Report: WordPress Remains The #1 CMS

There are dozens of content management systems (CMS) available, some of which include Drupal, Jooma, Business Catalyst, BigCommerce, Blogger and Tumblr just to name a few. However, WordPress remains the single most popular and widely used CMS for content-driven websites, according to a new report published by CodeGuard.

The cloud-based data backup and monitoring service provider claims that approximately 79% of all content websites are powered by WordPress, with Drupal coming in at a distant second with just 72.%, and Drupal with 5.3%. This begs the question, why do so many webmasters and bloggers prefer WordPress over other CMS?

As noted in the report, some of the reasons why webmasters choose WordPress is its ease of installation, frequent updates, management and support. It takes just minutes to install WordPress on a domain, and once installed, you can begin posting. This is in stark contrast to many other CMS platforms, which often take hours to properly set up. But don’t let that fool you into thinking WordPress is some bare-bones system with little-to-no customization options. On the contrary, it can be modified and tweaked just about any way your heart desires, which is another reason why so many users prefer it over other CMS platforms.

Of course, there’s some concern regarding the safety and security of WordPress. We’ve  seen dozens of hack attacks involving WordPress sites over the past few months. Hackers often target sites running outdated versions of WordPress because they contain vulnerabilities. While developers often fix these vulnerabilities in a timely manner, webmasters who fail to update their sites remain vulnerable. As noted by ZDnet.com, however, WordPress is still a safe and secure environment.

“The WordPress community is extremely diligent in their efforts to keep WordPress secure and as long as you use best practices, you’re going to be as safe as you would be with any other environment,” said David Gewirtz of ZDnet.com. “But it’s important to keep one truth in mind: The Internet and all our connected technology is, together, a living beast. There is no longer any safe ‘set-it-and-forget-it.’ You must update regularly because there are bad guys out there.”

The report also revealed the top WordPress themes based on number of downloads. This includes the following:

1. Avada
2. Twenty Twelve
3. Twenty Eleven
4. Weaver II Pro
5. Dynamik-Gen
6. Kallyas
7. Divi
8. Elegance
9. Sahifa
10. Salient

Are you a WordPress user? Let us know in the comments section below!