Is WordPress Right for Your Business?
You need a new website and want to make sure that it does what you need it to. The site should look great and be able to grow with your business. However, you don’t make websites, and you don’t want to get stuck with a site that you can’t manage, change, or revamp when the time is right. Is WordPress right for your business?
There are a lot of signs that point to “yes.” The WordPress economy is booming. This means that there are a lot of providers of WordPress services and a robust infrastructure around it. Additionally, if you, or someone on your team, is responsible for maintaining the site, WordPress has an incredible community to tap into.
WordPress Economy
In June of 2021, WP Engine released the world’s first study on the WordPress economy. In the midst of the pandemic lockdown WP Engine was doing research into the size of the WordPress economy. They interviewed 400 businesses and 400 end users. They also queried 103 research group members (including Pixel Jar). Their findings were pretty surprising.
The results show that the current WordPress economy value is $597 billion. With an expected 6.5% increase to $636 billion in 2021, this economy is only getting stronger. With these current figures, WordPress would be equivalent to the 10th largest company or the 39th largest country (by GDP). WordPress powers 41% of the internet with over 82 million websites online. WP Engine plans to keep updating this data annually.
We know what you’re thinking, “what does this have to do with me?” Having a healthy WordPress economy matters to more than just the companies who are a part of it. Organizations who choose WordPress also benefit from the infrastructure and the community that support WordPress.
WordPress Infrastructure
The sheer size of the economy means that more companies and developers are building for WordPress. This benefits end users in several ways. There are over 58,000 plugins and 8,300 themes available for WordPress. Because the software is open source and highly extensible, more specific problems are being solved. Healthy competition means that plugin solutions you may be using continue to improve and evolve.
Additionally, there are over 50,000 agencies that provide WordPress services. While we always hope we’re your first choice, having multiple options means you’re not locked into a specific company. You can seek out support based on location, speciality, communication, or hundreds of other factors.
The size and growth of the economy also serve as a good indicator that you’re not locked into a dead-end technology. There’s always a path forward with a WordPress site. You can redesign or redevelop over and over again.
WordPress Community
Finally, if you’re at a smaller organization or one that has a DIY mentality the size of the economy helps reinforce the amazing community around WordPress. The research conducted in the WP Engine study also focused on community. They found that there are over 535 cities that host WordPress meetups and that there are 1,082 WordCamps worldwide. Even during the pandemic we continued to hold the Orange County Meetup using Zoom. We’ve posted about our own experiences with the Orange County WordCamp. Also, WordPress.tv posts many of the WordCamp talks so you can watch at your leisure. If you want to dig in there is an ever expanding pool of information easily accessible, in most cases at little or no cost.
All of these factors reinforce our confidence in WordPress as a platform. Yes, there will be changes to the technology and methodology, but ultimately yes, it’s definite – WordPress is right for your business. If you’d like to talk about your website, reach out today.
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