With the rapid evolution in the realm of technology, web developers need to stay updated with the latest trends to stay ahead of the competition. There are over 1.7 billion live websites around the world. That’s why web developers are always looking ahead to discover innovative ways so that a website can stand out from the rest.
2021 is here and as a leading website development company, we have been watching for some key trends that will be dominant in 2021 and beyond.
- Single Page App (SPA)
All in one place – that’s single page application summed up for you!
SPA development has become one of the trends in the recent years that helps to avoid lengthy interaction with the server. Here, the information is accumulated on one page and the users don’t need to visit multiple pages to find relevant details. Further, it works inside a browser and doesn’t need page reloading while using. It has higher efficiency in caching and saving network bandwidth. Some classic examples of SPA include Gmail, Facebook, Google Maps, GitHub, etc.
- Motion UI
User appeal is a crucial concern in a website. That’s why modern-age developers prefer to use advanced UI elements to create an immersive UX on the site.
Motion UI is one such intriguing element. It involves custom animation integration along with CSS transitions powered by stand-alone repositories with several classes of animated elements. Minimalistic and sophisticated design facilitated by motion UI gives an interactive look and attracts the users’ attention.
Thanks to motion design, the following elements can be implemented:
- Pop-ups
- Page header transition
- Pull-down menu
- Charts
- Parallax scrolling
…and more!
Captivating web designing with motion UI will be in trend for the years to come.
- Progressive Web App (PWA)
PWA is not a new trend. It has been the talk of the town for quite some years but it’s going to dominate 2021 due to its user-friendliness. The experience of native application and website has been blended to invent progressive web application. A PWA is installable on the homescreen but it opens and runs in the browser. For more information about PWA, you may check out this Wikipedia entry.
PWA enhances user experience with its fast loading time, offline support, seamless performance on any browser, push notification, and less storage space requirement.
- AI-Driven Solution
Artificial intelligence is a buzzword these days. Web developers will leverage the trend to the most in order to create an amazing user experience on a website.
Applying AI in web development will help you to analyze customers’ behaviour and get an insight into the following:
- Which page drives the most traffic?
- What are your customers planning to buy?
- Which page has the highest bounce rate?
- Which CTA is attracting people the most?
The instances of the growth of artificial intelligence can be abundantly found in recommendation engines and chatbots.
- Voice Search
The Internet of Things (IoT) has made and kept several promises all through the time and 2021 is going to witness further growth in it. Voice search and smart speakers are two such areas to exhibit tremendous growth.
It is estimated that there will be about 8 billion digital voice assistants in use by 2023. It indicates how users will interact with websites and the developers need to prepare the sites for voice search. Without getting too deep into the technical aspects of voice search, here’s an overview of how voice search works:
- Processing and transcribing speech into text
- Analyzing text to identify questions & command and the user intent behind it
- Finding relevant information on external data sources such as the search engines and feature content that answers the query
- Serverless Applications and Architecture
Serverless technology is the result of a long search for the possibility of avoiding system overload, data loss, or costly development. Serverless algorithms were recently developed as a cloud-computing execution model. Serverless applications are highly event-driven cloud-based digital products.
Latest web development trends concerning serverless architecture help to reduce development and ongoing maintenance budget, prepare the websites with flexibility potential, and keep the internet ecosystem more sustainable. The technology is based on the FaaS (Function as a Service) model.
In 2021, serverless technology is predicted to be actively used for IoT apps, web applications, and chatbots that require complex backend requests proceeding. The major tasks to be executed by this technology include real-time data processing, media transformation, text-to-speech, image recognition, etc. Some of the leading companies that implemented serverless technology include Netflix, Reuters, Telenor, etc.
- Blockchain Technology
Cryptocurrencies have turned our attention toward blockchain – the technology that brought a huge impact on the enterprise systems. It offers decentralization, transparency and advanced security features.
Smart contracts running on this peer-to-peer blockchain network are transparent and tamper-proof. Their execution is irreversible which makes the contract administration even easier.
- Mobile-First Development
More than half of the global website traffic is generated from mobile devices. No wonder that web developers will be more concerned about making the sites fit small mobile screens alongside horizontally-oriented desktops.
Mobile-first development is a concept where you prioritize the look and feel of a website on a mobile device when it comes to including features or placing buttons. You do not create a desktop-oriented site and then adapt it to a mobile screen but start with a light and minimalistic website that is easy to interact with via mobile.
In 2021, it is recommended to reduce page number, use large fonts to enhance readability, integrate small call-to-action buttons, use simple geometric shapes & contrasting colour schemes, and avoid using columns.
- API Integration
An API is an interface that defines interactions between multiple applications. API integration is not a new thing in 2021, but its usage is going to escalate. The developers can integrate an API into a website and extend its features and functionalities. This significantly reduces time and cost.
Let’s take Google Maps for an example. The developers can simply integrate Google Maps API and save a big chunk of money and time as they don’t have to draw the map and add routing functionality themselves. From social media to shipping, payment to news – there’s API for each niche and you can add the relevant ones to your website.
- Cyber security
Data breaches are gradually increasing on the digital platform and the demand for cyber security will prevail in 2021 and beyond. Putting up firewalls, security assessment, data encryption, multi-layer verification, etc. will be integral to website development.
Closing Thoughts
Gone are the days when prospective site owners used to consider only about the pricing while availing website design services. Nowadays, they can understand that it’s important to build a website with trendy features to make the site user-engaging. 2021 is all about fast, clean, attractive, intuitive, and functionally rich websites. If you are yet to craft a new website or seek to revamp your existing site, it’s high time to implement these features and captivate your visitors.
Want to add some more web development trends you see around? Feel free to share your thoughts below.
