Web Trends in 2010

Tommy Humphreys

| January 4, 2010

Image by: Appworld

In 2009, the world came to your pocket. What's next? Looking into his crystal ball, Tommy Humphreys makes five predictions about web trends in 2010.

While I think most of us are ready to forget about 2009, it’s important to remember that it was still a pretty good year for the Web: mobile got mainstream, apps got huge, and Twitter exploded. Now, with a new decade around the corner, here are a few predictions for what will be BIG in 2010.

Apps will make your life easier

Apps are set to explode in 2010. There are hundreds of thousands of Web people like myself looking at conventional processes and asking themselves, how can I make this easier? My favourite example is Ballpark, a brilliant Web app for estimating and invoicing created right here in B.C. — if you're a contractor or service provider, give it a try. Apps are only getting simpler to build, so watch for more niche products perfect for your small business to enter the market this year.

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Specialized businesses will dominate

Firms that narrow their focus will have more success than their generalist counterparts, who will continue to fight price wars and struggle with SEO. The blog WinWithoutPitching.com is a great first stop for consultants and creative types who want to improve their positioning.

Content will continue to reign

It’s been said before, but it seems like more companies are finally starting to get it: Content is King on the Web, and it's what differentiates your brand. Write articles, answer questions, and make your website a resource for your clients, and you will land more leads.

Grownups will play more games

With GPS-enabled smart phones, it’s easier than ever to organize addicting games among groups of friends. Services like FourSquare and Gowalla only scratch the surface: I think we’ll see a proliferation of apps that turn chores into challenges and make dull tasks fun. In fact, my company is working on one right now — stay tuned for more.

Less will finally be more

At long last, Web design is trending towards simplicity and away from the Noisy, Cluttered Mess approach (cough, GoDaddy.com, cough). Today, your site needs to state clearly and directly what makes you different — and if you don't know what makes you different, call my fellow blogger David Alison and he'll beat it out of you. Big, green buttons that say Click Here don't hurt, either.

So what does this mean for your business? After all, it’s not all fun and games on the Web.
Still, I think it’s more important than ever to embrace change and embrace technology; to find your voice and get your message out there; to take risks and try new things. If 2009 was any indication, we should be in for an interesting ride.

What do you think is going to be big in 2010?

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I think 2010 is going to the

Submitted by johnballard (not verified) on Sat, 2010-02-06 02:42.

I think 2010 is going to the year of gadgets even last year we had some fantastic gadgets launched in through out the year and i have enjoyed the launches as this year only apple has already launched the i-pad and many more gadgets to come. thanks : fake watches

Another great post Tommy. I

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2010-01-04 16:23.

Another great post Tommy. I second the endorsement of Ballpark. If I didn't know Andrew I would assume it was made by elves. It feels magical. I think there are also going to be a lot more conversational interfaces for solving problems. Aardvark and ChaCha are the first two really successful examples from this generation of web companies, but there will soon be more. It just feels so nice to phrase your query for a human, and evolve it based on a conversation, instead of just jamming keywords into a little box and hoping for the result you had in mind.

Thanks, Jeff! It's ironic

Submitted by TommyHump (not verified) on Mon, 2010-01-04 15:36.

Thanks, Jeff! It's ironic that the place you go to get a new website (GoDaddy) makes you not want to use the internet at all. Cheers, Tommy

Tommy, GR8 Entry! Very

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2010-01-04 15:17.

Tommy, GR8 Entry! Very relevant & will likely will be very accurate about this time near the end of 2010. I particularly enjoyed (and can relate *cough, cough*) to the GoDaddy.com bit. GoDaddy & Yahoo (with their *vominous*) homepage are in many ways *relics* of the past. Best, HNBD (Jeff Arsenault)

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