10 Web Development Trends in 2021

Let’s talk about what trends will inspire web designers and developers throughout 2021 to create high-quality and functional websites.

The year 2020 taught a tough lesson – almost any business needs website development if the owner wants to develop his business and make a profit, regardless of changing external conditions.

Trends in the field of web development are changing at a tremendous speed.

Some innovations lose their relevance even before they have time to be introduced to the site. Procrastination can miss out on its benefits.

If you want to have a modern, stylish, responsive and convenient website capable of handling the tasks assigned to it, be attentive to the latest trends.

We’ve compiled a list of web development trends to save you time.

Have a closer look at it and get solutions that are fruitful for the development of your business in the new year.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA)

An analysis of the peculiarities of using smartphones shows that 89% of the time people use them spend on applications and not on websites.

Therefore, developers needed to increase the popularity of web pages by converting them.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) visually resemble regular apps, but they are essentially web pages.

Their main goal is to make it easier for the site visitor to work with the resource, using his experience of interacting with apes.

Google research shows that 53% of sessions on mobile sites are dropped by users if they wait more than 3 seconds to load.

The PWA will not allow such a development of events, because it loads instantly.

The technology combines the advantages of sites and applications. Users don’t need to install PWA on their devices.

What do PWAs have in common with applications? Full-screen viewing, push notifications, easy navigation, and high speed.

They support offline operation: you can interact with pre-cached content without an Internet connection.

What will you get by getting started with a PWA?

•     The ability to conveniently manage pages;
•     Significant reduction in the number of refusals;
•     Possibility of autonomous work;
•     An increase in the number of apps installed.

You can see the PWA technology on Pinterest, Instagram, etc.

Motion UI

Users won’t appreciate even the most stylish design if they don’t find the information they need on your site.

For this reason, web developers assign an important role to interface functionality.

Using the Motion UI allows you to simplify your search while animating pages with a minimalist design, adding zest to them.

Animations, graphics, and cool effects during transitions are more powerful than the usual static content.

Interactive elements always arouse interest among site visitors and force them to actively interact with the content, because it is both exciting and convenient.

What can you use motion design for?

•     Registration of transitions in page titles;
•     The output of diagrams;
•     “Animation” of pop-up windows;
•     Drop-down menu design;
•     Adding dynamism to scrolling.

The point of development is not only to make the image move – there must be some meaning and purpose in the interaction.

What are the benefits of motion design?

•     Makes site navigation more convenient;
•     Enthralls the user, forcing them to spend more time on the site;
•     Reduces the number of bounces;
•     Introduces the visitor of the site to your unique style.

WebAssembly

Many different factors affect development efficiency, and one of them is performance.

JavaScript has limitations that slow down some processes, which negatively affects the user experience.

WebAssembly is very popular because it allows you to translate code from any programming language into bytecode that can run in a browser.

Why use WebAssembly?

•     The system operates independently of the language and platform have chosen;
•     The open bytecode format is device-independent;
•     Has a high speed of code execution;
•     Ensures a high level of security.

Most projects are currently being implemented using WebAssembly, which is why we list it in the list of web development trends 2021.

Landing Pages

Websites come in two flavors – multi-page and single-page.

Initially, it was ordinary to create a separate individual page for each new topic.

But many users are not motivated enough to search for the information they need among the many pages and navigate the menu.

Web design provides solutions that can make life easier for the user and increase the efficiency of interaction with the site. A landing page is one of them.

There is no confusing navigation or a far hidden menu in the structure – all information is presented as clearly and concisely as possible.

A landing page is an effective tool that can push the user to take a targeted action: leave an application or place an order, so it will not take the last place among the trends of 2021.

Development of Artificial Intelligence

Now, reliable information alone is not enough for users of the site.

If the design looks repulsive, and the interface is too complex to master it intuitively, then the person will simply leave the site.

Artificial intelligence belongs to the trends of 2021 because it can calculate the choice of a site visitor and even compose his portrait.

With the help of AI, you will find answers to the following polls:

•     What product or service would a customer want to purchase next?
•     How long does it take for a client to decide on the purchase of a product?
•     What product do customers like more than others?
•     What products do not generate interest from customers?
•     Which target audience is interested in your products?

We can easily see the tendency to replace some specialists with specially trained algorithms.

Instead of call center workers, we are already receiving calls from robots capable of responding to speech.

Artificial intelligence is successfully replacing human intelligence for chatbots and virtual assistants.

With their help, people can focus on more interesting and complex tasks, leaving routine tasks to robots.

The demand for automation will only grow and will continue beyond 2021.

Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality

The possibilities of virtual and augmented reality began to be used in web development only 2 years ago, but they have already made the work of users in the online space more convenient.

Virtual reality totally immersed in the designed world and augmented reality connects digital content with the physical environment of users.

In real-time, this enhances business opportunities.

The technology enables potential buyers to virtually “taste” the product, which boosts the number of sales.

When combined, augmented and virtual reality form mixed reality (AR), which seems especially helpful in corporate applications.

For example, IKEA, using an AR application, allows you to see how a certain product from the catalog will look in the room where the user is.

AR empowers websites for areas such as tourism, real estate, construction, healthcare, etc.

The technology can be used not only for the entertainment of users, visual demonstration of products or services but also for training employees.

Continuous Integration and Software Deployment

The speed and smooth operation of the site directly affect the success of the business.

Therefore, it is important that updates and fixes to the code are made as quickly as possible.

When a user sees that your service is regularly updated and developed, he feels trust in him and becomes more loyal to the brand.

Since the code for modern applications is developed using various platforms and tools, an algorithm is needed that can integrate and validate all changes.

For this reason, continuous integration and deployment are critical in web design.

By continuous integration, we mean testing every change in the code. It runs automatically.

What are the benefits of using this technology?

•     Code changes are easier to make;
•     Invalid code fragments are instantly isolated;
•     Development becomes better quality through testing and rapid change.

In 2021, many web developers will turn to this useful technology.

Static Web Pages

At the dawn of the Internet, all pages were static, but now they are mainly used dynamic.

You can see a return to basics because the static has become a trend again.

HTML markup is used to create every single page that displays the same, unchanging content for every user.

On such pages, navigation is not difficult and there are no unreadable text arrays, so it is convenient for the user to study the content.

All information is available when scrolling. The main advantage of this approach is simplicity, which continues the principle of minimalism, which has become firmly established in the laws of website creation.

Such a site is inexpensive to develop, it is safe and loads quickly. These sites are safe, load fast, and are relatively inexpensive.

Voice Search

Humanity is constantly striving to save energy and invents devices and programs that would free you from routine actions and save time.

Now there is no need to enter requests manually – a voice command is enough.

As Google is interested in voice search queries, the craze for sites that implement the mechanics of voice search is growing.

Many users like the ability to work with the site without a keyboard and not waste time typing.

How does voice search work? The following algorithm is used:

•     The program converts sounding speech into an audio file;
•     The file is split into separate sounds;
•     The system compares the results obtained with lexemes from dictionaries;
•     The utterance becomes text or a computer command.

Why do users like this mechanic so much?

•     Using voice search is very simple;
•     There is an opportunity to free your hands and go about your business;
•     The speed of completing tasks increases;
•     You can understand how voice search works intuitively.

Push Notifications

Spam in the mail is one of the unpleasant problems for a modern person.

A large number of emails can make it difficult to find the information you need, and even useful mailings start to be perceived as annoying.

Push notifications can successfully replace mailings, for which many filters have been invented by e-mail itself.

Moreover, if we compare the conversion, then push notifications to outperform emails.

The click-through rate of a push is more beneficial than a whole chain of sales letters.

Push notifications are a useful tool. With their help, you can push the user to take a targeted action or briefly communicate important information without forcing him to look for a letter in the mail or go to the site.

In terms of functionality, someone compares push notifications to pop-ups, but the first ones are much more effective since they come regardless of being on the site.

Adaptability

Once upon a time, most people visited websites exclusively from stationary devices, and ranking in search engines depended on this fact.

Now, most of the sessions are carried out by users from mobile phones. For this reason, the site must be responsive.

This quality will allow the user to comfortably interact with him with a device of any parameters.

The resource will look presentable, regardless of the size of the display.

The search engine examines the mobile version of the site and places it in the rating based on the data received.

If a mobile version has not been developed for your resource and the adaptive layout has not been used, then in the mobile search results it cannot count on the first pages of the search engine.

Indexing will be subject to the mobile-first principle, as long as it is convenient for people to work with the site through smartphones and other electronic devices.

If you are interested in increasing conversions and increasing the length of time your customers stay on your site, then make sure that the resource is responsive.

Conclusions

Tracking and identifying trends for the next year can be difficult, because they change very quickly, and some even disappear without a trace.

Therefore, do not miss the opportunity to make your site more convenient and attractive for visitors by taking advantage of interesting solutions.

Are you not ready to add new features to your resource until you see how they work?

For live examples and inspiration, visit the awwwards.com competition site. On it, you can see new sites with interesting solutions from designers and web developers.

Already, we can conclude that voice search, augmented reality, and push notifications will be used for many years to come.

And some of the listed innovative solutions will become familiar in a few months.

Keep your finger on the pulse and add unusual features to your company’s website or order a new website that will match all the trends of 2021.