Over time, popular platforms and their themes will start functioning better and adapting to the user behaviors intuitively. But history has a way of repeating itself. Before CSS3 came out in the late 90s, the primary web design used tables to accomplish most layouts. This lent itself to some very boxy designs. Browser technology couldn’t render larger images and most developers hadn’t begun to leverage the finer details of CSS at all. In the early aughts, DIY platforms came on the scene and they built enormous libraries of code that can be used to style designs. Scripting language and hardware breakthroughs allowed for larger assets to be served quicker as well. These advancements and others allowed a shift in design. Websites took on a look that had larger header or banner pictures, with styled content below and footer navigation leading to similar pages. The next step introduced slideshows and they were all the rage 10 years ago (has it been that long?). As mobile-friendly sites gained popularity, slideshows were replaced with infinite scrolling pages. Most recently, full screen images, simple navigation and intuitive interactive content is in the forefront.

All along, some industries or brands have lead the way in and stayed up to date with the most modern and exciting layouts, enjoying the best returns on their investments. While, others dragged their feet, dismissing the internet is irrelevant (can you believe it? People still think that they’re business or brand doesn’t benefit from a web presence). These businesses end up joining the band wagon once they see their competition has updated or deployed some new technology or layout. By then, the way we use our devices and surf the web has changed again and after years of agonizing over whether it would be worth investing in digital marketing, a brand jumps in with both feet only to find that everyone else has moved on. Will your business benefit from new consumer behaviors, or strugge to join in just to keep up with the competition?