What do web users really like? More importantly, what do they really want? The average web user has relatively no idea of what goes on behind the scenes of a website. They generally don’t care if a site runs on PHP, Joomla, ASP.Net or plain old HTML. What they do care about is the functionality of a website and how it can benefit them.

So what are some of the innovations of recent web design and development that web users are warming to? By knowing the answer to this you can more easily implement user friendly features into your site design.

Social Networking
When you think of social networking you probably automatically think of Facebook, MySpace or YouTube. But every site can have an aspect of social networking, even if the site is not a social networking site itself per se. Social networking on a website might involve adding bookmarking links so that users can bookmark and tag your page on social sites like Digg, Reddit, Twitter and the myriad of other sites out there.

Photo Galleries
Gone are the days of clicking a thumbnail photo to have a larger version open in a new window. To stay relevant nowadays you need to implement a full photo gallery type design. This means coding a gallery from the ground up or using one of the excellent free or paid scripts available. Many modern photo gallery scripts make use of AJAX technologies to incorporate features otherwise not available with static languages.

Maps
Google maps has literally changed the way people map their business online. Search results for business names and types now bring up Google map listings at the top of the results page. That means even if you aren’t listed on the first page of the regular results, your business can still get exposure at the top of the search results page simply by being plotted on a Google map.

Reviews
Reviews aren’t exactly an innovation but they are a necessity nowadays. If you are selling or talking about any type of product or service on your site then it is ideal to have a section where people can submit their honest reviews. This consumer to consumer recommendation pattern is heavily shaping people’s buying patterns online.

Web innovations come and go all the time so it is important that you can have the foresight to know what will stick around for the long term and what is particularly useful for your visitors.

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