Smart Websites: The Future of Browsing Efficiency

By combining dynamic capabilities with function and design, websites can grow and evolve with businesses and markets.

In today’s modern world that is increasingly dominated by digital media, websites are more crucial than ever. Any serious company is now expected to have a well-designed website that represents their brand and provides all the information and functionality for accessing their services or products. 

Smart websites meet these expectations and offer a new level of user engagement – and take your business to the next level.

As we become more accustomed to the increasingly smooth UX provided through apps on smart devices, our expectations are also higher and our patience limited when it comes to online browsing. 

In order to effectively engage a user and keep their attention, their experience of your website must match the seamless ease of scrolling on their favourite social media app. 

With each new generation, cutting-edge design and technology evolutions lead to higher functionality and a culture of instant gratification. If businesses want to keep up with the times, they need to take a proactive approach to ensuring a consistent improvement and customization of their platforms. Smart websites help us do just that.

Form vs Function

We’ve all found ourselves lost on websites that may look attractive, but do not deliver the information we’re looking for. Smart websites find a sensible balance between form and function that provides an overall positive experience.

A website is not only the official source for any company to share their products and services – it’s the first impression they make on a potential customer. 

We’ve seen a massive emergence of graphic and web designers in the last decade that have become increasingly proficient in bringing visually-pleasing aesthetics to the web. The question is: Is this enough to capture and retain the interest of a user?

With smart websites, beauty is complemented by intelligence to give users the full package. By carefully considering the goals and identity of each brand, smart websites are tailor-designed to give the user a practical, straight-to-the-point browsing experience.

Bridging the Gap Between Apps and Websites

Though laptops and desktops are still commonly used in businesses and at home, smartphones are the most commonly owned devices – and ways of accessing the web – in the world today. This reality has changed the game when it comes to user behaviour.

Now that we possess pocket-sized technology that can instantly connect us to the web through a myriad of apps, our UI expectations have reached new heights. Continuous efforts are being made to close the gap between the browsing experience on apps and web pages.

Instead of copying the same design template from an app to a website – or vice versa – a smart site can be customized to function similarly, while being fine-tuned for performance on a particular device.

Smart websites are designed to provide easy access to the user’s – and ultimately owner’s – objectives. 

This can be facilitated by customizing content and adapting information to accommodate device traits. For instance, user interaction on a smartphone app can be applied on the website’s mobile extension.

Pageless and Narrative-Driven Designs

Few things are more engaging than a good story. This fact has led many designers to take a more narrative approach to the web.

When engaged in an interactive narrative, users tend to become immersed in the experience. This type of story-based browsing leads to both rational and emotionally-driven behavior from users that may very well lead to conversions.

Some smart websites string together seamless narratives/stories on a single page. By incorporating interactive elements, the user can feel as though they are part of the story. This creates a stronger emotional response as the user explores and becomes part of the narrative.   

This intuitive behavior gives the user a more lifelike experience, which can help them relate to the product. Quinta Vale Dona Maria Wine’s website is a fine example of storytelling and user immersion as they transport you through vineyards in the Douro region of Portugal.

Search and Browsing Functions

One of the most common web functions that we use on a daily basis is the “search” function. With search engines like Google – whose algorithm is one of the most advanced on the web – searching online has become such a typical activity for us that we often take it for granted.

It’s not uncommon for us to experience the frustration of not finding the information we are looking for online, especially when it is about a specific brand on their webpage. 

As powerful as Google is, it is ultimately the brand’s responsibility to answer their customers’ (or potential customers’) questions – to avoid the all too common experience of an unsuccessful search loop.

To avoid customer dissatisfaction and high bounce rates, it is important that your website is highly functional. Just as a customer enters a store or calls a product service line, smart websites are practically designed to provide answers and allow the user to take desired actions quickly and easily. 

The faster a user can find what they are looking for and reach their goals on your site, the more likely you are to gain a satisfied customer.

Browsing on a smart website must be effortless and efficient. This is because it is designed to get you to your desired destination as quickly as possible. Smart browsing should not be a pointless scroll, but rather a clearly intentional experience that gets you to your goal with as few clicks as possible.

Depending on what kind of service or product your brand offers, browsing can either be an entertaining experience or a no-nonsense quick search. 

Smart website designers take your goals into consideration to provide the most appropriate layout and high functionality. Applying this customized smart design approach is crucial to ensuring your web design investment is well spent.

Affordability and Long-Term Development

Other great advantages of smart websites are the cost and constant improvement over the long-term.

Unlike conventional websites – which may cost an arm and a leg to get professionally built- smart websites use a goal and budget orientated approach to deliver a user-friendly platform that can improve over time.

As smart websites develop to more accurately target your desired audience and meet objectives, you can rest assured that your investment is low-risk and will yield significant results.

With the use of sophisticated programming, AI and meaningful data analysis in an ever expanding ecommerce market, smart websites have become the new frontier of web design. 

Indeed, smart websites are only part of a collection of new approaches to digital interaction that continue to lead us into a hyper-digital age of technological automation.

Are you looking for a professional partner to design and build your smart website? Get in touch and find out how Bocasay can help you make it happen.