43.5% of all websites in the world currently run on WordPress, the definite leader in the content management system industry. More than 20 years after its launch (May 2003), WordPress holds 63.4% of the CMS market share, followed by Shopify with 5.6%, Wix with 3.7%, and Squarespace with 3.1%.
Key WordPress Statistics for 2024
As such, it goes without saying that while newer CMS platforms are equipped with modern features (such as Wix’s builder and visuals), WordPress is still the preferred choice for many users - from individuals and personal websites to marketers and business owners all around the world.
Are you wondering if WordPress is still a good, solid choice now, at the end of 2024? Here are some essential statistics that will definitely answer all of your questions!
- Over 810 million WordPress websites can be found on the web, almost half of the total numbers (2 billion) of websites in the world (Hostinger);
- WooCommerce holds a market share of 36.42% and is the top eCommerce solution - it is also owned and managed by WordPress (WPZoom);
- 1.1 million new domains are registered on WordPress every six months, with over 10,000 websites being built with WordPress every day (Colorlib);
- Of the 60,000 free WordPress plugins available, Elementor is the most popular and most used worldwide, being downloaded and installed over 10 million times and used to create over 17 million websites (WordPress);
- 409 million people visit over 20 billion pages built with WordPress at any given moment (Search Logistics).
WordPress is the Google of content management systems! While newer platforms such as Shopify and Wix have demonstrated their uniqueness via various features, WordPress is renowned for its stability, efficiency, uptime, and a plethora of plugins and themes. It is also preferred for its ease of customization (and ease of learning, of course). When it comes to an all-around ideal CMS for a website, from all points of view, especially SEO, WordPress will almost always be the first choice!
WordPress Trends Statistics
- Almost 30% of the top 10,000 websites currently active on the web use WordPress as a CMS (Colorlib);
- The market share of WordPress rose from 17.4% in 2013 to 43.5% in 2024, while the percentage of websites without a CMS dropped significantly (WPZoom);
- 70 million new posts are created every month by WordPress users (AppMySite);
- Over 40% of the Google SERP share is held by WordPress, followed by MediaWiki and Drupal with under 10% and Adobe Experience Manager with roughly 5% (Manaferra);
- The latest version of WordPress (Version 6) is used on more than 62% of all WordPress websites, highlighting the fact that most WordPress websites out there are maintained regularly (W3Techs).
WordPress doesn’t back down, even if its growth and market share have stagnated a bit since 2022/2023, mainly due to the emergence of AI and one-click website builders that now fill the web. While these are ideal for landing pages and one-page promotional websites, businesses and individuals who need a comprehensive management system will most likely turn to WordPress for their primary website.
WordPress Usage Statistics
- 2 million new WordPress websites are created every year in accordance with the content management system’s constantly increasing market share (AIOSEO);
- The term “WordPress” is searched over 3 million times every month, even now, in 2024 (Hostinger);
- Spotify, UPS, CNN, Bloomberg, Nike, The New York Times, and TechCrunch are all websites that use WordPress as their CMS (PopUpSmart);
- 29.65% of the top 100,000 ranking websites use WordPress as their CMS (Colorlib);
- 4 million WordPress websites and blogs are active only in the US, and this number is increasing every year (AIOSEO).
WordPress is easy to learn but difficult to master. Nevertheless, for a beginner to create a website from scratch and publish it, the WordPress entry barrier is almost non-existent. This is aided by WooCommerce, a WordPress-owned plugin that allows business owners to translate their brick-and-mortar stores to the digital world - and open an online store with ease. Another aspect that constantly increases the number of individuals who use WordPress is the fact that the CMS is optimized for mobile use.
WordPress Community Statistics
- 1,210 WordCamps have been held so far (in 65 countries and 395 cities), bringing together developers, contributors, as well as users of the famous CMS (Hostinger);
- WordPress is translated into over 200 languages, of which roughly 52% are translated completely and ready for use (the rest are in the early translation stages) (Scala Hosting);
- 71% of all WordPress websites are in English, while 4.7% are in Spanish, 2.4% in Indonesian, and 2.3% in Brazilian Portuguese. The other languages account for less than 2% of all WordPress websites (Scala Hosting);
- Most WordPress developers and designers make around $40-79k a year, with roughly 400 of them making $100-120k+ a year (Manaferra);
- WordPress is an open-source project - the CMS doesn’t have a CEO and is run by volunteers who build plugins, translate, test, fix bugs, and submit code (AIOSEO).
WordPress is surrounded by a tight-knit community, especially given that the CMS doesn’t have a CEO. However, this open-source project helps an impressive number of companies and individuals materialize the websites of their dreams.
WordPress Plugin Statistics
- 60,000 plugins are freely available on the WordPress plugin directory (AIOSEO);
- 62 of the 60,000 plugins have over 1 million active installations, showcasing a diverse and varied plugin library (Hostinger);
- Elementor, Contact Form 7, Yoast SEO, Classic Editor, and WooCommerce are the most popular WordPress plugins, with over 7 million active installations each (WordPress);
- 99% of all WordPress vulnerabilities happen because of plugins (Scala Hosting);
- WPBakery Page Builder is the most sold WordPress plugin, with over 400,000 sales - it is mainly used for the development of custom WordPress themes (Colorlib).
Plugins make WordPress alive. On the other hand, plugins are also the primary sources of vulnerabilities and attacks. Luckily, among those 60,000 plugins, business owners and marketers can find security plugins as well - such as WordFence. Nonetheless, the large number of attacks and vulnerabilities highlight the need for a WordPress expert for medium to large WordPress websites.
WordPress Theme Statistics
- Over 11,500 free themes are freely available on the WordPress theme directory (AIOSEO);
- Twenty-Twenty-Two (2.4 million), Astra (over 800,000), and Elementor (over 580,000) are the most popular themes used by Hostinger clients alone (Hostinger);
- The average cost for a paid (premium) WordPress theme is between $60-77, with roughly 20,000 paid themes available on the WordPress directory (Search Logistics);
- Themeforest adds over 51,000 additional themes for sale for WordPress users, making it one of the largest available theme repositories (Manaferra);
- The most popular theme on Themeforest is Avada, with over 950,000 sales so far - it has been the best-selling theme on the repository for the past ten years (Colorlib).
There is certainly no lack of creativity when it comes to WordPress themes. Developers work tirelessly to create new themes and update old ones. At the same time, WordPress releases a new default theme alongside each major update, giving people the opportunity to start a website quickly and easily.
WordPress Security Statistics
- The most used malware attack is SEO spam (55.40% of attacks), while the second is injected malware (34.14% of attacks) (AIOSEO);
- A WordPress website is attacked once every two minutes; 13,000 WordPress-based websites are attacked daily, amounting to 4.7 million attacks per year (Hostinger);
- Roughly 44% of all WordPress attacks were possible due to outdated WordPress versions and plugins, highlighting the importance of regular maintenance and updates (PopUpSmart);
- Wordfence Security is the most popular security plugin (over 5 million active installations) available on the WordPress plugin directory; it effectively blocks over 100 billion password attacks yearly (WPZoom);
- Over 55% of WordPress websites were compromised via plugins, over 15% via brute force, 5% via themes and hosting, and under 5% via file permissions, old files, password theft, and phishing.
Security is one of the biggest concerns when it comes to WordPress. There are a multitude of plugins designed to combat common attacks and hacks, but the average WordPress user doesn’t generally take such risks into account. Once again, the need for a WordPress professional cannot be overstated. Websites with WordPress as their CMS need a web designer or developer who will regularly update the themes and the plugins, as well as schedule and perform regular website maintenance sessions to keep it safe.
WordPress SEO Statistics
- Google drives 93.77% of all mobile traffic, and WordPress is renowned as a CMS optimized for mobile responsiveness (AIOSEO);
- Yoast SEO is one of the most installed (over 7 million active installations) and reviewed (over 25,000 reviews) plugins in the WordPress plugin directory, often helping beginners grasp the fundamentals of SEO before interacting with an agency (Hostinger);
- WordPress is one of, if not the, friendliest CMS options in terms of SEO, allowing for easy metadata and permalink customization, as well as image optimization (WebFX);
- The WordPress directory features tens of popular SEO-friendly themes and plugins that make implementing SEO strategies very easy, even for beginners (Manaferra);
- WordPress websites can be built in less than 24 hours - this includes initial SEO optimization such as architecture, technical, and on-page SEO (Search Engine Journal).
Not much can or should be said about WordPress in regard to SEO. It is easily customizable, allowing SEO specialists to adapt to algorithm changes without the need to drastically alter a website. Certain eCommerce systems are known for being extremely difficult to work with, especially when it comes to implementing/structuring metadata.
WordPress eCommerce Statistics
- WordPress is not only a content management system but also an eCommerce platform, proven via its dedicated eCommerce plugin, WooCommerce (AIOSEO);
- 21% (about 164 million) of all WordPress websites run on WooCommerce, and they are reported to generate roughly $682 trillion of all yearly eCommerce revenue (AIOSEO);
- 4.6 million online stores are based on WooCommerce, accounting for roughly 9.1% of all eCommerce websites out there (Hostinger);
- WooCommerce (owned by WordPress) and WooThemes (owned by WooCommerce) have the biggest eCommerce market share - 36.42% and 15.14% respectively (Datanyze);
- 500 WordPress online stores are created every day (Namechk).
Shopify and WixStores combined have a market share of a little over 24%, while WooCommerce alone holds a share of 36.42% (WPZoom). This signals the leader in the market - once again, despite some innovative features that Shopify and Wix bring to the table. WooCommerce and WooThemes are the primary and best choices for all types of online stores, boasting extended customization and ease of use.
WordPress WooCommerce Statistics
- WooCommerce comes equipped with 771 official extensions - of these, 724 are paid, and 47 are completely free (Colorlib);
- WooCommerce is available in 67 languages, outclassing all other eCommerce platforms - Magento supports 30, while Shopify only 20 (Manaferra);
- WooCommerce has a bigger market share (36.42%) than the next biggest eCommerce platforms together - Shopify (18.54%) and Custom Cart (13.24%) (WPZoom);
- The WordPress plugin directory features about 1,453 plugins designed for WooCommerce (Web Tribunal);
- 330 of the websites that run on WooCommerce get ranked in the top 10 million websites every single day, making WooCommerce one of the best choices for online store management (Web Tribunal).
WooCommerce inherits all the benefits of WordPress - an extensive theme and plugin library, extensive customizability, SEO features, as well as impeccable optimization for mobile devices, something that many content management systems lack. While WooCommerce online stores can be optimized to load in 1-2 seconds, other systems are more difficult to manage - some stores have loading times of even up to 15-20 seconds.
Summary
WordPress is nothing but a solid choice for any type of website. Do you want a website for your company or business to build its brand and reputation? WordPress is stable and allows you to translate your vision into a beautiful website.
Do you want to put up a comprehensive blog on a certain niche? WordPress has everything covered - from interesting features and visuals to complex blog-building plugins.
Do you want to create a secure and user-friendly online shop for your physical business? WordPress offers you one of the best eCommerce CMS out there, allowing you to create a store just the way you want it!