How is this being accomplished?
Marketing teams now can leverage on the Content Management System ("CMS"), which allows you to make changes to a website without needing to touch a single line of code.
Do you have an intention to get a new powerful website online but can't wait around to invest a good amount of investment into a custom site, then look no more because CMS is here.
WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal all offer great features and a ton of customizations, ease, and great security. The best bit is these are free.
The big question is then which do you choose from when all of them are free and all have good options and functions to perform certain tasks.
All 3 CMS choices have their different advantages and personally I approach them differently depending on the task I need to complete. Find out how these compare below:
WordPress
The world's most popular content management system. Great for beginners.
- Easy to install - many web hosting companies offer instant, automated WordPress installs. That means you can get a brand new website up-and-running in less than five minutes.
- Customizable - has more plugins because of its widespread popularity.
- Free - Yes no-strings-attached and free to use.
- Community support - Have any issues or questions about your new WordPress site tap into the millions of people already using and supporting it.
The biggest drawback is you can't have the ability to make significant visual edits, without the help of a designer and/or a developer.
Drupal
Number two.
- Technically advanced - Drupal is for tech people who likes to get their hands dirty.
- Improved Performance - Drupal pages load more quickly and faster response time when compared to WordPress or Joomla. This means you might need a powerful server only when you have too many third party plugins bogging down the performance of your site.
- Customizable - Drupal is easy to customize with many widely available plug-ins, themes, and other configurable options to choose from.
- Free - Like WordPress Drupal is also free.
Drupal is the most powerful CMS out of the box, but you do need to have a basic knowledge of HTML, PHP and other programming languages and being able to trouble shoot error messages and identify code problems will be a massive benefit.
You will need to hire technical expertise as your site becomes more complex and this can be a problem as it is typically harder to find someone with deep Drupal knowledge because of its steep learning curve unlike WordPress programmers. You need to host first before you start on a new Drupal site and this can be a stumbling block for most people.
Joomla
The CMS that is between both WordPress and Drupal.
Powerful enough to run most websites with no problems and doesn't require the same level of technical experience to run as Drupal either.
It's number two behind WordPress as the most used CMS. So there are plenty of available plugins and themes to choose from.
Joomla is a good choice if one of the following is what you want to achieve:
- Commerce sites - You can get a store done quickly without much customization work.
- Social Networking - You can set up really quickly and easily using Joomla.
- Not too technical - Joomla is in the middle between ease and power so its good news to non-tech savvy people.
- Help portal - Asking questions and getting technical support.
- Free - Just like WordPress and Drupal.
Making your choice.
This can be a tough choice, with a lot of users online that are debating one is better than another. However, it should be noted that each does have benefits that lean more to one side when compared to another. Here are amongst some tips I can give below:
- Want to start with a simple website or blog use WordPress.
- If your website will grow significantly needing extensive features and unlimited customizations use Drupal.
- If you are split between both or need a social network or an eCommerce site, use Joomla.
Don't worry because all three platforms are free, and each offers a variety of helpful third-party tools to add unique features to your website. There is readily available technical support, but Drupal's is among the most expensive.
Once you have chosen which platform to use and leverage on make sure you check out a reliable hosting provider to ensure that your website is always online to reach your target audiences.
