8 Website Design Trends to Leave in 2022
With a new year on the horizon, our website design team got to chatting about which website design trends we’d embrace in 2023 and which should be left in the past. As designers, we love putting our own spin on up-and-coming trends. If you’re redesigning your website this year and you want to know what not to do, keep reading for our list of outdated website design trends that we’ll be leaving in 2022 (if we can help it *wink*).
1. Unconventional and clunky navigation
One 2022 website design trend that we can all agree needs to be left in the past is unconventional and/or clunky navigation. Why make it difficult for visitors to find what they want/need?! For us, there is nothing worse than a super long dropdown menu, especially if it doesn’t fit in the mobile frame! Or what about weird menu names? Contact isn’t exactly sexy, but it doesn’t require any thought. And that is sexy.
These and other unconventional navigation design choices can create confusion for visitors. Don’t get us wrong — we love creative design that pushes the limits and truly thinks outside the box. But it must make sense and help the visitor, not hinder them. That’s why we think this outdated website design trend can stay in 2022.
2. Slow websites
You don’t have to stay up to date with the latest trends in website design to know that slow websites should be a thing of the past. Seriously. Our goal is two to three seconds — two seconds is better, more than three is bad.
Slow websites inevitably cause a poor user experience and an increased bounce rate, plus they can also negatively impact your website’s Google (and Bing — yes we still care about Bing a little bit) rankings. If you have yet to fix your slow website, we cannot stress this enough…now is the time! Google’s PageSpeed Insights is probably the industry standard to test your site speed, and we like to compare those results with Pingdom.
3. Too much text
A 2022 outdated website design trend that’s now a hard pass in 2023 is having too much text on a page. This is especially true with e-commerce websites. Some of the latest trends in website design and SEO include really comprehensive and in-depth content, but too much information on product pages can often cause shoppers to feel confused and overwhelmed.
Instead, keep your copy short and sweet! How short? That depends on the page’s purpose, but generally, we say most pages shouldn’t have more than 300 words, maybe more for a home or about page. There are exceptions of course. Truly informative blogs can get pretty long, and we get why course pages are out of control (that *ish* works though — total course junkies here!).
When analyzing website design trends, we find that having less, more tailored information is more effective than information overload. This helps visitors stay focused and ensures your message gets across quicker and more efficiently!
4. Blurry and too low-resolution images (but not too big!)
If navigating the latest trends in website design leaves you overwhelmed, updating your images is an easy first step to take. Did you know your website makes an impression on visitors in just 0.05 seconds? Yep, that’s all it takes. Not even a tenth of a second on your website and visitors have already formed an opinion of your brand.
Perhaps one of the most common outdated website design mistakes we STILL see brands making is using blurry or too low-resolution images. If you aren’t sure how your images look to visitors, spend a few minutes browsing your website on a variety of devices. If you find any images that are fuzzy or un-artistically blurry, we recommend replacing them. Not only do blurry images take away from the site’s credibility, they also make your website less appealing to those of us who are visual learners (and hint: these individuals make up 65% of society).
Images should look good and crisp while keeping the file size below 1MB for quick loading. We recommend an absolute minimum of 600 pixels wide at 72 dpi, but full-width images, especially if used in your hero, should be 2500 pixels wide.
5. Poor mobile usability
Speaking of mobile devices, here’s a big 2022 website design trend that we believe needs to extend into the near year: making sure your website is mobile-friendly. If you’ve been managing your own or a company website, you have heard this before. For like 10 years now, Google has been talking about the importance of the mobile experience, and if your site is not responsive, it will be penalized in the SERPs.
If your website isn’t mobile friendly, that can and will deter potential customers from making purchases on mobile or even returning to the site at all. If the majority of your website traffic is on a mobile device, resolve to make this a priority in 2023.
6. No clear calls to action
When a visitor lands on your website, it is absolutely clear what you want them to do? A call to action (CTA) is a short prompt on your website that encourages your visitors to take an action on the website. Make it easy for your visitors to act immediately with a one-click call-to-action. Sprinkle them throughout every page, maybe even in every section, if it makes sense. Don’t create decision fatigue.
7. Launching a website without telling Google
We hate to break it to you, but the saying if you build it, they will come simply does not apply to Google. There are some essential actions that should be taken every time a new website is launched if you hope to find success (read: traffic). The good news is that we created the CTMH Ultimate Launch Checklist to make the launch process as simple as possible. Get the full details and our website launch checklist.
8. Hero sliders: not modern, not yet retro
The last outdated website design trend we think has no place in 2023 is hero sliders. While hero sliders had their moment, ultimately they can negatively impact the user experience by slowing down the page load speed, and who is actually sliding and reading each one anyway? You’re lucky if they read the first one. They often don’t look great on mobile — I mean, the sliders we have built look great, but still… In 2023, there are better ways to use the most prime real estate on your website, like a brand video or a compelling statement that convinces your visitors to stay and take action. If your website is using a hero slider, ditch it now.
Get support with your website
If you’ve got some website design trends you’re leaving in 2022, tell us about it in the comments below or drop us a line. If you’re ready to make some design changes to your website, but DIY isn’t for you, let’s talk! CTMH puts an end to overwhelm! We get to the heart of your business goals to design and launch a professional, appealing and modern website in just one week with our 5-Day Launch Method.