When it comes to web design in 2018 it’s not enough to simply have a layout that will work across all viewing platforms. In order to ensure your online presence is modern and inviting, helping to deliver great results for your business, there are many elements to consider.

A great starting point is to look at some of the key trends of recent years and why they can make such a difference to a site’s performance.

1 – Illustrate your point

If a photo is worth a thousand words, then consider illustrations and animations a megaphone through which to amplify your points and key messages.

Opening up an infinite world of possibilities, good illustration can be in equal parts creative, eye-catching and powerful in portraying themes, events or images that may not be practical, or even possible at all, via regular photography.

Illustrations naturally lead themselves to additional content, from company personas or figureheads that can be used across marketing channels, to short animations to better explain the products or services your company offers.

2 - Choose how you move

When it comes to navigating around your site there is an interesting debate arising between scrolling or clicking. With increased flexibility on platforms and more responsive design now par for the course, in some cases it can pay to allow your desktop experience to mirror that of a mobile site, using breaks to section your content into readable and engaging chunks and leaving your users with a more satisfying experience.

3 – Go off grid

Combining cool and quirky layouts with practical and customer-friendly experiences can be a difficult union but now designers are finding a solution by moving away from the traditional ‘grid’ layout and playing with text and images in unexpected arrangements. This can work to great effect in capturing attention in the heading of a page whilst allowing for a more traditional informative structure below, offering the best of both worlds.

4 – Learn your type

Most businesses will have, built into their brand guidelines, a selected font and, for various purposes, that font is almost guaranteed to be sans-serif. Vital in the early days of less than crisp screens and minimalism aesthetic, sans serif fonts will always be popular but there is a rising trend to see more ornate options and larger, more spacious text, not to mention fonts specially customised for brands online.

If you’re looking to give your website a quick refresh, take a look at the font style you’re using and play around with convention to stand out from the crowd.

5 – Remember less is more

Possibly the most important tip we can give - So often in life when it comes to design the simplest options are the best. For all the technological capabilities, innovations and tricks, websites are no different. Whether it’s about information you want to share with customers, a product range you want to promote or a strong call-to-action, the most effective online presence can often be a clean and simple layout, well-placed image and clearly defined paragraphs of engaging content.