Just like how tasting rooms and wine shops need to redesign their interiors every now and then, a winery website’s look also needs to be updated from time to time. As the times change, some website design elements fall in and out of favor among designers and users. If you’re thinking of revamping your winery website this 2018, here are some of the design trends you should watch out for:
People have become increasingly dependent on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to do their shopping, so it’s an absolute must to have a mobile-adaptive website. In fact, 40% of traffic and 25% of purchases on WineDirect client websites came from mobile and table devices in 2017. So, if you want to keep your winery website relevant, you have to put a bigger emphasis on making it more mobile-friendly. Take note, though, that a mobile-friendly winery website design requires more than just an adaptive layout.
There are several aspects that distinguish a mobile-friendly website from one that is not. Bandwidth and loading times, for example, are key factors in making your website more attractive to users. After all, users don’t like using websites that take minutes to load. One of the easiest ways to reduce load times is to reduce the size of your images. Use a compressor – like compressor.io - or save your images for web use if you’re using Photoshop.
Hover state, also known as the rollover state, refers to how a link looks whenever your mouse is hovering or located over it. At a time when minimalist website design is all the rage, many website designers are taking advantage of the hover state to give links a bit of accent and to highlight a website’s individuality without going over the top.
Changing the hover state of the text or image that links to other pages is a subtle way to point out which parts or pages can be clicked. At the same time, using different rollover states will keep your winery website from being too dull without sacrificing its classic or elegant look.
Thanks to the shift to mobile-friendly designs and minimalist philosophies, there's a new trend in winery website design that involves putting the most important content at the center of the page. This is because off-center content can look awkward when viewed using a smartphone.
The amount of content at the center of the screen also has to be carefully selected. A logo, a single statement, or a call to action — sometimes emphasized by striking colors or even animated backgrounds —may be used to direct guests to certain parts of your website without bombarding them with clunky buttons or awkwardly placed hyperlinks crammed in a small area.
Because today's mobile devices rely greatly on touchscreen technology, it's important to make sure users are able to edit the right fields in order forms. Small checkboxes, buttons, and interactive text boxes clumped together can often result in users entering info in the wrong fields.
In 2018, winery websites should shift to full-screen forms in order to offer subscribers and guests a larger area to work with. Once the form takes up the entire screen size, all interactive elements can be spaced further apart and increased in size. This reduces the risk of making mistakes and improves the user’s overall online shopping experience.
Jumping from one page to another can be a time-consuming process, but guests sometimes find this necessary when they’re adding multiple items to their cart and inspecting their choices. To avoid this, your pages must provide as much information as possible without being cluttered.
By extending the pages and including a wealth of information in each, it's possible to add more content to a website while reducing loading times. With a single swipe, users can explore an extended page and see additional information about a certain wine as well as links to other brands and products. This design, combined with an intuitive search system, allows users to easily find information without having to switch from one page to another.
The start of the year is a good time to take a look at your winery website and see if it still holds up to the current website design trends and good practices. Is there any element or aspect that you can tweak to improve the overall experience of your wine club members and subscribers?
