Website design trends come and go. The question is — will you jump on the bandwagon? The decision to follow or ignore a design trend should depend on the needs and behaviors of your users. Is it a website design feature that your customers or visitors will truly benefit from? Does the trend constitute a major overhaul of your website? Remember, a website built on trends will quickly go out of date as soon as the next fad comes along, so choose wisely.
 
Here are two wildly popular website design trends that are taking over the Internet this year. How beneficial are they really, though?
 
The Hamburger Menu
Use of the hamburger menu is one way to simplify navigation, particularly when it comes to your mobile website. The hamburger menu, if you are not familiar, is the icon usually found in the top right or left corner of the screen that is made up of just three short, parallel lines. When you click the icon, you get a drop-down menu with a number of navigation options. The appeal of the hamburger menu is obvious — it makes the site look cleaner, sleeker, and less crowded. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for every type of website. Hamburger menus can reduce the visibility of important links. If a user doesn’t know to look for those three little lines, they might miss a lot of your most important pages. This is particularly bad for e-commerce and news sites.
 
The Carousel
Front page carousels can be found all over the Internet right now. Web designers love them because they’re fun and visually interesting. Designers know that they have no more than 10 seconds to leave an impression and convince consumers that their website and company are worthwhile. That means all of the content above the fold on a website is extremely important. Carousels are good for that because the images can capture users’ attention, but they’re also entirely too commonplace. Websites that use them are starting to feel a little too “cookie cutter.” More importantly, however, carousels are bad for SEO. To boost your ranking, it is best to include important keywords above the fold. When you’ve got nothing but revolving images up there, it may not be the best SEO strategy.
 
Both of these trends — and many others that have emerged over the past year or so — are aesthetically pleasing and can be totally advantageous for some websites. However, they’re not perfect for everyone. Before jumping on the bandwagon, consider your audience, your mission, and your brand.