WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg writes that WordPress now powers over 18% of the world’s websites — a remarkably high percentage. Matt goes on to explain the great passion behind his project:
WordPress is a part of who I am. Like eating, breathing, music, I can’t not work on WordPress. The project touches a lot of people, something I’ve recently begun to appreciate. I consider myself very lucky to be able to work on something I love so much.
Those of us who continue to benefit so much from Matt’s ongoing efforts with WordPress can also consider ourselves very lucky to have such a fantastic development tool to work with, and we have a lot to thank him for.
Humble beginnings
The story behind the development of WordPress and Matt’s subsequent experiences in the world of big business is inspiring, and we learn of a young man who quietly refused to compromise his vision for a free-to-the-user open source platform by cashing out for monetary gain. While Matt went on to establish successful companies on the back of WordPress, the software itself remains free to download and use, which is incredible for such a powerful and versatile platform.
It comes as no surprise to learn of Matt’s far-reaching influence, and in 2011 he was named by Business Insider Australia as being number 4 of the top 10 most influential online:
For changing the face of the Internet, the prize has to go to Matt Mullenweg, the developer and founder of WordPress. Millions of websites run on this open source blogging platform (including this one), which has become synonymous with blogging. Some of the most visited (and influential) sites online are WordPress sites, including HuffingtonPost.com, Mashable.com, and TechCrunch.com – so the guy who made it all possible must be influential!
WordPress started as a blogging platform, but it has grown to be so much more. While still retaining it’s blogging functionality, it is now widely recognized as a fully operational and very powerful content management system. Yes, it still powers millions of blogs on all kinds of topics, but it also powers legions of highly sophisticated business websites.
Businesses expand
The business world has embraced WordPress with enormous enthusiasm, and a whole ecosystem of WordPress based online industries are now flourishing as a result.
Specialised companies are thriving in the digital marketplace by providing premium themes, support, maintenance and dedicated web hosting. Professional designers, developers and freelancers working in company studios and home offices are pushing the limits of what can be achieved both visually and functionally. People are having a lot of fun out there with WordPress, and an increasing number of people in small and big businesses alike are turning toward the platform as an incredibly efficient means to deliver information about their products and services.
The system is very well established as a key online communications tool within the global business community.
Great reasons to be onboard
With such a strong development foundation that is continually evolving, couple with the fact that WordPress is simply so incredibly popular, I feel very comfortable in recommending the platform as the perfect solution for clients who need small business websites.
Just by being online with even the simplest of WordPress websites, a client is automatically guaranteed to benefit from present and future developments to the platform.
Experimentation, competition and collaboration are continually pushing the capabilities of WordPress to higher levels. People want to be able to create and achieve so many different things, and this constant push by both seasoned professional developers and WordPress community members drives the evolutionary processes that trickle so many benefits down to the end users of WordPress websites.
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