Trends never stand still, and web development trends are no exception. It is important for entrepreneurs always to be aware of the latest trends as they help to be at the forefront of the competition.

2021 promises to be rich in new trends in web development, and so that you stay informed, we have compiled a selection of 8 the most promising web development trends for you to stay informed. Without further ado, let’s get started.

PWA or Progressive Web Apps

We decided to start the list with one of the most important trends of 2021. In simple words, PWA is a website that has standard functionality for mobile apps. For example, it can be push notifications, offline access, and others.

Recent studies have already shown that mobile devices are vastly outnumbered by desktops and laptops. There is also a significant time gap between the use of mobile apps and browsers. To be more precise, users spend 80% of their time in mobile apps.

The PWA is the inflection point that will help websites gain user attention. PWA can fix a lot of annoying website problems such as poor performance, inability to access offline, and many others.

AMP or Accelerated Mobile Pages

This project was presented by Google back in 2015, and in 2021 this trend will gain momentum. The guiding principle behind this trend is to reward the development of websites that load instantly and also work flawlessly on smartphones. In a nutshell, AMP pages take about two seconds to load than regular pages, which can take about 22 seconds to load.

It has long been no secret that Google adores fast websites and awards them high rankings in its search engine. Such SEO optimization through new technologies will positively affect the amount of traffic and CTR on your website.

Responsive Design

Despite the fact that responsive design is no longer a new design technology, it remains relevant in 2021. As we mentioned earlier, mobile devices rule the world, and users browse through mobile devices most of the time. As a result, Google decided to add indexing algorithms related to website design and how it looks on mobile devices. The better the website works and looks on smartphones, the higher the search engine results. Pretty simple.

Voice Queries Optimization

A few years ago, searching with the help of voice seemed fantastic, but today, this browsing method plays a significant role. However, there is always room for development, and this technology has not yet reached the peak of its perfection.

For example, Gartner said that by the end of 2021, more than 30% of searches would be done using voice. And that’s not to mention smart speakers, which will surpass the 21.4 million mark in the United States alone.

Taking these indicators into account, many websites should adopt this SEO strategy and optimize their websites for users’ voice queries.

API-First Website Development

In a nutshell, one of the trends in web development in 2021 will be websites’ compatibility with other apps. The result of this trend will be an increased demand for the API-first development approach.

But what’s wrong with the usual way of development? If a company is faced with the task of developing a web or mobile solution, they may not focus too much on API development. In the best scenario, this may be a separate project that still needs to be properly designed and tested.

Another weakness of the traditional approach is the rather complicated API development process, followed by increased website creation cost and significantly increased time to market.

The standard development process often looks like this:

1. R&D developers make a design.
2. Back-end team is developing a prototype.
3. Once the prototype is ready, QA and front-end teams have access to it.
4. If a bug is found or a new feature needs to be introduced, the whole cycle is repeated again.

API-first development is much faster because one team does not need to wait for the other to complete their part of the work. All teams work simultaneously.

Push Notifications

Even though push notifications have always been a purely mobile tool in 2021, everything should change, and web apps will also get such a tool to ensure a good user experience in their arsenal.

Push notifications are designed to show the important user information and remind about certain events associated with the app. For example, it might be a reminder that a product is on sale, or a new blog article has appeared. Thus, website owners get additional points of contact with users as well as additional marketing opportunities.

AI-Fueled Chatbots

There are countless companies in the world, and they are located in different time zones. This difference makes it quite difficult to set up an ideal customer support service, especially if there is a need for 24/7 support.

In such cases, chatbots are very helpful, and almost the entire web development industry begins to shift towards their use. Chatbots do an excellent job with routine tasks and can easily answer customer questions, accept online orders, and much more.

In addition to convenience, the use of chatbots is also promoted by surveys among Internet users. Most of the users indicated that they want to use chatbots to resolve issues, submit complaints, etc.

Motion UI Design

Any product that will be used by common customers is designed to attract attention. An eye-catching design is one of the criteria that helps to attract the client’s attention.

The final web development trend in 2021 is the Motion UI library. This library is a powerful tool for creating beautiful websites that will bewitch the eye. With it, you can create smooth and complex animations as well as various flexible website elements.

The library itself is also a fairly flexible tool and can work with any JavaScript structure, which makes Motion UI an excellent choice if you are faced with the task of creating a beautiful website in a short time.

Wrapping up

As you can see, 2021 is full of promising innovations and trends in the field of web development. Progress does not stand still, and who knows, maybe in the next few months, there will be a bunch of new trends that the entire industry will listen to.

Author’s bio

Vitaly Kuprenko is a writer for Cleveroad. It’s a mobile and web development company with headquarters in Ukraine. He enjoys writing about technology and digital marketing.