WordPress needs no introduction when it comes to content management systems. It is the market leader with more than 60% market share. To stay relevant, WordPress constantly announces new features and functions to enhance the user experience of its content management system.

If your business has a WordPress website, then it is essential to know about the emerging WordPress trends so you can stay ahead of the curve. In this article, you will learn about the latest WordPress trends that every WordPress website owner should know about.

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Top WordPress Trends in 2020

1. Drag and Drop Themes

Themes have always been an integral part of WordPress and this trend will continue in 2020 as well. One of the biggest changes you will notice is the emergence of multi-purpose, drag and drop themes. Sidebar based layouts will become obsolete and “drag and drop” themes will take their place.

What makes these “drag and drop” themes popular is their ability to allow users to create a new website from scratch without any technical knowledge. This is great news for people who want to create their own website but lacks programming skills. Developing a website has never been easier than it is now, thanks to the drag and drop themes.

2. AI and Chatbot Integration

Artificial intelligence has made an impact on every industry you can think of and web design and development is not an exception. Although we have not seen a truly automated WordPress website development in 2020 we surely will notice this phenomenon unfold in front of our eyes. This will help businesses in increasing customer satisfaction and enhance the efficiency of their web design process.
While we are on the topic of customer satisfaction, let’s talk about chatbot integration, another step companies will take to deliver better user support. Chatbots will be connected to CRM systems, which allows businesses to develop a better understanding of user behavior and collect user insights on how users interact with your website. As a result, you can send them personalized offers that are relevant to their taste so they cannot ignore it.

3. Focus on Micro-interactions Will Grow

Design is all about focusing on finer details. The focus will slowly but surely shift from macro to micro-interaction. As this starts to grow in popularity, more and more businesses will build their UI around micro-interactions. This will allow brands to get higher customer engagement and help them connect with them at every touchpoint.

Web designers can go crazy and add a number of fancy effects by using different plugins. This will tell your website visitors that they are not only staring at a wall of information but interacting with the web page and the web page is responding to their inputs as well. By adding animation to each website elements, you can breathe new life into your boring website.

Micro interaction is not all about adding animations. It also covers your website content. For instance, you can give users options to share some content on your web page when a user highlights that text. Moreover, you can also make their web experience more interactive by adding the same effects to images. These are only a few examples and there could be many more.

4. Voice Search Optimization

According to ComScore, 50% of all searches will be voice-based by 2020. It clearly shows that voice searches have a bright future. More importantly, it points towards a paradigm shift in the way users search for information, as more users will use their voice instead of typing in a search query. The proliferation of smart speakers and increasing use of smart assistants will make voice the preferred input method.
Businesses must adapt and optimize their website for voice search. For that, businesses will have to understand the differences between voice search and text-based search. Users tend to ask questions when using voice search while they type in key phrases and keywords when using traditional search.

Here is how you can optimize your website for voice search:

• Put more emphasis on natural language instead of keywords
• Simplify your content so much that even a kid can understand it
• Answer questions

5. Evolving Minimalism

Flat design has been around for quite some time now and it seems it is here to stay for a few more years. The simplistic, minimalistic look, flat colors and use of negative space are some of the hallmarks of flat design that will make their presence felt on the web design scene in 2020 as well. That does not mean that flat design will become stale. It will continue to evolve according to the changing times and will incorporate gradients and shadows. This will give it more depth and make it look great too.

As businesses look to balance page load times with website appearance, flat design with gradients and shadows will become more popular. It offers the best of both worlds. The minimal design helps your website load faster while the gradients and shadows add personality to your design and make them stand out from the crowd.

Which WordPress trends will create the biggest ripples in 2020? Let us know in the comments section below.