Machine learning (ML) has shown great promise in various industries. Its applications have revolutionized the world of data analysis, predictive modeling, customer targeting, and personalization. But it doesn’t end there.
In web development, ML is being leveraged to great advantage. The current trends in the field focus on creating dynamic websites and customer-centered online business solutions—all of which can be restructured by implementing certain applications of ML.
This cutting-edge technology can be used to give users a customized experience and make them far more likely to browse a website for longer and keep coming back to engage with the brand.
Before we get into how machine learning is changing web development, let’s understand a bit more about the concept in general.
What Is Machine Learning?
A branch of Artificial Intelligence, machine learning focuses on feeding data and algorithms into computer systems to imitate how humans learn. This, in turn, improves AI’s accuracy and reliability.
ML enables computers to automatically learn from existing data through the development of algorithms. ML’s applications, which are designed with the purpose of simplifying work, have led to increased accuracy and efficiency in various industries: marketing, software development, retail, customer service, and more.
Today, machine learning is becoming an integral part of the evolution of web development.
5 Ways Machine Learning is Changing Web Development
Let’s look at some ways ML promises to make the lives of web developers easier:
1. Better Insights on Customer Behavior
Before customizing a website, it’s important to gather insights into your visitors’ behavioral patterns. Machine learning algorithms analyze data on customer behavior very quickly and generate actionable insights for your web development team. Whether the data is demographic, geographic, cultural, or otherwise, the technology provides a window into the world of a website’s frequent visitors.
After identifying important browsing patterns, such as purchase intent and churn, website designers can innovate with customer targeting measures that keep visitors on the website and entice them to come back for more.
The user experience insight that ML data provides is invaluable for any developer.
2. Personalization
Once a large amount of user data is gathered, web developers can create a personalized experience for individual users. Algorithms can analyze browsing behavior, location, and search history to suggest products or services that an individual user may be interested in based on their past browsing behavior.
Take YouTube, for instance. The social media platform uses machine learning to recommend videos that people would want to watch next, along with personalized ads depending on what they have recently watched. Another great example is Netflix. As many as 75% of subscribers choose films or TV shows generated by the platform’s algorithm. On the retail side, suggestions for similar and related products can bump e-commerce sales.
There are hundreds of examples of websites that use machine learning to improve user personalization. The potential is immense.
3. Chatbots
Individually sifting through and responding to customer requests and inquiries take up a lot of human effort and working hours. The introduction of chatbots for customer inquiries has come in to save the day.
Chatbots understand natural, casual language and can respond intelligently to most questions, saving a lot of time and answering many more inquiries than a human customer service team can.
They are so accurate and efficient, in fact, that chatbots can handle nearly 70% of chats from beginning to end, with no need for human intervention.
Widely adopted in e-commerce, chatbots are now revolutionizing the world of web development. They reduce customer service costs while increasing customer satisfaction, both important goals for web developers.
4. Content Curation
ML technologies have a proven record in content curation. It creates relevant and unique content for websites, saving a lot of time and money.
Artificial Intelligence systems are able to repurpose old content and break it up into various short-form formats. AI can also identify and tackle repetitive content in several hundred languages. Further, these intelligent algorithms create reports on how website content is performing by reading and analyzing large amounts of user data in an instant.
In terms of web development, this is a goldmine. With the amount of time web designers save on content creation, they can instead focus their attention on creating a superior graphical interface that attracts vast audiences.
5. Security and Fraud Detection
Preventing fraudulent activities on websites is one of the most critical responsibilities of any web developer. Password leaks, credit card fraud, and identity theft are just some of the security threats that threaten user safety. Protecting website visitors is one of the most critical aspects of creating a website that focuses heavily on customer experience.
Machine learning can help in this case by detecting and preventing security threats quickly and without human intervention. ML algorithms constantly analyze data to find patterns. Any deviation from these regular patterns can be exceptionally useful in detecting malware or identity threats.
Outside the world of web development, ML technologies have already proven helpful in predicting “bad neighborhood” websites and have kept users safe while browsing the internet. Furthermore, ML and AI have been used to detect suspicious cloud login activity and location-based abnormalities linked to security risks.
Do You Need Help Optimizing Your Website?
Website development is a staggering process for any web designer. It involves many checks and balances that require quite a bit of time and manpower to get right. But with machine learning and AI-powered tools, it can all be made a lot easier.
However, these applications are still new and can be confusing to implement and get right.
At Ayokay, we have years of experience in website design and optimization. Our team has the knowledge and expertise to ensure your website remains safe and secure while taking advantage of all the latest technologies available.
Contact us today to see how we can help you!
Jack Shepler is a Marketing and Search Engine Optimization expert. He founded Ayokay, award-winning marketing, and web design firm in Indianapolis, Indiana that has built brands, increased sales for businesses, and helped nonprofit organizations fulfill their missions since 2011. He uses his decades of experience to educate through the Ayokay blog and through public speaking. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
