There are only a handful of incredible inventions that changed world history so drastically that the entire society, economy, and human relations changed with it. On their 20th Birthday, we dare to say that our friends at WordPress are on par with inventions like the steam-powered engine, electricity, and the Internet. Why? Not just because we are happy for their special day, but because it is true. WordPress changed the world, and we can hardly imagine how the Internet would look without its astounding open-source CMS system. It allows for the fast, effortless, and free creation of websites, blogs, and online shops. 

So, today in honor of WordPress’s 20th Birthday, let’s dive deep into how two decades of this God-sent PHP delight changed the world for the better. 

Everybody loves WordPress

Twenty years ago, on May 27, 2003, Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little gave a start to a global revolution. They launched the first version (oddly named v.0.7) of the blogging CMS platform WordPress. The iconic name was given by a prolific blogger and friend of Mullenweg – Christine Selleck Tremoulet, who later became the co-founder of WordPress. 

The software of the platform was and still is written mainly in the PHP programming language, and it uses MySQL type of relational database for storing various components like pages, posts, settings and more. 

Credit: WordPress.org

Today, the CMS has a template system and a plugin architecture, which allows for high-end customization with little to no knowledge of web development. 

Over the years, WordPress has become synonymous with CMS. Today, 20 years after its inception, the platform has 65.2% of the CMS market. In comparison, the next best CMS system has only 6.6% of the market. WordPress’s dominance is simply overwhelming.

 At the same time, 43.2% of all 200+ million websites alive today use WordPress as a website-building platform. Furthermore, around 36% of all top 1 million websites use the iconic platform. Unsurprisingly, WordPress has been the fastest-growing CMS platform for the past 13 years. 

If that’s not impressive enough, according to w3techs.com, WordPress is behind 51.8 percent of the top 1000 websites, and every 2 minutes, a new top 10 million website starts using WordPress. 

That’s hardly a surprise, as the renowned platform worked hard over the years to become the role model of how a CMS system should look like. 

Evolution of WordPress

Since its inception, WordPress developers have tirelessly worked at making the entire platform the most user-friendly place on the Internet. In 2003 the platform was just a visionary CMS system that provided more accessible blogging. However, the developers constantly built upon this system through the years, so users will become even more satisfied. In 2005 WP introduced the Theme system, a new backend user interface, and a modified user role system. Three years later, they added the iconic dashboard we see today, as well as the Theme Directory. In 2012 with their 3.4 and 3.5 versions, WP introduced the theme customizer and a new media manager. 

With the rise of smartphones, WordPress began working on mobile experience and improvement of responsive images. In 2015 they implemented the groundbreaking changes that became the driving force behind the explosion of using mobile devices to surf the Internet. Today nearly 5 billion people, or 60% of the global population and 92.3% of all internet users, prefer their mobile phones as a primary surfing method.

In 2017 WP continued refining its interface and added new features. They also introduced the next-generation editor, including new media widgets, making the process of creating one truly stunning web page or blog post even easier. 

On its 15th anniversary, WordPress introduced the groundbreaking Gutenberg block-based editor, which entirely changed how websites were built. 

The next five years came and went with improvements in every aspect of the platform. This year, however, for their 20th anniversary, WP had outdone themselves. On March 29, 2023, they introduced v6.2 Dolphy. It reimagined the site editor interface and made it immensely better. So here we are 20 years later, and WordPress is still on top.

WordPress Today

Today WordPress is by far the most reliable foundation for any web-based business. What can be better than a platform allowing you to start your business in just a few hours? All you need to do is get a hosting plan (preferably from HostArmada) and install WordPress. Thanks to our partnership, implementing WordPress to a website hosted by HostArmada is practically seamless. Then, you must pick a theme and add all the plugins you want. If you have some coding knowledge, you can add some custom code to make your website even more unique. Finally, add some content and launch.

True, this walkthrough is oversimplified, but the entire process takes less than a day, and you can start a successful online business in just a few hours. Moreover, with WordPress behind your back, you can customize your website and add new features through plugins. And if something is not working, an enormous community of like-minded people will help you solve any issue you might face.

WordPress is more than a CMS. It’s more than a website-building platform. WordPress is a community of people who strive to enhance every aspect of the WP experience. That’s what makes WordPress so special. That’s its immense power, which made WordPress the driving force behind a global economic change unseen until now. 

How WordPress changed the world for the better. 

For just 20 years, WordPress managed to turn upside-down the global economy by empowering small-time entrepreneurs and micro businesses. It allowed them to have the same reach and output as the behemoths of their industry. For example, WordPress gave the means for small, mom-and-pop fashion brands to have the same reach as global mastodons like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Armani. In addition, it helped spirited entrepreneurs with great ideas to start businesses, regardless of the lack of significant funds.

Unsurprisingly, a 2020 research estimated that WordPress alone contributed nearly 600 billion dollars to the global economy. This input is only growing; a year later, WordPress’s market valuation had increased to 636 billion dollars. And how can it be otherwise, as WordPress is the driving train of so many independent professionals? It helped countless web designers, SEO experts, content writers, and small-time retailers to start a successful freelance businesses, thus singlehandedly launching the gig economy. 

WordPress and the gig economy

It’s hard to imagine today’s gig economy without WordPress. If you haven’t seen this term yet, the gig economy is a flexible economic structure that relies on providing services from independent professionals through digital platforms. In plain terms, instead of having several in-house professionals, you rely on countless freelancers who work on a project basis. This makes the gig economy highly cost-effective for businesses, which saves money on hiring professionals, paying them regardless of the workload. Moreover, it gives the labor force flexibility to work when they are most productive and independence to choose the projects and manage their own time. Furthermore, it provides professionals with higher hourly pay than what they will get if they work full-time. 

All of this would be impossible without WordPress. First and foremost, being an open-source CMS, WordPress offers a platform where freelance web designers can use a vast library of themes and plugins to create professional-looking websites at a minimum cost. Moreover, software developers can use the platform to establish their presence by developing plugins and offering a paid enhancement afterward. The biggest benefit, however, is to freelancers with little to no web development and IT knowledge. Those can be artists, writers, designers, architects, or anything else. With WordPress, they have an outstanding opportunity to build one truly inspiring portfolio without any external help. Moreover, they can make it in less than a day and start offering their services as soon as possible. 

Last but not least, we must mention how WordPress changed the online retail business entirely.

WordPress and e-commerce 

With a fifth of all purchases this year expected to be done over the Internet, the importance of e-commerce in today’s society is hardly a surprise. Over the past year alone, e-commerce sales have increased by 10.4%, accounting for 6.3 trillion dollars of the global market. The lion’s share of these profits goes to WordPress users, as WooCommerce is by far the most widely used e-commerce platform worldwide. Moreover, WooCommerce is the most commonly downloaded WordPress plugin, with over 211 million users.

The e-commerce plugin has 36.68% of the market share, and about 20% of all WordPress websites have installed WooCommerce. Needless to say, WordPress has given a significant boost to many small-time retailers, family businesses, and entrepreneurs. Without it, the financial requirements to start an online store are a barrier few can cross. For us regular folk, this revolution brought more competition on the market, driving prices down and quality up. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

This is the beauty of the change WordPress brought to the world. It snuffed out the financial aspect of creating and distributing a product, thus flooding the market with all sorts of amazing gadgets, outstanding products, and helpful services at competitive prices. Most importantly, thanks to this massive digitalization, the global economy not only didn’t collapse during the Pandemic, but WordPress and its innovations made sure new businesses, services, and ideas could spread to everyone, regardless of the vendor’s financial capabilities and web-development knowledge. 

This is the immense power of WordPress. It drove the global economy to a new, unprecedented stage. Thanks to WP, everyone has the chance to succeed, regardless of where they are from, their background, and how much capital they have. It’s a revolution, and we are glad to be part of it. So…

It’s Party Time

With such an astounding achievement behind their backs, just 20 years after their inception, it’s really not a surprise that so many people are hyped for celebrating the anniversary. Over 150 events across six continents and more than 50 countries will mark this extraordinary date. If you want to become part of the celebrations, find the nearest event through the dedicated WP20 website. 

Happy Birthday, WordPress, from all of us here at HostArmada.