WordPress has undergone a massive transformation over the past 14 years. What was once a blogging platform now powers countless successful business websites and eCommerce online stores! 2017 is going to be another significant year of changes for the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world, with many functional and cosmetic changes making their way into mainstream development.

Here are some exciting trends that will shape WordPress development in 2017:

Mobile-Friendly Content

Most of the traffic on the internet now originates from mobile devices. Developers are now focusing on making websites mobile-friendly with the help of mobile-friendly design techniques like responsive design. Every new (and old) site will have content that can be easily accessed by and displayed on small-screen devices.

Beautiful Custom Imagery

Visitors are getting tired of seeing the same kind of generic images wherever they go. In 2017, designers are looking to create beautiful hand-drawn or self-shot imagery that is unique and helps add character to a web page. Custom imagery also includes a new style of typography and illustrations.

Preventing Interstitial Anxiety

Nobody likes to wait for anything. When a visitor clicks on a button or a link on a page, there is a brief moment of ‘interstitial anxiety’ or frustration that the visitor feels, which can cause their mood to sour. With the help of transition effects and animations, designers are attempting to prevent it altogether.

3D Scrolling and Storytelling

Everybody loves a good story. Thanks to new age animation effects and technology, developers are now focusing on telling visitors a 3D, vivid, and lifelike story as they scroll through a page. The feature is known as 3D Parallax scrolling which, combined with other features, is going to keep visitors very engaged this year.

Single Page Websites Making a Splash

Visitors are bombarded with content wherever they go, and it can get overwhelming after a while. WordPress developers are attempting to make content (and the business) more accessible by creating one-page websites that visitors just have to scroll through. All the content – like the About Us, Products and Contact Us – will be featured on an individual page!

Lightning-Quick Loading

Research tells us that visitors want every web page to load in under 2 seconds. Of course, not many pages load as fast as that. Thanks to new technology – like AMP-, designers will be able to create pages that load lightning-quick on both desktop PCs and mobile phones, providing an improved user experience to visitors.

Interested in giving your website a makeover? Openwave’s WordPress Developers can upgrade your old site for you and add the most cutting-edge features to it!