While it isn’t necessary to update your website every year, keeping yourself informed of where web design and development are headed will help guarantee that your site appears reasonably modern and operates as intended.

When it comes time to upgrade your website, as a business owner, knowing the state of modern web development can also help you have productive discussions with your web development team.

1. Optimize Your Website for Voice Search Optimization

One thing to keep in mind about all design and development trends is that they tend to prioritize ease of use. A good example of this is voice search.

For a long time, voice search was considered experimental. The ability to send a command to your phone and have it answer looked futuristic. The primary issue with voice searching in the beginning was that it didn’t always function. The AI either couldn’t understand what you were saying or couldn’t respond to your questions.

Voice search has gained real significance in recent years thanks to advancements in technology such as Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Microsoft Cortana. Customers will soon anticipate this feature on every website they visit, so it’s worth contacting a web developer and researching the technology immediately, before you’re too far behind the curve.

2. Rise of Dark Mode

We spend a lot of time looking at screens, yet we’ve only recently realized the serious harm it may cause to our eyes, mental health, and sleep cycle.

In response to concerns about excessive screen time, dark mode was created as a used interface. Most websites had dark text on a light background in the past. In an attempt to alleviate eye strain, dark mode reverses this.

When large websites, such as Facebook and Google, began to offer dark mode as an option, people became much more aware of it. It’s a good idea to provide people with the option to switch between dark and light modes, as not everyone prefers one over the other.

3. Chatbots are the new Standard

Chatbots are comparable to voice search in that they didn’t work very well for a long time. Because having a chatbot that doesn’t respond to your inquiries is more unpleasant than having no live chat at all, many websites have avoided using this technology.

Chatbots, on the other hand, have become more versatile in recent years, to the point that they now really add to the customer experience. AI-powered chatbots, which can deliver immediate answers at a fraction of the cost, are expected to quickly replace online customer care.

Chatbots improve in intelligence with time, therefore the sooner you jump on this bandwagon, the more likely your chatbot will be a success.

4. More Motion UI

Customers have learned to anticipate a particular level of user experience. If your website fails to meet these standards, it will reflect poorly on your organization.

Motion UI, as the name implies, is the practice of elevating an interface through movement and motion. Movement can be used to elevate an interface. It can also be used to guide a person through a website, pointing them in the right direction.

Motion is a terrific method to keep customers interested with your website if it’s done correctly. Unnecessary motion or clumsy animations distract from the overall user experience and show that your company doesn’t fully understand what its end users want.

5. More Single Page Applications

Single-page applications are intended to improve the overall user experience by reducing the time it takes for a page to load. A single page application, as the name implies, is a website that is rendered entirely on one page. The content is dynamic, which means you don’t have to load a whole HTML page when you click on a link. Rather, the material refreshes itself without the need for a server response.

It’s a more technical aspect of web design. Essentially, all you need to know is that a single page application causes customers to stay on your website longer, lowering the total bounce rate and improving conversions.

Whatever trends you decide to implement, keep the entire user experience in mind. Focusing on the customer experience of your site will ensure that you make only the best design and development decisions.

I hope the above tips will help you boost your business presence. With a strategic approach and some prior organization, you have the opportunity to significantly boost sales and grow your brand. If you need help implementing any of the above suggestions, please contact me! You know I am always happy to help.