Nowadays, your web design needs to focus on giving online visitors the best possible experience. This means eye-catching graphics, easy navigation, faster loading times and content of a high quality. Unfortunately, not all of the current website design trends support this vision. Below, we take a look at three of them that you will definitely be much better off without:
Flash-Based Navigation
There are lots of different flash-based navigation menu templates to choose from when it comes to building a website, so it can be tempting to make use of them. However, flash-based navigation is exceptionally difficult to maintain (you will not be able to change it by simply editing a text file) and it is also bad for your SEO. Search engines simply cannot crawl flash files and this is bound to lead to a knock in rankings. Instead, build animated navigation menus with JavaScript for better results.
Image Sliders
Image sliders have become more and more popular over the years. Unfortunately, research has shown that they are actually responsible for a reduction in online conversions. This is mainly because they divide your visitor’s attention. People will only have a few seconds to think about a certain product because their attention will quickly be drawn to another one. This makes it less likely for them to make a positive buying decision. Also, eye tracking studies have shown that the human eye does not respond well to movement.
Fancy Page Dividers
This is a web design trend straight out of the 90s, but the reality is that there are still some websites out there that feature them. Think colourful horizontal bars used to break up text on a particularly content-heavy page. So not a good look. If you feel the need to break up your content, it may be a sign that you might need to add another web page instead.
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