Maximum UX with Google Web Core Vitals
Web design is inseparable from user experience (UX): the experience of the person using your website or web shop. The Google Web Core Vitals are quality signals for assessing UX, and the speed of your website in particular matters. In the past there were other methods for optimizing that speed, but today the Google Web Core Vitals are a very important benchmark. Scoring well on those three points improves your ranking and findability, and increases the chance that visitors stay on your website longer. So it is an important SEO and web design trend for 2022. Google Web Core Vitals covers 3 aspects:
- Loading (LCP): interruptions caused by having to wait for a website.
- Interactivity (FID): interruptions caused by a slow response time from the website, such as when you want to click a button.
- Visual stability (CLS): how stable the content on the website is. Content should not shift unexpectedly, for example.
These metrics have been around since 2021, but they will make even more of a difference next year. There is also a good chance that new elements will be added. You can check your scores through Google PageSpeed Insights. Look at which pages are doing well and which still need work. Improving these 3 elements involves quite a bit of technical work. We would be happy to get started on that for you!
2. Answer questions immediately with featured snippets
Featured snippets are highlighted excerpts. This is the information you see below the ads and above the organic search results. A visitor asks a question through Google and sees the answer right away in that featured snippet. Take a look at our example:
A featured snippet improves your click-through rate (CTR), because visitors are often looking for more information. It also confirms that your website is well built and that the search engine understands your content. On top of that, you show that you are an authority in your field. Finally, it means you are better prepared for voice search, more on that shortly.
3. Help your customers even better with augmented reality
With augmented reality (AR) you add virtual elements to reality. That may sound a bit vague, so here is an example. Say someone is looking for a new sofa for the living room and wants to know whether it will look good in the space. They use their phone to take a photo of the living room and then place the piece of furniture where they want it through AR, for example with an app. That way the customer knows for sure they are making a good purchase. We order almost everything online these days. So by adding AR to your website, you help your customers even better. The barrier to ordering online gets lower. What is more, customers who initially find your physical store too far away will also be quicker to make a purchase. For AR in your web shop you need a 3D model of your products.
4. More interaction with customers through WhatsApp for Business
WhatsApp for Business gained popularity this year. That growth is expected to continue next year as well, which makes it an important part of the web design and SEO trends in 2022. With WhatsApp for Business you help your customers faster, in an approachable way. Plus, creating an account is free. Want to know more about this tool? Read more.
5. Find products online through voice search
With voice search you search the internet using your voice. This fast and easy way of searching is something we use more and more often. Where Google could still struggle to understand your query a few years ago, that now goes very smoothly. A spoken query calls for different content than a written one. So adjust your content if you want to focus on voice search. How? You can read that here.
6. Visually appealing with dark mode
More and more applications offer the option to switch between light and dark mode. Think of Google or social media apps. In dark mode the background of a screen is dark and the text is light. Dark mode gives your website a distinctive look, since most websites and applications have a light background. And if you have an OLED screen, this mode also makes your phone battery last longer. So by setting up a dark mode for your website too, you respond to what your visitors want. You create this mode by working on the CSS of your website. Support is already available in browsers such as Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox.
JKC gets your website ready for 2022
Would you like to apply one of the web design or SEO trends above, but have no idea how? Get in touch and we will get to work for you. We can also run a free website check for you and give you advice with no strings attached. That way you know where your website stands and how you can keep up with the trends for the new year.
