By now you probably know that we're total web design geeks, who use WordPress, Shopify and other tools to build the most valuable websites possible for our clients, using data and analytics as a differentiator to provide maximum strategic value on all of our engagements.

When we saw that a Theme Developer (StudioPress, led by Brian Gardner, one of the first WordPress Theme Developers) got acquired by a Managed WordPress Hosting Company - WPEngine, it got us thinking - what does this mean for the Future of Managed WordPress-Based services?

Not too long ago, GoDaddy acquired several WordPress plug-ins, among them the Security Plug-in Service "Sucuri."

This WPE move is a bit different though, in that well known WordPress Frameworks like Genesis (part of the StudioPress family) are now owned by a powerhouse managed host.

I assure you it means nothing but good things for service providers like us, likely giving us more scalability, pricing options, and access to tools that we maybe didn't have before.

All of this puts is in a position to serve our clients more efficiently and effectively.

Big moves continue to happen in the niche tech world like the WordPress community. We're always going to be at the forefront of using these moves to benefit ourselves and serve our clients.

Here's a look at Brian Gardner's Post.

From WPEngine's Website, this blurb below leads me to believe that WPEngine Hosted Sites on StudioPress may win out long term on site speed and load time over GoDaddy, which could mean better User Experience which results in better SEO / Google Organic Ranking and higher engagement rates / more conversions.

Of course, all of this will carry with it a slightly higher hard cost for B2B Service Providers.

Strengthening the WordPress Digital Experience

The acquisition of StudioPress strengthens and extends WP Engine’s WordPress Digital Experience Platform.

• Investment and integration: WP Engine plans to invest in the continued development of the open source Genesis Framework as well as build future solutions that leverage the framework. Further, the Genesis Framework will be integrated tightly into the WP Engine Digital Experience Platform so it performs better here than anywhere else.
• Faster, more elegant digital experiences: StudioPress Themes allows WP Engine to offer dozens of highly optimized and responsive themes that look great right out of the box.
• Ecosystem expansion: The addition of StudioPress expands WP Engine’s support for third-party plugins and products created to add functionality or support for the use of the Genesis Framework. It also provides additional content in support of the framework and the ecosystem on WP Engine’s publications like Torqueand the WP Engine blog.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Paul Hickey, Founder / CEO / Lead Strategist at Data Driven Design, LLC has created and grown businesses via digital strategy and internet marketing for more than 10 years. His sweet spot is using analytics to design and build websites and grow the audience and revenue of businesses via SEO/Blogging, Google Adwords, Bing Ads, Facebook and Instagram Ads, Social Media Content Marketing and Email Marketing. The part that he’s most passionate about is quantifying next marketing actions based on real data.