6 Web Development Trends Every CTO Should Know in 2020

The web development industry is quickly evolving, and companies need to keep ahead with innovations to stay competitive in the online world. Web development trends might seem to change even faster than they are implemented by most of the enterprises. However, if you want to position yourself an innovation-driven brand and trendsetter, you must be aware of all the current web tendencies. 

To help you navigate the latest web development trends and save time spent on the market investigation, I provide an intensely concentrated piece of information in this article. Meet the six most popular web development trends that are gaining momentum in 2020.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) and Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

A progressive web app is a website with the same functionalities as native apps. It is fast-loading and can work both online and with a bad Internet connection. PWAs allow users to enjoy a high-end experience and forget that they still are using the web browser. The world-known brands like Forbes, Twitter, and Alibaba have already unlocked the benefits of PWAs for the excellence of their online presence.

Along with PWAs, we can also see a similar trend. It's an AMP (an accelerated mobile page), an open-source HTML framework developed by Google as a competitor to Facebook instant articles. AMPs also load very quickly and display only the essential information like text, images, etc., omitting unessential UI elements. They might be a perfect choice for websites oriented at publishing news and articles. 

Animation in UI

Motion graphics is one of the biggest web design and development trends this year. The business can greatly benefit from motion graphics in website design and leverage its power to increase visitor engagement, guide them throughout a site, demonstrate relations between components, visualize information in dynamic charts and beautiful graphs, and more. 

Besides functionality, the visual experience is one of the key factors to success in software development. Users love brands that offer them something more exciting than a straightforward layout. Keeping things simple and caring about the UX intuitiveness, you can also consider adding the background motion graphics, animated hovers, beautiful transitions in a header and footer, modular scrolling, and other UI animations. Although it adds to the development time, motion graphics in UI is worth it since it increases the end-users' satisfaction and helps turn them into returning customers.

AI and Cybersecurity

Data security is one of the critical factors of web app success. The digital space isn't a safe place anymore. We face frequent cyberattacks and online frauds that may lead to data leakage, stealing corporate information, damaging the brand's reputation, etc. 

The scale of these negative consequences makes us realize the uber-importance of taking all the required data protection measures and involving innovative technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain to provide enhanced cybersecurity.

To avoid frauds and data leakage, enterprises should follow a simple four-point algorithm:

• Don't ignore cybersecurity testing; 
• Leverage web  monitoring tools to timely detect suspicious activity;
• Choose trustworthy third-party services;
• Encrypt sensitive data not to give them the chance to make the use of your database.

AI is fast-evolving, and we can't ignore its benefit for cybersecurity. Today, many companies secure their data with AI-powered technologies such as biometric logins that scan fingerprints or retinas.

API-First Development

The modern world implies the complete interconnectivity of different devices. Our homes, smart vehicles, wearables, gaming systems, and laptops — all are connected. Web solutions are also required to be ready for integration with other intelligent systems and devices. Here is an API-first development approach that begins.

Traditional API development usually increases the overall development costs and service market entry time. Tha’s why many companies don't pay much attention to API when creating web and mobile solutions and approach it as a side project that often misses appropriate designs and testing.

However, the time of connectivity requires us to take an API-fist approach that means building the API first and creating your web or mobile apps on top of that API. For API-first development, API Blueprint and Swagger are the most recommended technologies.

Voice Search Optimization

All of these trends are amazing and bring a lot of innovation to web development. However, this one literally takes the cake. According to a survey conducted by Adobe, 48% of consumers use voice for "general web searches." It automatically means a growing demand for the optimization of web solutions for voice searches in terms of SEO and other tech strategies. The early adopters are predicted to lead the industry competition. The voice search optimization becomes a huge advantage.

From the web development perspective, voice search optimization requires working with a web speech API that is divided into two components, speech recognition and speech synthesis. Speech recognition allows recognizing the voice queries, while speech synthesis will enable scripts to read the text content.

Chatbots and Customer Support

Intellectyx projected that a global chatbot market size will grow to $1.3 billion by 2024 and that chatbots will become a driving force for business communications. It makes us think of the urgent necessity of developing chatbots for web solutions to keep brands competitive in a saturated digital marketplace.

Since AI-powered technologies are quickly innovating it allows us to predict that in the nearest future, chatbots will be able to provide personalized experiences to each consumer, increase loyalty to a brand, and help companies gain customer positive feedback.

Conclusion

In 2020, we are witnessing the quick evolution of the web development industry. Hopefully, this brief overview of the top web development trends will help you keep track of the latest technologies and timely incorporate innovations into your business. Stay ahead of the competition with top-notch web solutions and become a new market leader regardless of the Coronavirus recession.