14 Internet Marketing Trends in 2014

After analyzing the dynamics of the development of Internet marketing, the Webakula team is in a hurry to share with you the main trends in Internet commerce, SEO and web design in the coming year. After all, who is forewarned is forearmed ;)

1. Mobile marketing. Tablets and smartphones make the Internet available almost anywhere. In 2013, we noted an increase in mobile traffic on client projects up to 20%, judging by the global growth trend of this indicator, we can safely predict the rapid development of mobile Internet in Ukraine. What conclusion can be drawn from this? Focus on attracting an additional smartphone and tablet audience.

To adapt online business for mobile devices will help:

• SMS-sending information about promotions and sales;
• mobile contextual advertising;
• responsive design (adaptive layout) of the site;
• mobile traffic promotion.

The site must be adequately displayed on devices with different screen resolutions and be user-friendly for touch gadgets.

2. SMM marketing. The audience of social networks is growing literally by leaps and bounds. Your business will definitely benefit from being represented by popular socialization giants (VKontakte, Facebook, YouTube) and growing (LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, foursquare) specialized social networks.

3. Content marketing. Website texts should be interesting to visitors first of all, and only then to search engines. Optimized articles full of keywords with an obsessive offer to buy a product or order a service give way to a reasonable lead to action by the site visitor. Try to attract attention and win the trust of users by correctly placing accents, emphasizing your real advantages. Back up your words with facts and statistics, and not with unfounded exhortations like “buy here” and “order from us.” Help in this difficult task: useful specialized information, videos and other media content.

4. Resource development. Regular updates are in trend: adding news, promotions, placing goods, as well as developing the site tree - adding new sections, improving the site structure. Don't forget about a larger event - the redesign of the site.

Search engines highly appreciate dynamically developing sites, and users are more likely to trust resources with constantly updated relevant information and fresh news. In order not to lose the favor of visitors, give correct names and add comprehensive product descriptions. Remember - the site must be alive!

5. Improvement in behavioral factors. In favor are sites with a high browsing depth, on which users spend as much time as possible, resources with a permanent audience. The secret of high behavioral indicators is in competent linking, popular and diverse content, simple navigation and modern design.

6. Continuous work with the site is the golden rule of Internet marketing in 2014. All web trends of the coming year are aimed at integrated work with brand profiles on the network. Information about the company must be reliable, up-to-date, comprehensive, in order for the search results to play in your favor. Use all possible channels to attract traffic, do not limit yourself to SMM, SEO or contextual advertising.

7. Internal website optimization is the main SEO trend in 2014. In other words, this is work on the development of the site. Search engines care about users by continuously improving search algorithms. The issuance becomes personalized, not only territorial, but also demographic data are taken into account in order for the search results to fully meet the expectations of users.

Yandex has already abandoned backlinks for commercial queries when ranking Moscow sites. It is possible that the new search engine algorithm will soon reach Ukraine. Only the highest quality sites will be able to get into the top 10, and this is exactly what users expect from search engines.

8. External site optimization. The current trend of SEO is only natural link building. We remember the good old days, find thematic sites, get acquainted with webmasters and agree on placement. Take care of a uniform increase in backlinks, exclude sharp jumps or drops. The diversity of the project's link profile is a huge plus. Use links from social networks, blogs, thematic resources.

9. Flat design. It is not in vain that so much has been said and discussed about the so-called flat design. We also did not stay away from the fashion trend and dedicated a separate article to it. The trend continues to live and multiply. Next year, he will only consolidate his position. Flat design is good for several reasons, it is versatile, ergonomic and easily adapts to gadgets with any screen resolution.

10. Video backgrounds. The use of video is gaining momentum not only in content marketing, but also as a spectacular and original web design technique.

11. Large fonts continue their triumphal march thanks to the constant enlargement of monitors and the variety of mobile-touch gadgets.

12. Lots of color. Bright, juicy shades in one design layout is an acceptable and quite predictable trend. The expressive means of flat design are limited, but no less interesting, here experiments with a combination of many saturated colors will be most justified. Apple, one of the trendsetters of the web world, has already taken advantage of this trend in the design of its fresh iOS7 operating system. Nevertheless, with the proper approach, such a technique will be advantageous and look rather unusual on a site with a voluminous interface.

13. Parallax Scrolling is a dynamic effect, due to which page objects move at different speeds and create a vast field for designers' imagination. In addition, the same mobile devices dictate the fashion for one-page sites with infinite scrolling and automatically loaded content. It is worth mentioning, however, that these trendy new items are not suitable for all types of sites. Remember, ease of navigation and usability is always in trend ;)

14. There is always room for the incomprehensible. The most interesting trend of the coming year is a truly original design. Do not forget about creativity, do not hold back your creative impulses, make your site not only convenient, but also stand out from the “crowd” of competitors.

As you may have noticed, all of these trends are interconnected, so we strongly recommend working on several of them at once in a complex. Remember that the main fashion dictator of all time and sites has been and will be the user, so first of all your online business should be guided by his tastes, desires and preferences. We see 2014 as the year of the web and we are confident that the introduction of new Internet marketing trends will only benefit you. Be fashionable and successful in the new year :)