Are you undecided about which CMS platform to utilise for your website?
A CMS (Content Management System) platform allows you to quickly and easily develop a website without having to know any code (at least for most of them). Because there are so many CMS possibilities, you may find it difficult to select the ideal one for your purposes.
We’ll discuss why it’s critical to pick the correct CMS platform for your website in this article. We’ll also compare and contrast our top selections for the finest CMS platforms.
What is a Content Management System (CMS) Platform?
A CMS platform (content management system platform) is a piece of software that makes it simple to manage content and build websites.
HTML, JavaScript, and CSS are the most common programming languages used to create web pages. You would need to master these languages and write a lot of code if you were to develop a website without using a CMS platform.
CMS platforms address this issue by allowing you to create a website without having to write code or learn how to programme.
Unless you’re seeking for a developer-friendly CMS, in which case you’re already a coder.
How to Select the Most Appropriate CMS Platform for Your Website
Which CMS platform should you choose? There are numerous CMS platforms available. Before we get into our CMS platform comparison, let’s have a look at what to look for in a good CMS.
User-friendliness
You want a content management system (CMS) that makes it simple to develop and change material. This frequently entails using a drag-and-drop interface to add different items to your pages.
You should be able to make adjustments to your website’s content quickly and easily once it has been published.
Options for design
Your content management system (CMS) should provide you with a large number of website design templates to pick from. It should also allow you to simply alter the designs to meet your specific needs (ideally without writing code).
Portability of data
A good CMS platform should provide capabilities that allow you to simply export and migrate your data.
You might later decide to use a different platform or a different hosting firm, for example. The capacity to move about with complete freedom is made easier by data portability.
Add-ons and extensions
Not all websites are created equal. As a result, it’s difficult for any CMS platform to provide all of the capabilities that would satisfy the needs of every website.
Extensions and addons help to solve this issue. These are standalone programmes that you may put on top of your CMS software to enhance its capabilities and add new ones as needed. Think of them as apps for your content management system.
Options for assistance and support
Even though CMS solutions are designed to make creating a website as simple as possible, you may still have some questions. If you get stuck, find out what aid and support is available.
Some CMS companies will have a few FAQs and a customer service team that takes an eternity to react. Others will be surrounded by a large supportive community that can assist you at any time of day or night.
How much does it set you back?
Some content management systems (CMS) are absolutely free. Others will bill you on a monthly basis. Even with free CMS platforms, third-party extensions, designs, and/or web hosting services are frequently required.
To avoid unpleasant surprises, try to learn as much as you can about cost before deciding on a CMS.
With these considerations in mind, let’s look at the top CMS platforms available.
1. WordPress.org
Our top pick for the best CMS platform is WordPress.org. It’s the most widely used content management system in the world, powering over 43% of all websites on the internet.
It’s critical not to mix up WordPress.org and WordPress.com. WordPress.org is a free open source content management system (CMS) that was originally created for blogging but is now used by a wide range of websites and online retailers. WordPress.com is a website that allows you to host your own blog.
Check out our full comparison of WordPress.org and WordPress.com if you’re not sure what the differences are.
Note: On WPBeginner, we usually refer to WordPress.org when we say “WordPress.” When it’s acceptable, we use WordPress.com.
You must host your WordPress site yourself, which necessitates the search for a suitable WordPress hosting service.
Pros
- WordPress provides you with the flexibility and freedom to create any type of website you want (online store, auction site, membership site, etc).
- It does not necessitate any technical or coding expertise. The WordPress block editor makes creating beautiful pages on your site a breeze.
- You have ultimate control over how you make money online from your website.
- There are many of premium and free WordPress themes and plugins available. These allow you to add contact forms, photo galleries, and other valuable features to your website.
- WordPress has a great search engine optimization design (SEO). Making SEO-friendly URLs, categories, and tags for your content is simple. You can also choose from a variety of SEO plugins to assist you.
- Because WordPress is an open source CMS, it has a large and supportive community. You can seek support with any troubles you have by joining groups like the WPBeginner Engage Facebook group.
- WordPress has a lot of extensibility, which makes it an excellent CMS platform for both novices and developers.
- WordPress allows you to export all of your material in XML format, making it simple to migrate to a new system in the future.
Cons
- You’ll be responsible for setting up your hosting and domain name, as well as handling security and backups.
- When you’re first getting started with WordPress, it can be intimidating because it has so many options and versatility. This is why many WordPress newbies utilise drag-and-drop page builder plugins.
2. HubSpot CMS Hub
HubSpot CMS Hub is a fully integrated content management system created with marketers and business owners in mind.
CMS Hub is a perfect solution for developing businesses as well as large corporations looking for an all-in-one system to manage their website because it is built on top of HubSpot’s CRM platform, which contains all sorts of marketing automation, sales, service, and operations features.
Pros
- Even if you have little to no technical knowledge, the HubSpot website builder is simple to use. It’s simple to generate and optimise site content with their drag-and-drop editor, built-in SEO tools, and contact attribution.
- They contain intelligent content options that allow you to customise your website page for specific users or larger groups.
- Serverless functionalities, customizable theme options, and command line tools are available for developers, allowing them to make changes and customise assets more quickly.
- CMS Hub includes built-in security tools such as a worldwide CDN and Web Application Firewall, as well as a dedicated security team to protect your site against DDoS assaults, hackers, and other irregularities.
- HubSpot CMS integrates perfectly with HubSpot’s email marketing tool and sales CRM, allowing you to simplify your operational procedures.
Cons
- There is no free version, however a free trial is available.
- E-commerce websites aren’t effectively served by HubSpot CMS. The good news is that it integrates seamlessly with both WordPress and WooCommerce.
3. Joomla
Joomla is a popular free open source CMS platform that includes a variety of templates and addons. It’s completely free to use, but you’ll need hosting and a domain name to get started.
It was first introduced in 2005, thus it’s been around for a long time, just like WordPress. Joomla has a lot of functionality, and many web servers allow you to install it with only one click. It is, however, a great CMS platform for developers and experienced website producers, thus it isn’t a fantastic choice for newbies.
Pros
- Joomla provides you with a lot of flexibility and alternatives. It’s a good option if you’re making something unique or complicated.
- Although Joomla is geared toward developers, you can still utilise it if you don’t want to touch a single line of code. It’s simple to make changes to your content.
- Joomla, like WordPress, is open source, and there’s plenty of community help if you get stuck.
- There are extensions available for Joomla that allow you to run an e-commerce store.
Cons
- Even Joomla aficionados will acknowledge that it is a complicated system. You may need to engage a developer to help you with it, depending on what you want to accomplish with it.
- There aren’t a lot of extra extension choices. You could be frustrated by Joomla if you’re used to a CMS like WordPress, which has thousands of downloadable themes and plugins to enhance the fundamental functionality.
- If you have a lot of different extensions and modules installed, there may be some compatibility concerns.
4. Drupal
Drupal is another open source content management system. It’s the CMS that powers a number of well-known websites, including The Economist’s and a number of university websites.
Drupal is a good choice for developers or those who can afford to employ one. It’s especially useful if you want to create a fully customised site that must handle a large amount of data.
You can host a Drupal site on SiteGround. They provide free installation as well as assistance in transferring an existing Drupal site.
Pros
- Drupal makes it simple to add content. Custom content types are adaptable and provide a variety of options.
- There are numerous modules that you may use to enhance your website (these work like WordPress plugins).
- Similar to other popular platforms like Joomla and WordPress, help is provided through community forums.
- User management is simple, thanks to a built-in framework that allows you to establish new roles and assign access to them.
Cons
- It can be difficult to figure out how to change the look of your site or add extras with Drupal. It’s not nearly as user-friendly as WordPress.
- Most Drupal websites have a developer-created, highly customised theme, which can be rather costly.
5. Wix
Wix is a popular CMS platform, although it does have certain drawbacks. We get a lot of questions about how to move from Wix to WordPress, which is understandable because any savvy business owner knows that WordPress is far superior to Wix.
Wix, on the other hand, is beginner-friendly and may be worth investigating. It also has a free plan.
Pros
- Wix’s drag-and-drop interface makes it simple to design pages that appear exactly how you want them to. You can start editing any part of your page by selecting it.
- Wix has a large number of pre-made templates from you to choose. They’re fully responsive, so they’ll look great on both mobile and desktop devices.
- From the Wix App Market, you can add a variety of apps to your website. These work similarly to WordPress plugins in that they provide additional capabilities to your site.
Cons
- You can’t switch to an other Wix template once you’ve picked one. This may result in you being trapped with a layout that isn’t ideal for your website.
- Unless you upgrade to a paid plan, you won’t be able to run an eCommerce store on Wix, and even then, you’ll only be able to accept payments through PayPal or Authorize.net.
- Wix does not make it simple to download and export your data. You can relocate your blog posts (but not your images) by downloading them, but you’ll have to manually copy and paste any pages on your site. We provide step-by-step instructions for migrating your Wix site to WordPress.
- You’ll get a Wix-branded domain name and adverts on your site if you use the free plan. Wix makes money from the adverts, not you.
6. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is an all-in-one eCommerce platform that is hosted entirely by BigCommerce. If you’re a beginner, it’s simple to get started.
BigCommerce not only hosts your site, but it also provides the CMS platform. It also takes care of your security and backups.
Pros
- There is a trial plan available, so you can try BigCommerce out before making a commitment.
- You can either utilise a BigCommerce-provided free domain name, such as mystore.mybigcommerce.com, or pay for a custom domain name.
- Through BigCommerce, you can accept payments in a variety of ways. Customers can pay with digital wallets such as PayPal, Apple Pay, and Amazon Pay, as well as credit or debit cards.
- BigCommerce offers support alternatives that you can access directly from your dashboard, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Live chat, email, phone assistance, community support, and more options are available.
If you desire, you can combine BigCommerce with WordPress to get the most of both CMS platforms.
Cons
- BigCommerce gives you less control over your store than WooCommerce. Limited themes and integrations may deter you from using a third-party solution to expand your business.
- You’ll be automatically moved up to the next level of the pricing plan whenever your annual sales exceed a particular threshold. If you have a lot of expenses, this may be challenging for you.
7. Shopify
Another all-in-one hosted CMS platform is Shopify. You won’t have to worry about purchasing hosting, installing software, or managing upgrades and backups.
It has an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface. It supports in-store sales, which is beneficial if you have both a physical and an online store.
Pros
- Shopify Payments, Shopify’s integrated payment solution, let you to take credit and debit cards. Shopify includes PayPal as one of its default payment suppliers.
- Shopify has a large number of extensions and themes to choose from. Third-party Shopify apps can be purchased to add a variety of functionality to your online store.
- You don’t need to upgrade if your sales exceed a particular threshold, as you would with BigCommerce.
- Shopify offers live chat, email, phone, and even Twitter assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There’s also a wealth of content (such as written how-to instructions and video lessons) as well as online forums.
Cons
- If you wish to add a lot of third-party apps to your shop, your expenditures can quickly add up.
- You might want to add functionality that isn’t already available: Shopify’s apps are more limited than things like WordPress’s plugins.
Related: What Does Web Development Have in Store for the Future?
Final Words
WordPress.org, we feel, is the best CMS platform and website builder on the planet. WordPress powers over 43% of all websites on the internet, and there’s a solid reason for that.
WordPress has everything you want in a fantastic CMS platform. It’s simple to get started, and many WordPress web hosting providers include a one-click installation option. Plugins allow you to enhance the functionality in practically any way you can imagine (which are like apps for WordPress).
You may use WordPress to create an eCommerce store, an online forum, an LMS (learning management system), a membership site, an auction site, a marketplace, and nearly anything else.
What you can accomplish with WordPress is limitless, and if you find that your site needs more space as it grows, you can easily upgrade to a managed WordPress hosting business.
