An Overview of Web Development in 2018 & Beyond

Web development trends have already changed this year and are admirably changing every single minute. For any specific needs, the users’ expectations are increasing and it is significant than ever to generate digital experiences that are fascinating and fun. Every year brings advancements in web development. Moreover, multiple platforms, languages and other elements that make up the web are constantly evolving. The changes in the world of web development are so frequent that we can’t assume when and what is coming next. Yet, staying on top of developments proves to be a potential time sink in web development.

Here, we will dive into the web development trends that took place in 2018 and still working miraculously and look forward to what we expect to see in 2019 and beyond.

Single Page Applications (SPA)

SPAs work inside a browser and due to that purpose, it doesn’t need the page to reload when in use. Some of the finest examples of SPAs are Facebook, Google Maps, Gmail, etc.

They are the web pages that load all other content through JavaScript. They show natural behavior in the browser with no page reloads and extra waiting times. SPAs have the quality of separately calling the data and markup and directly render the pages in the browser.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

The responsive web design approach has been in fashion since 2015. In fact, Google has initiated prioritizing sites that are mobile-friendly. AMPs are designed to strengthen the performance of web content and ads, as well as it improves website speed and user experience. AMP supported sites work seamlessly and are a yes for this year and next!
According to a research which was conducted back in February 2017, AMPs accounted for 7% of all web traffic for USA’s top publishers.

Push Notifications

Push notifications can help you gain a huge audience meanwhile leveraging the benefits of online marketing. Push notifications prove to be the best solution for customers and visitors engagement. But you need to be careful that you do not overuse them. Let your customers know about special discounts, and company’s trending activities through push notifications.

Static websites do not go anywhere

It is true that dynamic websites are surpassing their static counterparts, but that doesn’t make static websites useless. There is an exponential growth in the number of websites in the web world, where only simple, secure and straightforward websites with fast load times are succeeding. Static websites fill the mentioned objectives and are cost-effective. However, we should not forget the fact that web design should be engaging and interesting for the customers.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA)

For leveraging the technological advancements, Progressive Web Apps (PWA) appear as a great concept that brings the best of mobile sites. They are based on Internet evolution and HTML5 adoption which grant the same functionality with seamless user experience to native apps as well.
E-commerce tycoons ‘Flipkart’ introduced PWA and received 70% increased in conversion which is evident enough to show it’s worth.

Chatbots

Chatbots can handle customer support requirements more effectively. Apart from that, you can count on bots for assistance 24/7. There are various types of automated chat solutions available. You just need to pick and place the one that fulfills your requirements. The AI version chatbots can answer your question, navigate you to your desired destination and give worthy solutions. Also, they allow you to enable automated messages such as pre-defined answers, welcome messages and support URLs to make your support system automated.

Response Animation Idle Load (RAIL)

RAIL concept is thriving and expected to thrive more in 2019. It is associated with the fast load time and uninterrupted performance of the website. It breaks down UX into tap, scroll, drag actions which help in providing performance goals along with a structure necessary for better performance. Precisely, the main focus of RAIL is to provide a pleasant user experience. It is used to help web designers who follow the user-centric approach to ensure good user experience.

Motion UI

Marketers are always looking for something that persuades users to stay more on a page and be engaged. They are attracted to the GIFs, flashes and are impatient about the loading times. Motion UI includes animated charts, background animations, hovers and beautiful headers which can easily capture the attention of the users. It just require thorough research and proper implementation and your website will stand out of crowd. It can even differentiate the design of the minimalistic websites with an elegant and useful interface. It is a go-to in the year 2019.

AR & VR

Doubtlessly, AR & VR are futuristic technologies that can change the way we interact with a website. Some business giants like Samsung, Microsoft are already investing a huge amount in these technologies. With the help of VR, immersive experience of the virtual world can be offered to the users. Meanwhile, AR gives us the glance of the virtual world in the real world by enhancing the user experience. Both the technologies are expected to grow and go beyond 2019.

IOT

Statista survey reveals that there will be almost 31 billion connected devices in 2020. Due to this massive growth in the number of IOT devices, the web development process will eventually be impacted as enterprises tend to control these devices through a desktop or laptop. Moreover, to provide better services to the customers, integration of devices with the website is extremely important. Although there are only a hand full of websites that have IOT integration, but the concept will be a pivot in the future since the number of connected devices will increase gradually.

Final Words

Web development has experienced a massive modification over the years and expected to do more in the years to come. New trends have already arrived and there are more to follow with the evolution of technologies. Such modern trends/features can effortlessly be employed to engage as well as maintain customers when they get used to them. Thus, it is significant to search out for these trends and introduce them in routine web development methodology. They should be looked upon for modern innovations and creativity so as to stay ahead of the contest.