Business Roundup Week Ending May 10

Matt Mullenweg Suggests a Year of Iteration

Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress, has publicly pondered the idea of a “Year of Iteration” for the WordPress project in 2025.
This comes amidst discussions about the rapid pace of innovation in WordPress, and the growing divide between the codebase and developers’ understanding of it.
WordPress is losing market share among the top 10k, 100k, and 1M websites, with job redundancies, flat lining revenue, and fewer developers joining the ecosystem.
A “Year of Iteration” could help WordPress become more approachable to users while reinforcing its strengths.
As an agency owner and WordPress educator, I think a year to allow developers and users to catch up could be a very good thing. And fixing the various “quirks” in the Block and Site Editors wouldn’t be so bad, either.
Documentation that is lagging behind could also be improved, making the project more accessible to experienced and new developers alike, especially those with less JavaScript knowledge.
A focus on UX and UI improvements could significantly enhance the user experience across the spectrum, from individual users to agencies and enterprises.
What about you? Do you think a year to catch our breath (and fix outstanding issues) would help or hurt the WordPress community?
Read this thoughtful article from James Giroux and see what think.

As the SEO dust has settled a bit since Google’s March 2024 core update, experts are now able to offer analysis on its broad impact.
Websites with high-quality, relevant content experienced improved visibility, emphasizing Google’s long-standing preference for valuable information.
Sites offering thin content or engaging in keyword stuffing saw noticeable drops in rankings.
Local SEO specialists have noted fluctuating rankings in Google Business Profiles, making it crucial to continually optimize them for local search visibility.
Agencies should continue to prioritize mobile-first design, speed, and security to maintain a competitive advantage.
How do you need to adapt your strategies to the latest Google core update for better SEO outcomes?
As usual, Search Engine Land has an in-depth look at the changes (including charts and graphs) to help you understand it all.

StellarWP acquires LearnDash addons from WisdmLabs
- StellarWP is Liquid Web‘s brand for premium WordPress solutions, of which LearnDash is a part.
- WisdmLabs add-ons (like Reporting, Groups, and Ratings) have long been a favorite of LearnDash users.
- “The plugins and add-ons that WisdmLabs brings will help us continue to innovate and provide valuable LMS solutions for educators using WordPress natively or LearnDash Cloud.” – Zach Tirrell, StellarWP General Manager
Convesio has aquired Growthmatik
- Convesio is a high performance hosting provider for WooCommerce.
- Growmatik offers cutting-edge marketing automation tools for WordPress and WooCommerce.
- “Growmatik (is) not just an acquisition but a significant enhancement to our technology stack, enabling us to offer our clients a more robust, all-encompassing marketing solution.” – Tom Fanelli, CEO of Convesio

WordPress 6.6 is on the way (July 16, 2024). The updated 6.6 Roadmap explains what we are expecting. Check it out.
Need assistance getting your clients to understand security? This Admin Bar post can help.
Historically, integrating Hubspot into your WordPress site has been a challenge. Try one of these three methods – which also work with the generous free Hubspot offering.

This article, Business Roundup Week Ending May 10, was published at Post Status — the community for WordPress professionals.