The Global WordPress Marketing Team markets WordPress and its community to the wider world.
Why Your Company Should Contribute To WordPress
![WordPress runs a third of all websites - and it’s growing fast. WordPress has evolved from its humble beginnings as a blogging platform to becoming the operating system of the Open Web. We believe that WordPress is more important than it’s ever been.](http://web.archive.org./web/20201029165523im_/https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/files/2018/12/Why-Your-Company-Should-Contribute-To-WordPress-1024x536.png)
WordPress runs a third of all websites – and it’s growing fast. WordPress has evolved from its humble beginnings as a blogging platform to becoming the operating system of the Open Web. We believe that WordPress is more important than it’s ever been.
And WordPress is lead by volunteers. Thousands of people around the world contribute their time and effort to make WordPress the product, the community, and ecosystem better. Anyone can contribute to it and that provides opportunity for everyone to benefit.
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20201029165523im_/https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/files/2018/12/32-5-marketshare.png)
And WordPress needs contribution. As more and more of the web gets built on WordPress, the importance of the WordPress ecosystem being the best it can be increases. We can do that with your help.
We, the WordPress community, want your company to join us in contributing to WordPress.
But why should you? You’re busy running your business, serving your clients and customers. Sure, you love a good cause. But with so many other causes, why contribute to WordPress?
Your Clients and Customers are Already Using WordPress
With more than 32% of the web running on WordPress, WordPress is the tool of choice for many of your current and future clients.
If many of your customers are using WordPress today, then contributing to WordPress and investing in the WordPress community is a great way to serve them — better. Being an active part of the WordPress ecosystem is also great way to attract new customers.
That’s the positive side and where we believe you should focus. On the negative side, though, if you don’t invest in WordPress, if you don’t provide a good experience to your customers who choose to use WordPress, they’ll choose the companies who do.
Get ahead of the curve! Contribute to making WordPress better for your clients and customers who use it today and position yourself for the clients and customers you’ll have the opportunity to serve with WordPress tomorrow.
WordPress is the Operating System of the Web
WordPress is built on the four freedoms of open source software. These freedoms, combined with the focus on providing a great user experience for non-technical users, have been the key to WordPress’ meteoric rise.
It has grown from being a great platform for a blog or personal site to the operating system for the web with a vast ecosystem of themes, plugins, and the businesses and organizations behind them that serve the WordPress economy.
From sites, to communities, to ecommerce, to products, to platforms, people are choosing to build on WordPress. The tools and resources are there and they’re getting better all the time.
As the web evolves to serve new input and output methods, WordPress is evolving with it. From voice input and creating content in virtual reality to making content accessible to users with disabilities and embracing augmented reality, WordPress is there.
As a company, you have the opportunity to contribute to the operating system of the web. As you help make WordPress better, you’re helping set the stage for new opportunities (like developing new “blocks” for GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/) and opening the doors for new possibilities (serving markets that don’t yet exist).
And why does that matter? Because…
The Open Web Matters
The Open Web has changed the world and we have all enjoyed the benefits. As individuals we’ve learned skills, launched careers, formed friendships, and championed causes. As businesses we’ve reached and served clients and customers through the web that we wouldn’t have otherwise.
WordPress’ mission is to democratize publishing for everyone –, for people of all cultures, languages, capabilities, and means.
What if the Web wasn’t open? What if it was all behind a walled garden that only a privileged few could access?
As the importance of the web increases more and more time and money is being poured into closed ecosystems controlled by a few that can choose to limit who can and can’t participate.
WordPress today represents the future of the Open Web and while we firmly believe that it’s a bright future it’s also a future at risk. As a project lead by volunteers we don’t have the resources that these closed, proprietary platforms have.
We have something better, though. A community and an ecosystem that values the freedom to create and to live and serve as citizens of an Open Web.
You and your company benefit from the Open Web. Please, join us in investing in the Open Web and making it better for all.
Be Part of the WordPress Project
As a company, you have the unique opportunity and privilege to contribute to WordPress. By doing so, you can serve your existing clients and customers better and reach new ones. You can be a part of making the operating system of the web better and in so doing help ensure a future where the Open Web is vibrant and strong.
So what’s next? How can you join us?
Special thanks to @sirjonathan, @gidgey, @mcdwayne, @Breann McDede and @miker for their contributions on this post.