Rumor has it that WordPress is dying. Is it true?

Let’s dive into why these rumors exist and why they should be taken with a coffee ground of skepticism.

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Market Share of Content Management System Platforms

To start, websites can be built in a variety of platforms such as hand-coded, or built using a drag-and-drop, or the popular Content Management System (CMS) platform.

What is a Content Management System (CMS)? A CMS platform is collaborative software for creating, modifying, and managing digital content.

Here are a few stats to help put things in perspective about CMS website platforms.

• 68% of all websites use CMS, it’s easy to see why this is a billion-dollar industry that shows no signs of slowing down.
• WordPress powers more than 43% of all websites on the internet.
• It also holds 64.2% of CMS market share. No other website builder software comes close.
• WordPress powers websites for big-name brands including Disney, Sony, Facebook, and more.

Shopify is the second most popular, but it’s only 1/10th the size of WordPress since it powers about 4.4% of all sites vs. WordPress 43.2%.

Wix only powers 1.9% of all websites. WordPress is 22 times more popular than Wix.

Other popular CMS platforms all have under 2% market share each, such as Squarespace (1.8%), Joomla (1.7%), Drupal (1.3%), Blogger (1%), and Magento at just 0.6%.

The Origins of Rumors Surrounding WordPress’s Decline

You might be curious about the motivations driving the circulation of rumors regarding the decline of WordPress. These rumors can surface across social media platforms like Twitter or Reddit, or even as blog posts.

1. Success Sparks Speculation: WordPress’s immense success has led some to ponder its sustainability as the dominant player in the market.
2. Rising Competition: Enthusiasts of alternative website platforms believe that these newcomers will replace WordPress.

Is there compelling evidence to suggest that WordPress is fading away?

Let’s explore topics that come up about WordPress.

WordPress Security

• Con: WordPress, owing to its extensive user base, is a prime target for hacking attempts, DDOS attacks, malware infections, and trojan infiltrations.
• Pro: WordPress’s core undergoes rigorous security audits, rendering it more secure than many competing platforms.

Website security should never be taken for granted. Statistics from Sucuri, a prominent website security firm, unveil a crucial insight: approximately 97% of WordPress website breaches occur when site owners neglect fundamental security practices:

• Nearly 39% of compromised WordPress websites were found to be using outdated software, underscoring the importance of consistently updating your WordPress version.
• An alarming 50% of security vulnerabilities in WordPress sites are attributed to outdated or poorly-coded plugins or themes.
• Around 8% of WordPress sites succumbed to hacking attempts due to weak password practices.

You can significantly enhance your WordPress website’s security by using security best practices.

WordPress Community, Updates, and Plugins

WordPress, a powerhouse in the web presence arena since its inception in 2004, continually receives updates aimed at introducing new features and keeping the user interface contemporary. As an open-source endeavor, it thrives on contributions from a global community:

• WordPress has been translated into over 50 languages, with partial translations in excess of 200.
• WordPress communities across the globe regularly convene at WordCamps and meetups, for collaboration and knowledge exchange.
• Numerous WordPress groups on social platforms boast substantial memberships, amplifying the sense of a helpful and supportive community.
• The development team deploys multiple updates each year, including the recent WordPress 6.3 in August 2023. These updates include critical bug fixes, essential security enhancements, and the introduction of novel features.
• Year after year, WordPress evolves into a more powerful and user-friendly platform, as evidenced by a glance at the evolution of the WordPress user interface. Beyond core enhancements, WordPress users can extend functionality through plugins.
• With an impressive roster of over 60,000 free WordPress plugins available on the WordPress.org Plugin Directory, WordPress users possess a vast repository to choose from.
• The top 61 WordPress plugins enjoy installations on more than a million websites, with nine of them surpassing the five-million-installation mark.
• Free WordPress plugins cater to a broad spectrum of functionalities, including contact forms, membership sales, landing page construction, and SEO optimization.

Regardless of the specific features you integrate into your WordPress website, you are likely to find a plugin that solves the problem.

Conclusion

If you’re thinking about using WordPress for your website, it’s still a good choice in the ever-changing world of the internet and web design. As a web design studio, we monitor the trends and recommend WordPress as a customizable and dynamic website-building platform. We can also provide care and maintenance on your WordPress website to keep it secure.

Sources:
2023’s WordPress Market Share Report – Latest Trends + Usage Data
2023’s CMS Market Share Report – Latest Trends and Usage Stats
40+ Most Notable Big Name Brands That Are Using WordPress