Your CMS is one of the most important decisions you’ll make when you create a website. Not only will your choice decide what you’re able to do with your site, but it will also determine how technical it is to handle, how many pages it can handle, and how much maintenance it needs.
I’ve arranged this quick guide for you in order of technical difficulty, to help make your choice in CMS easier.
WordPress (Self-Hosted)
The most user-friendly of the bunch, WordPress doesn’t offer developers as much freedom as other systems at its core, but there are a ton of plugins available and ready to be installed — most functionality changes are done with plugins. On the bright side, it’s easy to find technical help and there’s even more free help available online.
Usability really is the strong point for this CMS, no matter how many pages or posts you have. You can switch themes quickly and easily, control content with a few clicks, and if it needs maintenance, much of it can be done almost instantly.
Drupal
Drupal requires a bit of a learning curve, but it’s claim to fame is flexibility. You can do virtually anything with this software, and if you have a large site or 10K pages or more, it’s the best of the bunch. Plugins make it even easier, which means it’s an even match with WordPress. It requires a bit more work to make it search engine ready and site wonderful, but overall, it’s not bad.
Because it’s a little more technical, you can expect some minor regular maintenance. Also, developers can be a bit harder to find than those familiar with WordPress.
Joomla
If you’re looking to work within a set system, consider Joomla. It has very little flexibility, with some themes and plugins, but the core is pretty limited. Even for the user, it’s not that easy. It’s complex dashboard makes it difficult to manage, and there’s not a whole lot you can do to change that. Sedarch engines and theme ready is another complex issue. In fact, you can only optimize and ready the site to a certain point.
Expression Engine
Expression Engine is difficult technically, and it can be tough to find developers, but it has great flexibility, even with very few plugins or themes available. If needed, the makers of the software are available to help. All that aside, sites made with this CMS are beautiful and fluid.
It might not be quite as easy to use as WordPress, but it isn’t a whole lot more difficult either. It needs a lot of technical know-how at the beginning, and regular maintenance after, but you’ll find it has relatively good SEO and is great after it’s going.
Which CMS do you like best for your sites?
*Update* This is NOT a definitive guide. This piece is also not endorsing one CMS or the other. It’s merely a summary of general opinions. You should NEVER choose a CMS because of one post. You should always investigate things yourself and look them over carefully before making any decisions. The point of this post is to start discussion and bring up points and opinions about each, which it has, so I urge you to read the comments.
Secondly, I wasn’t clear enough on this point in the original post, so I’d like to clarify a few things here: It is completely possible to rank sites based on Joomla for a CMS. However, when you take away all external factors and compare them to generally accepted SEO practices (including those recommended by Google), Joomla doesn’t offer as many out of the box as WordPress. I’m not saying you should stop using Joomla, nor am I saying you should avoid it or only use WordPress. I’m merely stating you should be aware of these things before you decide to use any CMS. I’ve seen all of these systems work amazingly well and horribly, so in the end, it’s the person running the show that makes all the difference. In other words, make an informed decision.
48 Comments on "Choosing a CMS: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal & Expression Engine"
How would you rank Concrete5? I wasn’t satisfied with it when I first tried it, but I think they’ve been improving it quite a bit since then.
Hi Matthew. I’ve never tried Concrete5. I really have mixed feelings about smaller, lesser known CMS for three reasons: security, support, and flexibility. I’m not saying they’re good or bad. The way I see it, they can go either way, and I’m not technically wise enough to repair a lot of the bigger issues on my own.
Well, I use WordPress for my blog, and I love it. I can pretty much do anything and customize and edit it from anywhere.
I also use Joomla for my Portfolio site, and I’m not as happy with that. You can’t customize as easily, and the menu navigation set up is tricky. I’m thinking of redoing my site soon, and I will probably not use Joomla.
I have heard from friends that Drupal is pretty good, but I have not personally used it.
And I will have to check out this Expression Engine. It sounds very interesting.
Hi Kendra
I love WordPress. In fact, my site runs on it. And like you, I’ve had several experiences with Joomla now, and not one of them has been very pleasant. I’ve played with Drupal a bit, but to be honest, WordPress is so easy I haven’t had the need to switch.
Thanks so much for sharing!
As far as I experienced, Joomla! CMS seems to be a much better solution for websites than WordPress. Joomla! has hundreds of free themes online, thousands of extensions, and it has forums on various languages with lots of active users and experts. You can hire anytime a Joomla! administrator or assistent, and also can customize editing the content for any user or even visitor. We will have interactive videos about learning Joomla! article editing on our site
Thanks for the tip on the resources Andor and for sharing your experience.
It sounds like you’ve never used Joomla. It’s certainly easier to learn than Drupal, has a ton of extensions and components to do most anything including a store, and is great for search engine optimization. My business website clients are happy being on the first page of Google, many #1, and all with Joomla websites.
Hi Sharon
I’ve used Joomla on several occasions and never liked it from a user perspective or from a marketing perspective. It’s also one of the most SEO unfriendly CMS I’ve seen, right from the bad URL structure to the horrible code bloat. I’m afraid you’ll have to back that up with some explanations as to how it’s SEO friendly. Being on page one in the SERPs for a keyword phrase doesn’t mean the CMS is SEO friendly.
I don’t know the SEO problem you see with Joomla! My sites keyword/phrase for most of the ones I wish to be found on Google rate in the Top 30 of search queries, with no additional add-ons. Google Tools lets me know this positively.
The Interface when run on a good machine tends to eliminate the overhead problem. A good machine being any typical computer built since 2005. Not good in a shared hosting environment though, i.e. GoDaddy.
The site is also easy to maintain and add new things to. Ay one who can install an OS can install Joomla! and after that is accomplished adding extensions, new articles, etc. is a breeze.
Jim
Again, just because a site in Joomla ranks, doesn’t mean the CMS is SEO friendly. I never said you can’t rank a Joomla site. It’s completely possible in a lot of query spaces. It just means your SEO relies more on off page than on page, and you’re right — there are SEO plugins, but they don’t address everything.
Joomla’s structure makes it easy to add descriptions and keywords to each article as you write them, and you add titles in the menus section. Not difficult at all; it’s right there. In WordPress, you have to install a plugin for the same convenience, and you have to mess with .htaccess for both. I started with WordPress, and I’m glad I switched to Joomla. To each his own, personal preference. I’ve used Joomla for 4 years so can only speak to that. Maybe you used it with much earlier versions that didn’t offer these easy SEO features.
I’ll agree with you there, you do have to go into the configuration and enable the SEF URLs when using an out of the box approach (which also involves editing your .htaccess file). However there are many SEO plugins that can help you create keyword rich text (page titles and keyword metadata) based on your page’s content. There is also a default setting to add keyword and metaata to each article if you are the manual type.
I use wordpress, as the framework is as robust as any other php framework letting you bend it to almost anything. Although it is hard to find good out the box themes for anything apart from if your using it as a blog.
What is the authors preferred choice?
Hi Chris
I’m afraid I don’t use basic themes for anything other than disposable or test sites. In my experience, it’s worth the money to have a custom theme developed to meet the needs of a specific site.
Seems like an unfair review on Joomla sites. As a developer, I find it complex enough for ecommerce implementation as well as database intensive sites, yet simple enough to allow my clients a frotend login to edit their own content. With great control comes great responsibility and if you have the technical know-how, you can do a great Joomla site (with many free plugins). Any WordPress fan that knows Joomla more often than not will lean towards the flexibility it offers, as it is not just a blogging platform, but rather a full CMS (which now features ACL – Access Control Levels).
Thanks for your perspective Allen. It’s one I certainly can’t give as a non-developer type. I’m afraid I’ve never had a good experience with Joomla and find most of my clients with struggle terribly just trying to tweak their own sites. Most end up hiring a developer. In some cases, they can’t even upload their own content. WordPress, on the other hand, has been much easier to guide clients through, and I’ve had half the hassles. I run entire sites off it, including ecommerce sites. That being said, I fully agree that each CMS has its own place. Thanks so much for adding your comment! I think readers will find it extremely helpful.
Hi, sure I agree with you, WordPress is my favorite CMS, although many friends of mine use Joomla, I don’t use it because I don’t understand the way it works. Anyway maybe later I will begin to experiment with Drupal, because for other people heard it is very powerful and solid CMS.
Hi Chullos
It’s always good to experiment and get familiar with other sources. It’s a great way to make things better
These well known CMS have a lot to offer. So does Auctoricity. Lots of great features for city government sites.
The biggest problem with wordpress is it is known to be a resource hog. People do not take into account how many resources it takes up on a shared hosting account. Many hosts will simply shut your site down without warning if you are causing other sites problems. The better ones will warn you and give you an option to uninstall some plugins or upgrade your account.
Be sure to read the TOS when choosing a host and beware of the ones that say “Unlimited” as it does not exist.
That’s absolutely true Mark. I’ve had that situation myself in the past. In my situation, however, it was more the theme’s coding at the root of the problem. I guess it taught me the value of paying for good hosting, too.
Thanks for adding that.
As someone relative new to CMSs, I’ve found WordPress to be very easy to learn and very powerful for my needs. What I liked was that as I was building my sites, I could easily experiment with different themes and plugins until I found the ones that met my needs. Ongoing maintenance is also very simple.
I haven’t used Joomla, Drupal or Expression Engine so I can’t comment on them. But I see no need to move from WordPress.
thanks
Thanks for sharing Regan. Don’t fix what ain’t broken they say
Personally I use both Joomla and WordPress. I really like them both but I honestly prefer Joomla overall and feel like I can do more with it. Joomla has many options available, I honestly was less impressed with WP when i was first learning how to use it – but by digging more could eventually find a plug in that would allow me to do some of the options Joomla has already built in it. If I had to choose only one – Joomla would be my choice.
What great insight Lori.
I’ve used Joomla, WordPress & Drupal for client sites and my favourite by far is Drupal – even with the more regular maintenance issues. From a developers perspective its DB accessing, efficiencies and representation are much more robust than the other two. Joomla is great for a one-off site where the client wants to be able to maintain it themselves, and wordpress is the best for blogging sites. I suspect at the end of the day, whichever system one chooses should depend on the end goal, but usually it all comes down to budget – druplars dont come cheap by any means, joomlars are rolling off the production lines like model T’s and wordpress’ers can be picked up off any street corner all day long – like a casual labourer, i mean – no rude thoughts now people!
Omho of course
Hi PhillR
Excellent insights. I never really thought much about cost, but I’m sure glad you brought it up. Maintenance can definitely add up if you have to hire someone!
So what does site-reference.com or you recommend spending on SEO? According to Quantcast my Network of sites is in the top 155K sites, most likely to break the 150K level before the end of June. Google Analytics doesn’t even register any “Bounce Rate” on several of my sites. No SEO ever, just a little reading. All, but a couple of my sites are by standards in Google Analytics outperform sites of their size and nature, i.e. “Bounce Rate”, “Time on Site”, “Page Views”, etc.
I like Joomla! It moved the sites to that level.
I have a friend who owns an Antique Hardware retail website. She has always paid for SEO management. Her relative cost for the SEO is in excess of what it would cost her dollar for dollar to sell on eBay.
The biggest scam is SEO outfits. Google uses a complex algorithm to determine placement. Erroneous rankings on Google for undesired search terms are inevitable. Key word density and dispersion are the most effective tools for SEO. The reality is that repeated submissions to search engines is beneficial, is erroneous. It may work for insignificant search engines, but it has little effect for rankings on Bing, Yahoo and Google. The template for success of use of search terms found is to generate the “clicks” that also influence the “right” search terms.
So what exactly do you know about SEO?
Jim
Ok Jim, this comment is really off topic and a rant. It sounds like you’re frustrated and also very confused. I’m going to reply only because you’re very insistent on being heard.
- SEO isn’t about how much you spend, it’s about being effective. If you can do it yourself without spending a dime. Wonderful. If you need a little help or a lot, that’s great too.
- Fantastic to hear that your site is getting amazing traffic. Good for you! You must be doing something right.
- If Google Analytics doesn’t register a bounce rate, something isn’t set up right. Might want to check it out. If your site really has no bounce rate, and everything is set up right, there are other issues you’ll need to address.
- I’ve no comment on the success of your sites in comparisons with others due to lack of facts.
- Glad to hear you like Joomla! Millions of people do and it works well for them. To say that switching the CMS to Joomla is responsible for its success is misguided. If that was the case, everyone could get their sites to rank just by switching to Joomla. And if that was the case, I’d do it in a heartbeat. No questions asked. There are hundreds of factors involved in search rankings. Secondly, Google ranks pages, not sites.
- Sorry to hear your friend hasn’t had good results. Perhaps she should look at conversion optimization or trying another provider, if she isn’t getting decent results. Even a site audit with fresh eyes could help.
- Ranking for useless terms is inevitable. No surprise there, but no idea what point you’re making.
- I’m not playing into the whole SEO scam thing. Been there and done that. Even Google itself has an optimization guide for users. To say it’s a scam is saying usability and meeting the needs of your readers is a scam. And if you think SEO is all keyword density and ‘dispersion’, my suggestion would be to download Google’s guides and educate yourself. It sounds to me like you picked a slime bucket company and got taken for a ride. Sadly, these types of providers exist in every industry. Like buying a house, you need to be sure the deal is as good as it sounds.
- If it’s clicks you’re after, you’re barking up the wrong tree. I can rank a pill site for tree frog and get tons of hits, but it doesn’t mean it’s right. My goal and my belief is conversions, business building, and profit. It takes a well-rounded marketing approach, and a deep understanding of the target market, not just a single magic solution you can throw money at. For the record, you can’t measure the success of a website with a few traffic numbers.
- So what do I know about SEO? Enough to know you’re frustrated, have some misconceptions, and need help. Why else would you be looking for ideas and information on a blog?
Please keep future comments on topic, or you can try the forums for some help if you don’t want to pay for help. There are lots of experienced users there who are only to happy to help.
Hello there, this is what I was looking for. A discussion about CSM. I am using Joomla for my site and I am struggling sometimes with some technical issues. I am wondering whether I can find a tutorial online or a forum …where I can find some help. If anyone knows of something. I would love to hear back. Thanks.
Hi Michela
Don’t worry. We all have to start somewhere. Joomla has an amazing community of knowledgeable people. My suggestion would be to go there.
Michela, try http://www.joomla.org. Everything is there, tutorials, forum and a directory of components, modules and plugins with user ratings. Also, when you need an answer, try long-tail searches using 7 to 12 keywords. Usually there’s a post out there with the same problem you’re struggling with.
Hi, I am experience web design in Joomla Framwork. Still I am working on this framework. Now Joomla 1.6 is much more better than joomla 1.5 cuz of html5 support and it’s user category management. It is more user friendly . It have it’s own engine to make search engine friendly. But I am still sad we can not create user authority with highly customization. I hope Drupal is hero on this matter but I feel difficult to do template designing.
Hi Hira
We all have to start somewhere, and because each system is so different, it can seem like a constant uphill battle at times, but all of these CMS are possible to learn with some time, patience, and effort. And you’re right, Joomla is working hard to improve. Upgrades happen all the time, and regardless which system it is, everyone working on those projects deserves full credit for their hard work.
Hi,
Well I won’t disagree to your post completely, however, I’d say that you have very little knowledge of Joomla! CMS. I am a Joomla! CMS websites developer since last 5 years and have developed more than 120 websites including simple CMS websites, E-commerce portals (integrated with Payment gateways like PayPal) as well as completely customized portals using the base Joomla! Framework.
I have also developed many WordPress based Blog websites.
I believe that for all the systems, you need to have in-depth knowledge of those systems to pass your comments on. WordPress system is intended to create blogging websites, however, people have started using it as a CMS application. In this case, if your imagination is the only limit then why is it not true in case of Joomla! CMS?
Regards,
Muhammad Omar
Hi Muhammad
Just so we’re clear, I’m not saying you’re limited with what you can do with Joomla. The core of it isn’t as flexible as WordPress, although others have mentioned recent updates have improved it significantly. I’ve seen it make some pretty complex sites. But in my experience, I’ve seen Joomla work either very well, or be a constant mess of errors, hassles, and work arounds. Bottom line: It’s personal tastes and what users are comfortable working with. That being said, I think it’s wonderful that you’ve had such a great experience with Joomla. That should always be the main goal, regardless of the CMS.
My first experience was with Drupal. As you said it’s a steep learning curve and you’ll found once you understand the basics, you soon realize you are working with a powerful CMS. I explored Joomla and it is not as hard but the structured Drupal support and security lack, and many plugins and modules have issues which is time consuming to resolve. For a commercial site, osCommerce, an online shop e-commerce solution works out of the box with very little technical know how. The secret is to learn at your own pace and enjoy!
Hi Joexxi
I couldn’t agree more! What great advice.
I am not much into web design myself and so very much like to leave the technical stuff to professional web designers and developers. I have contracted a web design company in Zimbabwe to design my website and they say they would develop a custom CMS for me. Is this a good idea? Am I not going to have problems if I change web designers and lastly, can you tell by just visiting a site which CMS, if any, they use?
Gift>> I’m not a fan of custom CMS for a few reasons: Support, security, and flexibility. That being said, it can be better than the standard alternatives because standard hacks don’t work. I suppose it depends on the quality of your tech support. And yes, you can tell what CMS a site uses just by looking at the source code.
I think you’re spot on the money with this post, in my experience WordPress is great for simple sites, but you once you want to do something slightly different you’re into the world of plugins which can be hit and miss in my experience.
Drupal is a great system for complex sites as it more or less does anything, the steep learning curve for developers is definately an issue, but find customers pick it up really quickly.
Joomla is a terrible platform which mainly stems from the Mambo days and a lot of the developer community will not acknowledge this, I actively encourage any new clients to move away from Joomla as the admin side it not user friendly.
I cannot comment of ExpressionEngine as I’ve not used it either.
Hi Colin
I fully agree with you. I’ve been really lucky with the plugins I’ve used. The only thing I really struggled with was the menu system in WordPress.
Thanks for making a clean and simple comparison. It can be confusing to newbies and you hit the essential points without getting into a lot of details. I build sites with wordpress because it is the easiest platform for my clients to learn how to run their own sites, and the quantity of plugins allows you to so most anything.
So glad you’ll find it helpful Joe. I know I sure found the world of CMS stressful when I first started. Cheers and thanks for the visit!
I must agree with most of the thing’s for this post. It was a tad funny, but I just posted a post on my blog about CMS. I have played around with and installed several of these systems mentioned above. Primarily Joomla and WP. Joomla’s dashboard is a little confusing at first as stated. After spending some time inside of the Joomla dashboard, it started to get much easier. As far as plugins go, WP has the best overall options. Thought Drupal was to unorganized but the frame work was solid.
Another option not mentioned above is CMS Light for another option if you do not like Joomla, Drupal or WP. I believe WP is the easiest and foremost simplest to install, maintain and find help articles.
Excellent feedback. Thank you and CMS Light is a great suggestion. I haven’t had a chance to play with this one, but it certainly looks promising.
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