While browsing through a website with an extremely easy user interface (UI), our mind inadvertently goes back to the times when just loading a web page was an enduring task. Moving from the mouse-driven computers to smartphones and tablets, web pages have adapted themselves seamlessly over the years. The year 2015 and beyond will witness some benchmark transformations in front-end technologies. Internet users will traverse this wave of change, enjoying speedier and more appealing web pages. Moving along this technological wave, we are hooked on providing the best web solutions today. Based on our expertise, here is an in-depth view of the current and future trends in front-end development. The User’s Perspective Front-end development is the face of the application. As users, we want web pages to be friendly and appealing. Here are some aspects of front-end technologies which users are most interested in: Compatibility: The ability to adapt to different internet browsers. Usability: This attribute signifies the easy-to-use aspect of the website. Complexity: This specifies the back-end of the web application, which controls the speed and security of the data. Whatever the style and time may be, engaging these aspects remains unchanged. Recent Trends in Web Development Web technologies have taken a major leap with the changing requirements. The applications that go well on a laptop screen are now also compatible with mobile phones. There are some important parameters that have implemented these changes, so let’s take a look of these: Responsive Web Design For any website, the response of users is the most imperative factor. A responsive web design (RWD) allows users to browse the website from...
Gone are the days when websites were developed for large screens of desktop computers or laptops. Today, everything has to be scaled down to fit smaller screens of mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. With Google’s mobile-friendly update for websites as released on April 21, 2015, it has now become apparent for every webmaster or blogger to apply a mobile-first strategy for website development. Developers now focus on mobile-optimised websites that work great on mobile phones and tablets, and then scale up perfectly for larger computer or laptop screens. Let’s take a look at what mobile first web-design means, and its importance for websites, and how to start development of mobile-friendly websites. What Does Mobile-First Approach Mean? The ‘mobile first’ strategy for website development involves designing an online experience first for mobile devices and then optimizing it for scaling up to desktop and laptop computers. It does not mean designing a website that works well on desktop computers and then adjusting it to be compatible with mobile phones or tablets. The mobile-first process is to design online websites specifically for mobile customers, keeping their dynamic behaviour, context and needs in perspective. The user interface should suit mobile devices with easily readable text and easy navigation to the different sections of the site. Why Go Mobile-First? The number of mobile users has increased manifold and easily outnumbers the number of people that access websites on PCs or laptops. According to a ComScore report, mobile devices generate more than 60% of the online traffic to websites. This percentage keeps on increasing with every passing quarter, and that has fuelled the need for every business to have mobile-friendly websites. Source: ComScore So, if you haven’t optimised your website yet, you need...
Google’s search engine algorithms are important on many counts. While all web developers know the basic SEO strategies, businesses need to be aware of how Google wants them to behave. Mostly, the trend is of businesses look at exploring White Hat SEO, or SEO through ethics that Google approves, in a better way. The latest Google update just reinforces Google’s dominance in the search engine market. The Google Penguin update, for instance, was aimed at filtering spammy content and ensuring that quality content rank higher. Now, we see that Google has introduced the Mobilegeddon update that is rewarding websites, which are mobile friendly. In fact, there is one interesting point that I would want to mention here. As early as 2013, Google’s Matt Cutt had stated how the company will now penalize companies with slower page loading times. Yes, Google’s plan to move in this direction was evident for some time now – it was not a matter of if but when. What Does The Mobilegeddon Update Mean? The Mobilegeddon update is aimed to reward businesses with sites that are mobile friendly, helping them get better rankings in search results and be featured more prominently. The change, effective from April 21, means that you will have to design a mobile friendly site sooner than later if you want to stay in the competition. The update seems to be much more important than all Google updates till date, including Google Panda and Penguin. Those in the web developer world would know that when these two updates were introduced, the rankings of many websites changed drastically – many for the worse....
The middle of the last decade saw two Operating Systems begin to take shape – the iOS and the Android. Apple owned one, and the other was open source. A lot has changed since then. The ninth iOS version has just been announced while Android has seen everything from Gingerbread to Lollipop. The user base of both the companies has grown too. It wasn’t just a few years back that smartphones weren’t affordable for the common many. In fact, touch screens by itself were a luxury. Processor improvements, RAM increase and a host of new specs meant that these two OS needed to change too, for the better. Then, Google acquired Android. Android smartphone prices came at a level where the general consumer could afford one – and the smartphone war started. While Google and Apple continue to battle it out against each other, both companies manage to woo in customers only because their OS gets better with time. One of the major developments that both companies have stressed in is that of design and development. Enhancing the user experience and intuitiveness seems to be at the focus point and for a good reason. App Developers – A Story That Has Just Begun The developments mean that app developers can rethink on their app strategies. With a better UI, app developers can design apps that rake in more customers and drive in more traffic. Some features are the same while some are unique to one of them. The unique benefits mean that developers can look at a good amount of customization too. So, what are the Android and iOS...
With the start of the new financial year, it is time to assess and analyze all that 2013 gave us. This post focuses on the trends and leads that SaaS development has seen in the year gone by. Businesses are continually looking for new paradigms for sourcing software functionality and Software as a Service (SaaS) is a technology that helps businesses achieve exactly this and much more. Cloud hosted or web delivered SaaS has several benefits, which are – Scalability Improved efficiency of the company’s processes Optimization of the company’s IT budget Some of the trends that this technology has seen in the year 2013 are – Mobile Continues to Rule The one revolution that has taken the world by a storm in the past decade or so is the Mobile Revolution. Mobile technology and its evolution has affected the SaaS drive notably. The services that are most in demand these days are for mobile applications and for mobile marketing purposes. A drift from the desktop model to the 4-G capable environment is clearly visible and considered more right and relevant for users. The services, which have shown a drift, include internal business software and consumer services.Increased Spending of the U.S. Customers and Emerging Markets’s Customers The year 2013 saw a considerable increase in the growth, in popularity and use of SaaS, in emerging markets. An OpenView item that was published in Jan 2013 projected a growth rate of as much as 25% for the year. While the American customers increased their tech spending, the tech spending in the European countries went low as compared to what they were...
