We all know that technology moves very fast and is often quite unpredictable. This holds even more true for websites than for other marketing material. While you may try to jump onto the very next big emerging website trends to stay in the game, it can prove to be counterproductive especially, if the public interest in the trend was not as high as all that initial hype.
But this does not mean that all up and coming fads are an exercise in futility.
There are many technology-related trends that you should consider for your website. But that is only if you want to remain part of the digital mainstream in the future.
Here, you should note that it is not just changing technology alone that is so important for businesses. In fact, there are various other design trends as well that can help usher your business into 2020 and beyond. Provided that is, that you react to them in time. Let us check out some of the more important steps that you should take if you want your online business to thrive in the coming future.
Increase The Security Level Of Your Website
You should beware of scammers and hackers because they are constantly trying to burrow into your website’s security. This holds even more true of you run an e-commerce site since people trust you with their money. But, even sites that don’t handle online monetary transactions get hacked every day for a variety of nefarious reasons.
Hackers are always trying to find new ways of accessing the personal information of your customers. This is why you must always try and keep up with the ever-changing online security trends such as the following ones:
SSL Security
If you want to run your business safely and securely, then you have to pay attention to a very important component of online business—and that is creating a highly trusted environment. An environment where the prospect feels confident enough to make a purchase. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates exist to create a high level of trust. They do so by establishing a secure ‘end to end’ connection.
The web browser will provide visual cues to assure visitors of your site that the connection is secure. These cues are called EV indicators. They include a green padlock in the location bar and sometimes even a fully branded URL bar.
As a general rule, the SSL certificates in your site have a key pair. These consist of a public key and a private key. Both of them actively work together in order to establish a fully encrypted connection. The SSL certificate normally contains the “subject” too. This is the identity of the website owner or the certificate holder of the site.
Mobile Platform Security
App-based mobile platforms are almost the more secure option when it comes to online security protocols, but the sheer volume of the malware is increasing at a very rapid pace. It is now becoming a major problem for mobile platforms as well, even though they had initially been immune to this menace.
Your site might be highly vulnerable to cross-site scripting without your being aware of this problem. This means that you might inadvertently be putting your customers at risk. Today’s enterprising hacker can easily create near-identical sites. Once the site is done, they will contact your customer base pretending to be you, and their malicious sources will appear fully legitimate.
You can easily counteract this issue by contacting a good web development company that has a lot of experience in website protection. Sometimes, a security issue can be easily caused by installing a simple plug-in rather than taking the time or trouble of building new systems.
Https Vs Http: Which One Is Better?
HTTP is Hypertext Transfer Protocol while HTTPs is Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. Taken together, these two protocols dominate the methods typically used to transfer data and information all across the World Wide Web.
As the name distinctly implies, the HTTPS protocol has an extra layer of security, when compared to its HTTP counterpart. In laymen’s terms, the traffic that moves between your computer and the website you are visiting is in the clear when using HTTP. This means that if it were to be intercepted by a hacker, he will be able to read all the information as easily as if the data was written on a piece of paper.
HTTPS, on the other hand, uses the SSL concept. Apart from that, it also uses another protocol known as TLS or transport layer security to encrypt the data while it is in transit. This means that should the information be intercepted en-route, it will simply appear as a random jumble of number, symbols, and letters.
Example:
Suppose someone wants to intercept vital data during its transit through the internet in a ‘man in the middle’ attack. In case you have an HTTP, it will not be very difficult. Ergo, he won’t need to put in extra effort at all. However, HTTPS uses public-key encryption courtesy the SSL and TLS protocols to thwart just this kind of attack.
In case you are using HTTP to send a message, your attacker will see it as it is. He will also see plenty of additional data as well, such as your server and the date and time of the message.
Suppose “Hello World!” is your message. With HTTPS, this text will look something like this:
“t8Fw6T8UV81pQfyhDkhebbz7+oiwldr1j2gHBB3L3RFTRsQCpaSnSBZ78Vme+DpDVJPvZdZUZHpzbbcqmSW1+3xXGsERHg9YDmpYk0VVDiRvw1H5miNieJeJ/FNUjgH0BmVRWII6+T4MnDwmCMZUI/orxP3HGwYCSIvyzS3MpmmSe4iaWKCOHQ==”
Additionally, for your website to get its SSL certificate, the domain has to be verified via a stringent checking system. This system will ensure that the site actually belongs to you. In a few e-commerce sites, the legal certificates have to presented to a person making a purchase to verify that everything is in order.
Another great advantage of using HTTPS on your website is that it effectively improves your site’s ranking on Google and other search engines. As a general rule, only the most secure sites get to be featured on the engine’s coveted first page.
Here, there are many research study statistics[1] that show that around 85 percent of shoppers will not continue to shop or even browse on a site if they don’t see its main security feature i.e. the little green padlock in the search bar next to the URL.
Focusing on the User
Let’s face it, the most important person to any website is the website user. But, all too often, website owners seem to forget this fact and try to cater their website to themselves.
2020 will see websites start to focus more on the end user by thinking about what they are looking for your trying to solve by visiting your website. Instead of a company pushing what they hope the user will do. This will be a departure from the old way of designing the user experience (UX) of a website. And, it will be a good thing, that we believe will bring more engagement to the websites and they way they are used.
We all know that technology moves very fast and is often quite unpredictable. This holds even more true for websites than for other marketing material.
Sleek and Minimalist Designs Are ‘In’
Minimalism has a pretty basic premise. It ensures that you do not overload your site with too much information. After all, no one wants to stay at a cluttered website. This is the age of convenience and any website that looks too fussy just simply puts off the visitor.
You have only to see that great digital juggernaut Facebook to see the idea behind the minimalistic design. FB has effectively stripped back its social media site. This holds even truer with its app. For example, their iconic bright blue frame is gone. In fact, the bright blue is now discreetly relegated to the overall typeface.
This allows the site to get straight to the point. However, it is a bit more focused with regard to its design. You might consider taking a leaf from their (face)book and try not to overload your website with a surfeit of graphics. Not only will it give it a clearer look, but the visitor will be spared the excess downtime as well.
Ultimately, sites with fewer graphics will be much easier to navigate and respond to, when your customer is browsing your site on a small smartphone screen. Unlike large PC screens, there is very limited space. And you have to utilize it as best as you can to attract your customers into the web marketing tunnel.
Streamlined Navigation
2020s navigation trends may mean mega menus are out for good. A more streamlined navigation style seems to be taking over. And, while some may think this is risky, it really makes a lot of sense. Most users get to your website via a search engine and they often don’t land on your homepage.
By minimizing the navigation you can create a more direct path to get users to engage more easily with the content you want them to see. Many websites are using the traditionally “mobile” hamburger icon for their menus on both mobile and desktop now, to create a consistent experience for their visitors, no matter what device they are coming to the site from.
Don’t Beat Around The Bush!
Here is the thing: there is so much information and so many online services available that most visitors don’t like to spend excess time on a website before deciding if they want to make a purchase. Since time is precious, they would like your website to be as clear and as concise as possible. You should think about how you can feature in more relevant information but without exposing them to large and unappealing blocks of text.
Drop-Down Menus
The humble drop-down menu is a great start towards minimalism. This way your visitors can read the tags and click on them if they want more information. These menus also help to hide irrelevant information from the initial view.
After all, you will want visitors to browse. Rather than making them feel that they are reading a novel for the express purpose of discovering what your business is about.
Use More Chatbots
This technology is now moving into even mainstream websites rather than customer response centers. Moreover, their costs have also come down a lot. Chatbot software will not be replacing customer service representatives anytime soon and neither should they do so. The ‘human touch’ is still very important when it comes to customer satisfaction.
Albeit, having said that you should not underestimate the chatbot when it comes to answering simple requests and questions. This especially holds true for those questions that would divert attention from more important and complex customer queries.
ADA Compliance
The “Americans with Disabilities Act” (ADA) prohibits any sort of discrimination against people with disabilities in all spheres of public life. This also includes various jobs in both private and public enterprises, as well as transportation, and educational institutions. In fact, all private and public places that are deemed to be open to the public at large.
This holds true for websites as well. In order to be fully compliant with this law, tomorrow’s websites should be accessible via voice activation for visually impaired people. They should also have ‘easy to see and use icons’ for people suffering from various disabilities.
Conclusion
Web design technology is evolving at an ever-increasing pace while enabling behaviors that have their basis in pre-existing states of intent. But even as the online industry grows in complexity, it is developing into a more realistic system that helps people to search easily and safely.
In light of the above, you can rest assured that the 2020s is going to be an exciting decade as the afore-mentioned 2020s web trends start bearing fruit.
2020s website trends, Emerging website trends, online security trends
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