As we welcome a new year, we find new trends are emerging in every industry, whether you are painting a house, upgrading your car or updating your website. Each year brings with it a new catalogue of different ideas and your website is no different. Each year developers work out kinks in old code, develop new themes and plugins to keep up with the latest technology and the latest trends, so we took a look at what is promising to set new standards for websites in 2019. So what are some of the trends to look out for in 2019 and start planning to integrate into your WordPress site, the earlier the better.
WordPress 5.0 – Gutenberg
We have talked about WordPress 5.0 previously, and you can read our handy tips here. Remember you can play for the Gutenberg editor by installing the update (take a back up first), and if you are not convinced this is the choice for you, you can always move back to the classic editor until at least 2021. This update can be a tricky one, chat with us about your options for professional help and assistance on this update. One of our friendly team is waiting to chat in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
Videos
Think to the last time you scrolled through social media platforms; did you notice that most of the posts from businesses are now videos of some kind? Whether it be promotional or just an update on the business, you will see it has a lot of engagement and videos feature heavily as you scroll through. This has been the case for a number of years as social media giants like Facebook prioritised videos in their algorithms for what to display to their users. In 2019 WordPress is looking to come to the same table and launch video header bars on a mass scale with its own version Vaugh 4.7. Videos and video streaming are becoming more and more popular across every industry, so expect more developments from WordPress developers in this space in 2019 and into the future.
Pop-Ups
We have all seen them, most of us will have them on our own site, Pop Ups. Whether its offering a discount for those who join your mailing list or advertising a complementary product, pop ups are annoying and users will normally ignore the pop up or will simply dismiss it without concern. In 2019, WordPress are working with designers to do away with traditional pop up style alerts and move to an element referred to as Sticky elements.
Themes
In 2019, a move towards more mobile friendly themes is already happening and on the move. As more and more users and customers are on the move, the use of mobile friendly themes and layouts will become more and more important to retaining customers and site traffic in 2019 and beyond. Make sure you check your site to ensure it is compatible and works well on a mobile device. Remember to try both Apple and Android operating systems to make sure there are no abnormalities across the platforms that may need ironing out.
Animation
Animating components of your site, can work in your favour if done in consideration of how your customers will react. For example, if you have constant and ongoing animation across the site, it may not only load slower, it may also distract the customer from their purpose for visiting your site. This can of course result in a loss of sales, but also a loss of traffic and no one wants that. Motion and transitions can play a big role in making your website stand out, as long as they are used well. Do your research, play around with transitions and the motion of different blocks on your site, in safe mode of course, and see what works for you. If you are a little overwhelmed, you could seek out a website designer or UX designer to help.
Also remember to keep in mind, not all internet browsers are made equal and what works perfectly on one, might not work at all on another. So, bare this in mind when it comes to animations. The last thing you want is a site that functions perfectly but looks like it is stuck on a frame of an animation because your customer is using an incompatible browser. It would be worth seeing which browser is most commonly used amongst your traffic and work to that browser’s capability.
Colours and Gradients
With the advent of newer and better technology including incredible screen resolutions on mobile and desktop devices, use of colours and gradients will continue to be more popular as we get into the swing of 2019. The newer screens on the market, on our smartphones, laptops, and monitors, are allowing us to see more vibrant colours and contrasts. As users we are starting to lean away from the clean, crisp white backgrounds that represent neutrality and opting for darker shades like charcoal or grey and then adding pops of colour. The contrasting black makes the gradient or block colours used stand out even more and grabs the attention of your customers.
There are two ways of implementing this trend and there is still a split across the market, with some opting for the above colour burst, and others using colours that complement each other and softly fade into each other to form the gradient. Take a look at some of the ideas Merge Marketing & Creative have put together for their ‘Gradient 2.0’ era. The colour combinations can be as soft or as striking as you need to suit your WordPress site and its purpose. This trend is definitely worth the research to see how it can be implemented in part or across your site completely.
Content
Every website is made of content blocks; whether that be text blocks or images. As an ongoing trend, look at your content, is it current? If not, archive it. Leave it on the site but put it in an archive of sorts and seek new and fresh content on a regular basis. Whether you write it yourself or pay a copywriter to do it for you, make sure your content does not go stale, or your products will look stale to your customer.
Minimalism
The less clutter on a home page, the better. However, in 2019, we are seeing a weeping trend towards minimalist sites showing only the immediately essential information and allowing the user to then delve deeper if they desire. Although this will not be appropriate for all WordPress sites and businesses, it is still a trend to consider.
Illustrations
This is one of our favourite trends we want to see more of. Adding a quirky flare to your site, use illustrations instead of standard images. This can work into your branding as well, using illustrations as icons, could stand out and also make it easier for your users to know exactly where to go on your site.
WordPress and their collective community of Designers, Developers and Users are always working to improve the way WordPress services over 25% of the websites on the internet. The number of current projects in the works is too long to list, so make sure you sign up for updates on WordPress changes and improvements to keep on top of trends this year and into the future.
We have given you a brief overview of a number of upcoming trends when it comes to WordPress sites, but the key messages to take away are that user and mobile friendly design are at the top of the list for trends among WordPress sites in 2019. 2019 will be the year WordPress and its Developers look at how its users and their customers are using the site and reacting to themes and features to improve themselves further in 2020.
Remember, the WPEZI team are happy to provide WordPress support, whether you are a regular customer or it’s a one off issue. We can help you change themes, implement animations, update your security, speed up your site and so much more. Contact us via live chat today, it’s just in the bottom corner.
