What is the future of WordPress in the coming days? Is it bright? Will the number one content management system retain its throne? We’ll share our thoughts and predictions of the future of WordPress as well as WooCommerce.
Why WordPress is the Big Daddy on the web?
Powering more around 455 million websites, WordPress is the number 1 solution for millions of website owners and admins.
Many famous websites, business profiles, personal and celebrity blogs are based on this wonderful platform.
Cost-effectiveness, ease-of-use and customization, multilingual support, GPL licensed nature, there seems to be no end to the plus points. Everything is done to make this excellent platform even more refined and improved.
If you are a fan of history, you can read about how WordPress became the number one content management platform.
In a nutshell, WordPress is an extremely convenient platform for web content publication and blogging. Moreover, you are free to use and modify it the way you need without facing any license or permission issues.
WordPress benefits that proves the future is…
Here are some of the advantages of WordPress-
Pocket-friendly
Building a website with WordPress won’t cast a hole in your pocket. Surely! Maintenance costs are less as well. You don’t have to hire a developer every time to make some changes.
Update flexibility
You can make changes to your website from anywhere…with an internet connection!
SEO Ready
All the WordPress websites are built using a simple code. This makes it ideal for Google indexing. The SEO components of each page are customizable. Thus, giving you complete control of your website’s performance.
Responsive design
Use a custom WordPress website design and you won’t need to develop a separate website for each device.
Increased security
Hire expert WordPress developers, get a highly secure website for your business.
Content marketing
WordPress is optimized for content marketing. WordPress enables you to update the content on your website in a few seconds and you can do it as frequently as you want.
These benefits are enough to guarantee that the future of WordPress is not going downhill anytime soon! Right?
Now, the main part – future changes in different aspects of WordPress development.
So, what’s the future of WordPress?
Gutenberg
Now, WordPress aims to revolutionize the editing and writing experience for its users. This is why they are working to make Gutenberg the next WordPress editor.
Gutenberg is a new revolutionary editor to let you edit your web content and posts in WordPress with new features and possibilities. Less time, more content and image management controls, no coding… the advantages of Gutenberg are plenty.
It was released as a plugin for testing and developers are anxious to get valuable feedback. The aim is to make your layout, pictures, and words look good on screen, as you would expect them to be without the use of any code.
Here’s the roadmap on WordPress new version releases.
REST API and WP Accessibility Plugin
The addition of the REST API feature put WordPress several paces away from its competitors. It is no longer a mere CMS, but an application framework. REST APIs and the WP Accessibility Plugin make it easier for developers to create user-friendly platforms that everyone can use.
Developments in this direction include:
- Easier navigation design
- Captioned media
- Voice search capabilities (which coincides with the rising popularity of voice-enabled smart speakers).
There’s also the WordPress theme directory where developers and designers from around the world can upload accessibility-ready themes.
The growth of ecommerce websites
Currently, 26% of WordPress websites use WooCommerce. As more businesses move online due to lockdowns, a few improvements are expected:
- Better ecommerce integrations
- New payment methods (can also include cryptocurrencies)
- Faster and safer checkout processes
Security
Managing your site won’t change by much but as the WordPress user base expands, you can expect to see the uptake of advanced security solutions.
Managed WordPress hosts can expect to shoulder the burden of security as more beginners join. Developers will have a greater need to improve their products and raise awareness about WordPress site security.
Besides, plans are underway to introduce Tide (automated AI tools to check vulnerabilities in plugins and themes), so that the WordPress core can verify that plugin and theme downloads are correct.
However, you can’t ignore the regular practices – strong passwords, installation of SSL and renaming the admin accounts.
Support
As more people join the WordPress world, expect more managed WordPress companies to enter.
Managed WordPress hosts will improve their support to cater to the new changes as well as the diverse needs of their customers.
Community
WordPress has grown steadily in the last ten years, and with it the community.
WordPress is now better placed to compete with solutions such as Wix, Shopify, and Squarespace, which with new improvements such as the Gutenberg editor.
Moreover, more developers will view WordPress as more than just a “blogging platform.” As such, more developers will depend on WordPress to run all manner of web and mobile apps.
But some developers don’t prefer WordPress
Because these developers want to test their skills in design and development and not use ready-made themes.
There is also a possibility that some of the traditional developers are not open to adopting WordPress.
Moreover, converting your HTML design or Photoshop to WordPress can be a task. Such conversion would require some knowledge of various technologies.
Nevertheless, it’s a personal call.
The future of WooCommerce
When we talk so much about WordPress, how come WooCommerce be left behind!
WooCommerce being part of that company that owns WordPress, expect all good things!
Compared to other WordPress ecommerce plugins, WooCommerce enjoys almost 93% share. That’s huge! In other words, it’s a one-man show.
WooCommerce sells 600+ official extensions and it’s growing. The WordPress directory shows 6000+ plugins with WooCommerce in the title.
This proves the graph is towards the upward side, with no signs of slowing down.
Pros
- WooCommerce offers complete customization and control.
- WordPress has a huge community online.
- The themes and plugins are endless, since just about anyone can make and sell them online.
- WooCommerce is simple to configure on WordPress.
- The WooCommerce plugin is free.
Cons
- You need to spend some time on hosting, security, maintenance, and backups.
- Sometimes it may feel expensive due to plugins, themes, and hosting but it’s definitely worth if you see the pros.
No matter what, using WooCommerce is the best choice you had made or will make.
Some must-have WooCommerce plugins for 2023
Here are some WooCommerce extensions that will make 2023 a superb year in terms of sales and loyal customers.
- Smart Coupons – All-in-one and best-selling coupon management solution. Credits, vouchers, product giveaways, offers and promotions.
- Affiliate For WooCommerce – Simple plugin to run your own affiliate program. Super easy, jargon free, powerful features…
- Smart Offers – Powerful sales funnels and offers plugin with extensive targeting rules. Upsells, cross-sells, BOGO, order bump, etc.
- Smart Manager – Bulk manage products, variations, customers, orders, coupons, any WordPress custom post type using Excel-like spreadsheet.
- WooCommerce Bookings – Let your customers book reservations, appointments or rentals on their own – no phone calls required.
- WooCommerce Subscriptions – Create and manage products with recurring payments easily.
- PDA Gold – WooCommerce Integration – A powerful solution to secure WooCommerce digital downloads by download limits and expiration time. Restrict access to WooCommerce order page and stop sharing product files by IP addresses.
Conclusion
Well, WordPress already powers about 30% of the net. Its possible WordPress will power more than 35% of the internet by 2023. That’s huge!
With all the above-mentioned points, the future of WordPress is bright and becomes brighter with each new update and tools.
If you’re in doubt, both WordPress and WooCommerce ain’t going anywhere soon, which means you should jump in right now.
Keep sharing such amazing posts, it really educates us and keeps us updated in day to day life!