Long-time internet users often have fond memories of the websites of their younger years. When it exploded in the late 90s, people were making websites left and right. However, comparing those old pages to today’s more polished sites shows how far online technologies have come. So it is important to recognize that if your business needs a good-looking website, hiring a skilled web development agency is just one part of it. You also need to be familiar with the developments in the field. Here are some examples of what developments there are in the field of online technology.
Accelerated Mobile Pages
Everyone browses the internet on their smartphone nowadays. Your website needs to consider and ensure that it works well on mobile platforms like tablets and phones. Fortunately, Google has pioneered a technique in this format called accelerated mobile pages. This creates websites that are stripped down and load fast on mobile platforms that have limited resources.
Faster load times mean that they can rank better during searches. To compare performance, an accelerated mobile page loads in two seconds while non-AMP sites are slow at 22 seconds. That is over twenty seconds difference and can determine whether a browser stays on the site.
Progressive Web Apps
Another innovation that is associated with mobile platforms is progressive web apps. Apps are the programs usually found on mobile devices, and they are an essential part of the user experience on them. Progressive web apps are an interesting case because they combine the attributes of being a website and an app into one package.
Created using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WebAssembly, the great thing about these apps is that they are easy to distribute and install. They are also smaller and faster than native apps. While they are not as complex, they can do a lot of functions. Integrating them into your website and operations can only benefit your business.
Integrating AI And Machine Learning
There is also the integration of more complex technology into websites. Commercial websites are where customers go to learn more about a business. This might be because they have a concern that they want to bring to their attention, like a malfunctioning product or a possible return.
They must get an immediate answer to this. Unfortunately, 24/7 chat employees are expensive. But chatbots can be an affordable replacement. The simple AI of these bots can help answer customers and note them so that a human representative would contact them later.
But it is not just messaging in which AI can help. Machine learning can allow a website to personalize its content for specific users. If you have them sign up on your site, then the server can record their behavior so that the website presents them with what they usually need or want. For example, if a customer has bought mainly one product from you, the site will present it to them as a high priority.
Increased Accessibility
As more and more people go online, there will be various individuals who will be browsing your website. Your ultimate goal is to ensure that everyone can use your site. Several features would allow this. For example, some people are only able to use a keyboard when using a computer.
This would be a big problem for normal websites that require clicks and drags using a mouse. Keyboard mode can allow website navigation with a keyboard alone. Additional accessibility features can also include some that are for those who have problems with their vision. Accommodating everyone ensures that there are more visitors to your site in the long run.
Optimizing For Performance
It is not just the front-facing part of the website that needs tweaking. There are various components of a website that need to be optimized to ensure great performance. A big one is the use of images. Modern websites are often very image-heavy. This can potentially be bad for the website’s speed. But using the best file formats and maximizing compression can help make things go faster. With smoother image loading, visitors won’t feel any frustration at all.
The websites of the future will look a lot different from those that are seen nowadays. The developers’ innovations will make websites a lot more interactive and pleasant for browsers to visit. This is an important feature for businesses, so you should be doing your best to keep yourself updated about these changes.