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The way people behave and interact on the web is constantly changing! This paves the way for website designs and trends that keep evolving with the times. And at the height of their popularity, when everyone is jumping onto the same bandwagon, you don’t want to do the same things as everyone else! Also, you don’t want to stick with a website sporting design features that are a thing of the past.

Don’t get worked up already; we’ve got just the information you need! Here are 4 website design trends to avoid in 2018 and why you’ll be better off without them.

1. One Page Design

This is an emerging trend fueled by the need for simplicity and ease of use. Since all content is laid out on a single page for users to just scroll through, it eliminates having to click around and explore the website. A single page design helps direct visitors through sections that are set in a predetermined order on the website, letting them access information they need before they move on to other things.

• Reasons to Avoid

One page websites require users to scroll a lot, and while this is good for keeping them engaged, poorly designed sites can lead to frustration and a quick exit! Also, all users will land on the same page, irrespective of what they are looking for. Since sharing specific content is difficult with a single page website design, this can again aggravate users.

With a single page design, you inconvenience yourself too! As you only have one URL, analytic reports won’t tell you what specific content your visitors are looking for. In addition to this, you can target only a limited number of keywords on a single page, which won’t do your SEO strategy any good.

2. Parallax Scrolling

A lot of people think that single page websites are parallax websites. However, parallax scrolling is a design concept that uses different background and foreground elements to create an illusion of depth throughout the web page. There are other approaches to parallax scrolling too, all of which help stimulate users and encourage longer page visit times.

• Reasons to Avoid

Parallax scrolling is great for websites that need to introduce a product or service with a fancy presentation, but it doesn’t lend itself to content-heavy websites. Using parallax scrolling with such websites means loading all content on a single page that can have a negligible or negative organic SEO impact.

Moreover, misusing and overusing parallax scrolling can make websites heavy in terms of file loading. They can also be tricky with browsing history!

3. Social Media Feeds

Social feed or social stream pulls real-time data from social media accounts. Displaying feeds on websites is an amazing way for companies that are active on social media to reach out to their customers and encourage followers. Embedding feed also allows you to save time as you don’t have to replicate the content for your website.

• Reasons to Avoid

Extra scripts from third party sites cannot be compressed or altered in any way, which can really slow down your website. Further to this, designs of feeds might not complement your website design and branding elements.

Most significantly, a website serves a specific purpose, and cluttering it with social media updates can revoke the interest of visitors. Social media feeds can pull customers away from your call-to-action too, eventually declining website performance.

4. Image Carousels

Image carousels or sliders are embraced by most designers as they are an easy way to pack visual information in a limited space. As such, they are beneficial for engaging users and creating strong focal points. Carousels can also help represent all products, services, or departments on the homepage without making the site look cluttered.

• Reasons to Avoid

Carousels are great on aesthetics but low on user-friendliness. For starters, users will check out a website at their own pace, meaning carousels on auto mode can be either too fast or too slow for them. As a good Florida web design specialist explained that, this makes it difficult to get your point across to users.

A major drawback of using carousels is that they slow down websites and contribute to a bad user experience. When used in combination with badly designed websites, carousels can be a distraction or end up being ignored altogether. They’re also bad for SEO!

Conclusion

With this list of overused website design trends, you now know what to avoid in the coming year. So don’t be a slave to trends; think wisely and you’re sure to design right!