On May 27, 2023, WordPress celebrates 20 years of extraordinary growth, powering approximately 43% of all websites and remaining the leading content management system by far.
How did WordPress achieve this milestone, and will it continue to be one of the most successful open source projects ever?
About This Article
This article was initially meant to compare Duda, WordPress, and Wix.
However, after speaking to developers and individuals behind the scenes at each company, it became clear that each platform excels at solving the problems they set out to tackle.
Thus, what began as one article about three platforms evolved into a three-part series featuring each platform individually.
Today, we explore why WordPress is popular with web design agencies, search marketers, enterprise publishers, and ecommerce sites, among other successful uses.
This article includes insights from Josepha Haden Chomphosy, the Executive Director of WordPress, and other partners who discuss why WordPress is so successful.
WordPress Democratized the Internet
Before WordPress, one needed to either pay a small fortune for an enterprise Content Management System (CMS) or learn how to code to achieve what WordPress offers for free. The alternative was using software like Dreamweaver.
The launch of WordPress democratized online publishing, arguably becoming one of the most important innovations to come from the Internet. The positive economic impact on millions worldwide cannot be overstated.
A strong case could be made that WordPress, a free open-source software, is the most significant innovation of the Internet age today.
Secret to Success: Make it Easy to Use
WordPress’s success is largely due to its design, which makes it easy to install and get publishing fast. This principle guides nearly every development decision.
This principle is expressed in an official statement of the WordPress philosophy:
“Great software should work with little configuration and setup. WordPress is designed to get you up and running and fully functional in no longer than five minutes. You shouldn’t have to battle to use the standard functionality of WordPress.
We work hard to make sure that every release is in keeping with this philosophy. We ask for as few technical details as possible during the setup process as well as providing full explanations of anything we do ask.”
Underpinning this philosophy is a dedication to freedom.
The webpage on philosophy promises WordPress users:
- “The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
- The freedom to study how the program works and change it to make it do what you wish.
- The freedom to redistribute.
- The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others.”
Launched Millions of Businesses
This focus on simplicity, freedom, and fostering an ecosystem of innovation has, over the past 20 years, resulted in the launch of millions of websites and the success of millions of businesses worldwide.
Tom Zsomborgi, Chief Business Officer at managed web hosting company Kinsta, said this about the power of WordPress:
“Smaller merchants benefit tremendously from WordPress. With often limited budgets, many cannot afford a developer.
WordPress offers the software for free without a monthly fee, including the WooCommerce plugin that unlocks ecommerce capabilities.
Tens of thousands of plugins give merchants the freedom and flexibility to tailor WordPress to their needs.
Plus, learning to use WordPress is easy.
These benefits attract not just smaller merchants but also big enterprises and huge media companies.
I’ve seen stores start with one product and turn into a major e-commerce store with thousands of offerings, or a blogger turn their small blog into a major news site with millions of visitors.”
WordPress Is Adaptable
A significant reason for WordPress’s popularity is its adaptability for various use cases, from simple blogging to ecommerce and even enterprise-level publishing.
Leading websites such as TechCrunch, Southern Bancorp, Vogue, Sony Music, and The Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University all use WordPress.
Jason Cross, SVP of Digital Presence and Commerce at Newfold Digital (parent company of Bluehost), offered his observations on the remarkable adaptability of the WordPress publishing platform.
He shared:
“WordPress delivers broad compatibility with existing technologies and rapid compatibility with emerging ones.
WordPress’s greatest advantage is its flexibility and the way you can incorporate practically any imaginable feature through plugins.
If a feature does not yet exist, the open platform allows web developers to build custom functionality.
Managed WordPress bridges the best of open-source and proprietary CMS by providing powerful all-in-one solutions and the relative ease many closed platforms offer, yet with significantly more control and long-term reliability via open-source software and data formats.
All of the data and code on your site is yours; you can take it with you as you upgrade to more powerful platforms, switch domains, make a backup, or move the data to another platform or service.
Since WordPress is portable, you can start on an affordable shared hosting plan with a low barrier to entry given the cost, flexibility, and functionality available.
Once your site gains popularity, you can upgrade to a Managed Hosting plan for additional peace of mind and much of the same functionality that closed platforms provide.
Many hosts, including Bluehost, are actively working to simplify the website setup journey.”
Managed WordPress hosting handles the technical overhead typically associated with using WordPress, allowing publishers and eCommerce stores to focus on publishing and selling products. Factors such as site speed, automatic backups, hacking defense, software updates, and maintenance are all managed by the provider.
That a web host can configure WordPress to provide an experience similar to a closed-source system exemplifies the remarkable adaptability of the WordPress platform.
Interview With Executive Director of WordPress
We interviewed Josepha Haden Chomphosy, the Executive Director of WordPress, to explore why WordPress is the first choice for so many publishers and developers worldwide.
Initially known as a blogging platform, WordPress is also excellent for ecommerce, as simple or as complex as needed.
What kinds of merchants benefit most from creating in WordPress?
WordPress’s mission is to democratize publishing, meaning merchants of all sizes and types can benefit from creating with it.
Whether they use WordPress to build their entire business—from stores and customer management to marketing and communications—or as part of a suite of tools, they gain more control and ownership of their brand over time.
However, if I were to choose a single group that benefits the most, it would have to be small to medium business owners. They can get high-quality sites and tools at costs that work for any business budget while ensuring that their software is here to stay.
Can WordPress scale with a business?
“The versatility and freedom of tools offered by WordPress are key advantages for businesses of all sizes over other solutions.
You get everything you need, but can remove anything you don’t want, no matter your size or what you’re doing.
But on top of being flexible, it is absolutely scalable.
WordPress is a high-performance platform with strict security standards that power millions of sites ranging from blogs to internationally recognized corporations and media outlets, attracting millions of daily page views.
This demonstrates how powerful and trusted WordPress is as an open-source content management system (CMS) and its scalability to meet the needs of the highest volume, most security-conscious, and most demanding digital properties.”
What is the cost-benefit of a platform like WordPress versus closed-source solutions?
“While owning a copy of the WordPress software is free and requires no licensing fees, like any site solution, there are some costs associated with hosting, domain registration, and premium upgrades.
Yet, the cost-benefit of choosing WordPress lies in long-term predictability and ownership.
No matter what platform you choose to create your online presence, it can take a few days to get started.
And after that, it can take you a few months or years to build your audience.
The benefit of choosing WordPress is that you own all that hard work (and that hard-won audience attention) for as long as you want to keep your site.
We have no centralized content recommendation algorithms, no claims of ownership over your published work, and no terms of service changes that can cut you off from the effort you put in.
It’s yours. And that’s it.”
How does managed hosting add value to WordPress?
From the outside, managed hosting of WordPress has the same benefits as any hosted proprietary solution—namely, the convenience of not managing your own server.
As a bonus, content and configurations made on a managed host are still yours to keep. So you can move your sites from a GDPR-conscious host to a sustainability-conscious host if you want and not have to start over each time.
WordPress Creates Opportunity
WordPress enables people to create a business and livelihood online. But it also helps create thousands of jobs around the world, from web hosts and domain registrars to theme and plugin developers and web developers whose jobs exist because WordPress exists.
WordPress comes with a massive community of supporters that help make anything possible with it.
Josepha had this to say about the WordPress community:
“WordPress creates jobs around the world. For instance, web developers, plugin developers, and more.
The WordPress ecosystem creates opportunities that no other closed system can claim.
WordPress owes much of its success to the open-source community. Being open source allows us to be inclusive by design, creating an environment of innovation and a vibrant town square mentality for contributors.
This guiding principle of free, open-source software led us to create programs and initiatives ensuring the project’s continuity and future sustainability.”
WordPress Is Here to Stay
What makes WordPress viable is its strong community support, ensuring its longevity.
The Five for the Future program encourages WordPress-related businesses to give back to the community to keep it healthy and viable.
According to the WordPress Five for the Future webpage, contributing can take many forms:
“Anyone can contribute to Five for the Future.
Many contributors focus on the technical side of WordPress, such as core development, but there are also teams working in other areas like marketing, translation, training, and community.
There is always a way to get involved, whatever your skill set.”
WordPress is the most popular publishing platform today, with an ecosystem of support that can help anyone start a site and grow their business, no matter what kind of business it is.
It has transformed the Internet and is responsible for millions of jobs. The websites published on the platform are a part of everyone’s life today, even if users don’t realize it.
Happy 20th birthday, WordPress!
Featured image by Shutterstock/Ink Drop
