It looks like 2022 may be the year the world finally transitions to a post-COVID19 “new normal.” Even so, many businesses are likely to pay much more attention to their online presence than before the pandemic. With that in mind, here’s a quick guide to what you need from your website in 2022 (and beyond).
Progress toward robust KPIs
Your website should work at least as efficiently as the top-performing member of your team. To ensure it does, you need to set its goals and measure how it performs against them. If its performance is below standard, then you need to make changes. Then you need to assess the impact of those changes.
Selenium used to be the tool of choice for this. Now it’s increasingly common for businesses to look for a Selenium alternative. The main reason for this is that Selenium only tested websites. Alternatives can test other software and apps. This can be very useful if you also want to test other assets, such as APIs.
Real support for mobile
Hopefully, your website already has a decent level of support for mobile users. If not, this should be one of your top priorities. However, 2022 should probably be the year you push this to a new level, even if it is.
Depending on the nature of your business, you may want to invest in having a mobile app created. This should, however, be in addition to a super-mobile-friendly website. If they aren’t already, mobile users should be front and center in everything you do in 2022 (and beyond). All design and content should be created with them in mind.
If this seems excessive, remember that focusing on mobile users will benefit other users too. Everybody appreciates fast-loading pages, simple navigation, and content presented in the most succinct and accessible ways possible.
Support for voice search
In the old days, voice search was largely used by people on the move. Now, it’s increasingly being used by people at home and in the office. They may be searching from a mobile device for convenience. They may also be using a smart assistant such as Amazon’s Alexa. The use of these devices is a growing trend. Your website needs to be able to handle it.
Support for chatbots
Chatbots are unlikely to succeed as a serious, permanent replacement for human staff. They can, however, be a great way to provide a minimum level of out-of-hours service. They can also be a convenient and useful way to triage queries from your website’s users. This gets your users quicker responses and lightens the load on your human staff.
Integration with other systems
Your website doesn’t exist in a vacuum and shouldn’t be treated like it does. You should continually and actively look for ways to integrate it with your business. This works best using VoIP (internet telephony) rather than standard (old) landlines.
VoIP can connect your website to your phone (click-to-call). That opens up all kinds of functionality, from call management to integrating your voice lines with your customer database.
