Top 7 WordPress Trends to Follow

In the past, creating a website used to be a daunting task reserved only for web development experts. Even experienced webmasters used to get overwhelmed with the intricacies of website building. But that is no longer the case today. Website development has dramatically become streamlined and much easier to do, with the help of new technologies, programs, and applications. One such program is WordPress.

WordPress is currently the most popular and most trusted Content Management System (CMS) to date. Web designers and developers prefer to use WordPress to build robust and stunning websites in no time.

Even web designers with no experience can compete with the experts as WordPress levels the playing field for everyone.

40% of the top 500 websites globally use WordPress as a platform. Since creatives and developers flock to WordPress, the need for new features, functionalities, themes, and plugins are high. WordPress delivers and is continuously changing as well to help its users take their websites to the next level.

In today’s ever-evolving design and development trends, it pays to know what’s in and what’s not. Keep your website current and fresh, something that search engine algorithms also look for when ranking websites for search intent results.

Check out these top 7 WordPress trends that you can add to breathe life into your site today:

1. Table of Contents

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   Chatbot Integration 

Chatbots are becoming the new normal for customers to connect with businesses.  An Invesp statistic shows that 67% of consumers use a chatbot for customer support. It does not matter to 40% of these consumers if they are chatting with a bot or a human, as long as their need is being met.

Consumers like the benefits of a chatbot-powered messaging service, such as 24-hour service, instant response, immediate answers to simple questions, easy communication, friendliness, and approachability. Invesp shows that by 2020, 85% of customer interactions will be handled by chatbots. Human customer service agents can now focus on high-value calls as chatbots handle routinary and low-level queries. They can’t completely displace people, but they can help lower operational expenses and minimize errors in client care.

Several chatbot plugins are already available in WordPress. More advanced chatbot plugins—able to better understand complex conversations and solve more complicated problems and queries—will also continue to increase.

2. Multipurpose Themes

35.7% of all internet websites are built on WordPress. Multipurpose WordPress themes are on the rise, as these themes are versatile and easy to use in creating all sorts of websites.

With multipurpose themes, you can scale functions, customize freely, and include eCommerce features all in one big bundle.

3. Motion UI

The competition in the digital world is as fierce as can be, and you need all the advantage you can get to grab people’s attention. With motion UI or user interface, you can make your website more engaging and attention-grabbing. You can add movement, animate elements and transitions, and other moving effects unto your design.

You can use it to better direct audiences in navigating your site. Here is a video by Elementor Website Builder for WordPress that shows how motion graphics can make a massive difference for your website, and how easy it is to incorporate it into your design.

4. Video Backgrounds

Adding a video background is another way of adding more motion to your site. Video backgrounds are more engaging than static backgrounds, especially if you are an eCommerce site. You can animate your products this way so customers will not miss them. You can also choose to animate a featured product for the month. A product that’s not doing well can also be highlighted with the use of video backgrounds to help sell the product.

There is a growing selection of WordPress plugins that you can use to add video backgrounds. For example, you can add Vice, a fully responsive music WordPress theme that video background, unlimited radio stations, featured music player, unlimited modular pages, and Google fonts.

You can also go with WordPress Gutenberg Cover Block to add an image or video with a text overlay, which is great for headers and to block screenshots. The developers provide a simple guide on their site on how to add this plugin to your website quickly.

Adding video is not just for design’s sake. You can optimise your site by adding such a feature. You can maximize the first time a visitor views your website by being able to give more relevant details in a few frames, instead of potentially boring them through static text and images. Mixing a video copy creates a more immersive experience and leaves a better first impression than traditional webpages. You can also make paid advertisements more catchy with this plugin.

5. Websites You Can Talk To

With the growing popularity of voice-enabled devices like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Home, voice-activated websites will also continue to trend. Users can now use their voices to search for what they need instead of having to click or type on your website.

Businesses, in particular, are excited about this feature to improve their UI and UX or user experience, which enhances their SEO ranking.

6. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

What takes browsing to the next level, even beyond motion graphics and video backgrounds? The answer is Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR).  In the eCommerce industry, AR can customers can get a better look at products, and even virtually experience some of its features or functionalities.

WordPress now offers plugins that allow users to integrate VR content with 360-degree images and videos into their website, giving fresh wind to web developers and designers looking for better ways to improve their sites.

The AR Display plugin and the Ozisti multipurpose theme are two from the many options that allow users to adopt the AR/VR technology in their WordPress site.

If eCommerce sites are ogling at AR technology, tourism sites, real estate sites, and events-based sites are excited at the benefits of VR technology for their businesses. They can now showcase destinations, listings, and event happenings through this technology. Museums and galleries are using the technology as well to improve the value of their gallery to provide virtual tours and even highlight artworks.

We will continue to see more applications for AR and VR technologies further developed as developers and designers tailor-fit these technologies to various types of websites, more and more.

7. Artificial Intelligence

 The artificial intelligence or AI industry is rapidly growing and is slowly pervading WordPress trends lately.

Companies are already using AI to automate some business processes to reduce costs and boost time. Companies are also exploring how to use AI technology to increase customer satisfaction, improve productivity, strengthen consumer loyalty, and boost ROI.

Jetpack is an example of a WordPress plugin using AI technology. It uses AI to do editing errands.

The WordLift plugins help improve a site’s SEO substance through Artificial Intelligence. 

Conclusion: Keep Up with Ever-Evolving Trends

WordPress continues to improve its services by ensuring you get the latest trending themes and plugins for your site. It’s best to keep up and integrate what’s latest with your users in mind. A regularly updated website keeps users interested and shows them you care. The beauty of using WordPress is that you can customize it to suit the needs and behavior of your audience, and when viewers get a tailor-fit experience, it makes them feel more valued. It can eventually lead to higher dwell time, lower bounce rates, higher engagement and social shares, and greater conversions. Keeping up with the trends keeps your website competitive and profitable, something that web designers and developers should prioritize amid all the web designing and management that they do.