As a website designer for 15 years, I have primarily used WordPress for my desktop publishing for my client’s websites. My encounters with other designers has been that many use it as well. Also, clients that have a site already and it needs optimization will bring me sites that are built using WordPress. WordPress is dominant in website creation, but this is achieved through de facto standards, not de jure standards.
“WordPress became dominant through widespread adoption and market forces rather than official standardization bodies designating it as “the standard.” WordPress powers roughly 40-45% of all websites and commands an even larger share of the CMS market (around 60-65%), making it the default choice for many users simply because of its popularity, ecosystem, and network effects.
What drives WordPress’s dominance: Massive plugin and theme ecosystem, large developer community, ease of use for non-technical users, first-mover advantage in democratizing web publishing, strong SEO capabilities, and the open-source nature.” (Anthropic,2025)
How has “standards battles” played a role in WordPress’s innovation cycle?
“Standards battles” have been central to WordPress’s evolution, acting as the primary catalyst for major shifts in its innovation cycle—moving it from a blogging tool to a full-site editing platform. These battles often revolve around adopting modern web standards (JavaScript, REST API) over legacy PHP approaches, forcing the ecosystem to evolve or risk obsolescence. (The wordpress block editor 2025)
How has WordPress’s innovation cycle played a role in “standards battles”?
WordPress has utilized an aggressive, “forced-evolution” innovation cycle—most notably the introduction of the Gutenberg block editor—to position its native functionality as the industry standard, effectively fighting battles against external page builders (like Elementor or Wix) and internal legacy,, such as the Classic Editor. By embedding new, advanced editing technologies directly into the core software, WordPress forces the ecosystem to adapt to its, shifting the standard from simple text editing to block-based, full-site editing. (Gardner, 2025)
Anthropic. (2025). Claude (Feb 12 version) [Large language model]. https://claude.ai/chat/d5415946-7a92-448b-adde-14cf4628e5c6i
Gardner, B. (2025, May 14). The block editor: A smart move for WordPress agencies. WP Engine. https://wpengine.com/blog/block-editor-for-agencies/
The wordpress block editor. WP Engine. (2025, May 13). https://wpengine.com/resources/wordpress-gutenberg-editor/#:~:text=Gutenberg%20was%20the%20development%20name,Why%20Gutenberg?
