WordPress recently published the results of their annual user and developer survey, revealing mixed feelings about the software’s direction and a growing sense of alienation within the community.
The Gutenberg Editor
Gutenberg is the modern iteration of WordPress’s default site editor, introducing a visual editor paradigm to the WordPress core. Third-party visual editors have revolutionized website building with WordPress, simplifying the process with intuitive interfaces. Gutenberg aimed to bring this ease-of-use to the WordPress core, introducing the full site editor in 2022. Over the last two years, the development team has focused on making the interface more intuitive and adding new features.
However, the 2023 survey highlights a growing lack of confidence in Gutenberg, even as its usage reaches an all-time high.
Which Editor Do You Use?
Question nine of the survey shows an increase in Gutenberg adoption from 37% in 2020 to 60% in 2023. In response to question 10 about whether WordPress meets user needs, 29% disagreed, and only 45% agreed, with 26% feeling neutral. Thus, 55% of respondents did not affirm that WordPress meets their needs—an underwhelming outcome, although it’s the first time this question was asked.
Less Users Believe WordPress Is As Good As Others
Question 19 asked if WordPress was as good as or better than other site builders and content management systems. In 2022, 68% agreed, but this dropped to 63% in 2023. Disagreement increased from 9% to 13%, and neutral responses rose by 1% to 24%. This implies that in 2023, 37% of respondents did not think WordPress was as good as or better, marking a five-point increase in dissatisfaction over the previous year.
Clearly, the survey results indicate a decline in user confidence in both Gutenberg and WordPress. This is disappointing for the core development team, particularly since the 2023 version of Gutenberg is more intuitive than ever and WordPress performance scores have improved significantly.
Why User Satisfaction Is Trending Downward
User dissatisfaction may be linked to the competitive performance and user-friendliness of platforms like Wix and Duda. Third-party tools and hosts like Bricks Builder, Breakdance Website Builder, Elementor, and Bluehost also offer features that might appeal more to users seeking advanced flexibility or those who don’t know how to code.
Responses to question 20, which asked about the best things about WordPress, revealed significant declines in ease of use, flexibility, cost, and block themes.
Ease of Use
In 2022, 32% of users cited Ease of Use as a top feature, but this dropped to 21.7% in 2023.
Flexibility
Flexibility was valued by 31% in 2022, but only 18.5% in 2023.
Cost
Cost satisfaction plummeted from 37% in 2022 to 17% in 2023.
Block Themes
Support for block themes fell from 10% in 2022 to just 5.3% in 2023.
User satisfaction is mirrored in market share statistics, which show a negative trend over the past two years. Market share dropped to 43.1% in February 2024 from 43.2% in February 2023 and 43.3% in 2022, while competitors like Wix and Shopify have seen slight increases.
In 2022, Joost de Valk of Yoast SEO noted shrinking market share, attributing it to the slow pace of performance improvements and the difficulty of using WordPress.
What Frustrates WordPress Users
Question 21 highlighted user frustrations, with 18.6% citing difficulty in finding suitable plugins—a 133% increase from 8% in 2022. Other frustrations included site editing experience (17%), security (16.4%), and performance (16.2%). On a positive note, the number frustrated by the difficulty of learning site editing decreased from 26% in 2022 to 15% in 2023.
Question 25 identified the top five areas needing more attention:
- Performance: 19%
- Security: 18%
- Developer resources: 16%
- Design/UI: 14%
- Core functionality/stability: 13%
The Future Of WordPress
Despite previous efforts to improve site performance, competitors are innovating faster in site speed, ease of use, SEO, and features. The survey provides clear direction for the WordPress community, which has a history of responding to user needs. Including feedback from niche user groups like publishers, affiliates, and bloggers could offer more actionable insights.
With ongoing improvements and a keenness to embrace its diverse user base, WordPress continues to evolve. The 2023 survey results and subsequent steps provide crucial insights for the future development of the platform.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Krakenimages.com
