Websites are Changing. Here's What Business Owners Should Know.

The future we envisioned is often absolutely nothing like what we could have forecasted.

In fact, this tends to especially be true in marketing.

The BEST we can do to predict trends is by studying history and using commonalities and personal nuance to identify:

What will make our lives easier.

What will help us reach our goals.

What will change how we communicate.

The reason AI has so much discussion around in some way, it changes all of these things.

Perhaps most meaningfully, how people are consuming information.

As I talk to hundreds of small business owners and implement marketing/ website solutions for my clients at MMG Design, I see what the threads of successful efforts are.

Nobody can predict the future. But here is a quick summary of how AI changes the trends of a website and some quick wins on how to “futureproof” it for yourself.

The Rise of Personalized, AI-Driven Experiences

Static and cookie-cutter websites aren’t going to cut it for much longer. The future belongs to highly personalized, AI-driven experiences. Imagine a website that adapts in real-time to each visitor, offering tailored content, product recommendations, and interactions based on their unique preferences and behavior.

Key Features of a ‘Futureproof’ Website:

AI Integration as Primary Navigators

Advanced and Tailored AI will guide visitors through your site, answering questions and providing personalized recommendations.

This is most commonly seen through text-based conversational interfaces, like a chatbot or trained model on company information.

Dynamic, Multimodal Content:

Your Website should start to seamlessly integrate text, video, and audio, automatically adjusting to user preferences and device capabilities.

Hyper-Personalization:

Every aspect of the site, from content to layout, should be customized for each visitor based on their data and behavior.

Interactive Product / Service Demos:

AI-generated videos and interactive demos will showcase your products or services in a way that resonates with each individual user.

Emotion AI Integration:

Websites will (creepily enough) use sentiment analysis to gauge user emotions and adjust the experience accordingly.

Sentiment Analysis is basically a subset of NLP (Natural Language Processing) in AI tools that uses machine learning to train computer software that has human “emotion” parameters.

Preparing for the Future

A few “Right now” strategies, mindsets, and habits to adopt as these features more common.

Invest in AI Integration in your Marketing

Start with AI chatbots and gradually expand to more advanced AI-driven personalization into your website.

Besides keeping you updated on the forecasts in AI, MMG Design also implements AI tools such as these and many others into marketing solutions for clients.

Embrace Video Content

Utilizing AI-powered video creation tools will help produce personalized, scalable video content. Turn on that camera and get comfortable speaking to customers and clients… this goes so much further than you think.

Focus on Data Collection and Analysis

Gather and analyze user data to fuel your personalization efforts. Build or invest in a robust CRM that will make it easier for your business to keep track of what comes through the pipeline.

Experiment with New Tools and Multimodal Interfaces

“There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge… observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.”

Begin incorporating voice and visual interfaces alongside traditional text-based interactions. There will be tools, such as more robust chatbots, that are released in the coming weeks/months that will make it more accessible and easier to use for small business owners.

Prioritize User Experience:

As websites become more complex, ensuring a smooth, intuitive user experience will be more critical than ever.

The future of a traditional “website” is exciting and full of just so full of exciting possibilities.

I try and keep my finger on the pulse of these things frequently as I build MMG Design, because as with any role, the parameters of expertise change to fit the times.

One thing I do know for sure:

Acknowledging a changing reality empowers a lot more to take advantage of it when it comes.

Denying that marketing channels change or how our jobs look, helps nobody.

If you would like any of these tools in your marketing efforts or have questions about the implementation, you can book a free call or connect with Andy Milligan for more useful Entrepreneurship and Design Content