Last year was a tough year for WordPress, with seemingly never-ending dramas, publicity nightmares and websites going down all over the web. So, in 2025, we think we’ll begin to see a shift away from WordPress over to more modern, more secure content management system (CMS) options like Payload.

WordPress has definitely had its place in the digital world over the last 20 years or so, and is used for just over 43% of all sites you see on the web. But, it’s become outdated, difficult to manage and insecure. A lot of clients that come across to us here at Si digital often bring their old WordPress builds with them, and they’re often blown away by their new site and CMS when we’ve finished the build and launched. From improved site speed to the simplicity of the CMS to the enhanced site security, CMS’ like Payload are advancing in areas that WordPress has fallen behind in.

We made the move across from WordPress to Payload back in 2023, and throughout 2024 we saw the rewards of the move for our clients. You can learn more about our move here.

Motion UI design is an upcoming 2025 digital trend that we think will take off throughout the year. It’s designed to improve website usability through subtle animation cues, and can help to guide users through a website or user flow with more ease. Animations can help to draw attention to key elements like buttons, or enhance user engagement through dynamic experiences.

A few websites are already utilising motion UI design. Take Apple’s AirPod Pro 2 landing page.

This is a great example of how to draw a user to your page through subtle and dynamic animation and motion.

While motion UI design can be time consuming, the rewards for the user can be worth it, especially when it helps users get to the content you want them to see.

90% of people say that using voice search is easier than searching online, and with voice assistants like Siri and Alexa becoming increasingly integrated with AI, businesses will need to ensure their websites are optimised for voice search. Throughout 2025, we expect to see websites adapting their content to make it suitable for voice search.

This involves some work from both developers and copywriters. Content needs to be clear, direct and optimised for natural language processing (NPL) for voice assistants to be able to return useful results to users.

It’s also worth remembering that 27% of users use voice search on mobile devices, so ensuring your site is optimised for mobile is also an important factor when it comes to voice search

The market for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices gradually picked up throughout 2024, and it’s expected to be a $244 billion industry by 2032. In 2025, we’re expecting to see some exciting new VR and AR experiences launching. From entertainment to healthcare to education, VR will begin to integrate into new areas of life, bringing with it new accessible, user-friendly experiences.

We also think the line between AR and VR will begin to blur, as both technologies begin to share more and more features.

We’re just down the road from one of the UK’s first VR & AR facilities at the University of Portsmouth, so we’ll be testing out some experiences throughout the year.

With cyber threats and hacking becoming increasingly sophisticated, digital security will be a top priority for web developers in 2025. With so many potential security threats, developers and businesses will need to introduce more robust security measures, like AI-powered security detection, stronger encryption and two-factor authentication. This is especially important for business that collect sensitive user data.

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) are also becoming stricter worldwide in 2025, so staying ahead of the game could be key to ensuring your website’s security this year.

We can’t really talk about 2025 digital trends without mentioning AI. We’re excited to see how AI progresses over the next year. As a company, we are investigating the different ways we think we can leverage AI in the future to help both us and our clients, so watch this space. 

2025 looks to be an exciting year for digital trends. From Payload through to voice search, it’s going to be a year of exciting opportunities for the world of digital. Keep up to date with our latest news and updates on our socials.