Top 7 Design Trends for Web Sites continued…

4. Buttons

Back when the web was new, the way to navigate a site was either by moving your mouse over text rollovers or by clicking square buttons. Today, though, many designers are using buttons that have rounded corners or are full circles. Why? Some people speculate that humans prefer organic shapes. Others suspect that we have deep-rooted fears of sharp corners. Whatever the reason, round is the way to go.

5. Big type

A lot of people don’t like reading off of web pages. Too often small type together with the eye-strain that goes with staring at a monitor turn people away from text heavy pages.

But now, many designers are making it easier on the reader by employing bigger, easier to read type. And not only is the type larger, but designers are flowing text onto multiple pages rather than trying to make everything fit onto one. This might make the size of your site a bit larger, but your readers will thank you for the lack of headaches.

6. White space

Many people, especially advertisers, fear white space. They feel that if the whole page isn’t filled then they’re not getting their money’s worth. But the opposite is true. Pages that contain a lot of white space, or empty space between elements, is easy on the eyes and helps people focus on what’s really important - your content.

A good rule of thumb is: if it doesn’t enhance your message, leave it out.

7. Centered Layout

More and more sites are aligning their content in the center of the page with plenty of white space on the sides. Why? Well for starters, this helps to ensure that visitors don’t have to scroll side to side in order to read all of your copy.

Another reason why this is popular is that it helps people to focus on your content, which is why they’re at your site in the first place.

These are just a few of the current trends in web design. If you’re thinking about creating a new site, or giving yours an overhaul, give some of these a shot and see if you don’t get better results.