10 Web Design Facts That Will Blow Your Mind

Establishing your business online with a website is far easier today than it was in the ’90s and early ’00s. There are numerous different free platforms such as WordPress and Wix that allow anyone with or without web design knowledge to create an online presence. That too in a relatively short time.

However, this doesn’t mean that every business has a website that garners attention and interest from the audience. For that, you need to blend the elements of web design with optimization so you can reach and engage a wider audience. To truly make the most of your web design, you need to keep the following mind-blowing facts in mind.

 

1. The attention span of individuals is shorter than that of a goldfish, down from 12 seconds in the early ‘00s to under 9 seconds

If you truly want to engage visitors, you need to do so within 8 seconds. If your web design doesn’t have all the important information displayed at the top half of the website, chances are visitors are not going to bother scrolling down. Your web design needs to captivate them right away which means the design element and information needs to be on point. You also want to make sure that your website isn’t too flashy and loads up within seconds because no one is willing to wait 10 seconds for a web page to load anymore.

 

2. 52% of all website traffic in 2018 were from a mobile device

With over half the online traffic coming from mobile devices, there is no excuse for not having a mobile optimized website. You want to make sure your web design functions as well on mobiles as it does on desktops. Otherwise, there is a huge chance that you will be missing out in reaching half of the online traffic.

 

3. 3/4 of website visitors don’t read the content word for word

75% of website visitors skim through the website, trying to grasp information that may interest them. This means that the content you have needs to be kept short. If you want the web design and content to appeal to readers use lists and short paragraphs rather than long ones.

 

4. Videos on the landing page can help boost conversion

In fact, according to HubSpot incorporating a video can help boost conversion by up to 80%. So if you are selling a product or service, be sure to highlight it with the help of a video. It allows the visitor to engage with information in a different way. Just make sure to keep the video short, preferably between 30 to 60 seconds.

 

5. Over 84% of small business make the mistake of having an overcrowded web design

The main focus of your website is to allow visitors to get information and build interest in your product and services. With overcrowded web design, you overwhelm them with information. By putting too many images, text, ads, and so on users don’t know what to pay attention to. The confusion usually results in them exiting your website right away.

 

6. Over 88% of visitors will leave your website if it has a slow load time

As mentioned above, the attention span of internet users is much lower than before. As internet speed continues to rise, users expect websites to load within seconds, 2 seconds to be exact, of clicking on to them. So make sure that all your web pages load in seconds. Google has PageSpeed Insights which can help analyze the speed of your web pages.

 

7. 39% of website visitors leave if the image doesn’t load at all or takes too long to load

You want to make sure that the images you incorporate into the website loads up. Not just that, they should load along with the rest of the website. With almost 40% of users leaving a website due to images not loading or taking their time to load, it is important you have working images on your website. We have also published a detailed infographic about web design facts.

 

8. 44% of website visitors leave a website that doesn’t have any contact information

To give a sense of trust and allow visitors to know that they can contact someone when needed, it is important to have your business contact information on the website.

 

9. The colors used in a website play a vital role in how it appeals to visitors

We are all aware that colors have a psychological effect on individuals. Which is why businesses pay so much to market research firms to determine which colors appeal to their target audience and then brand their products accordingly. According to Satyendra Singh in the book “Management Decision” up to 90% of decisions made by users online are impacted by color. Which means you need to give a little more attention to the colors you use on your website.

 

10. Popups are a great way to capture leads

While you may think popups are annoying, they are actually a great way to generate leads. They engage the visitor right away and give them a chance to learn more or sign up for newsletter without having to go out of their way to find where to sign up on your website. Just make sure when you incorporate a popup you give visitors the option to exit out of them if they aren’t interested in signing up.

Edited by: Ganesh Nair