Jay Brunet
Published Mar 1, 2017
#1 (2004) It was Fantastico that built WordPress into CPanel -- that was the first reason for the widespread WordPress adoption. CPanel was a popular tool for beginner webmasters and Fantastico was its 1-click install control panel. This allowed people to install WordPress quickly and easily without "shell access" and without understanding Linux.
At the time, finding a web host that allowed shell access was difficult and often more expensive due to the extra security risks. Fantastico had several blog applications to choose from, but WordPress was simple and elegant with its "Code Is Poetry" slogan.
#2 (2005) The assumption, real or not, that Google gave WordPress a special SEO boost. Word spread that you needed a RSS feed and a WordPress blog to get the best rankings in Google.
Much of that influence with Silicon Valley came from the original blogosphere trifecta of Michael Arrington (TechCrunch), Om Malik (GigaOm) and Gabe Rivera (TechMeme). Michael Arrington also helped launch Media Temple, where many bloggers moved to handle the influx of blog traffic. Before WordPress, most webmasters coded HTML by hand or used tools like Microsoft Frontpage or Dreamweaver.
#3 (July 2005) News Corp purchased MySpace, the same month Pete Cashmore launched Mashable, which was originally a blog about MySpace. You can indirectly thank MySpace, which like WordPress was customizable, and that culture of customization generated a lot of interest in HTML/CSS themes.
The biggest MySpace customization blog was Whateverlife by Ashley Qualls, and you can find her on LinkedIn. My blog Ferodynamics was 1/10th the size of hers, but I still had millions of visitors where I taught people about HTML, CSS, and customizing WordPress and Myspace themes.
This paradigm shift generated a lot of WordPress traffic and advertising dollars for WordPress blogs, spreading the word about WordPress, WordPress themes, HTML and CSS customizations, and blogging in general. It was a major tipping point for blogging and WordPress.
TechCrunch, the top tech blog in the world was eventually dethroned by Mashable. This signaled the rise of social media. Automattic and the Social Media Club were backers of Mashable's party tour around the US, spreading the word about blogging with WordPress. From there, the prominence of WordPress was well-established and it became the go-to blogging platform for the majority of bloggers.