3 Website Optimization Trends (That Aren’t AI) To Watch For the Rest of 2024 and Beyond

If there is any single pattern emerging around website optimization beyond the integration of AI, it’s that web experiences continue to evolve. With continuous advancements in technology and user expectations, organizations staying on top of the latest changes and trends are more likely to stand out in a crowded market.

As we enter the final quarter of 2024 and look ahead to 2025, we want to highlight the website optimization strategies that have pulled ahead. With AI integration occupying most of the spotlight, let’s explore the non-AI trends also driving significant advancements in user experience and website optimization. We’ll also examine how A/B testing can help your organization adopt these trends effectively for your unique audiences.

1. Mobile App Optimization

For some organizations, mobile apps have become a primary way that users interact with their brand. Particularly as we approach the holiday season, mobile apps are valuable channels for revenue and growth. As organizations aim for website optimization, it’s easy to overlook what should be another top priority: optimizing mobile web experiences and mobile apps. If you’re wondering how to make sure your mobile platforms are optimized for both performance and user experience, using mobile A/B testing tools can set you up for success.

Why You Need Mobile Optimization

Broadly speaking, technology has become faster and easier to use. For companies across industries, there’s a lot more to do just to keep up. Mobile app users today will quickly lose patience if your app is slow, poorly designed, or lacking the features expected from a modern mobile experience. Optimizing your mobile apps with experimentation is a straightforward way to make them faster and more intuitive, personalized, feature-rich, and reliable. If you’ve struggled with app offloads and negative reviews, it’s time to bring in some A/B and multivariate tests.

Keep in mind that while optimizing your mobile app is meant to help it run faster and more smoothly for users, it is also designed to provide a better user journey that drives higher engagement and conversion rates. Need to build up some brand loyalty? Across competitive markets, mobile app optimization is the latest trend helping organizations reach their audiences more effectively, address their needs and preferences, and increase retention.

How A/B Testing Can Help

A/B testing remains an essential tool for mobile app optimization whether you’re testing load times, user flows, design, or new algorithms. The advantage of testing is that your organization receives real user data that you can then use to make better product decisions. Instead of making concrete changes built on guesses, experimentation allows you to let your users tell you firsthand what they want, leading to tangible, measurable improvements in your chosen KPIs.

For the greatest efficiency and flexibility, hybrid testing solutions can deliver. Instead of worrying about timing tests and changes to major code releases, you can upgrade your app as you go. That means your team will have more opportunities to focus on understanding user behavior and the freedom to test, refine, and iterate continuously.

2. Site Speed and Performance

The average time spent on a webpage is 54 seconds. That means your pages must engage and inform website visitors quickly—beginning with the initial load. Most users now expect websites to load almost instantly, which means site speed and performance are critical factors in website optimization and conversion.

Quick load times are part of delivering a seamless user experience, and they can also improve engagement, increase page views, and positively impact conversion rates. If your organization puts off addressing slow load times, consequences can range from higher bounce rates, negative perceptions of your brand, and a tangible loss in revenue.

Core Web Vitals in Website Optimization

Core Web Vitals have become a key focal point for website optimization, and for good reason. The Google-led metrics provide a broader view and assessment of site speed than Time to First Byte (TTFB) alone by tracking metrics such as responsiveness and visual stability along with speed.

The three most important metrics include Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures loading performance; Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which tracks visual stability; and Interaction to Next Paint (INP), a way to measure responsiveness and users’ ability to interact with your website. Together, these metrics comprise the bigger picture of how users experience your site.

By prioritizing A/B testing campaigns intended to improve these metrics, your organization can increase content load speeds and improve interactivity. It’s important here to use a testing solution that will not add latency and flicker. Tag-based A/B testing tools cause these issues—which introduce a negative bias into your experiments—and try to overcome them by turning to anti-flicker snippets that hide content and delay page load. These extra changes to your testing variations are ultimately likely to frustrate your users and negatively impact Core Web Vitals metrics like LCP.

So how do you guarantee stable visual layouts? SiteSpect’s patented transformation engine doesn’t rely on tags, meaning your organization can avoid these challenges altogether. It’s the fastest solution available on the market, helping your team run smooth A/B tests without compromising page speed or any other aspects of the user experience.

With the adoption of Core Web Vitals directly affecting user behavior and factoring into your search results rankings, these metrics are doubly valuable to your organization. Having a faster, more responsive site increases your organization’s chances of ranking well and reaching more prospective customers. You’ll also see benefits across SEO, bounce rates, and user engagement. With so much potential payoff, understanding and introducing best practices around Core Web Vitals should now be an essential part of your website optimization strategy.

How A/B Testing Can Help

Experimentation is an indispensable tool for your team as you work toward optimizing site speed. By testing different versions—lighter images or faster-loading scripts, for example—you can more easily identify the changes that slim down load times without compromising any elements of the user experience. A/B testing methods allow your organization to make data-driven decisions about which optimizations are most effective for your site.

Unfortunately, not all A/B testing tools will perform the same. Many client-side tools use JavaScript tags to implement variations, leading to a very noticeable lag of up to 1,400ms of additional load time. SiteSpect applies variations within the flow of traffic so that your organization doesn’t have to sacrifice performance (and possibly revenue) to run experiments and make optimizations.

3. Zero-Based Redesigns (ZBR)

Our final growing trend in website optimization for 2024 is Zero-Based Redesign (ZBR). The difference between ZBR and a traditional redesign is that ZBR involves starting over from scratch as opposed to making minor tweaks and adjustments to existing processes and flows. This gives your organization the chance to reimagine your website optimizations based on current user needs and your evolving business goals.

The benefit of ZBR is that it removes outdated elements that have been allowed to remain, whether out of habit or lack of resources. This paves the way for a refreshed, data-driven approach that aligns with your users current expectations around speed and usability. You’ll have more room for creativity and innovation that are no longer held back by the way you’ve always optimized before, leading to a streamlined website that performs even better across your most important metrics.

How A/B Testing Can Help

ZBR might seem like a total overhaul at first glance—and that’s because it is. As with any website optimization changes you make that affect your users, A/B testing can help guide your ZBR strategy. Experimentation adds some structure to the process by enabling you to see how your users respond to new flows and features throughout the redesign.

This improves your chances of success by reducing the risks associated with making such dramatic changes and proving with data that your updates are true optimizations. Testing new designs and features ensures the new site is optimized for performance and user engagement from the start.

For organizations seeking innovative website optimization practices through 2024 and into 2025, ZBR offers a bold approach. Combined with your broader process of experimentation, ZBR can help you develop a more effective, up-to-date website that offers an industry-leading user experience.

Final Thoughts

As we wrap up 2024 and look ahead to 2025, staying on top of the most effective website optimization trends is a great strategy for increasing conversions and revenue. Organizations that choose to embrace top innovative trends in website optimization—mobile apps, site speed, and zero-based redesign—will be ideally positioned to optimize their websites for both better site performance and user experience.

A/B testing offers up an approach to implementing new features effectively while keeping your website fast and responsive. Ready to make data-backed decisions and refine your approach to website optimization?

Stay ahead of the curve with these trends and begin optimizing your site today. Request a demo to see how SiteSpect’s A/B testing platform helps your organization hone your website optimization strategy.