10 Web Development Trends to follow in 2022

Always evolution, often revolution – the only certain thing in web development is change. New technologies appear, some established ones gain unexpected momentum, and other solutions suddenly become outdated. It’s hard to keep up with the ever-changing industry, but luckily, we have you covered. Read on to find 10 web development trends worth following in 2022.

1. Progressive Web Apps (PWA)

Even though the concept of PWA was first introduced by Google in 2015, it took a few more years for its wider usage to gain momentum. Far from being “the latest craze”, Progressive Web Applications technology is now mature enough to change the mobile Internet landscape and become one of the most important web development trends in years to come:

PWA is basically a website that looks and acts like a native mobile app:
can be accessed offline
offers push notifications
can be added directly to the user’s home screen

Unlike native apps though, PWAs take much less storage and are installed in an instant, without the hassle of having to use the app store. And what’s most important from the developers’ point of view, PWAs don’t need to be built separately for each platform or browser, which considerably brings down the development and support costs.

Several big brands like Twitter (with Twitter Lite), AliExpress, and Pinterest have successfully adopted PWAs, and quickly observed an impressive surge in conversion rate and engagement. Given the current web development trends, more companies will follow suit.

2. Single Page Application (SPA)

If you’ve ever used Facebook, Instagram, or Gmail, you already know what SPA is about – it dynamically updates the content on the site without having to reload it. Everything is presented on a single page, and the content is instantly refreshed on the go, which makes for a very pleasant user experience. There are a lot of benefits to using Single Page Applications:

faster loading times
decreased amount of data exchanged with servers
high efficiency even with a slow Internet connection
reduced bounce rate
easy navigation
hassle-free debugging

We’re certain that this JavaScript-based technology will remain one of the hottest web development trends in subsequent years.

3. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

In a never-ending pursuit of speed and responsiveness, developers nowadays dedicate more and more effort to making the mobile experience as smooth as possible. And AMP allows for exactly that. It optimizes the page to load it four times quicker than a regular website; less than half a second is needed to load an AMP page directly from a Google search. The use of Accelerated Mobile Pages leads to a 10% boost in traffic and increases the time spent on a website by 100%. Visitors engage with AMP pages’ content longer and conversions improve by 20% on average. AMP is a prime example of many recent web development trends focused solely on mobile users.

4. Mobile-first approach (Progressive Enhancement)

And speaking of mobile users – mobile phones have revolutionized how we use the Internet and interact with others. More than half of global Internet traffic and more than half of our online time comes from mobile devices. To keep up with the global trend, web developers had to shift their priorities, which resulted in a mobile-first approach becoming a widespread practice nowadays. The method translates to how web apps are being created from the onset – the design is sketched for the smallest screens first, then gradually adopted for full-size displays. The Progressive Enhancement approach forces designers to make the essential features of the site easily accessible for every user, regardless of the device they’re using. Any functionalities better suited for full-scale displays can be added at a later stage.
The fact that users are 5 times more likely to abandon a site if it’s not mobile-friendly, clearly shows that the mobile-first approach is a vital web development trend for today and tomorrow.

5. No-Code/Low-Code Development (NC/LC)

Lower costs and a more streamlined process – are the main reasons for the use of no-code and low-code platforms becoming a popular web development trend in 2022. Both technologies are similar (though not identical) and can be defined as a visual method of creating an app. With NC/LC there’s no need to write code from the ground up, the devs assemble the final product with pre-built blocks of code. Templates constructed with low-code blocks can be applied to both apps and workflows. As for no-code platforms, these can be used by people with no technical knowledge and allow for building websites with pre-built interfaces and configuration templates – it’s basically putting puzzle pieces together. Both NC and LC platforms should be used for different objectives and require different user proficiency levels. Even though neither will replace traditional app-building methods, the use of NC/LC remains steadily on the rise.

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6. API-first development

There’s no denying that a wider propagation of Application Programming Interfaces in the last decade has significantly changed the technological landscape. APIs allow the software to interact and exchange data with external applications and work across different devices. The expandable nature of web solutions equipped with API directly translates to a much better experience tailored to the users’ specific needs. Adopting an API-first approach means that the developers aim to build modular and reusable apps from the onset. In this workflow, the APIs are created simultaneously and considered a priority. Given the importance of seamless connectivity prevalent in the industry, API-first development will surely continue trending in 2022 and beyond.

7. Serverless architecture

No server? No worries. It’s difficult to find any drawbacks of using a cloud-based environment for coding purposes. Applications are designed as a sequence of individual functions, each able to perform (and be triggered by) specific actions. The functions are then deployed to the cloud and executed from there. The advantages of serverless solutions are aplenty:

Removed the need for own server’s infrastructure and security management
Hassle-free scaling
Reduced development time
Lower development and support costs
Simplified implementation of new features
Removed risk of data loss and system overload

In 2020, the serverless architecture market was worth 7.6 billion USD and estimates show that it will nearly triple by 2025. This particular web development trend is surely here to stay for long.

8. AI-Powered Chatbots

Do you sometimes feel like running a Turing test? Telling a difference between a human being and an AI-powered chatbot becomes increasingly difficult. And it will get even more challenging with impressive progress achieved in machine learning, deep learning, data retrieval, and natural language processing areas. Unsurprisingly, the popularity of chatbot use is on the rise, and it got elevated even more during the Covid-19 pandemic. Implementing AI-powered chatbot solutions allows companies to:

Reduce the size of customer support teams
Fully automate a sizable portion of client management processes
Provide seamless 24/7 service
Eliminate waiting time
Provide clients with instantaneous feedback regarding their queries
Use chatbots as virtual assistants making the experience of visiting the company’s website fun and engaging

While chatbots will not completely replace human agents in the foreseeable future, AI technology inevitably becomes the staple of the customer support experience. Many big brands like Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and Nestle have successfully implemented AI-powered chatbots on their websites and are not looking back.

9. Voice Search Optimization

Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri, or maybe Cortana? Voice search technology has become massively popular and transformed the way consumers interact with brands in recent years. The voice assistants market grows at a staggering 32.4% a year and is estimated to reach USD 11.2 billion by 2026. With voice recognition becoming more advanced and accurate, people get increasingly confident using voice search. There’s still room for improvement though, as many customers are not yet fully convinced that the technology can be safely used for online shopping. Nevertheless, voice search optimization remains a web development trend that cannot be overlooked in 2022.

10. Dark Mode UI

There are plenty of advantages of using dark (or “night”) mode on your device – it lowers eye fatigue, emits much less unhealthy blue light, and reduces power consumption. It also looks great – well, at least in most of the cases. No wonder the use of dark mode UI has quickly become extremely popular, with almost 92% of mobile users opting for dark mode, and the majority of them utilizing it whenever possible. Many big players on the web have already introduced dark mode – Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, to name a few. Those, who want to keep up with web development trends in 2022 should consider implementing dark mode rather sooner than later.

A final word

Keeping pace with trends in web development is much more than merely a “fashion statement”. Practically all technologies presented in the above article have been created, maintained, and developed with one paramount objective in mind – to make the user experience more streamlined, engaging, intuitive, and pleasant. You don’t need to follow all the trends there are, but it’s important to follow the ones that can make a real change for you and your clients. If you think your product could benefit from any of the trending technologies, do not hesitate to contact us. We will be happy to discuss your requirements and help you to stay on top of the game.