Modern technologies evolve faster than light – blink, and you’ll have missed an important update. And the web is no exception. Today, we build our websites and apps in absolutely different ways than we did a decade ago (in some aspects, differently than we did even a year ago).
In this article, we’ve collected the hottest web development trends to help you stay up-to-date and apply them to fuel your business growth.
1. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) are an open-source HTML framework originally created by Google to help web pages load faster. AMP removes scripts that slow pages down, thus improving user experience and SEO.
AMP has three subcategories:
- AMP HTML - AMP-specific HTML extensions
- AMP JS - fast-loading JavaScript
- AMP CND - network to cache pages and adapt them to AMP code
This technology is a must-have for businesses who operate online. Today, more than a half of internet traffic comes from mobile devices. As a result, Google’s mobile-first index has become more important than the traditional desktop index. In coming years, this trend will only accelerate.
Here are a few facts that illustrate the power of this trend:
- Over 2B AMP pages have been created as of today.
- 58 new AMP pages are created every second
- The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BMW, Yahoo, and Reddit already use this technology.
Key advantages of APM for your online business:
Faster loading speed
An average AMP page can load two times faster than a regular web page. This results in a better user experience and improved marketing KPIs such as traffic, churn rates, and conversions.
Higher mobile ranking
AMP isn’t an official ranking factor, but load speed is. Behavioral metrics such as churn rates and time on site also impact ranking, so AMP affects your ranking both directly and indirectly.
Greater server performance
AMP reduces the load on a website server and increases the volume of data it can process.
2. Progressive web apps (PWAs)
The percentage of internet traffic coming from mobile devices grows every year. If a business wants to reach this constantly growing audience, it can use one of three approaches: build a native app, make its website responsive, or create a PWA.
Native apps can offer the best UX, but not all mobile users are ready to install them on their devices. Mobile websites have lower adoption barriers, but they also offer a worse experience. PWA is an in-between solution that features the advantages of both technologies.
- PWAs don’t require much storage space while providing robust functionalities.
- PWAs are accessible offline.
- PWAs are fully adapted to work on mobile devices.
- PWAs save you development costs since they replace native apps.
- PWAs load faster than regular apps and minimize server workload.
A progressive web app (PWA) works like a native app, but instead of being installed on user devices, it’s accessible through the web, and it consists of these three key elements:
- Shell architecture for higher loading speed
- Server workers for offline operation
- Web app manifest for native-like features support
PWAs are a powerful solution that are already widely used by world-leading brands, including Tinder, Pinterest, Uber, and Twitter. Intersog has extensive experience developing progressive web apps for our clients.
3. Voice search and voice commerce
Voice recognition technology grows more accurate and sophisticated every day. As a result, people are increasingly finding voice control more comfortable than typing. This trend has largely affected digital marketing, especially eCommerce.
Voice search allows users to search products and make purchases faster and with greater ease. According to Gartner, nearly 30% of all searches in 2021 were conducted without a screen. This suggests that integrating voice SEO into your platform will benefit your business in many ways:
- Higher ranking. Voice-search optimized websites rank higher in Google, thus boosting your traffic.
- Better user experience. Voice search helps users solve their problems faster and more effectively. This results in better engagement, higher conversion, and increased return rates.
- Better sales. Higher traffic and conversion naturally result in higher sales and increased income.
Voice optimization is definitely worth integrating into your online business. Here are a few tips on how you can do it:
- Use natural language with clear answers to frequently asked questions.
- Use schema markup and optimized snippets.
- Optimize your site regularly, deleting duplicate content and adding important information.
- Control traditional SEO metrics such as DA, TR, and others.
- Use the Web Speech API that helps to integrate speech recognition onto your platform.
4. Zero Trust security model
The Zero Trust security model is a design and implementation approach for building IT systems. Its main idea is "never trust, always verify”. In other words, requests should not be trusted by default, even if they come from permissioned networks.
The Zero Trust security model works by continuously analyzing user behavior, establishing strong identity and device verification, and ensuring least privilege access to only explicitly authorized resources.
The system is based on the following key principles:
- Verify continuously. Always verify access for all users and resources.
- Limit the “blast radius.” If a breach occurs, it should have minimal impact on the whole system.
- Automate context collection and response. Utilize all appropriate IT resources to collect and analyze behavioral data and get the most accurate response.
The system evaluates risk factors and then generates a risk score. If the result is higher than a permitted limit, a user will be either disconnected or requested to pass additional authentication procedures.
Here’s how Zero Trust Framework works:
The Cybersecurity Ventures report forecasts that by 2025 cybercrime will result in $10.5 trillion losses annually worldwide. Businesses realize that existing methods are not enough to address modern security threats, and they are spending billions of dollars modernizing and cooperating with cybersecurity solutions companies. Clearly, security will remain an extremely hot trend for years ahead.
5. Biometric security
Biometric authentication is another trending cybersecurity concept. It has already become the standard for mobile devices and continues to penetrate into related areas. This has also led to a great shift in user attitudes towards the technology. While most of us were cautious about sharing our biological data 10 years ago, unlocking a device with FaceID or a fingerprint is something we feel quite confident about today.
Biometric authentication helps authentication happen faster and more accurately, increasing both security and user experience. According to MarketsandMarkets, this market will grow at a CAGR of 14.1% in the upcoming year, and we have no reason not to trust them.
Check out a related article:
20 Methods to Test Your MVP
6. Chatbots
Have you ever had the confusing feeling of not knowing if you’re chatting with a bot or a living representative? AI has become clever enough to support basic communication about business-standard issues.
More and more companies are using chatbots to interact with customers. Google, Microsoft, and Facebook constantly update their conversational AI technologies, making them increasingly clever and human-like.
In addition, using a chatbot is a good way to cut operational costs and provide 24/7 client support. Thus, the technology will certainly stay with us in 2023 and beyond.
7. Serverless architecture
Serverless architecture is an approach that allows developers to build and run apps without managing the infrastructure. A cloud provider manages and maintains servers to store your data, process your code, and distribute loads, while your team works on your product’s code.
This is how it works, basically:
Using a serverless approach helps to prevent system overloading and data loss. It also significantly cuts costs by delegating infrastructure issues to a third party.
The serverless architecture market is forecasted to reach $21.1 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 22.7%. These huge numbers only emphasize the power of this trend.
Summing up
This year and the next are all about minimizing workloads and maximizing security. That’s not surprising, as people keep spending more and more time online. This is good news for all who operate online. And following the trends above will only help you grow your business better and faster.
If you need any support updating your online business, don’t hesitate to contact Intersog’s experts. Our skilled web development team will gladly share its knowledge to help you succeed online.
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