May 27, 2003 – an ordinary day for most people.
But, this was the day when a revolutionary idea was born.
On May 27, 2003, an English and an American developer came together to release what would become the frontrunner in the digital world.
Yes, that was when WordPress was released.
17 years later, it has become the most used CMS with a 61.8 % market share. And it powers almost 35% of the web today.
Available in 196 languages, WordPress is sure not a one-time wonder. And it is running on the shoulders of a mere 1,148 employees working from 72 countries.
A competent lot, isn’t it?
There are around 2.28 billion Google search results related to WordPress. Now, it is easy to assume that WordPress is a website builder, CMS, and a complete business solution that gives you the power to do all that needs to be done to manage your web presence.
But, stop before you start creating a website with WordPress on your own. It is important that you understand how far it has come from the beginning. And, of course, how much potential it holds to evolve and grow in the future.
Contents
The Evolution of WordPress – A Look at the Past
Let’s understand how WordPress came a long way from a being just a blogging platform to a complete CMS solution –
WordPress has been continually responding to the demand for advanced features.
With minor updates being rolled out almost every week, WordPress has 37 versions till now. The latest version, 5.5 Eckstine, was rolled out on August 11, 2020. It came with lazy load image additions, enhancements to the block editor, and auto-update for plugins and themes. Also, there were default XML sitemaps.
Enhanced mobile responsiveness
When WordPress was launched in 2003, mobile phones weren’t that common. But, things have changed fast since then. And WordPress has taken note of that. You can create a mobile version of your website and get several mobile responsive plugins.
WordPress hasn’t faltered in helping website owners cater to their audience on mobile devices.
And it is not just the frontend that is mobile responsive. WordPress offers mobile-friendly backend website administration options too. Since its version 3.8 that was released in 2014, WordPress has made everything mobile-friendly.
If someone in the digital space has understood the pulse of changing times and kept up with the changes, WordPress is for sure.
Plugins, Themes, and infinite possibilities.
There are 54,000 plus plugins available from WordPress.org. No matter what you want to do, there is a fair chance that there is a WordPress plugin to do that. And then there are thousands of third-party plugins too. Some of which are free and some others that need to be paid for.
There are over 4,000 themes in the WordPress theme directory. And several others made available by third-party vendors.
With that kind of an evolution journey, it is clear that WordPress is ever-evolving.
Most businesses today have a WordPress website development company offering them backend support. It is because it can get really confusing and time-consuming to make use of all that WordPress offers on your own
Another fascinating fact about WordPress is that it isn’t at the end of its evolutionary journey. Predictions from industry experts suggest that WordPress is evolving now, more than ever before.
Evolution of WordPress – A look ahead
Here are wonders that we can expect from WordPress in the future
The Bots
According to statistical insights offered by Invesp, 40% of customers don’t care if they are talking to a bot or a human. Provided that their queries are being answered. And WordPress has been quick in taking note of this.
There are already several plugins that allow businesses to set up chatbots. And, in turn, stay available for clients round the clock.
And these chatbots are set to get smarter in the future. WordPress chatbot plugins are expected to get more advanced to ease customer experience.
The only problem it poses is for DIYers. They will need to look for a WordPress website development company that can effectively manage these complex plugins.
Motion UI and Video Backgrounds
WordPress isn’t just for blogging. It has multipurpose themes that can be used for building almost any type of website.
Woocommerce, WordPress’ most popular eCommerce software, runs 30% of all eCommerce stores.
And with changing customer needs, WordPress has started rolling out options for motion user interface and video backgrounds.
These additional features will make sure you can offer a more engaging experience to your customers. They are a cool new way of making sure your customers see your website as unique.
Something that is very important today.
All you need to bank on these feature enhancements is an experienced WordPress web developer. Someone who has the technical skill to implement these features. Along with the creative ability to actually pick the best options for your website.
Websites that talk back
No, not in an offensive way. But in a very creative and SEO-friendly way.
With voice-based search options coming up for the website, WordPress isn’t behind in offering you the option to enable that option on your site.
Also, this can help your website rank in Google voice search queries.
So, basically, instead of typing in or clicking around your website, users can speak in their queries. And your website would be responding to that.
That may seem a bit complicated to implement, but WordPress has made sure it is nothing that an expert cannot do.
How To Ride The Wave of WordPress Evolution to Sail Smooth Into The Future?
Now that you know how much WordPress has evolved and how much potential has for evolving in the future, let us come to the most important question…
How to match the speed of WordPress development growth?
You have two options here, either you can depend on the WordPress forum and guides that are available on the Internet. This way, you can look upon the Internet, how, why, and what you need to do.
Or you could get in touch with an expert WordPress website development company like Uplers.
Uplers has a team of skilled developers who almost have their eyes set on the changing trends and updates from WordPress. They can help you not just match the speed of WordPress evolution but also help you stay ahead of your competitors.
All you need to tap the power of WordPress is a team of WordPress enthusiasts like the ones you will find at Uplers.
But, are coders all that you need for your WordPress website development? No.
You need digital marketing and SEO services too. WordPress has a whole lot of SEO-friendly features. And they too are evolving as fast as WordPress itself.
Whether you are working with WordPress.com or the open-source WordPress.org, the options are plenty. And when you want to make use of those services, you need bundled service providers.
A WordPress powered website can become your most valuable business asset. It can keep you alive in the age of cut-throat competition. And it brings you closer to your goals.
And you can do all this – with bundled services and complete support from Uplers!
Author Bio: Sheryl Jones
Sheryl is the Sr. Marketing Specialist at Uplers who has a great experience in designing well-defined user journeys across the digital marketing domain. She leverages her digital marketing expertise to help businesses draw significant ROIs.
