WordPress trends for UK agencies
WordCamp Europe 2025 wrapped up two weeks ago and we have had time to start implementing some of the insights that we picked up. During the event, more than 1,700 WordPress professionals gathered in Basel, with over 20,000 more watching online, to discuss WordPress trends and where the WordPress platform is heading. Some sessions during the event were mainly about old topics. Others have genuinely shifted our WordPress development strategies.
Website sustainability: beyond greenwashing
Charlotte Bax, a sustainable web designer, delivered some uncomfortable truths about web sustainability. The internet used 10% of global electricity in 2023, a massive figure. Now, here is what matters for agencies: clients are asking direct questions about environmental impact during project briefings.
Many have initially dismissed this as another passing trend. However, the data suggests that sustainable websites actually perform better, rank higher, and cost less to run. Bax shared concrete numbers: keep page sizes under 1MB and you will achieve A+ sustainability ratings whilst watching loading speeds improve dramatically.
Her recommendations included switching to green hosting providers, converting images to WebP properly, and setting up caching that actually works. These changes reduce hosting costs whilst delivering performance improvements that clients can also notice and appreciate.
Website Carbon Calculator and Ecograder are two of the new tools we have started using after WordCamp. Clients value concrete data about their environmental footprint. Particularly when those improvements translate into faster sites, lower monthly bandwidth usage and lower hosting bills.
AI integration and the hype
You cannot escape AI conversations nowadays, though half the presentations we have sat through sound like elaborate sales pitches. WordCamp Europe was different. The discussions moved past generic promises into actual practical implementations.
WordPress now hosts over 1,500 AI plugins. Submissions are doubling annually. The WordPress project has formed a dedicated AI Team to guide how AI is integrated across the platform. For agencies, this creates both opportunity and challenge.
Clients expect AI features without understanding what they actually need. Jason Mayes from Google demonstrated AI agents that navigate websites through natural conversation. Impressive technology, but it made us realise something important: we might need to consider how AI visitors interact with sites alongside human users.
The immediate wins come through content workflows, with AI tools for generating blog post outlines, creating social media variations, and drafting email sequences. The technology handles repetitive work really well, creating space for the strategic bits where human insight still matters most. The aim is to make people more productive, not redundant.
Clients get excited about faster turnaround times on routine tasks. That excitement translates into a larger budget for higher-level strategy work where humans add real value.
Performance improvements to implement
Adam Silverstein’s presentation on already available and emerging web platform features coming to baseline was genuinely useful. The Popover API eliminates JavaScript requirements for tooltips and modal windows. CSS carousels are arriving natively, starting in Chrome. Scroll animations respond to user behaviour without destroying performance.
These features are landing in browsers right now. For agencies managing multiple client sites, native browser functionality means fewer plugin dependencies, faster loading times, and reduced maintenance headaches.
Speculative loading, built on the browser’s Speculation Rules API, caught our attention immediately. WordPress 6.8 turns on speculative loading by default for logged-out visitors: pages start to load as soon as a user begins to click a link. It needs no development work, and developers can make it more eager with a filter for faster-feeling navigation. That is a significant user experience improvement for almost zero effort.
View transitions will bring app-like smoothness to traditional websites. Early adopters will stand out through superior user experiences whilst competitors struggle with outdated interaction patterns. Sometimes being first genuinely matters.
Community building lessons
Héctor de Prada’s presentation surprised many in the room. His León, Spain meetup group attracts 60 attendees regularly in a city of just 120,000 people. The group had been dormant for three years before his team revived it. Now it is one of Europe’s most successful WordPress meetups.
His success formula applies directly to brand community building. Most companies get it backwards though. Consistent scheduling builds trust and quality content keeps people returning. The crucial element? Focus on value rather than promotion. WordPress thrives because its community prioritises helping others over immediate commercial gain. Brands adopting similar approaches may see stronger long-term results than those focused purely on immediate sales.
Getting clients ready for change
The conversations during WordCamp Europe made one thing crystal clear: WordPress is not intending to slow down. Campus Connect will introduce thousands of university students to the platform annually. New web platform features arrive constantly. AI integration accelerates across every functional area imaginable.
This creates both opportunities and potential headaches. Because clients need guidance on managing these changes without getting distracted by every new trend. The job of an agency will involve filtering these developments for practical relevance whilst keeping client sites modern and competitive.
The sustainability focus offers immediate client value that is straightforward to measure and communicate. Performance improvements provide concrete results. New AI tools can make workflows better, but successful rollout means thinking carefully about where they belong instead of grabbing technology just because it exists.
Frame these conversations around business outcomes rather than technical capabilities. Clients care about results, not implementation details.
For information about WordPress events, visit WordCamp Central.