With its root as a blogging platform, it is easy to disregard WordPress as a serious business solution. The fact that it is open source and free to use for anyone can also certainly contribute to its image as a product for hobbyists.
Clients who don’t know better might doubt its scalability for larger projects, and developers may therefore think they couldn’t land big-name clients by offering WordPress services.
However, what people tend to forget or be unaware of is that WordPress by now powers 25% of the Internet. Yes, that is one quarter. Yes, of the entire Internet.
So, are those only fringe bloggers and people chronicling the adventures of their family pet? Nothing could be further from the truth.
To show that WordPress is a force to be reckoned with, I have put together a list of famous websites using WordPress. From international news outlets and A-list celebrities, to big brands and tech companies — the platform is being used in every industry by players of all sizes.
After going through the list of people and institutions who trust WordPress, a few people might have to revise their notion of this blogging platform.
News Outlets And Magazines Running On WordPress
While print media has been struggling for years, online news continues to boom.
The fact is that some of the largest news outlets on the planet are relying on WordPress to keep their readers informed. Here are a few of them:
1. The Wall Street Journal
The newspaper with the largest circulation in the US is using the WordPress platform to power their technology blog.
2. The New York Times Company
The company behind New York’s finest and second-largest newspaper in the United States bases not only its own firm website on WordPress but also some of its news blogs.
3. Reuters
Reuters in another news outlet that relies on WordPress.
4. Forbes
If a news site that caters to the super rich can base its website on an open-source solution then surely you can too, right?
5. Harvard Business Review
The Harvard Business Review is also proudly powered by WordPress.
6. Fortune
Get business news and more with WordPress running behind the scenes.
7. Time Magazine
Since Time belongs to the same conglomerate as the preceding publication, no wonder they are relying on the same technology to delight their readers.
8. New York Post
Extra! Extra! The New York Post shamelessly runs its website on WordPress VIP!
9. BBC America
The US branch of this British media outlet has no problem going the WordPress route for their online presence.
10. CNN Blogs
CNN blogs also use WordPress.
11. Los Angeles Times
With so many East coast outlets using WordPress, the West coast is not far behind. LA Times also uses WordPress.
12. Variety
Film and celebrity news coming at you wearing WordPress code.
13. People.com
People.com also made a popular decision when it came to choosing their content management system.
14. Vogue UK
Vogue, one of the most well-known fashion magazines in the world, is also running on WordPress.
15. Harvard Gazette
The Harvard Gazette uses WordPress for its background architecture.
16. Enterprise Magazine
The open road meets Open Source—a match made in heaven.
17. The New Yorker
What does this magazine’s website have in common with the other websites on this list? You guessed it, WordPress.
18. Observer
The Observer is now built with WordPress.
Online Publications That Trust WordPress For Their Sites
The WordPress platform has been adapted quickly by some of the leading technology blogs. Here are just a few examples:
19. Mashable
Social media, tech, business, and world and lifestyle news are all at your disposal in a theme reminiscent of Twenty Fourteen.
20. TechCrunch
The latest technology and startup news is presented in a custom blog WordPress loop with extra large images.
21. Boing Boing
If you look into Boing Boings source code, you will find familiar references to Jetpack. Busted!
22. Digg Blog
While not as powerful as it used to be, Digg still exists and is working on a comeback. If you want to hear the latest about their development, you can do so on the WordPress-powered Digg blog.
23. IGN
Video game buffs looking for cheats and walkthroughs will rejoice at the name. Now WordPress users have a reason to do the same.
24. The Next Web
More technology news and all things Internet with WordPress running the scene.
25. Laughing Squid
First of all, what’s up with that name? Can anybody explain? Secondly, Laughing Squid is a blog on many topics (with a focus on cute animals it seems) and a cloud-hosting service with a focus on WordPress hosting.
Celebrity Sites Using The WordPress Platform
Your favorite celebrities and stars also opt for the big WordPress. What better way to preserve your income from record sales, movie fees and other shenanigans than opting for free software?
26. Jay Z
Jay Z, Jigga, Hova — the man with many names and even more rap albums — tells about his life and times on the official Jay Z WordPress website.
27. Beyoncé
We don’t know for sure if there was a conversation in the Carter household as to which CMS to use for their sites, but they obviously made a joint decision.
28. Kylie Minogue
The successful music export from Down Under also went with WordPress, and is one of many examples sporting an extra large slider on the homepage.
29. Katy Perry
Admire the background effect on Katy Perry’s WordPress site when you scroll down. Can anyone name that plugin?
30. Justin Timberlake
Clear lines, a nice font, and lots of photos can be found on JT’s site. The system making it all possible? You guessed right, WordPress.
31. Ariana Grande
With WordPress powering Ariana Grande’s online presence, it is safe to say that she would have one more problem without it.
32. Lily Allen
Mrs. Allen has moving palm trees in the back of her site! I really have to find out which plugin that is.
33. Usain Bolt
The fastest man in the world is running his website on WordPress. Need I say more?
34. Kobe Bryant
Somebody should tell Kobe that there is a problem with the social icons in his site header. However, nice job apart from that.
35. The Rolling Stones
Did you know that the Rolling Stones are apparently video blogging? It’s true, you can see it on their WordPress-powered website.
36. Dave Matthews Band
In case you are thinking of writing a WordPress plugin, there seems to be money in the image slider business for celebrity websites. They are everywhere. DMB is no exception.
37. LL Cool J
Apparently mama said built your website with WordPress. Also, there is an option to create a picture of yourself getting photobombed by LL. Cool J!
38. Jason Mraz
Nice and clean design on Jason Mraz’s homepage. This makes me think I really have to write an article on full-width background images.
39. Malala Yousafzai
One of the youngest and most impressive human rights activists. Malala’s story is incredible! Good thing that WordPress is helping spread her message.
40. Tom Jones
The Tiger may have gotten old, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t keep up with current web technology.
41. Mötley Crüe
The band is on their last tour so check out their site while you still can!
42. Sylvester Stallone
The official homepage of the Rocky and Rambo star comes with a minimal and clean design. Made me check for ‘Stallone’ in the WordPress repository.
43. Alanis Morissette
Lots of animation and movement on this website. It must have a bunch of Javascript under the hood. Nicely done, though!
44. Katie Couric
The first lady in news also has her own website, courtesy of WordPress.
45. Xzibit
I can only imagine the marketing pitch for Xzibit’s website.
46. Russell Brand
The website of comedian Russell Brand has a solid responsive theme — it adapts to any screens size nicely. I wonder what it is based on…
47. Blondie
How do I know Blondie’s website is running on WordPress? It has a duplicated title tag. Somebody should look into the SEO settings.
Popular Brands And Companies Powered By WordPress
Celebrities and news outlets aren’t the only ones that have discovered WordPress. All sorts of well-known brands and companies also rely on the platform to communicate with their customers online.
48. Coca-Cola France
Since it’s French I don’t know for sure what the site is saying, but the mobile design is great!
49. Mercedes Benz
This is one of my home country’s proudest exports and they are running their official website on WordPress.
50. Samsung
For their camera segment this Korean tech giant is using WordPress to power their website.
51. Star Wars
Anyone else excited for the new Star Wars movies? You and me both. Until they finally come out, we can get our fix on the official Star Wars WordPress blog. Including a Darth Vader favicon!
52. PlayStation USA
The PlayStation blog is also presented by WordPress.
53. General Motors
The GM FastLane blog is for all motorists. It says “powered by General Motors” but we know who is really behind it.
54. UPS
The brown trucks have their own official blog. Guess what they built it with?
55. Xerox
Turns out Xerox is running 10+ blogs. I guess they like to make multiples of everything. Thankfully that’s quite easy with the platform they have chosen.
56. NFL
Like many others, the American National Football League powers their online presence with WordPress.
57. Sony Music
Sony Music is another entry in the long list of large-slider-on-homepage websites. I am telling you, this is a gold mine!
58. James Bond 007
Turns out that WordPress is one of the latest entries in 007s list of gadgets. I wonder if Q came up with the idea.
59. Bloomberg
Bloomberg is a nice example of large-scale moving backgrounds. I need to figure out how they did this.
60. MTV
While the M in MTV has become questionable, you can still find a lot of music-related info on their WordPress-powered news blog.
61. Nikon USA
From the looks of it, Nikon used “Pinterest” as a keyword in the WordPress theme directory. Nice card design!
62. Blackberry
Blackberry also has several blogs for their customers, all of which are running on the WordPress blogging platform.
63. Dole
Check out this nice one-page design example on Dole’s site! Reminds me slightly of Twenty Thirteen.
64. Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer invites you to “Live your adventure” with a pretty classic one-sidebar blog design.
Popular Technology Companies That Use WordPress
The companies on this list have a large staff of tech experts at hand and could easily whip up their own custom solution. Yet, they chose to go with WordPress. What does that tell you?
65. Microsoft
Maybe you knew it already, but I just discovered that there is a Windows devices blog. You can find it by clicking the link. WordPress made it possible.
66. Facebook
Facebook’s news blog also uses WordPress.
67. Ebay
While WordPress doesn’t power the eBay auction site (yet), it does make sure they have a functioning company blog. Small steps, small steps.
68. Google Ventures
Did you know Google has a venture capital department? Neither did I. You can now learn all about it on their WordPress blog.
69. LinkedIn
The official LinkedIn blog is also powered by WordPress.
70. Flickr
Yes, Flickr also has a blog and yes, it is also running on the big WordPress.
71. Mozilla
With the Mozilla blog running on WordPress, the two giants of Open Source finally unite.
72. Hootsuite
The people behind the social media tool Hootsuite give tips on how to run your social campaigns and more. I actually read this blog from time to time.
73. Evernote
WordPress and Evernote are two of my favorite blogging tools. The makers of the latter apparently feel the same way.
74. Trello
I am hearing good things about Trello. One of them is that they use my favorite CMS to run the blog part of their site.
Other Famous Websites Using WordPress
Finally here are a bunch of big WordPress users who couldn’t fit into above categories.
75. NASA
For the latest in all things outer space, check NASA’s blog. Do they run anything WordPress-based on the international space station?
76. TED
Best known for interesting and inspiring talks, TED also runs a blog that goes beyond what you see in their videos.
77. Sweden
Yes, Sweden as in the country. Their official website is powered by a well-known Open Source CMS.
78. Lollapalooza
Gnarly dude, Lollapalooza is running their site on WordPress! (PS: Sorry for using the word “gnarly.”)
79. Riverdance
Anyone else have to think about how this Irish folk dance scares “the bejeezus” out of Chandler Bing? Just me? Oh well. They use WordPress though!
Summing Up: Blogging Platform No More
I hope this list managed to disperse any doubts about WordPress’s capabilities. The platform has long grown out of being a mere bloggging tool and has become a full-fledged CMS used by heavy hitters in pretty much all industries.
From news media, to big brands and tech companies — loads of A-listers have joined the 25% of the Internet powered by WordPress. Should the above list not be enough to convince you, you can find even more examples here. But really, what more do you need?
Do you have examples of popular sites running on WordPress? What was the most surprising for you? Please share in the comments.
Nick Schäferhoff
Nick Schäferhoff is an entrepreneur, online marketer, and professional blogger from Germany. He found WordPress when he needed a website for his first business and instantly fell in love. When not building websites, creating content or helping his clients improve their online business, he can most often be found at the gym, the dojo or traveling the world with his wife. If you want to get in touch with him, you can do so via Twitter or through his website.
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