WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that gives users an out-of-the-box publishing solution. In plain English? WordPress helps you make a blog really easily.
Every WordPress site runs the same code behind the scenes (aka. the core). But on the front-end you can customize your site a million different ways with WordPress themes. You can even learn how to make your own custom themes from scratch.
Because millions of beginners are using WordPress, it’s associated with blogging for newbies. But, WordPress is way more than your best-friend’s cat blog.
In fact, WordPress powers 33% of the Internet. That’s because both Fortune 500 Companies and basement bloggers want the same things: easy publishing, good SEO, and options for organizing content. The best blogs do this real well. Some of the top sites on the Internet are using WordPress VIP. This is the company’s enterprise CMS, for users who get regular, massive traffic and need ongoing support.
I want to show you 30 famous WordPress sites. Once you see the power, customization, and scalability of WordPress you’ll be inspired to create your own WordPress site immediately. Look, you may not be Beyonce (unless you are, then please leave a comment), but you can share the same WordPress code used by Beyonce.
1. Beyonce
Bey’s site runs on WordPress. So bow down, reader.
2. Facebook Newsroom
One of the top sites on the Internet uses WordPress for their news and press statements.
3. TED
The TED blog offers “Further reading on ideas worth spreading.” You can’t help but think you can change the world after visiting.
4. BBC
The BBC, according to its website, is on a mission “To enrich people’s lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain.”
5. The Walt Disney Company
The official home of the world’s most famous mouse.
6. USA Today
“Latest world & breaking news”
7. Variety Magazine
Variety’s tagline is “The Business of Entertainment.”
8. Quartz
“News, videos, ideas, and obsessions from the new global economy”
9. Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight
The site “uses statistical analysis — hard numbers — to tell compelling stories about politics, sports, science, economics and culture.” It’s journalism for math geeks.
10. Lifehack
Lifehack is a site for “Helps, Tips, and Guidance to improve all aspects of your life.” Read this while brushing your teeth and listening to a podcast at 2X speed in the shower.
11. Black America Web
This REACH media site “was formed in January 2003 to develop, acquire and partner in quality media and marketing opportunities targeting the African American community and lifestyles.”
12. Toyota (Brazil)
The company that says “Let’s go places” uses WordPress for its Brazilian division.
13. New York Post
“Current & Breaking News | National & World Updates”
14. Perez Hilton
This is a site for “Hollywood’s Hottest Celebrity Gossip.” If you’re too proud to grab a tabloid on the grocery line, you can get it all here, judgement-free.
15. Blog Maverick (Mark Cuban)
Blog Maverick is “The Mark Cuban Weblog,” a place where the NBA franchise owner, Shark Tank personality, and serial entrepreneur posts his ideas about business, politics, and life.
16. Official LinkedIn Blog
This is the blog for the world’s most famous networking site.
17. VentureBeat
“Tech news that matters.”
18. Gigaom
“The industry leader in emerging technology research”
19. Spotify
Spotify promises “Music for every moment.”
20. Forbes
Forbes is a business magazine and now a sprawling online content company.
21. The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss
“Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog” houses his writing as well as his popular podcast.
22. PEOPLE.com
“Celebrity News, Exclusives, Photos and Videos”
23. Dow Jones
“Business & Financial News, Analysis & Insight”
24. WIRED
The famous tech news site started by Kevin Kelly runs on WordPress.
25. Mozilla
The Mozilla blog is a place to get “dispatches from the Internet frontier.”
26. Fortune
When you want to know what’s going on with your money, go to this WordPress VIP site.
27. TechCrunch
“The latest technology news and information on startups”
28. Boing Boing
Boing Boing is “a directory of mostly wonderful things.”
29. The Official Star Wars Blog
Well wookie here. The blog for this classic film runs on WordPress.
30. Skype
Topping off the list is the blog for the communication company Skype. Hopefully this site can tell me if I should look at my web cam or the person while on my next call.