Fortune 500 Companies Using WordPress
I use WordPress for almost every site that I build. If you are unfamiliar with this program, it is a content management system (CMS) that allows the business owner to edit and manage their own web site. When I first started using WordPress to build web sites for companies, I had some push back from my clients. Some said, "It's a blogging software, I don't want to blog." Others thought the system was too amateur to be used on their web site. If the site didn't cost them $5000, then it wasn't good enough for them. How wrong they are! Not only have I worked on web sites throughout the United States, I've created WordPress sites for companies doing business in Ceylon, the United Arab Emirates, and Dubai! It seems that larger corporations are also following suit. Here is a list of Fortune 500 companies that using WordPress for their web sites.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
You've probably heard of this online newspaper. It has a paid readership of approximately 400,000 people online and is the largest newspaper in the United States. It's hard copy subscriptions go out to 2.1 million people. In 1996, The Wall Street Journal decided to go online with its news offerings. The online paper uses a modified WordPress three column template which offers advertising, news stories, and color images.
In addition to the Wall Street Journal Newspaper which is linked here, you can also see another WordPress blog at their sister site: Wall Street Journal Magazine.
PEPSI
The Pepsi Cola Company has been known to have a few bucks and when they were looking for their new web site, RefreshEverything, they chose WordPress for their content format. Why? Because it is easy to use and you can make changes to the site from any computer that you can log into. Not only that but teams of people can also work on collaborating information from all over the world. WordPress is flexible and easy to use.
GENERAL ELECTRIC
One of General Electric's initiatives was the Healthy Imagination web site. The site is dedicated to healthy living. Once again, this Fortune 500 Company chose WordPress as the platform in which to launch the site. A post - or article - can be written from your iPad or even your smart phone using WordPress. The format allows for easy access to mainstream social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, thus making access to the site far-reaching. Remember: The more people who come to your site, the more money goes in your pocket.
UPS
This global giant uses WordPress to connect with its clients. Through it's Upside Web Site, UPS can receive questions and answer people in a timely fashion. What's more, people can look through the comments and find answers to questions that they may have. The web site makes use of plugins and widgets that offer live feeds to social networks, like Twitter, so that you can see comments in real-time. You can also share information on Facebook, Google +, and LinkedIN right from their web site.
YAHOO!
Want to know what is going on with Yahoo!? You can find out about trends, news, and more through their Yodel Anecdotal web site. This WordPress platform-based web site gives live feed information and articles on how this megacompany is changing the world. The site also offers surveys to better judge what people are expecting from Yahoo! and you can even purchase products through it on one of the many ecommerce platforms that WordPress uses to seamlessly turn your web site into a store.
WordPress is an extremely powerful tool in web design. Business owners want to have some control over what goes into their web sites and are starting to realize how beneficial it is to use a readily available platform, with literally thousands of resources, to manage their online presence. I've been building web sites for businesses since 1998 and three years ago, I switched all of my clients over to WordPress. There have been less problems with their sites, more freedom for making changes, and I am able to create a web site for them at a fraction of the cost.
OTHER FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES USING WORDPRESS
- Ford Motor Company
- Samsung
- Coca Cola
- Xerox
- CNN Money
- American Express
- PlayStation.com
- The New York Times runs over 50 WordPress-powered sites.
- Fisher Price
- Nokia
- Intel
- Nikon
- Best Buy
Author's Note: James Fowler is the owner of myWebSource1, LLC and builds WordPress-platform web sites for clients throughout North America and overseas. In addition to WordPress, Mr. Fowler specializes in Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click campaigns. You can reach him at http://www.mywebsource1.com.
James, I’m interested in learning more about a website built on word press. Please, contact me. Thank you.
In Hoc
Harry Palmer
Public Storage Canada also uses the CMS for their site. They were recently added to the wordpress showcase (http://wordpress.org/showcase/public-storage-canada