When looking at website analytics it could be a bit confusing, but things like bounce rate & engagement rate are actually very important information, it tells us how the visitors are engaging with the website. When looking at this information we can compare whether a website is performing well or not and then analysing the websites that perform better than the rest by asking the question: Why?
The websites that performed the best in 2026 so far have three key features: they load fast, they used real photography instead of stock imagery and were built around one clear call to action per page. While trying to get all your information to the visitor as quickly as possible this could sometimes result in a cluttered website and increase your bounce rate and not your conversions.
Going into 2027, the businesses that focus on improving those fundamentals by reviewing page load times, adding original photos and videos to the sites and creating a clear user journey directly to your CTA will be ahead of their competitors at the start of the new year.
With that being said, what is actually working well this year?
1. Bold, Confident Typography: Sites that moved to large, bold titles retained the visitor’s attention for longer and enticed them to see more.
2. Motion with purpose: Animating every part of the website just because you can, is NOT the way to go. Animating to attract attention and lead the visitor through your online journey with subtle well-timed animation has been performing well.
3. Speed, speed, speed: The clearest pattern of the year, people do not have the time to wait for your page to load! Slow website has shown high bounce rates.
“Every millisecond your website takes to load is a millisecond a potential customer is reconsidering whether they want to do business with you. That sounds dramatic until you see the numbers — and then it sounds like an understatement.” – www.bloggersideas.com
4. Real photography over stock: Let’s be honest for a second with all the scams and “wannabes” out there it is hard to trust a brand or people you don’t know… but when you showcase your team, staff at work doing what they do best or even just your products/services, there will be an improvement in trust by your website visitors.
With this year flying by, now is the time to start preparing for 2027 before another year slips by. A few simple checks and optimization could improve your online presence next year:
- Audit your website page speed.
- Try replacing some of those stock images.
- Check if your pages have a clear call to action per page.
- Check your website on mobile, does it look good and load fast.
Keep following as we plan to release more blogs on how to improve your business online presence, brand image and online marketing.
Want to dig deeper? Here are the sources we referenced while writing this blog:
