It’s no secret, we love a bit of WordPress. In fact, we develop a lot of WordPress websites, giving our clients the easy to manage platforms they need to better represent their business online. Needless to say, the latest news regarding Google paying special attention to WordPress was music to our ears.

The development of WordPress has of course been long overdue, and what better company to take the reins than the all-seeing, all-powerful Google. It’s been recently announced that Google has dedicated an entire team to the cause, engineers that will aim to develop the WordPress ecosystem that we know and mostly love, into something bigger, better and more innovative. Google seems to be taking over the world at the moment (as if they didn’t own a large proportion of it anyway!) with the recent roll out of the beta version of their new Search Console also dominating tech headlines. So what can we expect from WordPress’ partnership with Google?

The need for speed

One thing that has become increasingly apparent in the past few Google algorithm changes, is that website speed matters, and WordPress is certainly not leading the way in this department. Speed improvements will be the main focus of the WordPress overhaul – after all WordPress doesn’t need any help getting users with its 58.6% market share. As we’ve all learnt speed gives the average website access to a vast range of benefits, including improved customer experience, better site engagement and increased conversion.

The WordPress speed update is set to come into effect in July 2018, and quite frankly we can’t wait.

A (mobile) first for WordPress

It’s not just the WordPress platform’s speed that will get the Google treatment. In line with its much anticipated mobile-first index – which is being rolled out as we type –  and its AMP project launch, the mobile performance of WordPress will also be under scrutiny. With an objective to enhance the mobile experience on offer via WordPress websites, Google is continuing to target the open-source community that WordPress is built on. As part of their partnership with WordPress, Google will work directly with plugin developers to accelerate the implementation of mobile-first technology. Google will also be working with large brands, and even lending a helping hand directly thanks to their own developer resources, to put mobile-first, well, first.

It’s changing – for the better

Whilst we can nostalgically hold onto the WordPress platform, the changes that Google are implementing will improve the WordPress ecosystem no end. Yes, as with any big change, you’ll get a vast number of haters frequenting forums and commenting on Google’s web domination. The simple truth is however that WordPress cannot lag behind non-WordPress web pages, as they do currently according to most performance indicators.

So with bated breath we wait to see exactly what this brilliant partnership will turn up. It’s expected that more details about the work Google is doing with WordPress will be revealed at next month’s SMX West convention. All that’s left to say is, watch this space…