Vanity vs. velocity
Every year the design press celebrates the same things: brutalism, oversized type, weird cursors. Half of it tanks conversion. The other half does measurable work.
We pulled GA4 data on UK sites we've audited or built since 2024. Here's what actually moved the needle.
Trends that convert
1. AI-personalised hero copy. Static headlines are out. Top performers swap their hero copy based on referrer, geo, or campaign — lifting CTR significantly.
2. Micro-interactions on CTAs. Subtle hover sheens and magnetic buttons increase click-through. Not huge, but free.
3. Real customer logos above the fold. Trust signals beat clever copy every time.
4. Sub-1s mobile load. Boring, but the single biggest lever. Every 100ms shaved = measurable conversion improvement at the bottom of the funnel.
Trends that don't convert
- -Auto-playing background video over hero copy
- -Cursor effects that hijack the user's pointer
- -Long-form scroll storytelling on lead-gen pages
- -Glass effects without sufficient contrast
What this means for your site
Conversion is engineering, not art. Ship the boring fundamentals first (speed, trust, clarity), then layer in the micro-delight.
Want a free audit of your current site? Get one here.
Related: Core Web Vitals & Conversion | Full Digital Marketing Playbook
