We’ll always remember 2020 as a year of uncertainty and dramatic change. But the momentum it brought to digital transformation has only accelerated in 2021. Having a digital presence is now an imperative for every business, and customers are demanding even richer and more personalized digital experiences with brands.

Enter: content.

As the heart of how customers interact with brands, content has never mattered more. that’s reflected not only in the drive to better understand and optimize content performance, but also the hunger for more content strategy resources.

Content creators and developers need more speed, flexibility, and autonomy to drive growth. If there’s one overarching theme for 2021, it’s that marketers now value agility and insights more than ever. With that in mind, we rounded up highlights from the year to share with you as we ring in 2022.

5 most engaging posts from 2021

Parse.ly’s average engaged minutes metric—an essential statistic to determine which content works—allows us to see the posts that have the most engaged readers over the year. Our top 5 most engaging blog posts cover a range of topics, from our FedRAMP authorization to insights from a conversation with Xbox Wire about content analytics.

1. Why choose WordPress VIP over self hosting? Our No. 1 blog post of the year gives three good reasons. 
2. WordPress VIP acquired leading analytics platform Parse.ly to make rich content analytics and optimization a core part of the WordPress VIP platform. Read about the acquisition and what it means for content marketers who want to understand how their content is resonating with customers and driving business growth.
3. See how Microsoft uses content analytics to drive revenue through Xbox Wire.
4. Good news for federal agencies or companies holding federal data. We are FedRAMP authorized!  
5. Now’s the time to upgrade your enterprise CMS. Learn why. 

Hot topics and new resources from 2021

• With the introduction of Full-Site Editing to the Gutenberg block editor, WordPress 5.8 is changing the way content creators and developers work. We upgraded wpvip.com and shared our lessons along the way.
• Google introduced Core Web Vitals, a new way to measure web pages. Check out our approach and best practices in our webinar and FAQ. We also shared a behind-the-scenes peek into wpvip.com’s results, in a post by one of Automattic’s web performance engineers.
• Our Understanding the Content Marketing Funnel guide shows you how to attract, engage, and convert customers, and what metrics to track at each stage of the customer journey. Prove that content’s ROI to your boss with our How to Write a Content Marketing Budget guide. 
• Learn how to facilitate meaningful customer experiences and use a data-informed content strategy to propel better content performance with the Humanizing Digital Transformation guide.  
• Wondering if decoupling the front (“the head”) and back ends of content delivery and management makes sense for your organization? Learn the benefits of single-stack, headless, or hybrid CMS architecture. Also, read our Complete Guide to Headless CMS and how Al Jazeera benefits from Headless WordPress.
• We were named a Leader in the 2021 IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Content Management Systems for Persuasive Digital Experiences and a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Agile Content Management Systems (CMSes), Q1 2021.
• TechCrunch published The Automattic TC-1, an exhaustive profile of our parent company’s origin and growth, with recognition of the parts open source software development and remote work culture have played along the way.

By the numbers

No annual wrap-up post would be complete without some statistics about our business this year.

• WordPress VIP experienced 66% business growth.
• We served over 208.5 billion app and API requests.
• We welcomed nearly 100 new customers.
• 155 new teammates came on board, hailing from 24 countries.
• Gained 33 agency partners and 10 technology partners.

For businesses driving growth through customer-centric experiences, content mattered more than ever in 2021. And teams continued to move faster and make smarter decisions about that content. We can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store.