We’re a WordPress shop, so we’re part of the WordPress economy. You might be, too, if you use a WordPress website for your professional site. So how’s the WordPress economy doing?
Very well. 41% of all the websites in the universe are built on the WordPress platform. There are more than 82 million WordPress websites. WordPress doesn’t get payments for all those websites, though — WordPress is free to use. So what is the WordPress economy? WPEngine did a study of the question.
The WordPress Economy
It’s the 597.6 billion dollars that changes hands each year thanks to WordPress.
A survey found that WordPress users credit WordPress for 25% of their income. Those who use WordPress more than 15 hours a week rely on WP for an average of 48% of their income. Companies from solopreneurs to corporations with 1,000 workers or more reported that 40 to 42% of their growth was led by WordPress.
This includes WordPress hosting companies (more than 500 of them worldwide), WordPress shops like Haden Interactive (more than 50,000 of us), theme designers, and plugin builders. And of course all the companies and individuals that rely on WordPress websites for marketing and customer service.
ThinkWriteCode also includes meetup organizers and attendees, WordCamp participants, and the enormous volunteer community that helps support WordPress. They may not be paid for their work, but they certainly add value. WordPress asks all of us who work with WordPress to volunteer some time supporting the project — we do — and those hours should be considered part of the economy as well.
Are you part of the WordPress economy?
If not, why not? WordPress is an open source project initially developed at least in part to provide an alternative to tech behemoths like Microsoft and Apple. It’s growing by leaps and bounds largely because it’s better than its competition. Just as Google’s market share dwarfs that of every other search engine, WordPress’s market share for content management systems (just about 65%) makes all the others, from Joomla to Shopify, look puny.
Some of us don’t read the bestsellers or watch the most popular shows, just on principal. But you don’t get a 64% market share without having a seriously good product.
WordPress websites are easier to manage in-house than those built on other platforms. They perform better in search. They offer an amazingly supportive community.
Is it time for you to think about switching to a WordPress website? We’ll be happy to help. Contact us to start the conversation.
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