Fast user response
A key element of an effective UX is a speedy response to user input, but with a standard website, users are left waiting for interactions to take place as requests are placed over HTTP (or HTTPS) to the server, resulting in a complete page load for every change. This process occurs with every mouse click to request a new page, larger image, or more information; the DOM is completely thrown out and reloaded into your browser — this is often a wasteful process when loading pages on the same site, since they typically have similar content.

Seamless UX
Gaining control over how a website loads content creates a unique opportunity to design page transitions, loading animations, and visual cues that help the user understand the site’s hierarchy. This is also an opportunity for creativity with the company’s branding. A website with a 100% AJAX framework (because there is no full page load) does not provide feedback about its progress loading in the browser window, leading to potential confusion if a visitor is left waiting for an extended period of time with no response. This is where custom loading status indicators come into play, providing some indication that progress is being made during wait time.

Taking control over the URL path using HTML5 history
Without individual page loads, a site is defined by having a single URL, causing problems on poorly built AJAX sites as users attempt to bookmark, or navigate using their browser’s forward and backward buttons. In addition, because Google’s search engine crawler historically did not read JavaScript, there have been concerns about how well AJAX-powered sites could be retrieved in Google’s organic search results. Both of these conditions are solved by gaining control over the URL path using the HTML5 history API. Each page of a 100% AJAX site and its alternate views are considered their own request; as you navigate through an AJAX site — even though it is technically a single page load — the URL in the browser updates to provide a unique address representing the current viewing state. In addition, we can listen for history change events in order to support the browser’s back button and return the previous viewing state. Each of these unique URLs are fully indexed by Google, meaning that this approach is fully compatible and helpful for SEO.
In conclusion
As you can see, AJAX is integral to the advancement of modern web development and supplants a number of inferior technologies that provided a poor user experience. Without AJAX, all page content had to be fully reloaded for almost every single user interaction, even if only some of the information had changed. This hindered speed, placed additional load on the server and used excessive bandwidth. By building on a 100% AJAX framework, we are able to create sites that are customized to the needs of clients, provide accessible navigation that can be bookmarked by site visitors, and that function on a much higher level. Featured image, data stream image via Shutterstock.Mira Brody
Mira Brody is a copywriter and editor at Montana web design firm JTech Communications, where she's a member of the custom web development team providing technical writing and creating brand personas for a diverse array of clients.
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