The internet used to be very peculiar. Well, it still is now, but outside of what you see on social media, websites had character, for better or worse. Some sites were flat-out ugly, others charming, but no matter what, you were forced to be out in the open. Before WordPress and Squarespace came around, you couldn’t just hide behind templates and input info where necessary. While these tools are great and have overall improved the readability and functionality of sites, maybe this technology has evolved too fast, and we have forgotten what gave these old sites a friendly, human quality. That’s not to say any of them were good by today’s standards, but the bare-bones nature forced people to stand out. There weren’t fancy plugins that did smooth motion or clean gradients. These plain HTML sites were rigid and were mostly just there to exist with info. Computers were nowhere near as fast as they are now, so clogging them with graphics and high-quality photos would make your site incredibly slow. Nevertheless, it’s about time we asked the question: what even is good web design in 2026?
How Web Design Has Changed
To look at how things have changed, we must look at the past and how what we value in a website has evolved. As we know, old sites were just blocks of text conveying information. As a company, just having a website was good enough. Then came table layouts, which made things a little better, and then Adobe Flash, which gave websites animation and more customization. A big breakthrough was CSS. This allowed content to be separate from the design, therefore, giving the website more freedom to be stylized, flexible, and responsive. On top of this, we became more keen on design principles. Gone were the days of using a harsh color as the background and a strange color to contrast for the text. These early 2000s sites were mainly composed with whitespace in mind and had pops of color here and there. For a good visual example of all this, check out this article that has archived the websites of many popular brands such as Google, Apple, Amazon, and more.
While developers were always trying to make sites better, Web 2.0 gave them even more reason to. If you don’t know the terminology, Web 2.0 is essentially just the era where users get to participate, which we are still in, for now. Because sites like YouTube and Facebook rely on their users for it to work, they had to make it user-friendly. MySpace’s failure was in part due to its UI/UX lacking. One of the reasons Facebook won is that you didn’t have to mess with any HTML to make your page, among other things. Everything was streamlined, and everyone had the same page besides photos, posts, and other details, of course. Outside of the prominent Web 2.0 websites we use every day, we now have staples. A good site should be fast, responsive, trustworthy, and well-designed with an intuitive UI/UX. It doesn’t matter how many other extracurriculars your site has; if you’ve got these, you’re solid.
What We Did
One of the reasons for this article is the launch of our new website. We were due for an update, and we had to think strategically. In our space, we have to stand out. Sure, everyone does, but with web design being a significant part of our business, we had to back up our claims. From the very first click, we want people to get an idea of what we do. While some SEO details have to be put in place, our goal was to make the site perfect for scanning. With how things are these days, no one wants to read a bunch of text. Continuing down, we’ve added pops of color and icons that are unusual. Complementing that, the messaging was written to feel conversational. When you’re reading something that feels personal rather than generic, it really works. We continued with that spirit through the rest of the site, adding all the essential pages like who we are and how to contact us, but nothing unnecessary. We consolidated the experience of our site so potential clients can see what we do and who we are, then decide from there if we are right for their business.
Vibe Coding & Cybersecurity
Just as templates started getting comfortable, AI came around. Vibe coding is the term associated with this, where you simply tell an LLM what you want, and then it handles all the backend execution. This sounds like music to small business owners’ ears. Simply prompt the LLM with what you want, and minutes later, you have a site ready to go.
The issue is that they don’t always work. A trend in the entrepreneur space right now is actually to mass-produce these AI sites for small businesses and then cold call and pitch them. Basically, people look at places that are just starting up, haven’t updated their site, or never bothered to make one in the first place, and then use any details or reviews they have to make the site using Claude. Outside of function, which we will get back to, these LLMs are just going to reproduce whatever exists out there. If you ask AI to build a page for a pizza place, it will look at the top results in the area and make the generated site the median.
It may be difficult to take the word of a marketing agency that specializes in websites on this whole AI debate, but you will soon have the same revelation. You’ll try to order takeout, and buttons won’t work (one of our team members’ experiences). You’ll grow tired of seeing the same layout and writing. This doesn’t mean AI should be thrown out altogether. Plenty of experienced coders are excited by tools like Claude because they write what they are already capable of doing, but faster. The thing is that they actually are able to understand it and make adjustments accordingly. The lesson here is that you should actually be making intentional choices instead of saying “make me a website,” AI or not.
There are issues way more severe with AI than just buttons that don’t work and designs that are mediocre, and that is cybersecurity. Many people have found that there are vulnerabilities when you’re working with AI code. It often generates code with hidden flaws and broken permissions because there is no human reviewing and making sure the code is sound. And because of this, people who are well-versed in computer science are able to take advantage of these security issues. Yes, a lawn service could do just fine with a vibe-coded site, but any business with sensitive information, no way.
What Makes Us Different
When we approach a project, we like to cover all bases. We make sure the site is sharp, responsive, designed well, and built for sales. We structure pages so that they can be easily digested and generally feel smooth. We listen to our clients and make sure it feels like them and matches their voice. But that’s just what we’ve been doing for years and have seen success with. No matter what project we approach, we listen, think carefully, and apply the best conscious solution.
Who knows what’s in store for the future of web design and the internet in general with Web 3, AI, and Q-Day? When we talked about the evolution of web design, we saw every step of the way improve upon itself. Websites became simpler, easier on the eyes, less stiff, and easier to make. Could we be seeing web design slam on the brakes now that it has rapidly evolved these past few decades? Regardless, every time something changes in this space, we stay on top of it. We make decisions using our best judgment, so our clients can get what they need. And if you’re a small business owner, checking up on the latest news in the web design space every once in a while is well worth it.