Your website plays a vital role in establishing a positive brand identity and also improve brand reputation. As the online domain is expanding rapidly, even people are relying more on online business practices as comparing to the traditional methods. Earlier having a small, static website with a short brand profile and contact details were sufficient but nowadays, your online brand identity is crucial and in some business sectors your online brand identity and brand image are extremely critical in your success. The importance of the websites has increased and these trends transformed the websites from a digital company brochure or profile into a powerful communication & marketing tool. This transformation leads to a lot many technological advancements in website technologies and is still growing rapidly. The advancements also lead to ever-changing trends in the industry, it is getting harder for ordinary customers to stay up to date. That is why in this blog we will mention the 5 latest trends of websites in Dubai.
1. Dynamic Websites VS Static Websites
There are two major types of websites, static websites and dynamic websites. A few years back there was a third type which was the mobile site or a completely separate mobile version of the website, this trend is now being replaced with responsive websites. The two major classifications of the websites are as follow:
Static Website
A static website is developed on a basic front-end design. The major difference is in order to update the website content or data a professional website developer is required. As it can only be done by changing the source code of the web pages. In the light of modern trends and the website’s function in marketing and communication, the businesses will have to update their websites and some web pages on regular basis. Each time when an update is required a professional website programmer is acquired to do so. As the website is built using HTML and CSS components, which both are purely source codes, so only a professional website programmer can update the website content and data. In that case, the businesses will have to hire a full-time website programmer or a service provider to maintain the website content updates and changes such as blogs, news, press releases, etc.
Dynamic Website
A dynamic website is developed in two major section one is a frontend which is almost a static website and the other section is a control panel or content management system. The main difference between a dynamic and static website is that the businesses don’t require a full-time professional website developer to do the updates on the website. The CMS or the content management system is a powerful software tool with an interactive admin control panel dashboard that allows ordinary people to do the updates on the website and also enable them to create new pages such as news, blogs, press releases, product pages and services pages. The frontend of the website is also made using HTML and CSS however the backend or the admin control panel is made using PHP, ASP, and Database tools.
What is a Content Management System or CMS?
A content management system or CMS as clear from its name allows managing the content of the corresponding application/frontend of a website. Although it is used for various other applications too the major application is websites. There are tons of content management system available in the market, some are open-source, some are propriety tools, some are general purpose and some are for specific applications. The businesses will have to choose the content management system or CMS wisely which could fulfil their needs.
2. Responsive Websites
The responsive website trend has gained huge popularity not only in Dubai but all over the world. These days, almost 99% of the enquiries are coming for a responsive website. As the name itself is self-explanatory, the responsive websites are those who respond to the screen size, operating system, web browser and the device from where the website is opened. The main objective of a responsive website is to maintain a similar user experience and user journey on all devices and platforms regardless of any dependency on the screen size, browser, or platform. This is achieved through the latest website programming techniques and tools. A responsive website can automatically sense the device and other details in just a fraction of a second and render its design elements, content, fonts, photos, videos and everything else as per the screen size and the platform it is being opened from. This provides a great advantage to maintain the brand identity, user experience and user journey which resultantly contributes to more sales and online leads.
3. Multimedia Content
These days another popular trend is using multimedia and graphic-rich content on the website. As in Dubai, everyone has access to broadband, 4G and even 5G also, in fact, Dubai was one of the earliest adopters of the 5G technology. So, using multimedia content is not an issue at all. These days most websites are using very attractive videos, micro animations, rich graphics elements and multimedia content to provide a good user experience. Here are a few examples of trendy multimedia elements:
Full-Screen Video
Using a full-screen video could increase customer interest in your products and services. It is human nature that our brand responds more to a moving object and moving picture than a static picture. So, the video will automatically increase the customer engagement level. You can include a lot many things in a few seconds of video which if described in words could take up to 500 words. So having an attractive video could really make a difference in your online conversion rates.
Full-Screen Image Sliders
Full-screen image sliders are also gaining popularity, you can use multiple images in an automatically rotating slider. Like I said moving objects tend to interest the human brain more than a simple static image. Another advantage of the image slider will be to be able to present multiple sales pitches in one screen area. You can further improve the user interest by adding taglines and slogans or a short description or maybe a sub-heading. Whatever you use, a full-screen image slider is far better than a small tiny image slider or image at the landing screen.
Micro Animations
Micro Animations are also gaining popularity, you can use micro animations in your image slider, in different widgets and areas of your website. The micro animations are also used to increase customer engagement. You can also utilize a single area or space to accommodate two or three taglines or sales pitches.
The multimedia content really helps to improve the user experience and use journey on your website and also help to improve your online conversions. There are so many possibilities of using the above-mentioned multimedia content or any other content on the website to increase customer engagements on the website.
4. Interactive Websites
Interactive websites are a slightly new phenomenon in Dubai, and it getting excellent response from the users. Interactive web designs are the designs that interact with the users, respond to their movements and provide a great user experience. There are several ways to improve the user experience, for example, whenever the user is moving their mouse cursor the design elements responds or at least show some kind of movements. This keeps the customer interested as they will expect to experience more such movements or responses in the website. This way the users will access more internal pages and spend more time staying on your website, either way, it is very helpful in improving the user experience at the website.
5. Thumb-Friendly Websites
Although sometimes people consider thumb-friendly as mobile-first web designs. But both are two different things. Mobile-first designs are for those businesses that are getting most of their online conversions from mobile devices. Especially the eCommerce websites, they are heavily relying on mobile traffic so they can improve their online conversion by implementing a mobile-first web design to their website. However, thumb-friendly websites are one-fit-for-all. No matter what you do, you should have thumb-friendly navigation. As in Dubai, almost everyone has a smartphone with internet access. People spent a lot of time on their mobile devices, just think about yourself or check your friends, family and colleagues, you will surely notice people tend to spend more time on their mobile devices than on regular computers. This is why smartphones are a very important aspect that each and every marketer needs to address.
These days almost 99% of our website design and development enquirer asked for a responsive website. This means everyone knows the importance of smartphone compatible websites. But most of the time our customers do not understand the importance of navigation. The navigation, menu and buttons of your websites which will navigate your customers through the various pages of the website and also take them through their user journey on your website are extremely important. So no matter how cool your website looks on smartphones if its navigation is hard to access on the smartphones, it could significantly decrease your online conversions.
Conclusion
In Dubai, almost everyone has access to the computer, internet and smartphone. The websites have a great impact and influence on purchasing decisions. No matter what a customer is looking for they will first try to look it up on Google. Even if by any promotion or marketing method you have reached your customer with a product, service or solution there is almost the probability of 90% that the prospect will try to look it up on the internet. This is when you have to be very vigilant, attentive and attractive too. Your website’s design, functions, content and everything in between will heavily impact the decision of the purchaser.
Make sure your website is dynamic and you can easily update it any time you want without any additional cost or any additional technical speciality. Your website should be able to maintain the same user experience and user journey across all devices and platforms. Multimedia content could really help you out in gaining more attention from the visitors. Interactive websites can easily gain popularity and produce better results than any traditional website. As most of the users tend to do online searches from their mobile devices so make sure your website is offering an excellent smartphone experience.
It is always wise to consult a professional. RSI Concepts is a leading web design and development agency in Dubai, having more than a decade long experience and serving hundreds of clients all across the GCC. Feel free to get in touch with us if you want to redesign your website or need any consultation. You can reach us out via the comment box below or you can approach us from our Contact Us page.
Check this out: Importance of Web Design in 2021 in Dubai
