As we write this in the ‘inbetween bit’, following some time off over Christmas and 2026 just around the corner… we’ve put together some thoughts, ideas and trends for the new year.
Without further ado, here’s some key website design trends for small business owners in 2026… We’ve reviewed various articles and blogs, as well as using our own website experience, to decide on out top three favourites.
As the world gets faster paced in every way, from delivery times for parcels through to ‘click and collect’ for your coffee… no one has patience for slow websites anymore. Now there’s a range of factors that go on behind the scenes to affect website speed, which is the last thing that small business owners want to get bogged down in! From hosting, image optimisation, lean layouts and keeping plugins to a minimum. Here at Wattage, our monthly website plans take care of all of that for you; we monitor website performance and undertake WordPress website maintenance. To do such, we use tools such as Google Pagespeed to monitor performance metrics which ultimately play a part in your website converting potential customers into paying customers). Why not check your website pagespeed score?
Okay, this isn’t neccessarily new for 2026 but it still important to consider! Your website is the front-door of your business to 1000’s of potential customers, so it’s important that it reflects your personality. We often see small business owners trying to use corporate stock imagery or wording on their website which is just not aligned to who they are or how they run their business. Especially for sole traders and tradepersons, your experience and way of doing business if usually a significant factor in potential customers choosing you – so make sure your website shows it! We can do this through using real imagery, handwritten elements and maybe even short videos that will all build trust. This is why all the Wattage Media imagery shows who we are and that we are web designers in Liverpool (albeit still working with clients across the North West and beyond.
Colour is really important for your new business website. Of course, it needs to match your existing branding (unless you want to rebrand too) whilst also balancing the psychology behind colour theory. There’s a great article by Webflow that explains ‘colour theory‘ if you’re interested, but essentially whether you realise or not, the use of colour can change the way you interact with a website. That button to contact a business, ever realised how it will often be a contrasting colour (often green). Not to mention that it’s usually top right corner on a desktop. These are all subtle but important design choices, that take your website from being a simple ‘shopfront’ to something that drives enquiries and new business.
Muzli suggest that the years of minimalism and less bold colours is changing, with bold colour choices and gradients coming back. One thing to note is that this trend won’t be for every business, but may apply to yours. Think about a corporate bank using a pink and yellow gradient? It just wouldn’t work. On the other hand, a local coffee shop with a fun and friendly persona may suit a bold colourful website with use of gradients
Here at Wattage Media, we work with small businesses to design, build and maintain websites (as well as providing graphic design and printing in Liverpool).
Small business owners already have enough going on, especially whilst trying to balance some downtime alongside the chaos that the festive period and new year can bring. So, considering a new web design project for your business is the last thing on your mind!
Or, maybe you’ve tried a DIY website builder (like Wix.com or Squarespace) but now ready to grow your business and choose a professional website designer instead.
Having said that, 2026 provides the perfect time to find a local web designer and give your business that boost for the new year. Website design projects don’t need to be complicated (we actually aim to make the process quite enjoyable!). It’s an opportunity to ‘dust off the cobwebs’ and bring your business into the limelight, attracting new customers for the start of the year.
Our website design process focuses upon understanding you and your business, so we can then advise on the best way forward… we have an initial chat and then send across a design questionnaire and content document, making it easy to then get the essentials from you. Once we get to know your business, we can then work our magic to create a bespoke web design (no templates used here!).
To make life even easier when choosing a local web designer, why not take a look at our 3 monthly website design packages for small business owners… Spark, Glow and Spotlight. These plans meet 90% of our typical website design project requests for SMEs, although we can customise and provide quotations if they don’t quite include everything you need – perhaps Glow is perfect, except you need an additional website page?
If you’re considering a new website for your business in 2026, please get in touch for a no-obligation chat and we’d be happy to provide some advice on how we could help.
Otherwise, we wish you all the best for 2026 – Happy New Year!
Telephone
📞 0151 558 0480
✉️ info@wattagemedia.co.uk
Registered Office
⛳ Wattage Media Ltd, 54 St James Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L1 0AB