What The Future Holds for Web Design and CMS

Wordpress has dominated the list of top content management systems for years; however, this could soon change. With the popularity of SquareSpace and other content management systems rising, Wordpress could soon see users leaving for a better suited website builder.

SquareSpace now has over 1.8 million websites and this number grows daily. The number is nowhere near Wordpress’s 60million websites; however, it is growing significantly annually and could kick Wordpress off the top spot in a few years.

The popularity of Wordpress can be seen as a weakness for the world’s leading CMS. Almost 1 in every 6 websites is hosted on Wordpress and this number is highly attractive to cyber crooks and hackers.

Wordpress is the CMS target of choice for hackers and according to security firm, Imperva, Wordpress is the most attacked CMS.

Wordpress is working hard to stop cyber-attacks on their websites; however, the statistic alone is enough to scare away some users.

While SquareSpace and Wordpress battle for the top spot, a new AI website design company could change the way we look at CMS all together.

User-friendly CMS

Both SquareSpace and Wordpress want to be user-friendly to both the designer and the user who visits a website that is designed using one of these content management systems.

SquareSpace has recently revamped their website to become a UX dream according to many technology news websites. SquareSpace 7 was launched this week and the new update eliminates the backend entirely.

Websites are created using basic tabs, buttons and boxes, making web design now easier than before.

SquareSpace users now have access to Getty images, built-in Google Apps integration, splash pages and new templates. These new tools and features enable users to create extremely user friendly websites and make publishing content less confusing.

Websites created on Wordpress and SquareSpace are extremely user-friendly and are easy to navigate around. Both CMS have conquered the concept of beautiful and simplistic website design.

CMS for SME

Small and medium enterprises tend to go for easy to build websites, rather than websites built from complete scratch. This saves time and money while still getting the online presence they need to function on a daily basis.

Almost every content management system produces reports and carries out audits so you can feel safe knowing this is being taken care of. CMS also takes care of some of the SEO (search engine optimisation), one of the most important aspects of an online business.

An offline business can easily become an e-commerce business by creating an online store using e-commerce tools provided by most content management systems.

CMS makes the switch from being an offline company to a fully functioning online business quick and easy.

Designing for smaller screens

Building a website from scratch can be a lengthy and expensive process. With the rise in tablets and smart phone use, creating content for smaller screens is now a must for all web designers. Most content management systems provide tools that allow websites to be viewed on both large and smaller screens without compromising on the quality of the content that is being viewed.

The designer usually has to tick a couple of boxes to ensure their content is optimised for smaller screens. This saves time and money because designers do not have to spend time redesigning websites every time a new tech form factor launches to the mass market.

Artificial Intelligence

If using Wordpress and SquareSpace still sounds like a scary experience, a company in the United States is planning to make website design even easier by using artificial intelligence.

The Grid was founded in San Francisco in 2010 by CEO and Co-founder Dan Tocchini, Chairman and Co-founder Ex-Google AdSense Director of Products Brian Axe, Lead Designer and the first Medium designer Leigh Taylor and VP of Engineering Henri Bergius.

While being founded almost over 4 years ago, The Grid’s funding page was launched this week. The company aims to create smarter websites by using artificial intelligence that enables every user to build a website, regardless of their web design experience.

The Grid wants to build websites by using your content and goals (more customers, more followers etc.). Artificial intelligence will scan through your content, images and text to create a website in under 3 minutes, automate colour schemes and crop images without compromising on quality and usability.

Many internet users might ask if artificial intelligence can really design a user friendly website, however, we will have to wait for results and statistics because The Grid is yet to launch and be tested.

The company hopes to raise $70,000 by 2015.

If they achieve the funding and the AI works well, it could be the end of Wordpress, SquareSpace and some web design companies.

Web design companies

Web design companies like LWS Marketing are still producing websites for companies who prefer to leave the designing to someone else. Using web design companies can save a lot of time because they have the expertise to create a well-designed website to specific specifications.

Some companies prefer to focus on other daily tasks and prefer to leave their website to someone else.

Until artificial intelligent web design proves to be a big success, Wordpress, SquareSpace and website design companies have nothing to worry about...for now.