Raleigh Website Design Trends in 2013

2013 has been an exciting year for the Raleigh website design and development community. With the Internet faster than ever, browsers are quickly getting better and better. Tablets and smartphones are being used more. Taking this all into consideration, this means web designers in Raleigh, and around the world, have opportunities to reach the public in new and different ways. Web design trends are important to keep up with. It’s a good way to know what to expect for the rest of the year, and also a good way to know where design is going the following year.

Your business website could benefit from keeping the following web design trends in mind. Staying on top of the website game can only help your business succeed.

Web Design

1. Responsive Design: Responsive design seems to be the new norm. It’s not going anywhere and progressing by the day. Responsive web designs are cost-effective solutions to an evolving problem. Having a mobile site, in addition to your regular full website, just isn’t good enough anymore. The need for both no longer exists. In some cases, it can hurt your web presence or business due costly content management practices and/or changes in how search engines rank websites.

Responsive web designs allows the content to be displayed properly on nearly every device while adapting the layout to give an ideal viewing experience for different resolutions. The move to responsive design sites has picked up pace this year and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Your business website would benefit from a responsive design. Be sure to contact TigerHive Creative Group today, to talk with our Raleigh website design team about switching your site over to a responsive design.

2. Emphasis on Font and Content: Gone are the days when heavy designs took over your website.  Just a few years ago, web design was trending toward an ultra-chic, apple-esque design.  Jpeg-heavy designs are no more; CSS3 and Font is the new trend.

Smart devices are in the hands of so many users now. 2013 has proved to continue the trend of increased mobile connectivity. Trends from the printing world come in to play here: typography, clean lines, delicate patterns, and imagery. Every device can focus on content now, all while feeling fresh and visually pleasing to the end user.

3. Mobile-First:  dirigodev.com states, “Big buttons are in. Hover menus are out.  Design has to account for touch screens and desktop users, and the lowest common denominator is mobile. You can’t rightly hover on a tablet or phone, and skinny navigation is stress-inducing for phone or tablet users. Navigation should be quick and straightforward and not rely on a mouse pointer to get the job done.

Tablets and phones can utilize swiping and other touch-centric navigation elements, and it would be unwise to let these intuitive app-centric features go to waste on the web. Swipe it, tap it, and lastly, click it.”

If you’re website features hover menus, and you’d like to have them updated be sure to contact TigerHive Creative Group to see about getting a new design that’s mobile friendly.

Web design is a process that is ever changing. It’s a good idea to keep a professional web designer, like TigerHive Creative Group, in mind when evolutions like mobile occur.

If you’re in the market for your first website, or need a fresh new website, be sure to visit www.tigerhive.com. For more information about us or our work, feel free to contact us anytime!

In our next post, we will continue our discussion of web design trends in 2013. Check back with us soon for more information!

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