Revenue Model of Wordpress | Complete Guide

Introduction

WordPress is a distinguished free and open-source content management system (CMS). You will be amazed to know that WordPress powers over 35% of the Web. One can deploy WordPress anywhere (small personal blogs, small business websites, and significant websites earning millions). Its developers used PHP to code it. Further, they paired WordPress with a MySQL or MariaDB database, making it competent for building effective websites or blogs. Today, WordPress enjoys the lion's share of the market- a whopping 61.8%. One of the reasons people prefer WordPress to any other CMSs is that it is available in over 196 languages and offers alluring themes. Also, it is profuse in plugins. One might wonder why WordPress lets people create websites and blogs without demanding a single Penny. If you are one of those who wonder so, you will get the answers to your questions here. This blog discusses the revenue model of WordPress or, in other words, "How Does WordPress Earn Money?"

A few Interesting Facts About WordPress

1. Avada is the most popular and most bought theme of WordPress. This WordPress theme has earned 12 million dollars in sales so far.
2. WordPress is SEO friendly and takes care of approximately 80-90% of Google's crawling issues.
3. Around 1,063 WordCamps have been organized to date.
4. WordPress 5.3's download count is over 7 million.
5. WordPress offers more than 54000 plugins.
6. WordPress Developers earn $50,000 on average.
7. WordPress users make 27 new posts every second.
8. WordPress has more monthly visitors than Twitter. The former has 163 million unique visitors.
9. "WordPress" has a global search volume of over 2,940,000 searches.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is the most sought-after CMS (content management system) powering numerous websites and blogs on the Web. Matt Mullenweg has created this brand. At present, two publishing platforms ( WordPress. com and WordPress. org) use it. Let us know a bit about WordPress. Com and WordPress. Org before reading about the revenue model of WordPress.

What is WordPress. Com?

Automattic, a private company, has developed and runs WordPress. Matt Mullenweg is the CEO of Automattic and the co-founder of WordPress. Org. He started Automattic only after two years of the launch of WordPress. WordPress. com is for those who see writing as a hobby and want to launch a website without spending a penny. These hobby writers are free to choose a domain name and themes (limited, though). In short, anyone does not need to purchase any domain or hosting to run their sites through WordPress.

What is WordPress. Org?

WordPress. Org is an open-source platform that provides numerous functionalities and customizations. WordPress Foundation runs this platform, and the onus to provide the following is on it:

1. Free maintenance of WordPress.
2. The free development of WordPress.
3. Free usability of WordPress.

In the case of WordPress. Org, users need to pay for domain and hosting. Moreover, users will need to set up a Technical WordPress site. However, you get your hands on numerous free themes and plugins, unlike WordPress. com. You can also legally sell WordPress after altering the logo and name.

Let us now read about the revenue model of WordPress.

What is The Revenue Model of WordPress? (WordPress. Org)

WordPress. Org earns money through donations from companies whose services are dependent on the existence of WordPress. There are numerous WordPress development companies selling services and products revolving around WordPress. Also, suppose someone buys hosting from Bluehost, siteground, Hostgator, big rock, etc. In that case, they indirectly pay money to WordPress as a significant amount from it goes to WordPress. Therefore, this revenue model of WordPress involves donations from companies and indirect aid from related companies.

However, the revenue model of WordPress (WordPress. Com) is different from the one described above.

What is The Revenue Model of WordPress? (WordPress. Com)

Unlike WordPress. org, WordPress. com earns revenue in the following ways:

WordPress Revenue Model: Web hosting

The revenue model of WordPress employs Web Hosting to earn money. WordPress's web hosting prices start at $15,000 per month. It provides Web hosting to everyone, from small startups to prominent entrepreneurs.

WordPress Revenue Model: Google AdSense

The second method to generate revenue is using Google AdSense. Businesses and free blogs drive traffic and conversions through Google Ads. You need to meet a few requirements to display Google Advertisements. These conditions are:

1. Users can use any search engine, but they can not use the Firefox web browser.
2. Visitors should be log in to their WordPress accounts.
3. WordPress should not power the referring source.

WordPress Revenue Model: WordPress themes

Everyone wants their website to be a visual treat to visitors. A visually appealing site retains visitors for more time. Although WordPress offers free themes, they are basic, and almost every other user uses them. It generates the need for users to buy premium themes that no one else is using. And these premium themes are the source of revenue for WordPress. WordPress Developers create these premium themes, ranging from $50 to $100. Here, Automattic earns commissions per sale.

WordPress Revenue Model: Premium accounts

Anyone can host their website here for free, but they do not get many things using the free version. Businesses go for premium accounts to get their hands on more features such as storage, custom web domain, etc. These features cost $8 per month.

The revenue model of WordPress also involves other sources of generating revenue. We list them below.

WordPress Revenue Model: Web host referrals

WordPress also generates revenue by suggesting third-party web hosts that provide free hosting services and allow self-hosting. When a person searches for WordPress Hosting on any search engine, they will see advertisements and sponsored posts, redirecting them. Thus, Automattic earns a commission on every referred sale as it suggests Web hosting providers to users.

WordPress Revenue Model: WordPress support

The free support offered by WordPress is not always enough. Therefore, numerous businesses have subscribed to WordPress customer service. This support type provides help around the clock, and one gets a response from them within 6 hours. Businesses pay from $2.5 to $5000 every year for this WordPress customer support.

WordPress Revenue Model: Guided Transfers

Sometimes, a business owner might need to transfer their website from one domain to another. WordPress helps you and asks for money to help you do so in such cases. Suppose you want to change your domain from "WordPress. com" to "WordPress. org" you will receive the required help from Automattic. Automattic helps you with Guided Transfers, and you need to pay $119 on a one-time transfer.

WordPress Revenue Model: VaultPress

People lose their precious data because of data failures or data theft. These data failures are data corruption, virus, malware attack, deletion, etc. Therefore one needs backup facilities to safeguard one's data. Backup duplicates your data and information that you can retrieve if any data loss occurs. WordPress helps you protect your blogs, etc., by backing them to the cloud. For this, WordPress offers you the VaultPress service, starting at $15 every month. Your blogs are saved in real-time, and you get timely intimations in case of any potential danger.

WordPress Revenue Model: VideoPress

Everyone includes audio and videos on their websites to embellish them. You can also add them to your Websites using WordPress. Therefore, WordPress now offers the VideoPress plugin to enhance users' websites. Moreover, your videos and files are not flooded with ads; they are ad-free. This plugin does not have any bandwidth limit and is worth $60 per year.

WordPress Revenue Model: WordAds

Every website and blog on WordPress has access to WordAds, a WordPress-based advertisement network. It is the only way websites can display ads from numerous platforms such as Yahoo, Facebook, etc. These ad buyers and their publishers work in tandem on a revenue-sharing business model.

WordPress Revenue Model: Poll Daddy

WordPress also offers a paid version of Poll Daddy. Here you can have a plethora of questions per survey of yours. Moreover, there is no Poll Daddy logo or branding on one's surveys or polls.

WordPress Revenue Model: Automattic Kismet

Automattic Kismet prevents your blogs from getting spammed. This technology is free for non-commercial personal blogs. However, someone with a corporate blog or a network of blogs can also use this technology. They need to purchase a commercial license of Akismet that costs $50 per month. Also, a professional blogger earning over $500 per month in advertising revenue needs to pay $5 per month for the Akismet license.

Conclusion

WordPress is a boon to those who lack technical skills as this CMS platform helps them set up websites and blogs instantly. Although the platform is free, there are other charges that one needs to pay to get started. It is how WordPress generates its revenue. Any Content Management System should be like WordPress to make profits and get traction. Anyone can get tempted to use something for free, and once they start using it, they can not abandon the platform like this, for they have their valuable site on it. The revenue model of WordPress is an inspiration. However, your CMS platform will not be a success if you do not add new features and functionalities to it and make it simpler for users to use it. AppsRhino can help you carve the next best CMS that the world is yet to see. Contact us today for the same.