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View Full Version : The Dominance of WordPress: 20 Compelling Statistics.



Harold Mansfield
04-10-2012, 01:01 PM
This caught my eye this morning, especially the ones I have listed. Thought I would share.

25%
The estimated percentage of all websites that run on WordPress as of 2011.

$30 Million
The estimated value of WordPress-related projects in 2012

200%
The anticipated growth of WordPress-related projects over the next 2 years.

32 million
The estimated number of sites that run on WordPress.com’s single installation of WordPress MultiSite.

"Resistance is Futile!"

Read more:
20 Compelling Statistics that Represent the Dominance of WordPress (http://wpmu.org/brief-history-of-wordpress-in-numbers/)

vangogh
04-11-2012, 10:35 AM
The 25% number is the one that always grabs me. I've been watching it grow over the years. To think that many sites are all powered by one content management system is amazing. About half of those people are running on WordPress.com and the other half are running self hosted WordPress. Shows how they've done quite a lot right over the years.

About a year ago someone who worked for Moveable Type wrote an article sharing some of the details of how WordPress shot past Moveable Type as the platform of choice. It's called How did WordPress win? (http://www.majordojo.com/2011/02/how-did-wordpress-win.php) and it's an interesting ready. If you remember a few years back Moveable Type was the most popular blogging platform. They made a few mistakes and WordPress made some very good decisions around the same time.

I think today it comes down to the ease of install and use and of course being free doesn't hurt.

KristineS
04-11-2012, 01:19 PM
Wow, those stats are pretty impressive.

I think the biggest advantage for WordPress now is that it's so well known. I know when I was first looking at getting a blogging platform, WordPress was the name I heard most often. It was also the easiest platform for which to find themes. So that was what I ended up using. If Moveable Type or TypePad had the same name recognition I might have gone with them. It's all in who knows about you and what kind of buzz is being generated.

lucas.bowser
04-11-2012, 04:38 PM
I think what really put WordPress over the top was acceptance by the large hosting providers. The one-click installs by GoDaddy, BlueHost, HostGator, etc... made it too simple not to install and at least try it. Couple that with the hundreds of available themes, countless plugins and robust developer and support community you really had something that couldn't be matched for an average amateur DIYer. Also, for an open source project, they really put a lot of work into the admin interface in terms of newbie usability. I tried a lot of the different open source CMSs several years back and none of them had the ease of use that WordPress did for creating basic blogs and web sites.

vangogh
04-12-2012, 11:40 AM
I think it's a little more than the installs. There are other content management systems and blogging platforms that are available via the same 1-click install. In fact if anything I bet it was more how easy it is to install WordPress manually without the 1-click. Lucas if you're interested read the article I linked to. It's long, but it walks through the time when WordPress was starting up and the decisions they made and those Moveable Type made. There are a few major decisions that helped WordPress become the de facto platform. It's an interesting read if you're interested in these platforms, but also if you're interested in business and the decisions 2 companies made.

More than anything I think the ease of use and the free price are the biggest drivers. Both encourage new people to give WordPress a try and once they've used it they tend to stay. A number of those new users go on to become theme and plugin developers that contribute back to the platform. Then there's good and consistent leadership at the top to keep the whole thing running well.

Another interesting comparison is between WordPress and Drupal. Drupal began as the platform that could do more, but had the steeper learning curve. WordPress went for the shallow learning curve on a system that did a few things well. Now Drupal is looking to make their system easier, while WordPress is looking to add more functionality to the system. Both are heading for the same place, but I think the WP approach is the better one for gaining users.

krymson
04-24-2012, 04:15 AM
WordPress for me is great. I design themes for it and it's easy for my clients to update content manage their blog, and when it comes time for a redesign their site does not go down, content doesn't change and it's all done with just a few clicks rather than reinventing the wheel with your conventional website. As vangogh said there is just so much support both free and paid for the system. I used to work for Hostgator, dealt with Joomla, Drupal, dotnuke, and all of those other systems out there. WordPress' platform is just so easy to understand and use as a developer you can crank out more work, charge more, and ultimately profit more from using WordPress... And the UI for website owners makes it that much easier to sell to clients. I dont think i will change unless something WAY better comes out.

vangogh
04-24-2012, 10:44 AM
I hear you. Pretty much every site I develop ends up on WordPress at this point. Even for my clients who don't want to manage the site themselves, it's easier for me to manage.

I've never thought much of Joomla and can't claim to know much about dotnuke. Drupal is interesting. I gave it a spin for a client a few years back, but it was more than she wanted to learn so we ended up putting her site on WordPress. I was able to get in and learn a few things and the learning curve was steeper than with WordPress, though not to any extent where I couldn't figure it out. What's interesting is they know they need to make Drupal easier to use and that seems to be where the focus is. WordPress on the other hand started out to be as easy as possible at the cost of features and is now focused on adding more features to the system.

Jonathon if you haven't seen it yet, check the article I linked to a few posts above. It talks about when many of these companies were starting and when Movable Type was still the #1 choice for blogging. It's something of a history lesson about how some of these companies started and offers reasons for why WordPress is the system that now dominates the market.

krymson
04-26-2012, 12:44 AM
That's a good read... There is another platform that I like to use for e-commerce and I'm sure you've heard of it... Magento. The community version is free and EXTREMELY powerful. In my opinion its better than ANY paid e commerce software... Big Commerce, ZenCart, any of those. easy to upload (if you have a decent webhost that allows you to unzip files in the control panel's file manager) easy to edit... it's just a joy to work with just like WordPress... The main reason why people go with platform options like WordPress is that it's open-source, widely supported, and has big name clients. With that in mind most people can trust these platforms... I mean heck if Sony and Samsung find these platforms good enough to use I should too...

vangogh
04-26-2012, 02:25 AM
Yeah I found that article awhile ago and made sure to bookmark it. I remember some of the history since I started using WordPress around the time the article starts it's history.

I do know Magento, though I haven't had the greatest experience with it. It actually seemed very hard to use and I don't remember there being any documentation unless you purchased the book(s) the company put out. It's been a few years since I used it, so it's very possible I'd have a much better experience with it and I'm certainly willing to give it another try. One of the things I remember from the last time was someone would change prices on the admin side, but we could never get the price change to show on the site. I think it had something to with the caching and I kind of remember eventually figuring it out. I think had to clear out cached files on the sever. and then muck around in a few different files. I also remember there being different sets of files that would need editing depending on what you want to change. I kept thinking how could a typical user of the system get this to work.

In fairness to Magento this was a few years ago and I didn't set up the site originally. The person who did wasn't that experienced and it's possibly he made some mistakes in the set up. I also spent limited time with the system and didn't give it a complete look. I ended up moving the whole site to WordPress and used the Shopp plugin for ecommerce.

It sounds like you've had a very different experience with it. I could tell it was powerful and could do a lot. It sounds like it's easier to use than what I experience. I also know a lot of people like it and go to it first for ecommerce.

krymson
04-26-2012, 03:21 AM
You still have to clear caches and what not and yest the design files are in 3 separate folders but once you know which ones it's easy to change around... simple html and css similar to wordpress with php calls... there is now a lot of documentation and VERY widely supported now with tons of tutorials. Take a look at the site im working on currently for a client... www.allthingsboutiquehouston.com didnt take me long t master at all and the ability to upload an unlimited amount of products using a .csv file its amazing... You should play with it when you have the chance... took me about a day to figure out how everything worked... not a bad learning curve.

vangogh
04-27-2012, 02:37 AM
It wasn't so much a problem for me to clear caches and edit files in different folders. I didn't spend enough time with Magento to get through the learning curve, but I've no question I'd get through it. It's more thinking about my clients. I didn't feel like I could recommend a cart where they needed to call me for simple administrative tasks like changing a price. Changing the look of the site or the layout, sure, but changing a price seems like something that should be a simple change on the admin side.

How do your clients handle that kind of situation? Maybe it's easier than I think. Again I spent limited time working with Magento. I'm glad to know there's more documentation.

The site looks good. Nicely done. Don't forget to change the favicon. I noticed the Magento favicon is still showing. I can definitely see Magento is powerful and can do a lot. Maybe I'll have to give it another look one of these days.

krymson
04-27-2012, 05:20 AM
Yeah I have a frien of mine who is going to school for graphic design doing some mock up logos for my client to choose from. So I'm waiting on that before I change the favicon. No chaning the prices isnt to hard, just select the product in the back end go to the price section change the price save product bam! done... No problems yet but i will let you know as its still a work in progress my client hasnt seen the back end yet... I'm going to be meeting with her some time next week, send a few hours with her and show her the ropes... the biggest issue I see for her is uploading image for the mass import through a .csv file and and ftp client like filezilla... but that's something we'll get passed. Once she gets the hang of it im sure she'll be pro within a week or so. But that's why I work locally where I can meet my clients somewhere and sit down and teach them hands on how to do things... make mine and their lives easier.

vangogh
04-30-2012, 10:42 PM
I wonder why it was so difficult for us. I'm going on memory here, but I think we changed the price in two different places on the backend and it still didn't show up on the front end. Again this was a few years ago and I had nothing to do with setting up the site initially. Maybe it's something Magento improved since or maybe the person who set up the site originally did a few things wrong.

Maybe I should download it again and set something up locally to play. Ecommerce in WordPress is getting better, but it's still not as good as it can be and sometimes I get contacted by people who need a little more than what WordPress currently makes easy.

krymson
04-30-2012, 11:18 PM
yeah 1.7 just came out yesterday.

vangogh
05-01-2012, 10:26 PM
I don't remember what version we were using, but this was about 3 years ago I think. I'm sure it's a few versions ago. Maybe that's enough to explain the difference.

krymson
05-02-2012, 02:17 AM
Yeah, I'm having fun with it, it's just waiting on the client to to get their crap together... hopefully it will be done by saturday. Meeting her up this week so I can finish setting up the payment system and showing her how to manage the website unless she wants me to manage it for $400 a month... seems reasonable... less than if she hires someone to manage it for her at 10-12 and hour...

vangogh
05-02-2012, 11:25 AM
There are times on every project where you're waiting on the client and I would think clients would say the same thing that there are times on the project where they're waiting on you. One of the reasons I like WordPress so much is that it's pretty easy for my clients to use should they want to manage their sites. I think the ease of the interface has been one of it's best selling points over the years.

Moving this thread back on topic a little here's Matt Mullenweg's State of the Word from 2011 (http://ma.tt/2011/08/state-of-the-word-2011/). I guess the 2012 version should be coming later in the summer. There's a video on the other side of the link (and also some data on WP) that's about a half hour long. Matt's a good speaker and his State of the Words usually pack some good info about where WordPress is and where he thinks it'll go over the next year.