A number of solid and widely used CMSs are readily accessible nowadays. You may already be familiar with WordPress, a free and open-source option. How popular is WordPress, however, and what is its projected proportion of the market? That and more will be discussed below.
You should choose a robust platform whether you want to launch a personal blog, an online shop, or any other kind of commercial website. WordPress is one of the most popular platforms, however, it might be beneficial to learn more about how it is used.
In this article, we’ll provide an overview of WordPress and discuss its many strengths. In the following paragraphs, we will examine the current market share and data for this product in further detail. At last, we’ll take a peek at its potential for expansion. Let’s just dive in, shall we?
WordPress: A Brief Overview
First, we’ll go over some WordPress basics before we get into its market share:
Mike Little and Matt Mullenweg made WordPress in 2003. A blogging platform was its original function. It has grown into one of the largest open-source initiatives online. It uses PHP and MySQL and is released under the GNU General Public License (GPLv2).
WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org
Remember that WordPress.com and WordPress.org are not the same thing. Let’s begin using WordPress.com as our base. As a commercial, for-profit enterprise under Automattic, Inc.’s ownership, we may say the following:
Meanwhile, WordPress.org is a nonprofit group responsible for preserving WordPress’s open-source foundation. Both services provide both free and paid hosting options for users and companies. The primary distinction is that WordPress.org must be hosted independently.
As an added downside, WordPress.com’s feature set is much smaller than that of WordPress.org. If you use WordPress.com, for instance, you are limited to using a subdomain (such as “mysite.wordpress.com”) unless you pay for a premium account. WordPress.org allows you to utilise a custom domain name (such “www.mysite.com”) with any web hosting provider.
Finally, WordPress.com severely limits your ability to customise your website. For example, if you want to sell advertising space on your WordPress.com site, you’ll have to pay the Business plan’s $300 annual fee. If you host your site on WordPress.org, you may display advertisements regardless of the hosting package you choose.
It’s important to note that the focus of this piece is on WordPress.org data.
Why Does WordPress Have Such Widespread Usage?
WordPress’s widespread adoption may be attributed to its numerous strengths as a content management system. To begin, it has a fantastic interface and is really simple to use. You don’t need to know how to code or design websites to create a site that looks great and has plenty of functionality.
Whether you want to start a small blog or a complex online shop, WordPress has you covered. You can also quickly change the design of your website to reflect your personality and brand thanks to the dozens of free themes and plugins available.
Downloading and using WordPress doesn’t cost a dime. Since it is freely available to the public, there are no costs associated with using it. However, in order to launch your website, you will need to get both a domain name and a hosting package. However, there are many of choices, and many of them come at a low price.
One of WordPress’s many draws is how safe it is. WordPress websites are far less vulnerable to hacking since they get frequent updates with the newest security fixes.
Websites built using WordPress are very simple to update and manage. Once your site is up, maintaining it won’t need much effort, particularly if you choose a managed WordPress hosting service. In addition, WordPress takes care of updates and other maintenance for you automatically.
Last but not least, WordPress has a sizable user base that is eager to assist you in any way it can. There is an abundance of resources to assist you to understand the CMS and fix any problems that may arise, including online lessons, videos, support forums, and documentation.
Statistical Analysis of WordPress’s 2022-23 Market Share
W3Techs claims that 64.1% of all websites using a detected content management system are using WordPress right now. This indicates that 42.9% of all websites are run by WordPress.
The question is, how does WordPress’ market share stack up against competing content management systems on the web? Other popular content management systems (CMSs) that trail WordPress in terms of user traffic are listed below.
- Shopify (6.5 percent )
- Wix (3.4 percent )
- Squarespace (3.0 percent )
- Joomla (2.5 percent )
- Drupal (1.9 percent )
As can be seen, WordPress has the largest percentage of the CMS market. Let’s have a look at how WordPress is used in different contexts and by different versions.
WordPress Versions and Subcategories
As of this writing, WordPress 5 is by far the most widely used version. 92.5 percent of WordPress users utilise this, and it’s followed by:
- Version 4 (7.1%)
- Version 3 (0.4%)
- Version 2 (>0.1%)
- Version 1 (>0.1%)
Specifically, 5.9 has 53.8% of the WordPress user base, whereas 5.8 has 10% and 5.7 has 5.2%.
The content management system suggests not just using the most recent version of WordPress but also utilising the most recent version of PHP. Over 90% of WordPress sites are using version 7.0 or higher:
Statistics on WordPress use may be broken down further. WooCommerce, a prominent e-commerce plugin, and page builders such as Elementor and WPBakery are used by a sizable percentage of WordPress site owners.
Let’s take a look at how many people are using each kind of WordPress:
- WooCommerce (20.3%)
- Elementor (17.1%)
- WPBakery (14.4%)
- Beaver Builder (1.0%)
These robust add-ons are a big reason why WordPress is so helpful, especially for newcomers. They make it easier to create and construct pages and may even help you transform your site into a full-fledged online store.
WordPress Historical Trends and Usage
When compared to the previous year, WordPress use has been rather stable over the past 12 months, rising from 41.2% in May 2021 to 42.9% in May 2022.
The percentage of the world’s 10 million most-visited websites using the CMS has increased from 32.7% to 42.9% since 2019. This represents more expansion than any other content management system.
BuiltWith reports that more than 30,000,000 active websites are powered by WordPress.
Substitute text: A report on how often WordPress is used.
The following are the top 10 nations by a number of WordPress sites:
United States (8,858,380)
United Kingdom (769,864)
India (375,206)
Japan (344,831)
Russia (344,656)
Germany (342,829)
Canada (291,522)
Most WordPress sites are written in English (44%), Spanish (6%), and Japanese (5.8%).
WordPress is used by 35.41 percent of the top 1,000,000 websites. It is used by 33.53 percent of the top 100,000 websites and 33.54 percent of the top 10,000 websites.
Market Position and Popular Sites
According to statistics compiled by W3Techs, WordPress dominates the market share of content management systems (CMSs) in terms of popularity and traffic volume, with a disproportionate number of high-traffic sites using WordPress.
Joomla, Shopify, and Squarespace are all seeing a decline in their use as a result. It’s also typical for sites with little traffic to use them instead of WordPress.
WordPress was first created as a tool for writing blog posts. Because of this, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the CMS is still the first choice for many website owners looking for a blogging platform. Taking a closer look at the data highlights this point. A remarkable 97% of all blogs are created using WordPress.
WordPress is being used by a number of popular websites nowadays. Examples of this are:
Some sites have also lately begun using WordPress. These sites also include Dell.com, Bloomberg.com, Newegg.com, and Hostnats.com, among others, in addition to Alibaba.com.
What the Future Holds for WordPress
For obvious reasons, including as WordPress’s general appeal and adaptability, its market share and overall expansion are likely to expand in the next years. The addition of WooCommerce, which Automattic purchased in 2015, has made WordPress more appealing to online merchants.
BuiltWith claims that 31% of all online stores are run using WooCommerce Checkout. WordPress is a popular, easy-to-use e-commerce platform, so it stands to gain more users as more companies shift online.
The recent shift to Full-Site Editing (FSE) by WordPress has made it simpler than ever to create and modify sites using this framework, which has contributed to its rapid expansion. The Gutenberg block editor has made great advances toward becoming a more user-friendly website creation tool for everyone from experienced web designers to novices just getting their feet wet.
Within barely 20 years of its start, WordPress has shown exponential growth that dwarfs that of its rivals. Its rising profile suggests a growing number of companies and organisations would use it as a website-development platform. Increased participation from the general public is another trend we can anticipate for the WordPress community.
Discover the Power of WordPress
If you operate a website, you know how important it is to have a robust content management system. WordPress is an option worth considering since it is both widely used and very adaptable.
According to the statistics shown in this article, 43% of all websites are now powered by WordPress. Site owners of all skill levels may use this powerful platform to build a beautiful, fully functioning website, from basic blogs to complex e-commerce sites.
Have you heard about what WordPress can do for you? Then, have a look at how our Optimized WordPress hosting services may assist you in launching your site quickly.
