Web Development
As a business owner, knowing and implementing the latest web development trends is time-consuming and may not be your area of expertise. At some point, you’d rather pay someone to do it for you. Even if you do, it’s important to have some clear ideas of what could be new for your site. This article will cover the latest 2022 trends in web development.
There are, however, general concepts like user experience, valuable content, and easy-to-navigate sites that every website needs. We’ll focus on the most important elements of website development first to ensure your site is up-to-date and then touch on some of the trends you may not know.
1. Website Speed
In the past few years, website speed has become one of the most critical factors for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If Google can’t crawl your site at high speed, your site loses parts of its credibility and domain authority. But how do you know how fast your site is? And how do you fix it?
Everything from loading time to page speed is factored into your site speed. If you’d like to test your current website, Pingdom has an excellent, free website tester. It’ll show you your overall grade out of 100, load time, and the size of your website. Ideally, you want your load time to be under two seconds.
If your site receives a low score, here are some things you can implement:
- First, remove on-page videos that aren’t 100% necessary.
- Minimize HTTP requests
- If you used the link above to do a site audit, the results included a total amount of HTTP requests. Often, removing unnecessary code like spacers, white space, and other formatting options will improve your site’s score.
- Compress your code to make it easier and faster to download
- This article (steps 8 and 9) has a great tutorial on compressing your files so they load more quickly.
2. Mobile Device Optimization
It’s no secret this trend is on the top of the list. Every year we’ve seen an increased amount of traffic from mobile devices. That means your site needs not only to be mobile-friendly, but your marketing funnel needs to take the perspective of a mobile user into account.
The easiest way to know if your site is optimized for mobile is by visiting it yourself. First, run a complete test on every page of your site. The most important part is identifying your site’s goal and ensuring that mobile users have an equal or better rate of achieving that goal. Let’s take a look at an example.
Say your site’s goal is getting email opt-ins. On the desktop, your pop-ups convert at a rate of 10%. Yet on mobile, your pop-ups convert at a rate of less than 2%. A workable solution would be embedding an email sign-up form right on the top and bottom of your homepage, along with the lead magnet your site offers. You’d likely see an increase in conversion rates from mobile users since pop-ups can result in bounces, even if your value offer is outstanding.
3. Minimalism and Dark Mode
In 2021, we saw this trend take over nearly every industry, including web design. Minimalistic style has been a trend and will continue to be a trend over the coming years. Even in the auto industry, companies like Tesla have adopted minimalistic designs for a sleek, modern look.
Your website should follow that trend. A minimalistic design is all about stripping out the non-essentials, following a sleek, simple color pattern and a standardized font. Some colors to include are white, different shades of gray, and faded blues, greens, and reds.
Dark mode is a form of user experience. It allows your users to customize their experience and gives them the power to do so. Here’s a complete guide to implementing dark mode on your site.
4. Conversion Optimization Plugins
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) tools have always been in demand, yet there has never been a greater supply than today. One example of a CRO tool that is taking over countless industries is chatbots. Chatbots are AI-driven virtual assistants that help potential leads find what they’re looking for on a site. They’re optimized through pattern recognition and a variety of standard inputs. If you haven’t implemented chatbots on your site, it’s worth considering depending on your industry.
Another tool we’ve seen take over the eCommerce industry (and other industries) is UseProof and other software like it. The tool shows visitors things like orders that have been confirmed, a live visitor count, and other forms of social proof to increase conversion rates. Even if you’re not in eCommerce, using these social proof tools can increase your CRO up to 15%.
5. Interactive Content (Animations, 3D Colors, and Effects)
The final trend is all about website feel and aesthetics. First, we’d like to say that effects like animations and 3D content should be used sparingly. If you overdo it, you may significantly slow down your site speed and load time. However, using animations is one of the best ways to improve your user experience and give your visitors a fun time on your website.
In addition to interactive content, there are some standards your website should follow. For example, did you know that some websites should be ADA compliant? Digital Authority Partners has an excellent article outlining the standards and legalities of websites that you may not know.
Another effect you can include on your site is 3D content. Think about Google Earth. You’re able to have a 3D look at streets, homes, and other buildings. A trend for 2022 and beyond is creating a map for your content. It’s interactive, new, and allows for seamless navigation among all of your articles.
Final Thoughts
Some trends are here to stay. For example, in 2011 (now more than a decade ago!), the average website looked remarkably different from today’s. Businesses have adapted to the trends, and updated and optimized their sites so their user’s experience ends in success for the user, the site, and the company.
Each website is unique. That means you don’t have to include every trend out there for 2022. Instead, pick and choose the ones that’ll have the most impact on your business.
And while there isn’t a right or wrong way to choose, it’s clear sites must adapt to ensure continued success for their companies.
