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35 web design facts to share with your clients in 2022

web design facts
By Kathryn Yanchycki, CPA. Last Updated September 18, 2023

The web design industry is changing rapidly. This means that designers need to be flexible and adapt to new trends. In order to stay competitive, designers need to stay up-to-date with the latest web design facts and educate their clients about them.

We’ve rounded up 35 interesting web design facts for web designers that may come in handy during your next client project. These facts can be used simply as interesting web design facts, in general, to share and help justify your value to your next client or you may even learn something new to implement!

History of web design facts

It’s hard to believe that the internet has not been around forever as it's such a huge part of all of our lives now. The web design industry has evolved rapidly since the creation of the internet and continues to. 

Web design is an ever-evolving industry that must keep up with the changes in technology to remain relevant but here are some web design facts from the beginning of it all.

1. Ethan Marcotte first introduced responsive design. (ResearchGate)

Ethan Marcotte first introduced responsive design in 2010. The goal of responsive web design is to create a website that can be accessed from any device. A responsive site will have columns and rows that scale to fit the viewing size, making it easy for you to read the content without zooming in or out. 

2. The first website was created in 1991. (WebDesignMuseum)

The first website was built by Tim Berners-Lee in 1991. He wanted to create a way for scientists to communicate with each other. 

3. CSS was first proposed in October 1994. (Berkeley)

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) first allowed web designers to style elements on a webpage and also allowed web developers to create custom layouts when it was first introduced in 1994. 

Now, CSS allows you to control fonts, colours, spacing and more.

User experience web design facts

A good user experience on your website is very important and will allow people to find what they need on your website without getting frustrated. To create a positive user experience, it's crucial that you know a thing or two about your users.

4. The average smartphone user will check their device up to 150 times per day. (EconomicTimes)

The average smartphone user will check their device up to 150 times per day, which has continued to steadily increase over time. It is clear that our dependence on our smartphones has only grown.

5. There are 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide. (Statista)

The number of internet users worldwide is constantly increasing. As of January 2021, there were 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide and we expect this number to increase even more.

6. The average attention span decreased from 12 to 8 seconds. (Digital Information World)

The human attention span has decreased from 12 seconds to 8 seconds in the last 3 years. With an average attention span of only 8 seconds, it is important to capture your users’ attention quickly with your web design choices.

7. Demographics play a huge role in user behaviour and therefore web design (Syracuse Web Design)

Demographics play a huge factor in how users behave on websites. A one-size-fits-all website will not provide a positive experience for your user if it is targeted toward the wrong demographic or everyone in general. It is important to know who your visitor demographic is and know what they are looking for.

8. Users form an opinion about websites in .05 seconds (Sweor)

First impressions as a visitor to a website are very important. Your website needs to look good and function well so your visitor can have a seamless user experience. It also needs to be user-friendly so that visitors can get around easily. 

It takes less than a second for a user to make an impression of the company and its brand just from its website. And you want to make positive first impressions with so many things playing a role, such as visual design, navigation, content, speed, and responsiveness.

Branding & competition

Web design is important because it impacts how your audience perceives your brand. 

The impression you make on them can either get them to remain on your page and learn about your business or leave your page and turn to a competitor. 

A good web design helps you keep your leads on your page.

9. Website design is an important factor for determining credibility for almost half of visitors (Blue Corona)

Visitors will almost instantly judge your website and not trust poorly designed or out-of-date websites. When your website is not visually appealing, it will affect the credibility of your business. 

Presenting your company in a professional and well-designed manner can help you attract more customers and increase sales.

10. 1 in 4 small businesses still don’t have websites (Digital)

Although there are many reasons why some small business owners don't have websites, they're usually unaware of how much their customers want them to have one.

Visual design 

If your website looks unappealing or outdated, your audience will immediately have a negative impression of your business. You’ll miss out on leads because they’ll leave your page for a competitor’s page.

11. People will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive (Sweor)

38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive. Studies show that the average website visitor spends just a few seconds on a given site. This is why it's important to provide an attractive layout to keep them engaged.

12. Web design dictates what internet users will focus on (Programming With Basics)

You want your website to help provide a solution to your user and the ability for the user to find that solution quickly and easily will help determine whether they will stay on your website or not.

Visual design, such as the graphics, icons, colours, and images are key, along with how the content is organized on the site to keep them engaged longer.

13. Above the fold is not as important as it used to be (Content Hacker)

When designing a new website, web designers often place elements above the fold to catch attention. But a lot of people still scroll down a page to see the bottom so utilize the entire page wisely.

14. Images and videos can be both good and bad

It’s no secret that integrating visual elements, like high-quality images, can help improve engagement. Visitors love the interaction of images and videos on websites but if you're going to add any media to your site, you should also consider loading times.

Large image and video files can dramatically slow down the loading time of your site. People expect web pages to load fast and if they're waiting too long, they'll leave. 

To speed up the site, web designers should use images and videos that are optimized for websites. Try compressing images and reducing file sizes as well as using HTML5 to make sure that your site loads as fast as possible.

Navigation

Navigation is an important part of a user's experience and, therefore, an essential element of web design. Users will abandon a site if they struggle to find their way around.

Navigation is also critical for SEO. This means that if you don't have well-structured navigation, then search engines won't be able to find your content as easily.

15. The average time spent on pages is 54 seconds, while blog posts an average of 3-5 minutes (Hubspot)

Users spend more time on blog posts than the average time of 54 seconds on other pages. This means that you need to focus on getting users to click through to read your blog. To get them to click, you need to make sure that the information they want is displayed well and promises value.

16. Exit popups actually work (OptinMonster)

Exit popups are a great way to incentivize your visitors to stay and a great way to increase sales. In fact, exit popups typically convert an additional 2 to 4% of your website visitors.

17. 50% of referral website visitors initially use the menu. (Komarketing)

Your navigational menu must be clear and be able to help new visitors find where they want to go. A confusing navigational menu can be frustrating and cause visitors to leave. 

Content

Content is an important part of any website. It’s what makes a site stand out from the crowd, and it’s also what attracts visitors to your site in the first place. The content on your site should be relevant to your audience.

When it comes to web design, content is king. Your site needs to have clear calls to action, compelling headlines, and interesting information.

18. Content created by peers has a lower chance of being questioned. (SAGIPL)

You should consider adding ways of allowing community members to post content to your website. This might be in the form of guest posts, comments, and forum posts. 

19. Every day approximately 10 million blog posts are put online. (Web Tribunal)

Blogging is a great way for companies and brands to share their knowledge with the world. 

Every day, over 10 million blog posts are put up online, so it's important to figure out how to stand out from the crowd.

20. Have info about products/services on the homepage. (Curatti)

86% of visitors want info about products and services on the homepage. For sales optimization, the products or services you’re offering should be displayed on the homepage. With a short attention span, it is hard to expect buyers to navigate deeper into the website to see what products you have on offer.

21. Customer reviews are trusted as much as personal recommendations. (SearchEngineLand)

Customer reviews are trusted as much as personal recommendations by 72% of users. We often rely on reviews and feedback from people we know to make decisions. As a consumer, you are less likely to purchase a product if a friend or family member has told you about it. The same applies to online reviews.

Also, a link to see the individual reviews should be easily accessible from the product page.

22. Company contact info on your website is essential. (Curatti)

Company contact info is essential for 44% of website visitors. This can be because they are unsure who to contact or because the visitor does not want to waste their time with an unresponsive company.

23. Blogs are a great way to attract leads. (Quicksprout)

Blogs are a powerful tool for building relationships with potential clients. Companies that have blogs produce 67% more leads than those that don’t. The key to blogging is consistency and giving value to your potential customers.

24. Lists are better than large paragraphs. (NNGroup)

If you want to attract visitors to your site, include lists. Lists help people scan through pages more efficiently. Also, lists make it easier for them to find specific information.

If you write clear headlines, subheads and paragraphs, you're likely to attract more readers because people like reading things that are easy to understand.

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Speed

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of web design? Probably, it is a website's look and feel. But what about speed? Speed is one of the most critical elements of web design.

A slow-loading website frustrates users and reduces their engagement with your site. If the site takes too long to load, most visitors will leave before they even get a chance to see what it offers!

Websites are not just static pages anymore; they are now interactive and need to be fast for people to interact with them effectively.

25. Visitors are willing to wait three seconds for a web page to load. (MarketingDive)

Your website has to load quickly. Otherwise, people will stop engaging and won't stay on your page.

One way to improve website performance is to compress images. 

You should also test your website regularly to see how it performs and ensure it doesn't take longer than 3 seconds to load.

You can also reduce the number of files loaded at one time.

26. Google has indicated that website speed is one of the signals by its algorithms to rank pages (MOZ)

So, if your site takes too long to load, it may get lower rankings, which will affect your SEO and traffic. You can have a great website design, but it won’t matter if your audience never gets to see it. Page speed is so important that your audience can access the information they need fast.

Responsive design

With more people browsing the web on their phones, tablets and laptops, it's essential to have a website that can be viewed on all these devices. 

A responsive website adapts to different screen sizes and provides a better online experience for your customers. Responsive design allows the website to look good on any device and browser. 

27. A responsive site is different than a mobile-friendly website design. (Programming with Basics)

Often, these terms are used interrelated, but there’s a difference.

Mobile design limits the site’s functionality so it can be viewed on mobile devices. Therefore the user cannot utilize the site to its fullest. Mobile websites are much simpler because they don't contain all the features found in regular websites.

A responsive web design is more flexible and allows the site layout to be resized or adjusted depending on the device while still maintaining the same abilities. Responsive websites work well on both desktops and mobiles.

Google announced in recent years that all new websites will be required to be responsive. Responsive web design (RWD) means that a website adjusts its appearance depending on the device used to view it. RWD ensures that website users can access your website from anywhere.

28. Mobile devices make up almost two-thirds of web usage. (Datareportal)

For that reason, it is essential to have a mobile-friendly website when designing or updating. That website may look great on a computer but it won’t matter when the majority of your potential customers access it from their smartphone.

29. Google prefers responsive sites. (HarnessMedia)

Google wants its search results to display in various ways, and responsive design makes them appear across different devices.

However, if your site isn't responsive, it won't work on mobile phones, and Google will penalize you.

A website with responsive design has a great chance of getting a higher ranking on Google and other search engines. Google introduced its ranking algorithm, where it brought out mobile-friendliness as one of the critical factors in optimizing the ranking of sites. 

30. All web browsers show websites differently. (WebFX)

Each browser has its quirks, which can affect the overall look. When you look at a website from your home computer using Google Chrome, it might be a completely different experience than your friend has when she browses the same website through Safari on her iPhone.

A web designer’s job is to ensure that your website looks good and functions properly across multiple browsers.

Conversion

Conversion is the process of turning a visitor into a customer. 

This can be achieved by providing visitors with the right content, offers and incentives to get them to take the desired action. So it's important to keep in mind that the design is not just about aesthetics but also about conversion, which will help you achieve your business goals.

31. Conversion rate is improved when personalized recommendations are made. (BestWebHostingAustralia)

Conversion rate is enhanced by a factor of 5.5 when personalized recommendations are made. Personalization can be woven into the website design in several ways.

Conversion is one of the essential features of your website. Your website isn't doing its job if it doesn't turn your visitor into a lead or a sale for you. 

When you have the proper layout, wording, and call-to-actions placed in the right places, you can see a significant difference in the amount of business your website generates. 

Cost

The average web design cost varies drastically depending on what type of design you are looking for. For example, a budget website will cost around $500, while a more comprehensive website can be worth up to $20,000 or more.

32. Good website design can cost between $500 to $20,000 and beyond. (SEOSQA)

Website design costs vary widely depending on the size of your business and requirements. However, here are average prices:

$500 - $1,000 - A basic website for small businesses

$2,000 - $3,000 - An intermediate level website 

$10,000 - $20,000+ - A complex or high-end website

This cost can include not only the design of the website but other complexities such as the cost of optimizing the content on the site, making content accessible across browsers and devices and improving the overall performance of the website.

Trends

Web design trends are constantly changing, and designers always want to keep up with the latest trends and incorporate these into their websites. 

33. The top design trends right now include: (Wix)

  • clean designs
  • symmetrical layouts
  • serif & lightweight typography
  • earthy & primary colours
  • images of real people
  • 3D motion elements
  • surrealistic visual combinations
  • blur effect
  • fluid gradients
  • surprising interactions

Updates

The more you update your website, the more it gets updated on search engine pages. This means that people looking for your content will be able to find it easily.

If you haven't updated your website in a while, it might not be as relevant to people as it once was. This is because the web changes so quickly, and if you don't keep up with these changes, it might not be as valuable to others.

34. A site older than one year may be considered “old.” (Programming With Basics)

If a website has been online for two years, there's a chance that it's outdated and is worth updating. The average lifespan is between two or three years as digital technology is constantly evolving.

Because technology changes rapidly, business owners should do a website refresh regularly to keep pace. This also means that web design professionals need to stay on top of the latest web design trends, tools and techniques.

There are many reasons why people update their sites. The most common reason is that they want to improve search engine rankings. This is especially true if you've got lots of pages. Google wants to display the freshest content on its search results page.

An outdated website could also potentially not display correctly on all browsers, which will hurt the company’s search engine results.

This is a fact worth sharing with your clients and allowing the opportunity to continue your professional relationship! 

35. Templates may restrict the functionality of websites. (Programming with Basics)

Some templates come with pre-built layouts. These are great for beginners who just want to get started quickly.

However, these templates aren't customizable. So, if you want to change things such as colours, fonts, and images, you'll need to edit them manually.

Some templates even lock you into specific platforms. This makes it difficult to switch between different devices.

Templates may help you design an attractive website. However, when the time comes to update that, templates will not allow you to do it the way you want it. Templates will place conditions on your changes. 

That’s a wrap!

The web is a fantastic tool that connects us to the rest of the world. It can be a powerful marketing tool to promote your business, and a well-designed website can help increase traffic and sales. Some of these web design facts give some insight into how you could improve our web design skills and your business as well as your client’s business.

I hope you found these web design facts interesting for your own business and your clients’. Share these with your clients and really highlight your value as a web designer.

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Kathryn Yanchycki

Kathryn is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over 7 years of experience in both public practice and industry accounting. She has had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of individuals and companies, which gives her a unique perspective on what it takes to be successful in the industry. Kathryn loves all things business and productivity and has been able to combine her love for creating content into writing for accounting firms looking to improve their businesses.

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