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The web development industry is very important these days. No one can operate in the online world without a solid website, after all. The industry itself has been changing and evolving for years now.

However, the global pandemic in 2019 seems to have accelerated things faster than anyone could have imagined. Emerging trends, as well as old trends that developed much faster during the pandemic, have reshaped web development as we know it.

Fortunately, web developers all over the world are quite crafty and they leverage modern technology. The top-performing results that web marketing company provides are on top of the must-list. This is precisely why the web development industry is adapting so well to all the changes that have occurred in the last few years. 

Now, 2022 is nearly upon us and it’s safe to say that web development trends will continue to evolve. How this will affect web development itself or the industry behind it, remains to be seen. 

With that in mind, here are a few things we can expect of web development trends in 2022.

• 1. Focus on the progressive web applications (PWA)

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2. Since mobile traffic has been dominating web traffic for some time now, website owners and their creators have made an effort to provide these users with the best experience possible. 

Responsive and adaptive web designs are just part of the effort to make websites more mobile-friendly.

Still, there’s always more that can be done. The key lies in progressive web applications. This technology isn’t new but it’s starting to gain momentum. 

Using PWAs will quickly turn into an ongoing trend in 2022 and afterward.

The top Miami web design companies have already started adopting this technology. So what are PWAs, exactly? 

A PWA is a web application that looks and feels the same as native mobile apps.

However, unlike native apps, PWAs don’t have to be downloaded, and they usually outperform native apps. Here are a few advantages of using PWAs:

• PWAs provide a native app-like experience through web browsers.
• They can work offline because they’re not network-dependent.
• PWAs have around 36% higher conversion rates than native apps.
• They ensure a 50% higher engagement rate and have maintenance costs reduced by 33%.

As you’re already aware by now, modern mobile devices do, in fact, have storage and battery life issues no matter how advanced the technology behind these devices may be. 

Therefore, instead of expecting customers to download web apps, it’s much more convenient to provide them with an in-app experience while they’re browsing a website.

• 2. Mobile-first design

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Speaking of mobile-friendliness, the necessity for mobile-friendly websites is at an all-time high. That said, there are 3.8 billion mobile users in the world today. 

Experts suggest that by 2025, around 72.5% of the world population will be accessing the Internet via mobile devices. This trend has forced the web development process to reshape the way it approaches web design. 

This is where mobile-first design comes into play. As its name suggests, mobile-first design is an approach to designing a website with mobile devices in mind or as a priority.

Designers create a product for the smallest screens first and then move to bigger screens and other devices later. This is also called progressive advancement as opposed to graceful degradation. Graceful degradation, on the other hand, is how websites have been developed so far.

In other words, you create a website for desktops and then adjust everything for smaller devices. Since mobile traffic has long surpassed that of desktop traffic, mobile-first design is a much more viable approach. Here are a few advantages of using this approach.

• Mobile-first is content-first.
• It puts users at the forefront of the design.
• It enables a visual hierarchy.
• It keeps things simple.
• It enables bold and consistent CTAs.
• It complements Google’s mobile-first indexing.
• It can help improve website speed.

• 3. Artificial intelligence (AI)

Many industries have turned their gaze towards AI technology. The web development industry is no exception. 

With the advancements in AI development, this tech has become an essential part of the web development process and hence a major trend in the upcoming years.

As you may already know, AI technology with its machine learning, deep learning and natural language processing capabilities is already helping numerous businesses out in more ways than once.

A good example is gathering and analyzing big data, allowing companies to learn more about their target audience, as well as predict upcoming trends.

AI can also assist in the web development process by providing crucial information to designers and developers.

AI can already be found on many websites in the form of chatbots that provide seamless customer service and support. 

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With AI, modern websites have the potential to become even more advanced. Here are a few things AI can bring to web development. 

• Automation and orchestration of tasks and workflows.
• Enhanced personalization.
• Faster development.
• No code and low code features.
• Increased conversions.

• 4. Motion UI

The browsing experience is very important to users. Since more and more websites are created in the same way, modern consumers expect something unique that will truly impress them. 

Motion UI creates opportunities for web developers to create a unique experience for their users.

As the name suggests, the motion user interface (Motion UI) utilizes motion graphics or visuals with moving elements. This brings the browsing experience to a whole new level by having users engaged in visual storytelling.

Such a memorable UI experience can retain users and encourage them to explore the website further. This is of vital importance, especially considering the fact how competitive the online market is today.

That’s why motion UI is one of the trends that’s likely to have a huge impact on web development in the future. 

Here are other reasons why motion UI has become so popular these days:

• Motion UI builds brand personality and identity.
• It helps create amazing content.
• It enables seamless app navigation without design mistakes.
• It improves conversion rates
• It helps you reduce your bounce rate.

An animated user interface creates new experiences and opens up new possibilities for your users. Even search engines like Google now emphasize page experience as one of the major ranking factors for modern websites.

In fact, Google’s Page Experience Update algorithm update measures a set of signals on how users perceive the experience of interacting with a page beyond its pure informative value. The rollout of Google’s update will be completed by March 2022.

• 5. More voice search optimization

It seems that the majority of upcoming trends are focused on mobile users. That’s only logical because the number of mobile users continues to increase year over year. Naturally, websites should and will be created to cater to this need.

This brings us to another trend that’s been gaining momentum for years. Voice search optimization is more relevant than ever before and it will continue to increase in relevance as time goes by. 

Mobile users find it more convenient and practical to use their voice for looking up stuff online instead of typing it down.

That means that modern websites cannot afford to miss out on any voice traffic, which is why they have to adapt fast. That includes optimizing for search traffic that originates from both mobile devices and IoT (Internet of Things) voice assistants.

That being said, more than 55% of American households use some variety of smart speakers. The point of the fact is that Google’s voice search had 35 times more voice searches in 2016 than it did back in 2008. 

Nowadays, more than 50% of online searches are voice-oriented and 30% of those searches originate from voice assistants and smart speakers.

This trend pretty much changes how website content will be created in the future. By implementing voice search optimization into website development, modern websites will be able to capitalize on the increased usage of voice-related search queries. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind when optimizing for voice search.

• Page speed still matters.
• Create content that is simple to understand.
• Focus on local SEO.
• Aim for featured snippets on search results.

 

• Closing Words

The web development industry is still going strong despite the setbacks that were caused by the recent global pandemic. The main reason is that the need for new and improved websites is continuing to increase.

The trends that have emerged along the way have shaped how websites should be developed and designed but that didn’t slow things down even a bit. The web development industry adapted fast and managed to turn things in their favor.

Now, things are going back to normal but it isn’t the same normal from just a few years ago. Nevertheless, new trends will continue to emerge and old trends will continue to evolve. 

Fortunately, the web development industry is more than ready to take on new challenges and create websites that are more sophisticated than ever before.

Author bio

Travis Dillard is a business consultant and an organizational psychologist based in Arlington, Texas. Passionate about marketing, social networks, and business in general. In his spare time, he writes a lot about new business strategies and digital marketing for DigitalStrategyOne.