Websites have come a long way since the days of interlinked ones in the 90s. Modern websites are increasingly getting smarter, informative and are allowing customers to interact and derive their own experience. In today’s tech-savvy world, businesses and institutions have to regularly update their websites to stay relevant. And in the near future, these updates have to go beyond adding new and crisp content, fresh images and tweaking the designs and structures. Here are four essential things that have the potential to change web browsing forever.

Virtual Reality in Web Stores
The days of grid based online stores and mobile apps may soon come to an end. Virtual reality would soon replace the search of customers and they would be able to take a close look at the specs and features of the products. It is being touted as the “next big thing” in e-commerce where users with a VR headset would be able to take a virtual tour of the store. This will add more fun and excitement to shopping as users would have the same experience as they do while shopping at a retail store- thus combining the best experience of retail shopping and online shopping.

Smarter Website Names
Let’s rest aside for a while that Amazon.com is the biggest online store in the world. What would domain name and extension mean to a person who hasn’t heard of the brand? A site on the Amazon River perhaps! Businesses across industries are fast opting for domain names that clearly define who they are and what they do. Rebranding Amazon.com to Amazon.shopping will better define what the site is all about and this is the future of website names. There are 200+ such domain names that immediately define websites and will make it easy for the users to find exactly what they are looking for.

Personalization to Reach Newer Heights
Websites are increasingly focusing on catering to the tastes and needs of their users in a tailored manner. Termed as ‘personalization’, it will all-together take new proportions where future needs would be predicted based on users’ past interactions and activities on the website. For example, if you shop regularly for your grocery from a website it will predict your monthly/weekly needs and ship items when your existing stocks run dry. This anticipatory shipping strategy would cut down on delivery time benefitting the users. Websites have been gathering tons of data on their users and this is allowing them to offer increased personalized experience.

Augmented Reality to Enhance Graphical Display
If you have tried your hand at the game “Pokémon Go”, then you must have knowledge about Augmented Reality. It is different from Virtual Reality in terms of offering better graphical interaction with what’s displayed on the website to its users. For instance, if you run a store selling wristwatches, you may allow users to take a picture of their wrist and try out different watches before zeroing on one that looks perfect on their wrist. This will immediately offer them better experience and would surely increase your sales.

Experts believe that all these technologies would be widely used on the Internet in less than five years. Hence, you have no time to lose if you want to stay ahead of your competition. So, gear up now and start upgrading your website!