Choosing the right content management system (CMS) for your business can drastically improve or hinder your potential website. There are multiple CMSs to choose from, all coming with an array of advantages and disadvantages. That being said, the two most popular and widely used are Joomla and WordPress. WordPress and Joomla are both open-source programs. They are both free of charge and are constantly being developed and optimised.
Similarities
- User Experience
Both platforms are mature, secure and well established. They are renowned for their ease-of-use, extensive customization opportunities, and active communities. This means they can both be used to create modern, feature-filled sites, which are easy to handle. Having a large community of developers specializing in these CMSs means it is generally easy to find web developers specialising in them, who offer competitive prices for their work.
Search Engine Optimisation
Both platforms have SEO capabilities. However, Joomla has the advantage of allowing the user to input meta description and meta keywords. WordPress on the other hand has the incredibly popular Yoast SEO plugin, which uses a traffic light system to rank the pages SEO strength.
Beginning Steps
To start your website, you will be faced more or less with similar procedures on both platforms, these include:
- Installing WordPress or Joomla
- Choosing a design
- Creating menu items and content in the backend
Both programs consist of a front end and a backend.
Add-ons
Joomla and WordPress have multiple types of add-ons for functionality as well as aesthetics. WordPress contains more plugins, but both platforms offer a good deal of variety.
Security
The core of both programs is secure. To further improve security, Joomla, as well as WordPress, offer third-party add-ons. They also have easy in-dashboard update systems to ensure everything is up-to-date.
Differences
- Joomla Pros
Joomla has more advanced user management options and more access controls. This results in more flexibility with regards to different content types, which allows the user to post non-standard content types.
- Templates
Joomla gives the user the option to choose between different templates to optimise different pieces of content and is renowned for its complexity. A site built in it can evolve into anything the user wants if they know PHP, or choose to hire a web developer.
- Community
Joomla is not a company and it is not profit centred- it is entirely free and offers support to its users through its community. It has a forum and Facebook groups that offer additional support.
Joomla Cons
- Learning Curve
Joomla is constructed using a combination of Article and Categories, meaning the user will have to put more time into building and managing their site compared to its WordPress counterpart. Before starting on the content, the user will have to create categories for the type of content that is to be created. However, long term this allows more flexibility and professional developers can create more unique designs using Joomla.
- SEO
Joomla creates multiple URLs on the same content and has less elegant URLS (index.php/123-name), which can be a disadvantage from an SEO point of view.
WordPress Pros
- Blogging
WordPress is most known for being the best CMS to create blogs. This isn’t to say it cannot be used to create high-quality landing pages and even more complex sites as it is highly scalable, catering to all site sizes.
- Extensibility
WordPress has the largest variety of plugins and themes, which makes it easy to extend your site with a variety of different features. Not only is it easier to find high-quality WordPress themes than it is Joomla templates, but they also often offer a higher level of support and a better experience.
Ecommerce
WordPress offers a plugin called WooCommerce to create shops online. It is much more widespread and customizable than its Joomla counterpart.
WordPress Cons
- Security
Due to the popularity of this platform, it is a bigger target for cyber-attacks. With the many plugins it offers, it is hard to ensure they all employ high standards of security and remain compatible with the latest versions of the system.
Furthermore, it doesn’t come with basic features such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or Two- Factor Authentication (2FA), unlike Joomla.
If you are wondering which CMS is used to create this website then the answer is Joomla, however, this doesn’t mean it’s the right platform for your business. At digisteps, we perform a close analysis of our customers’ needs and expectations concerning their website before we recommend a specific CMS.
In conclusion, neither CMS is inherently better than the other. However, because of their differences, they are more or less suitable for different purposes. WordPress is overall more user-friendly for beginners; on the other hand, Joomla offers more flexibility for developers. If you are not sure which CMS to choose, contact us to find out.
