Since it was first released back on 27th May 2003, WordPress (WP) has evolved to become the world’s most popular and widely-used Content Management System (CMS). Despite fierce competition from rival platforms like Drupal, Magento, and Joomla, WP reigns supreme and now powers a huge diversity of sites – everything from global multinationals like BBC America and Sony Music right down to personal home-made blogs.
Now, as we near the end of 2020, WP is estimated to power around 455 million websites globally, accounting for approximately 35% of all sites currently online. Moreover, if you consider only sites powered by a Content Management System, WP holds an even bigger share – approximately 60%. It is a titan in terms of online publishing and has disrupted the web environment like no other CMS in history.
What is a Content Management System (CMS)?
Before considering the reasons behind WP’s unprecedented success, it would first perhaps be wise to define the crucial role Content Management Systems play in web publishing. A CMS allows users of any background to add, edit, and delete a website’s content (i.e. pages, text, images, and multimedia) without any previous coding or design knowledge.
WordPress empowers companies and individuals to make rapid changes to their websites, adding new pages, content, and making other updates with ease. CMSs have come to democratize web publishing, demystifying the process of managing and updating web content.
From the Blogging Platform to Global Domination
While once WordPress was considered mostly a blogger’s platform, the CMS has grown over the years to become the management system of choice for some of the world’s largest and most respected companies. Web design companies like ALT Agency (https://www.altagency.co.uk/services/development/wordpress/) commonly use WordPress to power bespoke client sites, allowing them to concentrate more on a site’s design and functionality rather than being bogged down by developing a CMS from scratch each time they start a new project. As WP has increased in power and functionality, it has become the dominant CMS used by many of the world’s biggest and most successful website production firms.
Furthermore, a well-constructed, well-designed CMS like WordPress also allows users with little programming knowledge or design prowess to create and manage entire websites. This leads us nicely on to the next topic – the reasons behind WP’s massive success.
How WordPress Became the World’s Most-used CMS
If you ask web designers or programmers why WordPress became so popular, you’ll likely hear a multitude of reasons, including;
- The platform’s ease of use
- WP’s in-built security, patches, and regular updates
- WP’s simple options for data portability (usually through XML transfer)
- The fact WordPress is free of charge as a CMS (not when hosted on wordpress.com, which charges a small fee)
- Modern WordPress templates are produced in a fully responsive format, scaling to the screen size of the user
- The WordPress help, support, and online community is second to none
- WP’s extensibility means it can accommodate both pro developers and beginners alike
- The fact that WP is extremely searched engine-friendly and aids Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- The vast array of plug-ins and extensions that can be downloaded and added to a site, thereby increasing its functionality
- The massive range of pre-built, off-the-shelf templates that can be used on the platform
However, while all these reasons have undoubtedly contributed to WP’s success, probably the most important are the readily-available themes and the wide range of plug-ins.
The Definition of a WordPress Theme
A WP theme is a pre-built template, constructed for a specific purpose or type of business complete with design layout, colors, and typography options. Themes are bundled as zip files and include everything required to power the final website (i.e. the PHP programming code and CSS stylesheets/HTML pages). A WP theme is literally a ready-made website in a box.
Of course, if you’d prefer to have a unique design, you can still employ the services of a web design company that will likely use WP as their base platform. The beauty of WP is its wide-ranging flexibility, either in the form of pre-packaged websites or as a standalone CMS.
The Importance of WordPress themes
Not so long ago, if you wanted to publish a website online, your only option would be to engage the services of a professional web design company. Web design and development is a complex and involved process requiring everything from programmers and designers to content producers and SEO/online marketing specialists.
While these options still exist if you want a completely original site, WordPress also allows users with little to no web publishing experience to get online. However, it’s worth remembering your site will be built on a template and could run the risk of appearing identical to another website. If you want a truly unique design, you should still use the services of a professional design company.
Nonetheless, as WP grew in popularity, more and more design and development companies began to recognize the opportunities afforded by the platform to sell single sites to a much larger market. Where previously a design company would have produced bespoke, single-use websites for specific clients on a per-project basis, WordPress opened up the idea of making one site that could be used over and over – and, of course, sold over and over, too.
With the help of third-party design firms, WordPress slowly began to beat the chicken and egg challenge faced by so many other companies. As more designers came on board, so the range of template sites increased massively, giving users greater flexibility and options to build almost any kind of website – anything from a relatively static portfolio showcase site to a dynamic e-commerce platform. With more themes came more users – again bolstering WP’s dominance. Perhaps more than any other reason, WordPress won the CMS war through the support of the design community and its desire to offer so many pre-made designs.
These days, even established web production companies frequently use themes in their smaller-budget jobs to help clients get online quickly at the best price possible. It’s now not uncommon for design firms to employ a template then offer training and guidance to help a client get up to speed with their CMS and start making changes independently.
Also, design companies will often adapt an existing template to a client’s specific needs, again cutting down production times and reducing development costs. As an added bonus, as WP is already so searched engine-friendly, it makes the task of SEO far easier, which can help specialist marketing companies increase a site’s exposure.
The number of WordPress themes increases daily but in May 2020, it was estimated there were around 31,000 pre-made templates available for the platform covering everything from social media-type member sites to multimedia and blogging layouts. No matter what market sector you’re in – or what type of site you want to build – you can pretty much guarantee a theme already exists for it on WordPress.
The Crucial Role Played by WordPress Plug-ins
While themes have undoubtedly been a deciding factor in WordPress’s massive global growth, plug-ins have also played a crucial role in the platform’s on-going domination.
A plug-in is essentially a snippet of code that can be installed on a WordPress site to extend its functionality. So, for example, you might add a plug-in to a basic WordPress site to add e-commerce functions or a live chat facility.
In much the same way that developers were quick to recognize the opportunities to mass-sell themes, as WP grew in popularity, programmers also got in on the act by producing plug-ins. There are now tens of thousands of WP plug-ins available, which are searchable directly from within the CMS itself.
Depending on their complexity, plug-ins can often be installed quickly and can greatly extend the functionality of a site. However, as a cautionary note, you should always check with your developer before adding a plug-in as rolling back your site to a previous state can be difficult and requires programming experience.
The Takeaway
WordPress continues to dominate the online world and it shows no signs of slowing up anytime soon. With the recent release of its Gutenberg update, WP has made website production and editing even simpler with an easy-to-use drag and drop interface. Whether you’re looking for a one-off design produced by a professional development company or just want to set up a simple blog site, WordPress should be your CMS of choice.
