Staying on top of technology trends can also help to keep your website on top of the search engines. Not only that, it provides a better experience to your site’s visitors with a faster, more interactive, and dynamic experience. Best of all, these technologies are cost-effective, providing a great return on your investment.
This article highlights our top five technologies to implement on your website this year. If you do so, you might be very surprised by the positive results.
Upgrade Your Magento Platform
If you have an e-commerce site operating on Magento 1, it’s time to upgrade to Magento 2. The name of the game today is mobile sales, and Magento 2 is built for that. Compared to Magento 1, Magento 2 pages load quicker and are more mobile responsive. The checkout process has also been streamlined, making it much simpler for mobile users to pay you.
However, the most pressing reason to upgrade Magento is that security patches and upgrades for Magento 1 are discontinued. If you want your e-commerce site to remain safe and secure, now is the time to upgrade. If you want to learn more about the pros and cons of Magento 2, this article on www.liventus.com is quite detailed.
Voice Search Optimization
The use of digital home assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Home has grown over the years. These applications are even incorporated into smartphones, making it easy for users to simply say what they are searching for on the web. Optimizing your e-commerce site for voice search is perhaps the biggest priority this year.
The way to do this is to optimize the text on your landing pages so that they can be found easily with voice search. First of all, voice search prioritizes location, so if your business is sticks-and-bricks, make sure to put your location into your text.
Also, text search is usually simple, such as “best pizza” “Chicago”, whereas a voice search might be, “where is the best pizza in Chicago”? In this example, you could also fine-tune your location, such as, “the best pizza in Chicago’s Lincoln Park”.
Voice search can also be added to your website with a few snippets of code. However, how to accomplish this depends on whether your site is built with HTML5, WordPress, or something else.
Personalization Using AI and Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence and machine learning can provide a more personalized experience for your users.
Machine learning software analyzes incoming user data, uncovers patterns, and makes decisions about what to show the customer. It can use individual user data or an aggregate of all user data. For example, if a customer buys plus-sized clothing, when she searches for a “wedding dress”, plus-sized dresses will be prioritized. Or, if more women between the ages of 18 and 30 years old prefer a particular dress, that will top the list for women in that age group. Those are just two examples, but the possibilities for AI and machine learning are countless.
Offer Cryptocurrency Payment Options
More and more people are investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. However, spending crypto can be frustrating, since most of the time, it needs to be converted into fiat currency. By allowing people to pay for your goods and services with crypto, you can quickly create returning customers.
There are cryptocurrency payment processors, such as BitPay and CoinBase, that can be added to your site. Ecommerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce already support crypto payments. If you use Shopify, PrestaShop, or WooCommerce, there are tutorials on their sites showing you how to add crypto to your payment options. Magento can also be set up to accept cryptocurrencies.
Payment processors like BitPay and CoinBase also have tools and tutorials to integrate their options into your website. Magento has a module that can easily be added. Once you have your crypto payment options up and running, it will bring a whole new class of customers to your eCommerce site.
Beef Up Your Security
Hackers keep upping their gaming and you should too. Integrating AI and blockchain technology into your security solutions is a continuing trend.
For example, malicious activity can be detected with AI-powered security software. Online casinos routinely use this, to detect cheating and activities like identity theft and money laundering. However, ordinary eCommerce sites can also benefit from AI security software continually scanning the site.
Blockchain technology can be used to create decentralized databases, making it harder to hack into. Finally, it’s becoming increasingly important to protect your site from a denial of service attack. Companies like Cloudflare provide services that protect and mitigate DDoS attacks. However, DDoS attacks are generally directed at large, often controversial companies, not small eCommerce shops.
For more ways to invest in your website to increase traffic and sales, check out this detailed article on DigitalAuthority.me.
