If you’re looking for a CMS for your website or one for a customer. Look into the most popular content management systems currently in use. Since its initial release in 2003, WordPress has dominated the market for content management systems.
According to W3Techs, the most reliable and reliable data source, the popular platform currently holds a market share of 64.1%.
Learn about the size of the CMS market, how it has changed over the past ten years, how various content management systems compare to one another, and why this is significant for SEO professionals in this research.
How Large Is The CMS Market?
W3Techs estimates that 68.9% of websites have a content management system, and Netcraft lists 1.15 billion live hostname websites. Based on this, we may estimate that there are currently 796 million websites that use content management systems.
What Is The Most Widely Used CMS?
The market share of WordPress has grown by 16 percent since 2011 but has decreased by 2 percent this year, which is why the graphs are divided. This year, Wix has seen a 17% increase. This year, Squarespace has grown by 11%. Nearly from its debut in 2003, WordPress has controlled the majority of the market. That position has been comparatively stable since 2011, bordering on static. It has barely increased by 16 percent to 64.1% during the past 11 years.
Between 2011 – 2022:
- Websites with no CMS system have declined by 57%.
- Websites with WordPress have increased by 227%.
Joomla vs. Drupal vs. WordPress Market Share
- Since 2011, Joomla has decreased its market share by 77%.
- Since 2011, Drupal has decreased its market share by 69%.
Together, Joomla and Drupal formerly controlled 17% of the CMS industry, but that percentage has now fallen to 4.4%. They have fallen from positions 2 and 3 to 5 and 6 as a result of this downturn, and Wix and Squarespace have finally surpassed them this year.
That’s a significant fall for Joomla, which, although it may not have had the same market share as WordPress, had higher search interest up until 2008, per Google Trends. Why did these well-liked content management systems suffer such a severe decline?
The strength of third-party support for WordPress through plug-ins and themes, which makes it considerably more accessible, is most likely to blame. The popularity of website builders like Wix and Squarespace shows that small businesses choose an easier-to-manage managed solution.
Website Builders Market Share, Wix vs. Squarespace
- Wix has increased 17% this year, from January to May.
- Squarespace has increased 11% this year, from January to May.
When we examine the website builders, we can see where the market may go in the future based on their huge growth.
From 2011 to 2022:
- Wix grew by 3,678%.
- Shopify grew by 2,033%.
- Squarespace grew by 1,400%.
That growth for the CMS goliath seems even more flattened and stagnant when we compare the 16 percent growth of WordPress over the last 11 years to the other players. Why is that taking place?
Because they don’t require coding expertise and provide hosted websites, SaaS web builders like Wix and Squarespace make it easier for small businesses to establish a digital presence rapidly. There’s no need to set up your email, a website, or a hosting option. An expert web builder takes care of all this for you.
WordPress is not a platform that is recognized for being difficult to use, but it does require some grasp of code and how websites are made.
On the other hand, using a website builder is a lot simpler than trying to grasp what is going on behind the scenes. Think about how many people during the pandemic worked from home, which increased interest in and focuses on how being online could be a source of income.
17.2% of all WordPress-powered websites use Elementor, a WordPress-based website builder. Additionally, it holds a larger share of the market than Wix and Squarespace put together.
However, it isn’t included in the aforementioned Top 10 CMS because it’s a third-party plug-in and not a CMS. When we look at the amount of traffic compared to the number of CMS, we can see that WordPress is in the golden area, up and to the right, and is unmistakably preferred by sites with higher traffic.
Fewer installs but more high-traffic sites indicate that more professional websites are adopting Drupal, which fits into a niche. The placement of Squarespace and Wix to the left and below emphasizes the fact that they are used on fewer sites with lower traffic. a convincing argument that smaller websites and companies utilize them more frequently.
Although it has the majority of the WordPress market share and fills the gap between the two, Elementor is utilized by websites with lower traffic. The need for plug-and-play, drag-and-drop solutions that enable everyone to have a digital presence is booming. The area to watch is here.
Ecommerce CMS Market Share, Shopify vs. Woocommerce
- WooCommerce has a market share of 13%.
- Shopify has a market share of 6.4%.
The e-commerce CMS market follows a path that is similar to that of website builders. WooCommerce technically isn’t a standalone CMS; rather, it’s a WordPress plug-in, which explains why it’s missing from the Top 10 CMS statistics table. However, it should be taken into consideration and mentioned because it is crucial to the e-commerce industry. WooCommerce, which has a 13.0 percent CMS market share, is used by 8.7 percent of all active websites. WooCommerce is used by 20.3% of all WordPress-powered websites.
When we examine the distribution, a distinct pattern becomes apparent. WooCommerce is the industry leader when compared to other e-commerce CMS solutions.
Magento + OpenCart + PrestaShop + Shopify = 8.9% market share, which is higher than all of its rivals put together. Magento may not have as many installs as Drupal, but high-traffic websites choose it, suggesting that, like Drupal, Magento is a CMS preferred by larger, more established companies. Smaller websites may prefer WooCommerce, but it has the market weight of the WordPress platform and consequently more installs – similar to Elementor.
Although Shopify has a larger market share, WordPress has comparable traffic volumes.
Shopify experienced much greater growth than any other platform during the epidemic, increasing by 53 percent from 2020 to 2021 and then 27 percent from 2021 to 2022.