WordPress Trends for 2023
WordPress has grown into an international powerhouse platform powering nearly half of every website worldwide.
Part of that growth, undoubtedly, comes from its ease of use and accessibility for website builders of all levels. But the other reason for WordPress’ popularity is that it’s constantly improving, developing, and adding new features.
WordPress stays at the front of the pack because it’s always looking forward.
Any business, agency, or freelancer looking to develop WordPress websites that stand out must pay attention to these new features and WordPress trends to stay relevant. Not all updates and features will apply to everyone. Still, it’s crucial to keep tabs on the larger movements and patterns to know where the industry as a whole is heading. Many times, minor features released today hint at more significant changes coming tomorrow that will impact your work.
In this article, we’ll run through some of the biggest WordPress trends for 2023 in both design and development. The year is almost halfway through, so it’s a good time to look at what changes have already come out this year in WordPress and what experts believe will continue throughout the rest of the year.
An Ongoing Celebration of WordPress
This year is WordPress’ 20th anniversary. The once humble, open-source project was founded in 2003. So, there are many plans to help celebrate WordPress throughout 2023! Look for possibly big announcements around May 27th of this year, as that’s the official anniversary date for WordPress. Check in on the hashtag #WP20 to follow along with what’s happening in the community to celebrate this milestone.
Minimalistic Design & Themes
Minimalism has been a trend for a while, and experts believe this will continue throughout 2023. This is because it helps usability, particularly on mobile devices, which benefit extensively from clean designs to aid in navigation and content delivery. As more firms rely on user experience data and testing (rather than what they feel “looks” best) to define web design best practices, expect minimalism to continue dominating design trends throughout the year.
Mobile-First Development
WordPress was a pioneering force in responsive websites (designs that would change based on where the user was visiting from). In those early days, most visitors were still coming from their desktops, making mobile functionality more of an afterthought. But now that most users are first seeing things on mobile platforms, there’s a shift in how websites are being designed. Nowadays, companies and designers are developing the mobile experience first and then scaling that experience up for larger screens.
Increased Emphasis on Security
Any platform that has a broad user base will be a target for hackers. And WordPress is no exception. WordPress will likely invest more in security in its core infrastructure, so we might see more significant updates with a security focus. Some anticipate that WordPress will launch more educational campaigns to help raise awareness of threats and what to do. We can also expect more plugins and 3rd party security offerings for your WordPress website.
Technology Integrations
The past couple of decades has seen an explosion of technology unlike any time previously. And it only seems to be ramping up over the past few years. A product like ChatGPT went from niche to global disruptor in a manner of days. The WordPress community is always quick to embrace any new technologies.
So, at a minimum, we can expect WordPress integrations for:
- Chatbot
- Augmented Reality
- Voice Search
While we might not be able to state precisely what exciting new thing will explode onto the scene in 2023. We know a WordPress integration will quickly follow.
Ongoing Growth of E-Commerce
Over the last decade, there’s been an explosion of growth in WordPress-powered e-commerce sites. Businesses of all sizes have looked to WordPress to power their online storefronts. During the pandemic, more companies than ever went online. Life has mostly returned to normal, but many customers who were given online or virtual capabilities still expect it. Businesses will look to create quick e-commerce sites to adapt to trends, and WordPress is the perfect CMS for this.
Headless WordPress
Headless WordPress is a shift in how WordPress displays content on the frontend. In a traditional WordPress setup, your theme and PHP would render the frontend. But Headless uses Javascript and APIs to retrieve content from the backend to display on the frontend. For most users, this means greater flexibility, scalability, security, and performance increases. Headless WordPress allows developers to create unique user interfaces and experiences without limitations placed on them by a specific WordPress theme or template.
Accessibility Improvements
Inclusivity has become a significant focus point for all industries, especially web development. This is because websites are no longer niche and have become necessary for almost everyone for everyday life functions like getting food and basic necessities. WordPress has recently rolled out updates that allow screen readers to function more efficiently for users and enhanced keyboard functionality for those who cannot use a keyboard and mouse simultaneously. WordPress has more updates planned in the future to allow even greater web accessibility options.
2023: An Exciting Year For WordPress Websites
WordPress has grown so much over the years. Every year it matures and grows in unique new ways. 2023 looks to be an exceptionally strong year with the extra celebrations and announcements planned by the WordPress team (who have also encouraged the community to join in themselves).
Be sure to keep an eye on #WP20 as we near May 27th and beyond. Also, check back with us at the end of the year for a wrap-up of how accurate our predictions were and a look ahead to 2024. We expect to see some exciting new trends and developments throughout the year.
But we understand that not everyone has the time to follow WordPress trends like we do. The constant developments, shifts in trends, and new options can be overwhelming to follow if web development isn’t your primary focus. If you feel like your website or online business is lagging behind, please get in contact with professionals to help you out.
At Pixel Jar, we’ve been helping leading brands and businesses with custom WordPress website development since 2004. Please reach out to us, and let’s work together on implementing the latest trends into your website.
