero section of the home page, and here we will see fewer photographic images and more impact text. The image itself can cycle between a few choices, but the key idea here will be to sum up, in a few words, what your company can offer. Choosing the correct colors to make this statement as impactful as possible, a web design company can help put your business right in the spotlight.
These are just a few of the upcoming trends, and it’s a decent idea to include all of these and more when you’re talking to a web design team about what you want for your next overhaul. This is the picture for 2022, and there’s no better time to get on board than with a few months still left in 2021.
