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Perhaps one of the most understated phrases online: “Just another WordPress blog.” Just? As in “only” another WordPress blog? Tell that to Anderson Cooper 360, TechCrunch or NFL.com’s blogs.

wordpress dude

Or try the more than 70,000,000 and counting. WordPress is blogging behemoth written in 120+ languages. So how did the now 8-year-old platform get so big?

Here’s our countdown.

5) Widgets, Plugins

When you sign up for a WordPress blog. It’s clean, blank. Frankly, it is just another WordPress blog.

But widgets and plugins are an immediate; simple way to make your blog feel more like, well, your blog. For example, there is a Flickr widget to bring your lens to people’s screens. Or for you 140-character types, WordPress has a Twitter widget. Items like these quickly change sidebars on your site. Think of them as WordPress’ accessories. Plugins are like widgets but they’re more for use on the backend (your CMS), like Google Analytics for WordPress.

4) Creative, Credible Themes

Search WordPress on Google, and themes is the fifth result after the site, download now and other basics. That should give you an idea of how important themes are to the platform.

If widgets and plugins are the watches and pocket squares of WordPress, then themes are the three-piece suits (or whatever clothing metaphor works best for you). Themes are plug-and-play designs for your entire blog. Sometimes they are free. Sometimes they are not.

But the shear amount and availability of these themes bring people to WordPress. That, in turn, makes more designers design for WordPress. It’s a circle that keeps both groups in one place.

3) Customization

WordPress is open source, meaning you can get to know your WordPress on code-level. If you’re not a coder, developer or programmer, this might not be a big deal. But the blogging platform wouldn’t be where it is without developer support – key online.

Even if you only know basic HTML and CSS, WordPress gives you the power to customize four main areas of the site. There’s the header, loop, sidebar and footer. They interact using PHP, which allows users to make a change once and have it apply to the entire section.

This level of functionality goes one step beyond theme, making your site yours to the core (or code). And guess what? People like that.

2) Content Community

Forget what you were told when you were younger. Here, size matters. Would you still be on Facebook if there were more people on Google+? Look what happened to MySpace.

WordPress’ community might not be as easy to see. Not all blogs have a WordPress tag at the top. But WordPress bloggers know they are not alone. TED, NBC Sports, GigaOM trust WordPress’ CMS too.

This also means people are talking about WordPress, posting and solving problems on forums, throwing out new ideas and uses for the platform on blogs and creating businesses devoted to giving you more options.

Note, Tumblr reported that they recently passed WordPress in number of blogs, which would make their community larger. Just remember, those building sites from wordpress.org are not included in the numbers. As many Tumblr users know, the services are a bit different. But just like WordPress, Tumblr gained popularity in part because of its community.

1) It’s free

Let me say that one more time, it’s free. Never underestimate the power of free.

Free means no obligations. And we all know “free trials” aren’t the same. With WordPress, you can pick up WordPress one day and drop it the next. Then, pick it back up when you take that trip to Europe.

It’s also free to change. As I said before, WordPress is open source. It’s just a framework. WordPress was built by the web for the web for free. That’s key to the platform’s success.

Do you have a WordPress blog? Even VA Mortgage Center.com uses WordPress! What are we missing from this list? Tell us about your experience below.

Maya Szydlowski is a community manager for Veterans United Home Loans, the nation’s leading VA loan provider and source for the military community.

*FULL DISCLOSURE: This site was built and currently runs on WordPress.

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About

Missy Diaz is primarily a freelance writer (and blogger) that offers a popular guest blogging service to website owners. She also creates WordPress powered websites and blogs and is the author of Super Blogga, a fun action packed pocket guide aimed at new blog owners with over 70 bite size tips available as an ebook and on Amazon.

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