When the comic below was first published in 2014, it depicted an idealised vision of the web. However, this vision has become a reality a decade later. With its websites and web applications, the web platform now has virtually all the capabilities of “native” platforms like Windows or iOS. This software is universally accessible and shareable through a simple URL and browser and can run on any device and operating system from a unified code base. Coupled with its independence from the walled gardens and App Store fees, it’s no wonder the web has emerged as the de facto standard for modern application software development.

The prevalence of the web is evident as we frequently use software like Google Docs, Salesforce, and GitHub through our web browsers. What is less obvious is that many apps, like Slack, Notion, Microsoft Teams, Spotify, and Figma, are all web applications wrapped in a Mac or Windows shell with an added desktop icon to appear native to the platform. Over its three-decades-long legacy, the web has even adapted to platform shifts, with data indicating that nearly 30% of top iPhone apps are built using web technologies and developers using the same technologies to build applications for Apple’s new Vision Pro headset just days  after its unveiling last year.

Regardless of how the application software landscape evolves, one constant remains: the web continues to grow stronger — the Domain Name Industry report from November 2023 counts 350 million registered website domains. Moreover, the usage of web applications is surging, increasing at a rate of almost twice that of conventional applications. But the most telling indicator of the web’s strength is that nearly 90% all B2B software is now accessed through the web, according to product analytics solution Amplitude, essentially dominating the category.

Almost 90% of B2B software is accessed through the web

However, there’s more to the web’s story than its growth and resilience. Behind the scenes, a transformative shift is underway, with the technologies that have been the backbone of the web for decades now being disrupted by a new generation of categories. The change is exemplified by the decline of Traditional Content Management Systems (CMS) and website builders. WordPress, once powering over a quarter of the top websites on the internet, is experiencing a downtrend in adoption after nearly two decades of dominance. Similarly, its contemporaries, such as Drupal and Squarespace, are following the same trajectory.

The waning appeal of platforms like WordPress is linked to their original design as comprehensive, all-in-one solutions. This design was highly efficient when the web’s capabilities were more limited. However, today’s web landscape has evolved to favour a more composable architecture, with developers now preferring to build software using an ecosystem of independent systems and components that communicate through APIs. This means they are not bound by the legacy foundation and restrictions of platforms like WordPress, and instead, it allows them to select the best tools for their specific needs.

In practice, this means that all the capabilities WordPress and the likes tried to provide as a monolithic all-in-one package are now being dismantled into specialised tools, each purpose-built for the one use case they replace. For example, we’re witnessing the emergence of Visual Website Builders like Webflow, which concentrate solely on creating websites, unlike WordPress’s combined content management approach. Simultaneously, we see the rise of “headless CMS” like Contentful, focusing exclusively on content management. Furthermore, to serve as the foundation for integrating these components, we see Frontend Cloud Platforms like Vercel gaining significant traction. To reduce the complexity for developers, these platforms provide “Web Development Frameworks”, which are specialised development kits for web applications specifically, with Vercel’s Next.js being one of the most prominent ones.

Looking at the adoption of new web technologies, it’s clear that their popularity is rapidly increasing, particularly among more prominent websites. For instance, the top 10 thousand websites use the Web Development Framework Next.js at a rate four times higher than the top 1 million websites. Similarly, the difference is even more pronounced at fivefold for the headless CMS Contentful.

This disparity in adoption rates can be attributed to the greater resources available to larger companies managing high-traffic websites. They often have more financial resources and access to skilled personnel, enabling them to embrace and implement emerging technologies more readily. This trend is further evidenced by the fact that these leading websites are often the first to phase out older technologies like WordPress.

However, drawing a parallel with the historical adoption of technologies like WordPress during the height of the “old” web, we observe a pattern where such technologies eventually gained widespread popularity across all websites. If this trend continues, with traditional platforms gradually losing ground, the emerging web technologies and the companies behind them stand to capture a significant opportunity as their markets shift from early adopters to the predominant choice.

Enquiries
For enquiries, please contact:
Gustav Fridell, Associate, at gustav.fridell@gpbullhound.com

Sources:

1. xkcd, comic “Installing”
2. What Web Can Do Today, website
3. Evan Bacon, blog post “Who’s using Expo OSS in 2024”
4. X (Twitter), tweet by @donadeldev on June 22, 2023
5. DNIB, report “The Domain Name Industry Brief Quarterly Report”
6. Amplitude, blog post “What’s Growing Faster: Apps or Websites?”
7. Amplitude, report “2022 App vs. Website Trend Report”
8. BuiltWith, website
9. Gartner, report “Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2022”

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