Web design in 2020 is not the same as web design in the previous years. Thanks to the rise of mobile devices, website design must involve all sorts of functionalities and design elements that really bring out the very best of a fully mobile tech landscape.
Now, you may be thinking to yourself that this is crazy. Because as much as I love my mobile phone, it will really never replace my laptop. No way is this going to happen. Well, hear me out.
The truth is if you think that website design in 2020 is static or uses a lot of elements from the past, you’re in for a rude shock. The sad reality is that Google has stepped in and is actually penalising sites that are not optimised for mobile devices.
You really can’t blame Google. The Silicone Valley giant is onto something because the vast majority of people who view the internet are doing so through a mobile device. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s a tablet or a mobile phone. The bottom line is that if you are going to be publishing on the internet, it better look good regardless of the device people are using to view it.
So if you have designed your site to be viewed primarily through browsers that appear on a desktop or a laptop, you are playing the game wrong. This is crucial to website design in 2020.
In fact, a lot of the mobile elements like versatile displays and automatic resizing, as well as context-specific or context-sensitive content placement and graphical elements—all of that must be applied from the mobile landscape to the desktop landscape. I know this sounds crazy because this is the complete opposite of how people have been playing the game before.
Back in the day, when you do website design, you’re focused on what it would look like on your desktop first and foremost. Then and only then, once you’re happy with the design, would you even think of adapting it to a mobile device. Now, the formula has been flipped on its head. It’s the other way around.
Now, designers are approaching design projects with one key central question. How would this look good on a mobile device? And once they have poked that problem and came up with an amazing design for mobile, they would then backtrack and try to apply it to a desktop or a laptop display.
I know this sounds crazy because this basically goes against the grain and contradicts a lot of what you thought about website design. But the truth is this is website design in 2020. The sooner you get on the bandwagon, the better off you would be.
The problem with change
Don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot of value in nostalgia. There’s a lot of value in hanging on to the stuff that you already know. There’s definitely an emotional pay off to that. But you have to let go of all of that if you really want to unleash the tremendous power and creative vistas made possible by website design in 2020.
You stand to gain a lot more than what you have to lose. Because ultimately, you can’t get lazy. You have to understand that when audience members look at one website after another, they’re making all sorts of value judgments. If you were to try to call them out on these or try to interview them, they probably wouldn’t know what to say. They probably wouldn’t know where to begin.
But believe me, that subconscious judgment is going on at all times at the back of their mind. While they may not be able to articulate it, this doesn’t mean that it’s not real. In fact, it’s all too real because when design companies show static, old, desktop-based designs to modern consumers, those consumers would almost always pick the mobile-friendly design.
So if there’s any one key lesson that you need to wrap your mind around when it comes to doing design right, focus on mobile designs first. This means that a lot of the concepts in mobile designs have to be tweaked to make sense in your design.
This is how you pull off an effective website design in 2020. Otherwise, you’re just going to get left in the dark. Seriously. Your competitors are just going to blow past you and you wouldn’t have a clue. You’re hanging onto ideas and concepts that you thought worked so well.
Well, that’s the past. Let go. Move on. Remember though that digital marketing isn’t just about having a website. And the sooner you do that, the more money you stand to make. That is ultimately the bottom line.
Still not convinced?
Think about what will happen to your business if you get left behind.
Make no mistake, every month in real life is worth several years on the Internet. That’s how fast technology moves and if your brand doesn’t keep up, it’s only a matter of time until your customers leave you. You have to understand that as more and more people get connected to the Web on a 24/7 basis, the less loyalty they have to real world brands or brick and mortar businesses.
Their needs become ‘disembodied’ and digitised. Their attitude is all about the lowest price at the highest quality and convenience. In other words, you can’t rely on the qualities that may have made your local business some sort of institution in the past. On the Web, there is no such thing as inter-generational loyalty. Brands rise quickly and fade just as fast.
Step up by getting with the times and making sure your website is completely mobile-centric. Instead of creating the desktop version first, flip the script. That’s right, start with the mobile version of your online branded site and level down to a desktop version.
The stakes have never been higher. Businesses rise and fall based on the credibility they establish[ through their online presence. You cannot afford to get off on the wrong foot. You have to control user engagement and impression. Otherwise, it might be game over for your business since the last thing you want is for your customer base to define your brand.