2015’s Homepage Design Trends Explained & Visualized
A first impression is usually the most lasting, wouldn’t you agree? That’s why your eCommerce home page has to be as close to perfect as possible. Check out some of the trends that your online store home page should incorporate.
Ecommerce represents a huge slice in the trading-products-and-services pie. That’s why the power of an online business presence cannot be underestimated. The eCommerce customer audience grows geometrically as more and more business owners move their business to the Web. Not only does this reduce expenses, but also leads to better business analytics by giving access to all visitor details, enabling the owner to know their audience better. This is how having an online presence became integrated into business, and both online and bricks-and-clicks business models appeared. The future of the commercial world is reliant on having a web presence, and several years ago, the era began when a well-organized and properly functioning website could provide its owner with a constant flow of customers and big benefits.
Anyway, to what should you pay “special” attention in an online store website? A homepage. It’s the first thing that a visitor sees when entering a website and to ensure that it doesn’t become the last thing he sees before leaving half a second later, make sure the home page is perfect.
The next question would be “how can you create a perfect home page for an online store”? The answer is simple, just keep up with the times. That means having constant and reliable tech support and following web design trends so that your website is stylish, attractive and dynamic.
Formerly, web design trends could complement each other and could be combined in one website, but in 2015 we saw that the options became so diverse that sometimes they could just not work with each other. Let’s take the rivalry of single-page and Parallax scrolling websites as an example. Those who like minimalism choose the first, and the others choose Parallax. But what are the other trends that will make online store websites successful this year?
Let’s check them out.
1. Interaction
Interactive websites are websites that interact somehow with a viewer, and as a result, a website changes its look. Don’t let a viewer relax too much but try to have them take some action. Remember that the tiniest thing that you don’t even think will matter can boost conversions immensely.
2. Parallax
If you need an online store to look modern and well-designed, you may consider using one of the TemplateMonster eCommerce themes . Your website visitors will appreciate the experience of sleek theme scrolling. It’s a great presentation of Parallax scrolling, but, over and above that, it also includes other web design trends from 2015.
3. Flat/Material Design
Easy and effective experience leads to wider usage, and wider usage leads to the creation of a trend. Flat design was a thing which people couldn’t help appreciating.
Real genius is simple, and simplicity is the main idea of flat design. Using it in eCommerce drives the viewer’s attention to the main gist of the store - to the product itself. This trend turned web design upside down, and now we can only guess what will be the next development as significant as this.
4. Typography
Some people say web design is about typography, which is not surprising, as this is an important factor of the visual presentation of any content. Moreover, you do not necessarily need to use sophisticated fonts for a website, you can pick a font that looks simple yet it can match the overall style of the website, as in this website, for example.
5. Life Style Images
If an online store is aimed at a special group of people who have a specific lifestyle (like those who indulge in healthy eating or extreme sports) a full-width image illustrating people of the same life style could be a great hook for the audience. It all comes from our human historical background when we were looking for people similar to our own tribe, which meant we would be safe and could expect some help. Society changed, but our subconscious did not - so why not use this trick in your online store?
6. Scrolling
When you have a new visitor who may be not interested in your product, you still have a couple of seconds to hold him back and make him stay on the website for a little longer. The viewer can get a complete idea of your online store in 2 ways: by scrolling down a website or clicking on the menu buttons. Scrolling down takes less mental or physical effort, so it’s more likely that the viewer will see all content and become interested.
7. Full Width Background
Relatively speaking, the time of using a full-width background appeared on the scene not that long ago. More imagery - more reality in perception, which leads to a better user experience. An Ecommerce home page will only benefit if you present the product you sell there in the most effective way.
8. Ghost Buttons
Ghost buttons on the home page of an online store add 3 things. They reduce visual weight psychologically, thanks to their visual transparency. They let you focus the viewer’s look solely on the image by not distracting them with intrusive buttons and, last but not least, it means the website is trendy.
9. White Space
When your main purpose is to sell, you first have to attract a potential buyer’s attention. There’s nothing that would do it better than using white background. No matter what you offer to your customers, their attention will be drawn to the product and not the appearance of a website. They say, good design is invisible, so apply this idea to your store. Besides, even if there is too much imagery, a web page won’t look overloaded. People like pictures
10. Masonry Layout
This is an image-oriented design where images can be the categories of your online store. A Pinterest-like design can become the factor that will increase conversions. Masonry trend applied in a website will definitely make your website stand out from all the other websites competing in your business niche.
Although an online store is not a physical store, it still has to appear cozy, and you’ll be able to achieve that if you apply the above mentioned trends. Exactly which ones you choose – that is up to you.
Good luck!