OVER the last few years we have seen the emergence of video backgrounds slowly making their debut. However, in 2015 it seems that this trend will really start to make its mark. Let’s face it, we are living in a now generation and there is no better way to grab someones attention than to bring them straight into the action at the first hello.

There are a few pretty obvious advantages to using ambient video backgrounds on the home page of your website. A stunning video will catch your users attention. More often than not they will stop what they are doing and focus on your (hopefully) compelling video content. This will mean that they will spend more time on your site and will have a look at the other content that you have on display while there. Videos are a perfect way to convey emotion, a known element in the sales process.

A very successful example of this is the company that sells raincoats called texapore.com. No words could convey the message that is seen on the home page of this website. I invite you to have a look for yourself.

But developers wanting to incorporate video backgrounds will still have some issues to take into consideration. Not all sites are going to lend themselves to a video background that is as relevant as a video of raindrops falling onto a fabric and dissipating, with the sound of rain falling, to their business model. As you can imagine, this was the perfect video for the raincoat company. If the video is not relevant, then it will give the user more of a distraction that may hold them on the site instead of a visual call to action that drives the user to buy

In this same train of thought, you do not want a lot of distracting rapid movements or hectic activity going on while your potential customer is trying to pay attention to a text overlay call to action, or an attribute of your product. This would have the opposite effect of frustrating users and the whole purpose of your website would then have been lost.

With the rise of browsers that support both the HTML5

tag and H.264 format, you no longer have to have a flash plug to play videos in your browser. The videos will run on their own and can be manipulated like any other element on the page. This has certainly contributed to the popularisation of auto-play video in the background! Why use a big static image when you can have an even better attention-grabber?

With all of this, I must say that I do find this ambient video trend appealing, and when it is done well it is an effective visual technique. You will definitely be seeing more of these in the next year.

Web forms improved

Web forms, or the forms on websites that are used to collect user information can be an absolute nightmare, both for the user and the website owner collecting information. There are some very good options now that have finally put this problem to rest!

The truth is that the dreaded web form is essentially the only real means of capturing and responding to user input. We have done all we can to enhance these forms with blinking buttons and dynamic arrows. But strangely, for the most part these web contact, login and checkout web forms still have a very ’90s look and feel to them. That was until clever animation came to the rescue!

Now with the new trends in animation, these dull data entry forms have morphed into a visual delight. Stripe Checkout and Minimal Form are two of my favourites: they somehow manage to give the user the assurance that their information is not lost somewhere in cyber space, and their layouts are clean and attractive. Text Input Effects have also got some great options. Finally, we can kiss the dull little e-mail sign-up boxes goodbye.

There have been some major shifts in web trends this year and this is just the beginning. It is now more important than ever to stay abreast of the changes if you do not want your website to be outdated.

Melanie Phillibert is a web developer and Internet marketing consultant. A multiple award-winning online marketer, she has studied Internet marketing and web design/development as well as worked in SEO, PPC, Spcpa, media management and e-commerce development for the last 10 years. She can be contacted via e-mail at melanie@internetmarketingsynergies.com.