This executive briefing on how organizations can best leverage WordPress social media platform was prepared by Iana Obolenska-Moran while an MBA student in the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana.
Overview
If you want to build and manage your own website, build a web presence, blog, or use e-commerce, then you need WordPress. It is a free and open sourced platform and content management system (CMS). According to Steve Hart (2014), CMS allows businesses, small and large, “to easily build fabulous looking websites that are a breeze to manage” (p.55). The community of WordPress users range from private hobbyist to multi-million dollar companies such as Vogue, Mercedes-Benz, and CNN. One of the numerous advantages is that users can promote their content on more than 330 social networks and bookmarking sites.
The Platform in Brief
WordPress is a community project, which was founded by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little and released in 2003. In it’s infancy, WordPress was a straightforward and simple blogging tool, but has since grown and evolved into a CMS, powering commercial websites, social media, magazines, and businesses. Around 74.6 million sites depend on a WordPress. It is run primarily as a virtual company, meaning their employees are scattered across the globe. Currently, WordPress has 305 employees with the corporate headquarters office is based in San Francisco, California. The company office accommodates 15 to 20 key developers regularly, but can also transform to comfortably fit a few hundred employees for a special programs or events.
There are two different versions of WordPress: “.com and .org”. According to Castelluccio (2013), the “.com” version allows user to get the “tools, templates, server space, and domain name, all free of cost” (p.60). However, you are limited to the domain choice and the URL. For example, if you decide to create a blog or a website about your pets, the address would be: mypets.wordpress.com.
With the “.org,” there is more freedom for the user, however there is a cost that comes with this freedom. The user must set up and provide their own hosting servers, and they can procure and pay for their own domain name. In addition, there is monetization freedom. A user can sell as many ads and can use any advertising service they want, and 100% of the profits go directly to the user.
As of 2015, WordPress was valued at $1.16 billion, according to Re/code. Now what begs the question is how an open sourced CMS is making money? Since the platform is open sourced most of the development comes from a worldwide reservoir of unpaid talent. According to Luckerson (2014), “WordPress makes money by offering a premium version of its free service for individual users and an enterprise platform for large publishers” (p.1).
.
As for 2015, WordPress occupies 61% of the CMS market. The global rank is 135 and 131 in the United States in relation to other sites. Almost 22% of U.S registered domains run on WordPress. The audience demographics that are based on gender show males are slightly more dominant of users. As related to user’s educational background, most of the users have some college education, and the main browsing location is done at schools. WordPress is growing by leaps and bounds. The countries that are the top visitors of WordPress rank The United States with 20.9%, India 19.9%, Brazil 4.2%, and Turkey at 3.2%.
The Platform in Operation
The core principle of WordPress is to maximize flexibility and not overload the user with mass amounts of coding. Companies that use WordPress do not need to hire experienced and highly trained coders and programmers to maintain their sites. McCollins (2013) notes, that “WordPress is a professional web development tool, used by thousands of web professionals to build sited for themselves, their clients and other users. It is a tool on which you can build a business. (p.7)The use of plug-in allows the user to customize their site to function for their specific needs.
Since WordPress is an open source, there is a myth that platform is not good enough for big name brands. To disprove this myth, below is a list of some of the big name brands using this platform as a CMS for marketing, e-commerce, promotion, and social media exposure: eBay Inc., The New Yorker, BBC America, Sony Music, Mercedes-Benz, MTV News, and PlayStation. For blogs and online magazines that use the WordPress platform are: Beyoncé, Best Buy, Fortune, The Official Star Wars Blog, Time Inc., The New York Times Company, Google Ventures, Harvard Business Review Blogs. To top this list, such social networking giant as LinkedIn and Flickr are based on the WordPress platform as well.
The companies mentioned above use WordPress because of its premium design, ease of use, and wide range of plugins. It is one of the ways to extend and add to the functionality that already exists in WordPress. For example, there is a plugin called Social Media Tracking. This allows users to track performance of any particular article or post and see what is being shared the most on social media. This information is then used to help companies tailor their content and posts in order to attract the most views, and as a result of this, it generates more customers and users for their websites.
Another useful plug-in is “Social”, which is a social media comment solution. It can pull in retweets, replies, likes, and comments, from Facebook and Twitter. The information is then published in the users comment area as comments. People, who visit the site, can respond to these messages that have been pulled from social media.
The Platform’s Pros and Cons
A large number of media managers choose WordPress as a solution when setting up a website due to perceived advantages of the platform. WordPress is a simple system to operate and install-which means there is no need for high-level programmers for the basic setup. WordPress offers two versions that suit nearly every type of the blogger or website developer
Also, Sabin-Wilson notes, that WordPress has a loyal membership community via “public support forums, mailing lists, and blogs”. The most significant advantage of WordPress is its low cost. Out of all the Content Management Systems and Blogging platforms out there, WordPress has the largest community of users.
However, there are some important disadvantages to take into considerations.
WordPress contains a lot of generic code unnecessary for every specific website, so the loading times of the webpages can be slower. The customization process for the beginner can be time consuming in the initial set-up. WordPress can experience security vulnerabilities from time to time due to the open sourcing.
AnalysisOverall, if running a small business, blogs, or even million dollar companies using the WordPress platform helps cut costs of maintaining and developing their websites and social media presence. According to Jones and Alida-Farrington (2011), “ if the current trend on innovation in WordPress continues, what will be seen could be defined more as a platform for Web-based content and user engagement” (p.10).My projection is that the company will be around for a very long time unless there is some serious cyber attacks on the users of the WordPress platform.
References
Castelluccio, M. (2013). The WordPress Dynasty. Strategic Finance, 95(9), 59-60. Retrieved Jan 28, 2015,from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=65392be4-b5c0-4329-ac72-fc385e50acaf%40sessionmgr198&hid=119&bdata=#db=bth&AN=90123674
Hart, S. (2014). Unleashing the brilliance of Wordpress. NZ Business, 28(5), 55. Retrieved February 1, 2015,from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=65392be4-b5c0-4329-ac72-fc385e50acaf%40sessionmgr198&vid=5&hid=119
Jones, K. L., & Alida-Farrington, P. (2011). Chapter 1: Getting Started with WordPress. Library Technology Reports, 47(3), 8-15. Retrieved February 2, 2015,from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=65392be4-b5c0-4329-ac72-fc385e50acaf%40sessionmgr198&vid=8&hid=119
Jones, K. L., & Alida-Farrington, P. (2011). Chapter 3: WordPress Cookbooks: Tips, Tricks, and Plugins. Library Technology Reports, 47(3), 22-33. Retrieved on January 30, 2015,from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=65392be4-b5c0-4329-ac72-fc385e50acaf%40sessionmgr198&vid=15&hid=119
Luckerson, V. (2014). WordPress Parent Automattic Joins the Billion-Dollar Club. Time.Com, 1. Retrieved February 2, 2015,from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=65392be4-b5c0-4329-ac72-fc385e50acaf%40sessionmgr198&hid=119&bdata=#db=bth&AN=95969183
McCollin, R. (2013). Wordpress. [electronic resource] pushing the limits. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. : Wiley, c2013. Retrieved February 2, 2024 from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/selouisuniv/reader.action?docID=10718838
Sabin-Wilson, L., & Mullenweg, M. (2014). WordPress for dummies. Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2015, from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/selouisuniv/detail.action?docID=10856795
WordPress.org. (2015). About WordPress.org. Retrieved February 2, 2015, from https://wordpress.org/about/
WordPress.org. (2015). Statistics, Retrieved February 7,2015, from
https://wordpress.org/about/stats/
If you want to build and manage your own website, build a web presence, blog, or use e-commerce, then you need WordPress. It is a free and open sourced platform and content management system (CMS). According to Steve Hart (2014), CMS allows businesses, small and large, “to easily build fabulous looking websites that are a breeze to manage” (p.55). The community of WordPress users range from private hobbyist to multi-million dollar companies such as Vogue, Mercedes-Benz, and CNN. One of the numerous advantages is that users can promote their content on more than 330 social networks and bookmarking sites.
The Platform in Brief
WordPress is a community project, which was founded by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little and released in 2003. In it’s infancy, WordPress was a straightforward and simple blogging tool, but has since grown and evolved into a CMS, powering commercial websites, social media, magazines, and businesses. Around 74.6 million sites depend on a WordPress. It is run primarily as a virtual company, meaning their employees are scattered across the globe. Currently, WordPress has 305 employees with the corporate headquarters office is based in San Francisco, California. The company office accommodates 15 to 20 key developers regularly, but can also transform to comfortably fit a few hundred employees for a special programs or events.
There are two different versions of WordPress: “.com and .org”. According to Castelluccio (2013), the “.com” version allows user to get the “tools, templates, server space, and domain name, all free of cost” (p.60). However, you are limited to the domain choice and the URL. For example, if you decide to create a blog or a website about your pets, the address would be: mypets.wordpress.com.
With the “.org,” there is more freedom for the user, however there is a cost that comes with this freedom. The user must set up and provide their own hosting servers, and they can procure and pay for their own domain name. In addition, there is monetization freedom. A user can sell as many ads and can use any advertising service they want, and 100% of the profits go directly to the user.
As of 2015, WordPress was valued at $1.16 billion, according to Re/code. Now what begs the question is how an open sourced CMS is making money? Since the platform is open sourced most of the development comes from a worldwide reservoir of unpaid talent. According to Luckerson (2014), “WordPress makes money by offering a premium version of its free service for individual users and an enterprise platform for large publishers” (p.1).
.
As for 2015, WordPress occupies 61% of the CMS market. The global rank is 135 and 131 in the United States in relation to other sites. Almost 22% of U.S registered domains run on WordPress. The audience demographics that are based on gender show males are slightly more dominant of users. As related to user’s educational background, most of the users have some college education, and the main browsing location is done at schools. WordPress is growing by leaps and bounds. The countries that are the top visitors of WordPress rank The United States with 20.9%, India 19.9%, Brazil 4.2%, and Turkey at 3.2%.
The Platform in Operation
The core principle of WordPress is to maximize flexibility and not overload the user with mass amounts of coding. Companies that use WordPress do not need to hire experienced and highly trained coders and programmers to maintain their sites. McCollins (2013) notes, that “WordPress is a professional web development tool, used by thousands of web professionals to build sited for themselves, their clients and other users. It is a tool on which you can build a business. (p.7)The use of plug-in allows the user to customize their site to function for their specific needs.
Since WordPress is an open source, there is a myth that platform is not good enough for big name brands. To disprove this myth, below is a list of some of the big name brands using this platform as a CMS for marketing, e-commerce, promotion, and social media exposure: eBay Inc., The New Yorker, BBC America, Sony Music, Mercedes-Benz, MTV News, and PlayStation. For blogs and online magazines that use the WordPress platform are: Beyoncé, Best Buy, Fortune, The Official Star Wars Blog, Time Inc., The New York Times Company, Google Ventures, Harvard Business Review Blogs. To top this list, such social networking giant as LinkedIn and Flickr are based on the WordPress platform as well.
The companies mentioned above use WordPress because of its premium design, ease of use, and wide range of plugins. It is one of the ways to extend and add to the functionality that already exists in WordPress. For example, there is a plugin called Social Media Tracking. This allows users to track performance of any particular article or post and see what is being shared the most on social media. This information is then used to help companies tailor their content and posts in order to attract the most views, and as a result of this, it generates more customers and users for their websites.
Another useful plug-in is “Social”, which is a social media comment solution. It can pull in retweets, replies, likes, and comments, from Facebook and Twitter. The information is then published in the users comment area as comments. People, who visit the site, can respond to these messages that have been pulled from social media.
The Platform’s Pros and Cons
A large number of media managers choose WordPress as a solution when setting up a website due to perceived advantages of the platform. WordPress is a simple system to operate and install-which means there is no need for high-level programmers for the basic setup. WordPress offers two versions that suit nearly every type of the blogger or website developer
Also, Sabin-Wilson notes, that WordPress has a loyal membership community via “public support forums, mailing lists, and blogs”. The most significant advantage of WordPress is its low cost. Out of all the Content Management Systems and Blogging platforms out there, WordPress has the largest community of users.
However, there are some important disadvantages to take into considerations.
WordPress contains a lot of generic code unnecessary for every specific website, so the loading times of the webpages can be slower. The customization process for the beginner can be time consuming in the initial set-up. WordPress can experience security vulnerabilities from time to time due to the open sourcing.
AnalysisOverall, if running a small business, blogs, or even million dollar companies using the WordPress platform helps cut costs of maintaining and developing their websites and social media presence. According to Jones and Alida-Farrington (2011), “ if the current trend on innovation in WordPress continues, what will be seen could be defined more as a platform for Web-based content and user engagement” (p.10).My projection is that the company will be around for a very long time unless there is some serious cyber attacks on the users of the WordPress platform.
References
Castelluccio, M. (2013). The WordPress Dynasty. Strategic Finance, 95(9), 59-60. Retrieved Jan 28, 2015,from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=65392be4-b5c0-4329-ac72-fc385e50acaf%40sessionmgr198&hid=119&bdata=#db=bth&AN=90123674
Hart, S. (2014). Unleashing the brilliance of Wordpress. NZ Business, 28(5), 55. Retrieved February 1, 2015,from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=65392be4-b5c0-4329-ac72-fc385e50acaf%40sessionmgr198&vid=5&hid=119
Jones, K. L., & Alida-Farrington, P. (2011). Chapter 1: Getting Started with WordPress. Library Technology Reports, 47(3), 8-15. Retrieved February 2, 2015,from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=65392be4-b5c0-4329-ac72-fc385e50acaf%40sessionmgr198&vid=8&hid=119
Jones, K. L., & Alida-Farrington, P. (2011). Chapter 3: WordPress Cookbooks: Tips, Tricks, and Plugins. Library Technology Reports, 47(3), 22-33. Retrieved on January 30, 2015,from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=65392be4-b5c0-4329-ac72-fc385e50acaf%40sessionmgr198&vid=15&hid=119
Luckerson, V. (2014). WordPress Parent Automattic Joins the Billion-Dollar Club. Time.Com, 1. Retrieved February 2, 2015,from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=65392be4-b5c0-4329-ac72-fc385e50acaf%40sessionmgr198&hid=119&bdata=#db=bth&AN=95969183
McCollin, R. (2013). Wordpress. [electronic resource] pushing the limits. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. : Wiley, c2013. Retrieved February 2, 2024 from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/selouisuniv/reader.action?docID=10718838
Sabin-Wilson, L., & Mullenweg, M. (2014). WordPress for dummies. Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2015, from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/selouisuniv/detail.action?docID=10856795
WordPress.org. (2015). About WordPress.org. Retrieved February 2, 2015, from https://wordpress.org/about/
WordPress.org. (2015). Statistics, Retrieved February 7,2015, from
https://wordpress.org/about/stats/
Contact Information
To contact the author of this article, “What You Need to Know About WordPress: An Executive Roadmap for Social Media Success,” please email the author at [email protected].
To contact the author of this article, “What You Need to Know About WordPress: An Executive Roadmap for Social Media Success,” please email the author at [email protected].
The mission of the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University is to provide educational experiences for personal, professional and intellectual growth, enable the creation and sharing of knowledge to enhance learning and to advance the practice of business, and engage communities through service to positively impact their future. The Accounting and Business programs in the College of Business are accredited by the AACSB International.
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