Internet Marketing, your website needs to STAND OUT in all the right ways!

Website Design Trends for 2015

Another in our series of Internet Marketing blog installments ~ In the world of business-to-business and the internet, the only thing constant is change. As new technologies and trends occur, your brand has to be ready to adapt all of its channels accordingly. As you evaluate your website and prepare for a new year, consider these trends predicted for web design in 2015.

1. Websites as a complement to other channels.

In the past, a brand’s website was its primary point of contact with prospects and clients. All other platforms existed to support the website, which remained your businesses’ main source of interaction and information. The focus on the website has been diminishing gradually over the past few years, and you can expect this trend to continue in 2015. It’s time to start looking at your website as a single (but still important) part of your larger marketing strategy.

2. Emphasis on responsive design.

Every day, more and more consumers are using their mobile devices (smart phones, tablets, etc.) to view websites. With so many businesses relying on these devices, brands can no longer afford to ignore this trend. If your website takes too long to load or is difficult to navigate on a mobile device, consumers will simply leave the site and find one of your competitors. For this reason, responsive website design, which allows your website to automatically adapt to the size of the user’s screen, is a must for 2015.

3. Intriguing background images/videos.

During 2015, you can also expect to see a greater number of websites enhanced with elegant or interesting background images and videos. If you choose to take part in this trend, remember that practicality is still important. Make sure that the image or video you use for your site’s background does not slow down the site’s loading or take away from the content of the page.

4. Use of pictures instead of words.

Text will always be important for your brand’s website. However, in 2015, you can expect a shift away from plain text in favor of meaningful pictures. One of the best examples of this trend is the recent influx of infographics, which combine text and images in order to convey important or interesting information to users.

5. Scrolling.

In the past, users navigated to various pages on a website by clicking a link. Each page was designed to fit on the users’ screen or require only a limited amount of scrolling. Recently, more websites have been allowing users to reach the majority of their content by simply scrolling down a single page. This trend, which cuts down on load times and enhances experiences for mobile users, is expected to continue next year.

6. Personalized user experiences.

Prominent brands, like Amazon and Netflix, have been offering customized user interfaces for a while now, but the trend is becoming more pervasive. These interfaces allow consumers to interact with your brand on a deeper level by accessing the content that is most likely to be interesting or useful to them. Incorporating this strategy into your website design not only shows visitors that you are paying attention, but it may also boost sales.

The bottom line is that in order for your brand and company to remain fresh and compelling to prospects and customers, you’ll need to keep up-to-date with not only content but also with the design and use-ability of your site. Remember, you are competing with internet marketing savvy companies who know how to fully utilize their websites, so you’ll want to shore up your supporting cast of website assets with these great tips.

 

For most brands that advertise online, banners are a staple. Not only is this campaign type inexpensive, but it’s supported by a wide range of display networks and marketing solutions. Because it’s been around for years, we also have tons of research that confirms the value of banner advertising as a digital strategy.

When it comes to banner advertising, though, brands have to be wary of inducing consumer blindness to the ads. “Banner blindness” is a real development that occurs when online consumers become used to seeing banner ads in particular places on a website. Their minds begin to recognize that space not as part of the website, but as an ad to be ignored. This has a significant negative affect on the banner’s performance–not just in terms of tangible clicks and engagement, but also regarding the brand awareness generated by such campaigns.

Fortunately, banner blindness is curable. Here are some tips brands can use to maximize consumer engagement with their banner campaigns.

Switch Up Ad Placement

All too often, banner ads show up in familiar places: the top and bottom of a web page, and along the right-hand site, for example. This practice has been in place for years, and that has contributed to the banner blindness effect. Consumers have developed a sense for where banner ads will be placed, and sometimes they write off content as being an advertisement even before they stop to look at the content itself.

One easy way to change that: changing the placement of ads. With a little creativity, brands can move outside of the box and start surprising consumers with banner ads in new locations. Whether this involves placing banners within text or other content, or even setting up welcome page interstitials that display a banner ad shortly before referring to the desired Web page.

Once these new placements are in place, campaign analytics can be used to track their success. Brands can see which strategies pan out, and which fall short of their goals.

Integrate Multiple Versions of Your Ad

The same ad, time and again, will quickly fade from consumer consciousness. For that reason, it makes little sense to hold down an ad space for too long. At some point, you’re simply going to see diminishing returns–fewer views, fewer clicks, less revenues to justify your spending.

One way to stretch out the value of those ad spaces is to run a campaign with multiple versions of a single ad. Try different selling points and see which ones get the greatest return from users. You might discover a surprise top-performer, which can help you build smarter campaigns going forward.

Don’t Get Stuck on One Design, Color Scheme

Multiple versions of an ad are one thing, but it’s also smart to craft entirely different ads that stand apart from other ad content. While branded logos offer important brand consistency, the primary features of a banner ad: the dominant colors and the design, for example–can and should be altered over time. A single ad only has so long of a life expectancy, and familiar design and color elements will only contribute to banner blindness.

Switching up a primarily blue ad and going with a hot pink scheme, for example, will stand out on a Web page and attract consumer eyes. That attention is what will ultimately deliver a strong ROI for your your banners, so freshness of content is of utmost importance. Keep in mind, too, that you aren’t just competing with your own ad content–you want to stand out against the ads published by other brands, too.

If you’re ready to step up your banner ad game, contact DBC Digital today.

Greg Sherwood is CEO of DBC Digital, a marketing agency based in Denver, Colorado.  With over 30 years of marketing experience with traditional and inbound (internet) marketing, Greg helps mid-sized businesses get a better return on their marketing dollars.  

You can reach Greg at (303) 357-5757 or at dbc@dbcdigital.com