5 Indicators That WordPress Remains Thriving
While search popularity may not be as up as it used to be, it doesn’t mean that WordPress is dying. If you look closely, you’ll see it’s almost the opposite. WordPress is not only surviving; it’s actually doing pretty well.
1. Market Share and Popularity (the Data)
Source: https://trends.builtwith.com/cms/WordPress
WordPress has an impressive 65% share of the global CMS market and powers over 40% of all websites online. According to W3Tech.com, about 1,000 new WordPress websites enter the top 10 million websites daily.
According to Google Trends, WordPress is clearly the most popular CMS. Compared to others like Webflow and Framer, these platforms are completely trumped by WordPress. Shopify is the only one that seems to be catching up. But, Shopify is good at one thing, and what thing only: eCommerce. WordPress has many more use cases and can cater to many more businesses.
2. High Volume of Theme and Plugin Development
WordPress, due to its open-source nature, has opened the possibility to create business opportunities for others in the form of themes and plugins.
WordPress has a healthy growing ecosystem of over 59,000 plugins (that’s 33,000 more since 2013) and over 13,000 themes with both free and paid options available. This means that WordPress has created wealth for others and this ecosystem is not easily broken.
Let’s take a look at one of WordPress’s most popular plugins Elementor, for example. Elementor is a no-code page builder for WordPress (and one of the reasons I joined WordPress initially).
According to Google Trends, Elementor is growing in popularity. Elementor cannot work without WordPress, so as Elementor grows, so does WordPress. Furthermore, according to W3techs, Elmenetor is the fastest-growing CMS to date (followed by WordPress).
The hypothesis is: as third-party WordPress apps, plugins, and themes grow in popularity, so will WordPress.
3. Strong Community Support and Engagement
I went through forums and communities on Reddit to find out what real users and experts were saying about WordPress. And it seems that most tend to suggest that WordPress is still relevant (and will remain relevant) in 2025 and beyond.
Based on what the general public are saying WordPress is not dead.
General Sentiment Analysis
While some experts might consider WordPress a dying CMS, most will disagree.
Consensus: The majority of opinions lean toward WordPress not being “dead” but acknowledging challenges.
Average Score: 4/10 (1 being absolutely alive, 10 being absolutely dead). While there is skepticism about WordPress’s evolution, its extensive use and adaptability keep it relevant.
Key Points in Favor of WordPress
Market Share and Popularity:
- WordPress is still the leading CMS, powering millions of websites, including those of large corporations and small businesses.
- Its open-source nature ensures wide adoption and adaptability.
Flexibility and Scalability:
- WordPress supports complex websites with features like WooCommerce, custom themes, and plugins.
- Allows extensive customization, which no-code tools often lack.
Community and Ecosystem:
- Boasts a vast, active community of developers and contributors, ensuring constant updates and support.
- Large libraries of themes and plugins offer solutions for various needs.
Ownership and Control:
Self-hosted WordPress sites give users full control over their data and infrastructure, unlike proprietary platforms like Wix or Squarespace.
Key Criticisms Against WordPress
Maintenance Overhead:
- Frequent updates for core software, themes, and plugins can cause compatibility issues.
- Vulnerabilities if not updated properly.
Complexity for Non-Tech Users:
- Considered difficult for beginners compared to drag-and-drop solutions like Webflow.
- Requires technical knowledge for troubleshooting and optimization.
Performance and Optimization:
- Sites often perform poorly on speed testing tools like GTMetrix due to reliance on multiple plugins and themes.
- Bloated configurations can lead to inefficiencies.
Competition from Modern Tools:
- Tools like Webflow, Ghost, and JAMstack solutions are gaining traction due to simpler interfaces and performance.
- These tools appeal to newer developers and smaller projects with straightforward needs.
One of the best things about WordPress is its big and caring community. It has experienced developers and eager beginners. This worldwide group provides great support and helps everyone keep learning. There are many online forums, tutorials, and local WordPress meetups. These spaces let users connect, share ideas, and ask for help.
4. Ongoing Core Updates, Integrations, and Innovations
WordPress is constantly evolving, not only to stay secure and stable but also to remain a highly versatile and modern platform. Beyond regular bug fixes and security patches, WordPress demonstrates a strong commitment to innovation and integration, making it a future-ready choice for website (and business) development.
One of WordPress’s standout strengths is its ability to seamlessly integrate with third-party apps and software through its REST API. This capability allows WordPress to connect with tools like Make.com, Zapier, and CRMs, enabling automation, data synchronization, and custom workflows.
These integrations extend WordPress’s functionality far beyond content management, positioning it as a central hub for diverse digital and business operations.
What Is WordPress REST API?
The WordPress REST API is like a bridge that helps WordPress connect to other apps or tools. It lets you use WordPress data and features without needing to go into WordPress directly.
It works by giving you special links (called endpoints) that you can use to get or change WordPress content. The data is shared in a simple format called JSON, so it works well with any programming language.
5. WordPress’s Dominance in SEO and Scalability
If you’re like me, you prefer to create value-driven content that attracts your ideal customer rather than pay large amounts monthly on paid advertisement on channels like Google Ads, or Meta.
SEO expert Joost de Valk, who created the popular Yoast SEO plugin, often talks about how good WordPress is for SEO. He says that when WordPress is set up correctly, it helps build a strong base for good search engine ranks. There are many SEO plugins that can make WordPress even better. These plugins offer tools for on-page optimization, keyword research, and performance checks.
This helps WordPress websites show up better in searches, boost organic traffic, and attract more visitors.
Brands and Blogs Powered by WordPress
Just take a look at these big names all using WordPress:
- Sony Music
- Meta Newsroom
- PlayStation Blog
- TechCrunch
- Time Magazine
- CNN Press Room
- Disney Books
- The Rolling Stones
- Spotify Newsroom
- Hypebeast
How WordPress (Woocommerce) Fuels Online Businesses
WooCommerce, the e-commerce plugin for WordPress, powers 35.33% of all e-commerce websites, equating to over 6.5 million active sites. WooCommerce is the most popular e-commerce plugin.
WordPress is scalable. This means that as your business grows, your website can grow too. It can handle more visitors, more transactions, and the extra content you need.
The Future of WordPress: What’s Next?
WordPress is always changing. Its growth comes from new ideas, feedback from its users, and a promise to stay updated in the fast-moving online world.
As technology moves forward and what people want changes, WordPress keeps adjusting. This helps it stay important and useful in the future. But what does the future look like for this strong content management system?
Upcoming Features and Updates
The future of WordPress looks great. There are exciting new features and updates coming soon. One big change is full site editing. This will help users change every part of their website design using the easy block editor.
People will not need to know a lot of coding anymore. They can create custom headers, footers, and page layouts easily. The development team is also working on better performance. WordPress wants to improve core web vitals. This means websites will load fast and give a smooth user experience on all devices.
Besides these core updates, we can also expect more new ideas in plugins and themes. This will give users more ways to make their websites better and keep up with trends.
Predictions for WordPress and Web Development Trends
Looking forward, we can see that WordPress will play an important part in new web development trends. Headless CMS systems, which separate the front-end from the back-end, are becoming more popular.
WordPress is ready to succeed in this area. It will allow developers to use its strong content management features while also using modern JavaScript tools for the front-end. As artificial intelligence (AI) gets better, we can expect AI features to be included in the WordPress platform.
Think about having AI tools that suggest content, automate design tasks, and customize user experiences, all made possible by the flexibility of WordPress.
Conclusion
In conclusion, WordPress is a strong and changing platform. You can see this from its growing user base, many themes, and plugin options. It gets regular updates and support from the community. WordPress also does well with SEO. There are some false ideas about it, but the truth is, WordPress is successful because it’s easy to use and flexible. Many brands and blogs have success stories with it. The future of WordPress looks bright with new features and trends in web development. Make use of its strengths and see the many options it gives for online businesses. Stay updated, stay linked, and keep growing in the digital world with WordPress beside you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do developers choose WordPress for web development?
Developers pick WordPress for web development because it is easy to use. It has many plugins, allows for lots of customization, offers good SEO tools, and has strong help from its community. These reasons make it a top option for building dynamic and scalable websites.
Can WordPress handle high traffic websites?
Yes, WordPress is very scalable. It can support websites with a lot of visitors. With good hosting, performance tweaks, and security measures, WordPress can manage a large user base and high traffic.
How does WordPress compare with newly emerging platforms?
While new platforms bring fresh ideas, WordPress still leads the market. Its well-established system, regular updates, and focus on user experience help it stay strong in the changing content management world.
What makes WordPress a preferred choice for SEO?
WordPress has clear code and strong content management tools. It also offers many SEO plugins, such as Yoast SEO. This helps you improve your website for search results. As a result, your site can reach more people and get more organic traffic.
