Which CMS is best for you? CMS stands for content management system. This is basically a software which runs your website. It makes adding new articles or changing the look simple.
There are many options out there to build your site, and it can be hard to choose, but our CMS guide can help you make your choice to find which CMS is best.
What is a CMS?
A CMS gives you the opportunity to publish and manage your content on the Internet in a way that is easy to use. That being said, a CMS is different than a website builder. A CMS gives you more options to customize, design, and make a better website; website builders tend to have simple drag and drop features. The best use of a CMS is for sharing and content creation which means you can use it for simpler things such as blogs, portfolios, tutorials, etc., or even sites such as online stores which tend to be more advanced.
What Are the Features of a Good CMS?
When choosing which CMS is right for you there are some features you should consider.
- An easy way to publish new content with a powerful editor with many customization options. You want your site to looks its best!
- Organization options. To keep your content organized you will want to be able to create categories, tags for your posts/articles, separate pages, etc.
- Editing functionality. You will have many pages on your site; make sure your CMS gives you the ability to make separate pages.
- A lot of customizable options. The best CMS options have a wide variety of customizable options that allow you to create the simple or advanced website you need.
- An engaged community. CSMs with an engaged community are always developing and updating which gives you access to the knowledge needed to build your best site.
Which CMS is Best For You?
Now that you have an idea of the things you should look for when picking a CMS, it’s time to see which CMS is right for you. We will give you an overview of a few CMSs, but keep in mind there are many more available to you,
WordPress is a CMS that is easily adapted to your needs for your website and can be used to make the most basic site or a more complex site. It is very user friendly allowing for easy creation of a site. What else can WordPress do for you?
Since WordPres is easily customized it can be used to run complex sites for large corporations, small businesses, and even personal blogs. WordPress can even be the home to full service ecommerce stores, portfolios, a podcast, or a group. A basic WordPress site, with the many available plugins can make a site to fit any need.
Along with beibng highly customizable, WordPres is very user friendly for people who are making a site for the first time. A WordPress site can be installed and up and running very quickly, even without any technical knowledge. All you need is a domain name and a hosting account to start your site. When building your site you can also take advantage of the easy to use administrator dashboard. This had the features you need to customize things such as the layout of your site, headings, and the ability to create posts and pages immediately.
WordPress also offers themes that have multiple options to fit your needs. The wide array of choices allow you to choose the appearance and function of a new site down to the smallest detail. Many themes are already available to a new site and many many more can be purchased through a marketplace and third party designers. Before you decide on a final theme for your site you can do a live preview of your selected theme and install it whenever you want.
Searchability is important when building your websites and creating content. You want to be found on search engines, such as Google, and WordPress sites tend to rank high. WordPress sites rank high for keywords because they are always being updated, and because WordPress has the toold and plugins needed for search engine optimization (SEO).
In the growing age of technology mobile usage to search for sites is growing. WordPress site are responsive to mobile users, which factors into ranking high on Google, therefore websites need to look good on any mobile device. Users of WordPress can make static sites repsonsive to mobile platforms with plugins and tweaks to theme files.
WordPress also features a built in blog that can be used on any deivce whenever needed. This is convenient because users who want to have a blog on their site do not have to create one separate from their site. The blog feature is even useful to site users who don’t need a blog; the blog feature can be used to add updates or annoucements to any site.
WordPress also offers a ton of community support. Since WordPress in a free and open source it is supported by a plethora of WordPress communities. WordPress users are able to make changes to the source files which keeps WordPress updated and secure.
Drupal is an customizable web content management tool that offers the potential to make any kind of site you need with its native features and module extensions. Drupal is a bit less user friendly and requires a bit more know how to create a site, but it is a powerful CMS if you know how to use it.
Drupal is an easily adjustable CMS that allows you to make the biggest high traffice sites. Larger sites with high traffic use Drupal ensure the ability to grow as traffic and content do the same.
Drupal puts the mobile user first. Being mobile first means that you can build sites and web applications that give the mobile user the best experience, regardless of device. Responsive mobile designs make sure that users get a smooth experience at all times on al devices.
Drupal also has a large online community who ensure sites stay secure. The open source of Drupal allows changes by the community to fix problems and create solutions, such as patches, to protect your site.
Drupal is a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor for marketing and content pros. Site creators and content creators alike can ediot any text on any page without switiching to the full editor. This allows for easier to create drafts and posts which in turn allows for better web security.
Joomla is an a flexible CMS that allows for easy customization. Joomla is not as user friendly as WordPress and not as developer friendly, like Drupal, but is a middle of the road choice that requires some knowledge to use.
Joomla is a free forever open source software that is made by, maintained, and offers support by a community who make sure Joomla stays freely available to everyone. Joomla has thousands of hours of develoment time provided by programmers around the world free of charge. Being and open an opne and free source means that you can also change webmasters without having to redo your entire site.
ThIs CMS also features thousands of website templates. A lot of these templates are free, but paid templates are also available. Most of the templates provide you with a GUI (graphical user interface) that lets you change fonts, colors, layouts, and features without any knowledge of code.
Joomla is search engine optimized from the get go. SEO tools are available to use immediately and include useful features. The menu creation system allows for clear and uniform site maps. Anytime you make an article or menu item it makes an alias for its PHP string so particular pages are both user and search engine friendly. Each menu item can have its indvidual meta description, keywords, and robots settings which allow for customizable SEO settings. Meta data, keywords, and support via mod rewrite for SEF URLS (search engine friendly URLS is also available.
Joomla is also security concious and has an excellent track record in regards to this. Joomla has built in two factor authentication and vast access control levels. The Joomla Security Strike Team is always working to be ahead of security threats and release patched before exploits are widely known and used.
We hope our CMS guide has been helpful in choosing which CMS is right for you. This article only covered three of the more popular CMS options, but there are others out there. Thanks for reading!