20 stats about WordPress

WordPress is a web content management tool that was originally developed for publishing blogs in 2003 but has since evolved into something much more. With its range of built-in functionality and flexibility to use it as a core for a more complex system, WordPress is unsurprisingly the go-to core for many developers and online content creators alike.

• The first release of WordPress was on the 27th of May 2003 (source)
• 43.7% of the internet is built with WordPress at its core (source). That roughly equates to 488.6 million websites!

The long and short of it is that WordPress has the largest market share of any content management system out there.  Now that we know a little more about WordPress, let’s dive into the rest of the statistics.

Stats to know about WordPress

1. In 2014, WordPress Plugin Directory surpassed 1 billion total plugin downloads (source).
2. WordPress was created by Matt Mullenweg & Mike Little and was the successor to b2/cafelog which was released in 2001 (source).
3. Sony, Meta Blog and CCN are a few of the many big companies that use WordPress as the core of their websites (source).
4. WordPress names its different versions after Jazz artists.  For example, WordPress 1.0 was named after Miles Davis, and WordPress 4.6 was named after Pepper Adams (source).
5. From a development perspective, WordPress uses the LAMP stack, which is made up of Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (source).
6. As for its flexibility, there are over 59,000 free plugins in the WordPress Plugin Directory and over 5,200 paid plugins on CodeCanyon.  This doesn’t include site-specific plugins that can be created (source).
7. WordPress runs events across the globe where developers, SEOs and other professionals meet to discuss the industry and get creative and to date has run over 1286 of these (source).
8. WordPress is Open Source which allows anyone in the world to download and use it.  The core code is freely available to download, use, study and if needed, change (source).
9. WordPress.org and WordPress.com are not the same! (source)
10. WordPress has a built-in multisite feature that is hidden by default. It allows you to create a network of websites using the same WordPress installation (source).
11. WordPress is available in 196 languages, with 40+ languages fully translated (source).
12. On WordPress.com alone, users publish over 70 million new posts each month (source).
13. 409 million people view about 20 billion pages on WordPress every month (source).
14. Over the years, WordPress has continued to grow by 1-2% every single year (source).
15. Of the entire CMS market, WordPress has just over 62% of the CMS market share (source).
16. With thousands of prebuilt themes out there, Avada (according to ThemeForest sales) is the most popular with over a million downloads (source).
17. The most popular plugin. Elementor has over 10 million active installations on WordPress websites (source).
18. 43.7% of the internet is built with WordPress at its core.  That roughly equates to 488.6 million websites! (source).
19. Roughly every two minutes, another 10 million WordPress sites launch (source).
20. 20.4% of WordPress websites use WooCommerce (source).

Hopefully, those 20 stats have told you a bit more about WordPress, and as you can see what started as a web content management tool for publishing blogs has since evolved into something much more. While it is extremely popular, there are many WordPress alternatives out there, so here’s a brief summary of some:

• Shopify – a leading e-commerce solution due to it’s effective and comprehensive online shopping features.
• Wix – with lots of templates and AI-powered design tools, Wix can be a great option for someone who is looking for something simple and fast.
• Squarespace – known for its designer templates, Squarespace is often compared with WordPress. It tends to be that WordPress comes out on top due to the limitation in functionality of Squarespace sites.
• Drupal – a leading open-source CMS, with modules and themes like WordPress and is an option for building complex and scalable websites.
• Webflow – a comprehensive website builder that enables users to create websites without coding or extensive technical knowledge.

So now you know about WordPress and a few alternatives, to help you choose the right platform for you and your business.

Conclusion

At Embryo, we’ve got over 10 years of experience, and an exceptional team of creatives, ready to design, build and maintain amazing WordPress websites.  If you’re looking for a custom solution to website development, our knowledgeable team is always ready to help you begin your journey. Contact our expert team today to find out more.

Deeper insights:

• 7 Tips to Improve WordPress SEO
• The 12 Different Website CMS’
• The Best WordPress SEO Plugins