How Wordpress.Com Captures $51.65M in Traffic Value Monthly - A Marketing Strategy Breakdown
By Team Inblog ⋅ April 2, 2025
WordPress.com is a leading hosted version of the open-source platform that empowers millions worldwide to create, publish, and scale beautiful, secure websites with ease. WordPress.com has successfully generated $51.65M in traffic cost value through its SEO strategies as of March, 2025. This growth is driven by a combination of keyword targeting, content optimization, and on-page SEO improvements.
In this article, we’ll dive into the key marketing strategies that contributed to their success.
Keyword Strategies
A well-planned keyword strategy helps connect your content with the right audience by aligning it with their searches.
Boost SERP Rankings by Understanding Search Intent
The key to this strategy’s success is WordPress.com's deep understanding of search intent. Search intent isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the reason people type queries into search engines and a major driver of search traffic.
There are four main types of search intent:
- Informational: When someone is looking to learn more (e.g., “What is wordpress?”)
- Navigational: When someone is trying to find a specific page or site (e.g., “Personal CRM Template”)
- Commercial: When someone is comparing options (e.g., “wordpress vs. Competitors”)
- Transactional: When someone is ready to buy, use, or download something (e.g., “wordpress Pricing”)
As search intent moves from Informational to Navigational, Commercial, and Transactional, users become more specific and action-driven. Initially, users seek general information, but as they move down the funnel, they get closer to making a decision or purchase.
Considering various keyword variations that users might search for in areas like UX or template solutions, WordPress.com's top 1,000 organic keywords have been categorized into these intent types.
| Intent Type | Share (%) | Top Keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Informational | 31.80% | removed, quote of the day, wp-admin |
| Navigational | 24.65% | wordpress, wordpress login, wp |
| Commercial | 36.40% | yandere simulator, wordpress themes, wordpress templates |
| Transactional | 7.15% | gravity forms, wat chaloem phra kiat phrachomklao rachanusorn, born a crime pdf |
Notably, navigational are displayed using examples such as "wordpress", "wordpress login", "wp", "wp web", "wordpress download", "wordpress website", "gimkit", "desmos", "download wordpress", "wordpress plugins", and they account for the largest share, contributing $5.57M in traffic cost.
Optimizing Content for Search Intent
To rank well on Google, it's important to create content that aligns with what users are actually searching for. Google aims to provide answers by using advanced algorithms to understand the intent behind each query. Understanding search intent helps ensure your content meets users’ needs.
Below are the top five pages on WordPress.com that generate the most organic traffic through content optimized for keyword intent:
| URL | Keyword | Position | Search Volume | Traffic | Traffic Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://labakeblog.wordpress.com/2024/04/14/how-to-know-your-hair-type-hair-texture-and-hair-porosity/ | hair types | 2 | 147,428 | 6,489 | $9,279 |
| https://terrytao.wordpress.com/ | terence tao | 3 | 26,483 | 3,622 | $16,769 |
| https://hikemehappy.wordpress.com/hiking-quotes/ | hiking adventure quotes | 5 | 50 | 2,759 | $27 |
| https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2021/03/02/times-new-roman-12-the-only-font-youll-ever-need/ | times new roman | 5 | 17,517 | 1,307 | $13 |
| https://pursuitofdiversity.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/born-a-crime-trevor-noah.pdf | born a crime | 3 | 13,842 | 1,250 | $1,537 |
WordPress.com's SEO success is rooted in a traditional content marketing strategy, where long-form guides rank for a wide range of keywords. The selected keywords span diverse niches: "hair types" attracts users seeking practical advice on hair care and type identification, "hiking adventure quotes" serves a specific audience looking for motivational content tailored to outdoor exploration, "born a crime" resonates with readers interested in in-depth narratives and cultural insights, "times new roman" draws in design enthusiasts and typographers, and "terence tao" appeals to audiences seeking authoritative content on mathematics and academic excellence.
Choosing the Right Keywords to Attract Quality Traffic
The more organic keywords you rank for—that is, words and phrases that draw people to your site from a search engine results page (SERP)—the better. WordPress.com ranks for 18881851 organic keywords. One of the biggest contributors to WordPress.com’s organic success is their ability to rank for high-value keywords with strong search intent.
| Keyword | Position | Search Volume | Traffic |
|---|---|---|---|
| hair types | 2 | 147,428 | 6,489 |
| what do capybaras eat | 3 | 5,215 | 4,814 |
| pokemon glazed | 1 | 8,054 | 4,206 |
| protogen | 2 | 37,996 | 3,959 |
| terence tao | 3 | 26,483 | 3,622 |
On-Page SEO: Keeping a Consistent URL Structure
On-page SEO involves optimizing various elements within your web pages to improve visibility and ranking on search engine results pages. A crucial element of this strategy is the use of a clean, uniform URL structure that communicates both to users and search engines what content they can expect when visiting a page. The practice ensures that important signals such as keywords are clearly embedded in the URL, thereby enhancing organic search performance.
Wordpress follows a structured URL format that plays an integral role in its on-page SEO strategy. By organizing its pages into clearly defined subfolders, each URL signals a distinct section or purpose. For example, important actions like logging in, exploring themes, or discovering new features are each hosted under a single subfolder that creates an intuitive pathway for both users and crawlers. This method of categorization aids in easy navigation and faster indexing by search engines.
Furthermore, the use of nested URL structures—where a primary category is followed by a specific keyword—allows for enhanced relevancy and focus within the content hierarchy. This hierarchical arrangement not only improves user experience by streamlining the content discovery process but also bolsters technical SEO by making it clear which topics are being prioritized. Overall, wordpress’s consistent URL format effectively supports its broader SEO strategy, ensuring that both technical and user-focused optimization goals are met.
Examples of URL Structure:
WordPress.com/[subfolder]
- https://wordpress.com/log-in
- https://wordpress.com/themes
- https://wordpress.com/discover
WordPress.com/[subfolder]/[keyword]
- https://wordpress.com/plugins/gravityforms
- https://wordpress.com/plugins/woocommerce
- https://wordpress.com/themes/free
Conclusion
This report details WordPress.com's successful SEO and marketing strategy that has driven a monthly traffic cost value of $51.65M. The analysis covers its in-depth keyword strategy based on search intent, highlighting the importance of understanding various types of user searches. Additionally, the report reviews the content optimization techniques for matching search intent and provides insights into how the top five pages generate significant organic traffic. The targeting of high-quality, non-branded long-tail keywords and the adoption of a uniform URL structure to enhance on-page SEO have collectively contributed to WordPress.com's impressive organic performance.