As 2017 winds down, it’s time to take stock of the highlights and top markers in the web development industry and to forecast the probable trajectory the path of development will take in the coming year. We have seen breath-taking changes in the sector that has left so many technologies going obsolete within a short period. From the emergence and dominance of Artificial intelligence – whose application cuts across several industries – to the gradual phase-out of the LAMP era (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) and even to new hosting reviews.
This is an exciting period to be alive, and we believe, you just as with everyone else, is gearing for what 2018 may bring. I believe you’re aware that to survive in this fast-changing world of technology, one needs to be one step ahead of whatever that is trending. That’s what this article is about – taking an objective view of where we’re coming from and make intelligent guesses about what’s going to be hot next year. In this post, I aim to point out critical drivers that will affect, the web hosting sector, web design and development segment, and with some of them having a reverberating effect on the world of tech in general.
Web Trend in 2018
So here are some of the things that will be the trend in 2018.
Artificial Intelligence will become even more critical in the drive for a more conversational User Interface development
If 2017 is the year of Artificial Intelligence, then 2018 will undoubtedly, be a year of intimate integration of AI in the pursuit of a more conversational user interface developments, facial recognition technologies, and the intelligent automation of routine office tasks.
2018 promises to be a year in which AI becomes an increasing part of our every experience. From handling online customer queries to intelligent ad serving.
How are we expecting this technology to impact web development in 2018?
- We are going to be seeing more of intelligent, self-learning chatbots taking on increasing roles on the web.
- The increasing acceptance of AI-powered website development solutions – we could be seeing the beginning of websites designed specifically for an individual. Once you land on the site – the AI analyzes your browsing history, analyzes web content and build web pages around that information.
The leveraging of artificial intelligence could also see a site visitor served only contents they’re very likely to interact with based on their search and browsing history.
The era of progressive web applications
Now imagine that you’re able to serve your website content as both well, a website and as a mobile app. That’s practically what progressive web application is about – Introduced in 2015 by Google, and since then have been making steady gains. We are expecting that the adoption of the PWA continues into 2018. Progressive Web Apps are built to combine the best characteristics of traditional apps with the features of a web site. Websites like Twitter, Medium, and Washington Post have all reported redesigned their sites with the PWA framework. PWA is gaining traction would play a crucial role in the next phase of the web-mobile development trend for 2018.
Push notifications for websites
Web developers are turning to the mobile app Push feature to boost user engagement. And as more site owners seek for innovate ways to improve user re-engagement and how they interact with their content, they’ve been turning to Push notifications which is gradually becoming a standard web development trend. The Push Notification is seeing a massive adoption in the web development ecosystem due to its simple workflow that includes – a visitor land on your site, a notification pops-up requesting them to enable push notification. If they agree, the user will then be notified whenever there’s a change on the website. The popularity lies in the fact that it’s a less tedious means of notifying website users of new contents.
Natural Language Processing for websites
NLP is becoming popular with the rise of voice search where we’ve seen a user speaking and asking the search engine questions and through natural language processing were able to understand the human and pull up the data. This does not rely on inputting keywords or phrases. Again, we are expecting an increased implementation of this on websites other than search engines. We envisage where a site converses with a visitor to help them navigate to the information they are seeking. Compare this with scanning the menu in a restaurant, versus having a server answer all your questions.
Website security will remain a front burner
Today the cybercrime ecosystem is now a $600 billion industry, and it is expected that individuals and enterprises will spend over $ 6 trillion by 2021 to prevent cyber-attacks. The threat to small and medium-sized businesses means cyber security – which website is a part of – will continue to be a top priority.
This concern with affect web development security in the following way
- Increases vulnerabilities prioritization
- Https implementation will be emphasized
- Data encryption
With the widespread ransomware attack of 2017, many users will become even more skeptical about releasing their personal information to your site – hence these security measures listed above will be taken to a whole new level.
Greater use of minimalist designs
With the emphasis on white space and the drive to do away with several features and designs in 2017 for improved site performance - the key driver in this regard is site performance on mobile – since fast, light-weight pages became fashionable. We are expecting this trend to continue into 2018 with the continual elimination of flashy designs. So for 2018, look out for more simple clean pages that are geared towards super performance and conversion.
Is your website ready for 2018?
As web development technologies hurtle through a fast-changing landscape, the only way to keep up is by staying ahead of the trending – knowing what will become hot before it does and preparing for it. In today’s world, having a website is more crucial for your business than having any physical office. Hence, it has become imperative to ensure your site can attract and engage with visitors.