(Image Source)
Web development has always been a dynamic segment with fast-changing trends and technology updates. Failure to keep up with these trends can adversely impact your online presence and bottom line. Further, such businesses are often unable to develop and maintain an enterprise-grade website that attracts customers and drives conversions.
Web developers play a critical role in creating an impressive website. In order to maintain a stellar business website and stay ahead of the competition, they should be able to identify and stay ahead of the upcoming trends in this segment. Read on to know what lies ahead in this segment and step up your game.
- Voice UI Will Gain Significance
The immense popularity of voice assistants like Siri, Cortana, Alexa, and other third-party apps, has made voice user interfaces a must. The modern digital customer expects interfaces that understand and act on complex voice commands.
No wonder, developers are coupling voice UI with a machine learning algorithm that can predict user needs and answer their queries quickly through content that’s relevant and conversational. Web Speech API (speech recognition and synthesis) makes it easy to recognize the voice context and read the text content, enabling brands to better respond to user queries.
The increase in voice search and ease of adding this voice search recognition API to the website is encouraging developers to prioritize voice search optimization in their web development projects.
- Blockchain-Based Solutions Are Becoming a Part of Web Development Services
The benefits of blockchain are not limited to cryptocurrency transactions. Ever since bitcoin was introduced, the blockchain technology has disrupted several industry segments, including web development.
Blockchain is a versatile and sought-after technology that ensures efficient, secure, and accurate digital transactions. Consequently, most businesses are looking to use this technology when creating secure and decentralized web applications. Thus, it is mandatory that all web developers know how to use this technology to their advantage. In fact, mega-corporations like IBM have introduced blockchain-based open-source platforms that enable developers to handle business-to-business transactions while maintaining privacy and confidentiality.
Want more tech news? Subscribe to ComputingEdge Newsletter Today!
- Motion UI Is Getting Popular
Businesses are increasingly opting for motion UI websites as they look remarkably impressive and offer improved user experience. With functions, such as loading spinners, attractive CTAs, CSS animations, and subtly-moving elements, motion UI is a raving trend among modern developers. This animation technology allows businesses to own impressive web pages that reduce the time between clicks and conversions.
Finally, resources like the Motion UI library offer various design elements that allow developers to animate design elements that work with any JavaScript framework. As developers opt for animating their web content with JavaScript or jQuery, the applications of GIF animation and motion UI will grow further.
- Progressive Web Applications (PWA) Are Replacing Native Mobile Apps
PWA offers some serious benefits for web developers and businesses.
- It offers an app-like experience, allowing faster loading time and improved conversion rate in comparison to native apps.
- It costs less than the native option.
- It allows users to continue browsing even in the absence of a network.
- It is low on data and quick to load.
Each of these benefits makes PWA implementation a cost-effective choice for businesses that desire to maximize conversions (who doesn’t?). Thus, PWA will continue to be the game-changer for businesses this year. In fact, according to a survey conducted by JAXcenter, nearly half of the respondents (web developers) believe that PWA is definitely the future.
Source
Owing to the benefits it offers, several big brands like Twitter, Pinterest, Uber, and Flipkart have already made the switch to PWAs. The increasing demand for PWA has experts predicting that it will soon replace native mobile apps or give rise to hybrid apps in the near future.
- Single-Page Websites Are Here to Stay
Single-page websites are ideal for the busy digital customers who don’t want to waste time navigating through layers of web pages to find the information they are looking for. These sites are pretty straightforward, offer concise and relevant content, and can be easily accessed across various devices.
Source
The sheer simplicity, reduced content and design clutter, and cost-effectiveness of these websites are making it quite popular among businesses. The single-page site trend is especially hot for brands owning portfolio or brochure websites or exclusive sites for events or announcements.
- AI Will Transform Web Development
If I have to name just one technology that can fulfill the ever-changing and growing needs of the web development domain, it will be artificial intelligence. AI is transforming the web app development segment by automating various tasks for developers. For instance, developers don’t need to code in the AI language. They can use API and tools that are already familiar with the code. Tech giants like Google and Facebook have introduced AI tool-kits attributed to web applications.
Similarly, AI-powered chatbots are allowing businesses to offer top-quality customer service, reduce human errors, and improve user experience. It also helps them provide relevant solutions to the customer through learning, data collection and analysis, and multi-tasking automation. Such customer-centric choices are bound to have a positive effect on a firm’s customer satisfaction scores (CSS) and conversions.
AI seems to be the hottest technology available to developers today. AI is expected to be bright and shining in the web development segment as it has a lot to offer to this segment in the coming years.
- Minimalist Web Design Principles Are Creating Maximum Impact
A simple website carrying fewer design elements and offering good UX can improve user interaction and drive conversions. Most developers are experiencing how applying functional minimalism principles to a website can create a huge impact on the visitors and business outcomes.
In fact, complex and confusing websites can interfere with the usability and UX of your website, thus contributing to its high bounce rate. Consequently, most developers are adopting the less-is-more approach to improve their site’s attractive composition and engage their visitors.
- DIY Website Builders Will Give a Tough Competition to Developers and Web Hosting Services
DIY website builders make the entire task of creating and publishing a website look like a cakewalk. The drag-and-drop, customization, storage, and hosting features they offer enable users to create an online presence for their business within no time. Further, these sites focus on visual features rather than complex codes and offer enough resources for users to maintain their website.
Thus, DIY website builders like Wix, Weebly, and GoDaddy are giving a tough competition to professional web developers and web hosting providers alike.
Wrapping Up
The web development sphere is constantly hit by changes and trends that businesses and web developers should be aware of. The top trends shared in this post will prove to be an effective guide as you create an impressive business website that attracts leads and generates conversions.
Author the Author:
Gaurav Belani is a senior SEO and content marketing analyst at Growfusely, a content marketing agency that specializes in data-driven SEO. He has more than seven years of experience in digital marketing and loves to read and write about education technology, AI, machine learning, data science, and other emerging technologies. In his spare time, he enjoys watching movies and listening to music. Connect with him on Twitter at @belanigaurav.
Published Articles-
https://www.computer.org/publications/tech-news/trends/six-ways-that-business-process-optimization-will-impact-the-fintech-industry
https://www.computer.org/publications/tech-news/trends/8-web-development-trends-to-watch-out-for-this-year
https://www.computer.org/publications/tech-news/trends/5-cybersecurity-threats-to-be-aware-of-in-2020
https://www.computer.org/publications/tech-news/trends/5-ways-artificial-intelligence-helps-in-improving-website-usability
https://www.computer.org/publications/tech-news/trends/programming-languages-you-should-learn-in-2020
Want more tech news? Subscribe to ComputingEdge Newsletter Today!
