6 Things To Look Out For On The Web In 2010

As year 2010 draws to a close, everyone is buy looking towards what the World Wide Web has in store for the year ahead. At the pace at which the internet has been evolving, its quite impossible to predict what all will roll out in year 2010.

Here are some things that you would need to look out for (and also prepare for) in the coming year...

Real Time Searches

The real-time movement has gained immense potential off late. Call it the soaring popularity of social media or the increasing demand of people for immediacy in interactions, real time searches are going to be a major power play in the coming times. Be it microblogging platforms like Twitter where you can update Tweets regularly or be it real-time collaboration platform like Google Wave, communication and interactions on the web are going to in real-time.

Local Search

Web search, in the coming times, is going to be highly location specific. This is because users are beginning to rely on the web for simple day-to-day activities as well like finding a nearby restaurant, getting directions and so on. In fact, most modern smart phones provide location specific services. Therefore, in addition to optimizing your website for regular SEO results, also optimize it to rank well in local searches.

Solution to Information Overload

One of the biggest challenges that the web faces today is that of information overload. Content on the web is created at a much faster pace than it is consumed. Moreover, with the rise of social media, there are millions of status updates, tweets and as many web pages vying for attention. So, how is one supposed to find relevant information from amongst this mess? The answer lies in categorization i.e. sorting information. Be it the Show Options released by Google or personal filters that users deploy on their accounts to refine information. Therefore, make sure you customize your information well enough.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has been quite a popular phenomena in 2009 and it will continue in 2010 as well. Instead of storing data on the desktops and hard drives, users prefer moving it to servers elsewhere so that it can be accessed from anywhere. This also facilitates easy collaboration with multiple located teams.

Viral Videos

Its not merely a music routine. As the power of videos on the web becomes apparent to business, they are increasingly establishing their presence on video streaming websites like YouTube. Videos can be very effective in delivering interactive content and takes a step closer to personalizing customer messages. For examples, businesses can demonstrate their products and services to their audiences very efficiently.

Rise of the Mobile Web

The mobile web is slated to be the next generation of the World Wide Web. As people become more net savvy and with the increasing use of web-enabled smart-phones, people are increasingly accessing the web through mobile devices. This means that your business would need to cater to the needs and demands of mobile web users as well. So make sure you have a mobile version of your website in place to cash in on this traffic.

Kabir Bedi works as a senior web consultant at LeXolution IT Services, a reputed web design company based in India, that specializes in providing a full range of web design services, website maintenance services and search engine optimization services. He has over 10 years of experience in the web industry.