WP Engine: 2024 in Review

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2024 was a year of growth and innovation for WP Engine, our partners, our products, and our people. 

Throughout the year, we introduced new tools and enhancements designed to supercharge our customers’ sites, streamline their workflows, and empower their businesses to thrive. Guided by our Core Values, we launched innovative products, strengthened partnerships, completed strategic acquisitions, and welcomed new leaders—all with the goal of helping you build incredible websites with unmatched performance and support. 

As we look ahead to 2025, let’s take a moment to reflect on the strides we made together in 2024 and celebrate the progress that will set the stage for an even brighter future.

Empowering success through product and feature innovations

At WP Engine, our primary goal is to empower our customers with the best platform, tools, and workflows to make building on WordPress easier, faster, safer, and more accessible.

To that end, our team released several new products and features throughout the year and delivered updates to many existing offerings our customers already love. Here’s a look at the highlights: 

Dynamic plugin loading

Dynamic plugin loading, available on all WP Engine eCommerce hosting plans, optimizes site performance by selectively loading plugins only on pages where they’re needed. This targeted approach reduces unnecessary bloat, decreasing page size by more than 30% on average and improving key metrics like Core Web Vitals and Time to First Byte..

Launched this month, this feature speeds up page load times and has the potential to greatly improve user experiences, boost search engine rankings, and increase conversions. It’s easy to set up via the WP Engine User Portal and allows for customizable rules to maintain compatibility with essential tools. 

Dynamic plugin loading is an ideal solution for eCommerce store owners looking to deliver a faster, more efficient, and more scalable experience.

Page Speed Boost

Released in June, Page Speed Boost is a powerful addition to WP Engine’s platform that leverages NitroPack OneClick to dramatically improve website loading speeds and optimize Core Web Vitals. By streamlining code, optimizing images, and prioritizing key scripts, Page Speed Boost simplifies the complexities of frontend performance optimization, leading to improved SEO rankings, higher conversions, and better user experiences.

It also enables up to 60% faster load times, reduces plugin bloat, and works seamlessly across desktop and mobile platforms. With just one click in the WP Engine User Portal, Page Speed Boost eliminates the need for technical expertise, making it an accessible solution for marketers and developers alike. 

Real-world results include significant improvements in metrics like Largest Contentful Paint and Total Blocking Time, making it a game-changer for creating faster, more engaging websites.

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Smart Search AI

Smart Search AI is WP Engine’s advanced search solution. Released in April, it leverages machine learning and natural language processing to deliver fast, accurate, and highly relevant search results on WordPress sites. By interpreting user intent, even with vague or misspelled queries, it ensures visitors quickly find what they need, reducing frustration and boosting conversions.

Unlike traditional search solutions, Smart Search AI offloads search queries to an external server to maintain peak site performance, even during high traffic. Its features, including semantic search, advanced query processing, and custom filters, make search intuitive and user-friendly while enhancing SEO and user engagement. 

With simple installation and competitive pricing, Smart Search AI has already transformed the search experience in 2024, improving user experiences and driving business growth.

Stripe Checkout integration

Released in March, WP Engine’s Stripe Checkout integration streamlines the checkout process for eCommerce stores on our platform by offering a secure, frictionless, and customizable payment experience. 

The integration optimizes conversions by reducing the steps needed to complete a purchase. It also supports more than 135 currencies and simplifies regulatory compliance by offloading sensitive payment data to Stripe’s PCI DSS-validated servers. 

Features like automatic currency conversion, fraud detection, and support for popular payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay enhance global accessibility and shopper confidence. 

This integration even allows you to fully customize the branding of your checkout experience to ensure seamless shopping. It’s easy to set up in the User Portal and available for all WP Engine eCommerce plans.

Performance Insights

Performance Insights, a new feature introduced this year in WP Engine’s User Portal, provides a centralized dashboard for monitoring key frontend metrics, including Core Web Vitals, Speed Index, and Time to First Byte. 

These metrics help customers assess site speed, usability, and overall site performance, offering actionable insights to improve user experiences and search engine rankings.

By consolidating critical data and benchmarks in one location, Performance Insights eliminates the need to pull reports from multiple tools, saving time and enabling focused, data-driven decision-making. The feature also includes a “Performance Opportunities” section that highlights specific areas for improvement with estimated benefits.

For WP Engine customers, this streamlined reporting tool empowers proactive site maintenance to enhance engagement, conversions, and overall site success.

Willa: WP Engine’s live chat support 

In addition to the new tools and features listed above, we also welcomed a new member to the WP Engine support team this year, and she’s already helped thousands of customers. 

Say hello to Willa P. Engine, Support Concierge!

This helpful, AI-powered support agent is designed to quickly connect you with our extensive support resources. Willa can be found by opening a chat in the User Portal, and she’ll happily help you find the right documentation or connect you with one of her human teammates.

Slow query monitor

April also saw the introduction of Slow query monitor (SQM): a performance optimization feature included in all WP Engine Core and Enterprise eCommerce plans. It continuously logs and identifies slow database queries, highlighting problematic plugins, themes, or scripts that may be impacting site performance. 

Unlike traditional monitoring tools, SQM operates seamlessly in the background without slowing your site and provides actionable insights through detailed reports accessible via the WP Engine dashboard. The tool simplifies the process of resolving bottlenecks, helping eCommerce store owners and developers quickly address performance issues that could affect conversions and user experiences. 

With no setup required, SQM enhances site speed and ensures smooth operation, complementing WP Engine’s suite of eCommerce optimization tools.

Edge Full Page Cache

Edge Full Page Cache (EPFC) is WP Engine’s advanced caching solution for customers on our Advanced Network. 

Launched in September, EFPC is designed to improve server response times by up to 90%, delivering faster, smoother user experiences by caching static HTML and leveraging Cloudflare’s CDN. By storing site content closer to your end users, EFPC reduces data travel time and improves key metrics like Time to First Byte.

With a simple toggle activation in the WP Engine User Portal, EFPC provides a powerful, hassle-free way to enhance website performance and meet user demand for fast, reliable digital experiences.

Local version 8.3

March also brought about Local version 8.3 which enhances the experience of connecting Local to WP Engine and simplifies site deployment between environments. 

This most recent update to Local offers streamlined controls for selecting which files or databases are moved between local and live sites to boost developer workflow efficiency. 

By improving reliability and ease of use, Local 8.3 ensures a more seamless transition from development to production environments, enhancing productivity and reducing deployment complexity for WP Engine customers. 

Each of these 2024 innovations and updates underscores our continued commitment to making WordPress easier to use and more seamless for the countless agencies, businesses, and developers who are building state-of-the-art digital experiences and charting the future of the web.

Infusing performance excellence through a strategic acquisition

In July, WP Engine acquired NitroPack, an all-in-one SaaS solution for improving site speed and performance metrics. In the short time since, NitroPack’s powerful performance optimizations have greatly enhanced our already robust suite of web performance solutions. 

With NitroPack’s technology, we are providing customers with faster load times and increased mobile performance, helping to enhance their SEO visibility and the experiences of their end users. 

This acquisition strengthens our commitment to delivering cutting-edge, customer-focused solutions for WordPress builders and site owners.

Honing our voice through a brand relaunch

In May, WP Engine refreshed the look and feel of our brand’s creative elements to better reflect our mission, culture, and values. 

The refreshed identity is built on a research-driven strategy that also identified the four pillars of our business success: 

• Elevated expertise: We leverage our expertise to help educate and support our customers.
• People-focused culture: We empower our employees to bring their best skills and ideas to the table.
• Relentless innovation: We continuously optimize our offerings to build the best, most useful products for the developers and agencies who choose us.
• Unmatched performance: We aim to be the single best hosting provider for WordPress sites globally. 

The new visual and content standards set forth through this brand refresh create a more cohesive and intuitive experience across our suite of products, reinforcing these brand pillars as well as our commitment to empowering WordPress users with polished, modern solutions.

You can find out more about what went into our brand refresh here. 

Celebrating and facilitating customer success

As always, we also took time throughout the year to highlight some of the WP Engine partners and customers who are creating innovative, exceptional digital experiences on our platform.

For example, WP Engine Agency Partner Noble Studios chose our managed platform as the foundation for Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau (YMCTB)’s digital home. The redesigned and re-platformed site led to a notable 17.1% decrease in bounce rate, as well as increases in overall site traffic and lodging referrals. The new site also earned Noble Studios the title of Creative Partner of the Year as part of our inaugural Agency Partner Awards in February!

Additionally, leading virtual assistant services provider Wing Assistant migrated to our managed hosting platform to elevate their own site experience. Leveraging our advanced caching, built-in CDN, and scalable infrastructure, the team saw a 493% increase in site traffic and a 146% increase in engagement time.

Our Crafted With Code showcase, created in partnership with The Webby Awards, also spotlighted some of the fastest, most performant WordPress sites hosted on WP Engine’s platform this year. Each recognized site serves as an example of how WordPress can be leveraged to create digital experiences that are fast, responsive, and robust enough to meet the demands of today’s internet users.

And with new functionality and a refreshed look for our Agency Partner Directory, we’re now able to connect our Agency Partner Program members with even more brands and businesses looking to take on new projects. The page helps facilitate direct lead generation and enhances SEO for our partners by driving traffic back to their websites.

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Driving digital adoption through education

Staying on the cutting edge of digital innovation is essential for designers, developers, and agencies as they attempt to create more beautiful, performant, and user-friendly experiences year after year.

WP Engine helped facilitate some of that education in many ways, the first of which was through our all-virtual DE{CODE} conference, held in March. 

Serving as our fifth consecutive developer conference since 2019, DE{CODE} 2024 brought together thought leaders and experts from across the WordPress ecosystem to discuss emerging trends, tools, and strategies for success. Topics included everything from how to fix a site you didn’t build to fine-tuning your site with ACF to strategies for keeping your Core Web Vitals in the green.

We also hosted multiple webinars throughout the year. These sessions helped customers stay up to date with our product roadmap and vision for the future, learn more about AI’s impact on site creation and optimization, explore industry-specific strategies for digital success, and glean insights into the trends and challenges agencies will face in the new year.

Additionally, our in-depth research in 2024 explored many of the topics affecting modern WordPress users—from SEO strategies to the current state of headless WordPress adoption—and our ACF team’s annual survey provided high-level insights into how users are employing ACF in their workflows. This information will be vital to our future efforts as we continue to expand and optimize our tools and offerings to best meet the needs of our customers.

Investing in our culture and people

Finally, 2024 was a year of increased investment in our own company culture, our people, and the communities in which we live and work. 

This is evidenced first (and most often) by our many Great Place to Work recognitions throughout the year. We know that when employees are given the freedom and flexibility to do their best work, they will meet and often exceed expectations.

Our bi-annual hackathons also provided opportunities for employees to try new things, build new skills, work with different teammates, and explore new ideas. In 2024, WP Engine hackathon participants built new custom dashboards, found ways to optimize server performance, and even taught some animals to play music! (Sorta.)

Employees also used their time and talents to give back to their communities in creative ways, earning recognition from local charities and raising money for the causes they care about.

We also took some time to introduce the world to a few of the people who keep our engine humming along. Most recently, we’ve been shining a light on some of the change-makers and innovators throughout our ranks with the introduction of our Meet the Experts series. 

We can’t wait to introduce you to even more of the humans behind our success in the new year!

Powering your success in the new year and beyond

We’re brimming with ideas for new ways to offer our customers breakthrough innovations and more optimizations to help drive even more success in the new year!

Thank you for continuing to trust us with your digital future—we’re excited to continue learning, growing, and innovating alongside some of the best companies and builders in WordPress!

Hopefully you've now see what makes wp engine hosting different. If WP Engine is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

 

Credit: Original article published here.