Social media is changing the world on a daily basis and has also had a huge impact on the way websites are designed. It’s no longer acceptable to design a poor quality, standalone website. This is mainly due to social media and the changes it has brought with it. Below are some of the main ways social media is impacting web design.

Web Designers Have to Allow Cross Promotion

A website and your social media accounts should work hand-in-hand. This is why it’s important to add social sharing components to a website during its development phase. These social sharing components normally take the form of social sharing buttons which can be used by people who read your content. It’s a good idea to include your social media account details wherever you will be adding contact details to a website. Each of your social media pages should also promote and link back to your website.

A Website Is Now Part of an Online System

A modern website is no longer simply a standalone online asset. It should be part of an effective marketing and communications system. The best way to do this is to include the activities that takes place on your social media accounts on your website.

Most of the latest website platforms have plugins, widgets or other add-ons that make it easy to display feeds of the latest activity on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts.

Website Visitors Expect More from a Website Because of Social Media

Social media companies are extremely innovative. As a result of this innovation, social media websites have a range of features that were not available online a few years ago. This means online users expect more when they visit a website and website developers have had to up their game.

As social media platforms evolve, many of the features they include, are now starting to appear on websites too. This has the knock-on effect of making blogs, business websites and e-commerce stores much more vibrant and interactive places to visit.

Web site designers and owners are starting to realise that the interaction that takes place on social media websites can be replicated on different types of websites, leading to more returning visitors, shoppers, email subscribers and long term customers.

Consistent Branding

It’s never been as important as it is now to build a brand people recognise and trust. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter underline just how important branding is. Most leading web designers are now focusing more on this aspect of website design too, so that websites and the social media pages associated with them carry the same message and are branded in the same way.

Thanks to the latest developments in social media, web design is improving and today’s websites are more interactive and useful for visitors. As social media advances, the lessons learned and the developments that take place in the coming years, will continue to have an impact on web design long into the future.