If you have been working with WordPress for a long time, then you probably had these moments of doubt: maybe it is not the right CMS to invest your time and money in. And maybe it’s worth ditching it and pouring energy into something else?
Well, WordPress is not perfect. But there must be a reason why it’s the most popular CMS in the world. One of the answers to this puzzle is that it relies on a huge community of users, contributors, and SaaS companies. So far, it seems like it can balance. But what’s going to be next in our turbulent world? So, please welcome predictions from the Crocoblock team for 2024.
Andrew Shevchenko, CTO
💡And his developer-oriented vision
Site Editor
WordPress has been working on Site Editor for quite a long time so far. It has been officially merged into the core, albeit in Beta, and the first themes that fully support it have already appeared. It still lacks some things that will make it a full-fledged website builder able to rise to the level of Elementor, Bricks, Divi, etc. But if they are added in 2024, it will bring WordPress to another level.
Increased competition between builders
Divi has announced the new version, the new Breakdance builder from Oxygen’s creators, the rise of Bricks, and new products on the market trying to recreate something similar to those-kind-of-builders user experience but based on a native block builder. So, there are more and more players in the market, and they will try to out-compete each other. It’s going to lead to the development of new features by each of them. Users will only benefit from it because each part will try to attract them, making impossible-to-resist offers.
Focus on performance and accessibility
This trend has been there for several years so far, and it will only evolve. Performance increasingly affects search rankings, and accessibility issues can lead to lawsuits. That’s why every WordPress site owner will pay great attention to these two topics.
Headless WordPress and static websites
This point is based on the previous one. Static websites allow you to achieve maximum performance. It is also a new step in terms of site security. Existing solutions still have some limitations regarding dynamic content, forms, etc. If some new solutions fix these issues, it can lead to a dramatic rise in the popularity of static sites.
Block themes
This is no longer a trend but a question. With the advent of the block editor, the way WordPress themes can look has been largely reimagined. Even now, block themes in combination with Site Editor provide significant opportunities, such as registering basic templates for different website parts and allowing users to edit them with the Editor. We couldn’t have imagined this level of flexibility and interaction in the previous WordPress versions.
New SaaS solutions based on WordPress
The growth in popularity of SaaS solutions in recent years has already motivated some of the major WordPress market players to look in this direction. So far, the most striking example is Elementor Cloud. From a business point of view, SaaS-based on a subscription model is one of the best solutions to increase user retention for as long as possible; therefore, in the face of growing competition, I think many will follow the same path in the near future.
Lana Miro, Content and Partnership Manager
💡And her market-oriented accents
Microbloggers’ popularity is growing even more
They will have even more influence because there are a variety of plugins, solutions, and things to talk about and write about. So, everyone can have their own niche: for giving opinions, teaching, and, of course, promoting products.
Community first
Once upon a time, the grass was greener, and you could have a blog that people actually read. Probably, it’s time to separate the wheat from the chaffs and follow exactly those influencers that cover the particular topics we are interested in. Also, the growth of Facebook communities and platforms like OpenPress contributes to the development of this trend.
No-code tools growth
People who have great ideas and want to build their products don’t have to spend years on becoming great programmers to build their projects, right? Actually, it’s the initial philosophy of WordPress. And it will evolve even more.
With the Site Editor growth, we might not be dependent on builders too much
Site Editor is something we can’t ignore. So, classic drag-and-drop builders’ future will not be the same. Or will they have to offer something incredible to compete with SE? Let’s see.
Useful content
Google has become pickier and pickier and really focused on useful content. So, I hope there will be even more websites that bring value to their customers.
Oleksandr Vizolmyrskyi, Email Marketing Manager
💡And even more marketing-oriented predictions
Security
I think WordPress will put all its efforts into increasing security and preventing unauthorized access to critical files.
Quality
It would be amazing to make it somehow impossible to install themes that contain “dirty” code and do not correspond to today’s realities in terms of performance, that is, to strengthen the requirements for developers of themes and plugins, forcing them to optimize their products even better.
Optimization
Some built-in optimization settings for beginner users, so they can make fast sites without being confused, would be great.
Mobile app
A full-fledged mobile application for managing the administrative part is also sorely lacking.
NOTE
You can edit your WordPress website using a mobile browser.
Julia Kovtun, Project Manager
💡The Crocoblock’s pillar of enlightenment
Education resources for advanced users
I would like to say a few words about WordPress education resources. In my opinion, there will be more and more online courses for advanced users, or a set of courses, as there will be subdivisions on different levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced. I guess this is what WordPress users really want. And this idea is gradually being implemented by different bloggers – they launch courses in marketing and design, so I hope there will be more educational materials with a solid structure for WordPress users, also in a text form.
TikTok
Will WordPress be properly represented on TikTok? I don’t think so. I guess YouTube will still lead in this niche.
Andrew Prudnikov, Head of Support
💡And his supportive thoughts
Number of websites
I think the total number of websites powered by WordPress will decrease a little.
The eCommerce niche will grow, and more plugins will appear for it and Gutenberg. As to support, I think even more will be invested in analyzing customers and their interaction with the product, and, as a result, support will become proactive.
AI in tech support
The AI share in technical support should be developed more and more every year.
But except that, there should be an even more personalized approach to support with a greater intensity of communication.
Marharyta Kapila, Social Media Manager
💡On business and communities made for people
Communities with a human face
Social networks and communities are becoming more humane, and brands are closer to their audience. This distance will only decrease. So, share stories from real life, talk about difficulties, and be honest, but remember to keep a mystery 😉.
More TikTok
This is also related to humanity because people are now more likely to watch expert advice on TikTok than to search for complex articles. So, talk about your product there more and more. Also, it’s a great platform for selling things.
Mark Kernytskiy, Senior SEO Specialist
💡On SEO trends in 2024
Useful content
Recent Google updates, such as spam or useful content updates, give us clear signals about what Google is looking for. It wants content to meet user needs and answer their questions. I believe this trend will continue in 2024, and only high-quality content can achieve high positions in search results. Backlinks will also remain important in 2024 as a key factor in SEO.
AI content
The main SEO prediction for 2024 is that AI-generated content will become more common and its quality will improve, but copywriting still won’t be replaced.
To Wrap It Up
I wonder, who creates WordPress websites? Let me guess and break it down into just two major groups:
- freelancers or agencies who are focused on web design, new tools and features, and digital marketing;
- business owners who, in the first place, are focused on commercial success, user-friendly interfaces of platforms, and, well, design and content if it can bring more clients.
The truth is WordPress can actually make both of those categories happy. But let’s face one important fact: you can’t get a perfect product without investing anything. Legends say you can just buy a subscription for a web service that will do all the job for you, no matter the purpose, architecture, and expected revenue of your project. But in reality, you have to wrap your head around the project and have some knowledge and skills.
In Crocoblock, we are happy to have one more year delivering the best solutions for dynamic content for you.
Yours sincerely,
Crocoblock Team ❤️.
