Joomla and Drupal suck… a guide to website CMS

So you’re about to start building your website, but it’s good before you head out that you do some planning and research for exactly how you want tos et it up. Of course there’s the standard thought process of the colors you would like to use and the site map. But one thing that many small businesses don’t consider is choosing their CMS platform.

CMS stands for content management system and it basically absolves your web developer of the ability to charge you a pretty penny every time you need some changes made. CMS puts the power to make website changes in your hands in a simple interface that’s as easy as updating your status on Facebook.

Web developers were happy when customers wanted CMS platforms, after all, why not design a CMS platform for a client for $10,000 then charge an extra $5,000 for design? Only problem was soon free CMS platforms were launching such as WordPress, Drupal and Joomla which basically allowed you to have a ready made CMS platform ready for $0.

So then web developers said “Ok, that’s fine. We’ll just design platform specific website layouts and differentiate ourselves.”

Soon however these platforms had a huge developer database with hundreds of ready made templates, some starting at $50.

Ah, the life of a web developer.

Anyway, the point I”m trying to make is that as a consumer you are in a good space. Pick a good CMS platform and choose the right developer and you could have a beautiful looking website that looks like a million bucks for under $1,500.

So let’s talk about what I wanted to mention – the CMS platform war.

You know how some people are into iPhones and some into their Samsung phones? The whole argument is pretty lame but there’s actually a lamer argument out there.

Joomla vs. WordPress vs. Drupal. Basically imagine a bunch of developers sitting around arguing about which CMS platform is the best. The reason I say this argument is sad is that IT REALLY DOESN’T MATTER. As long as you pick a fairly popular CMS platform your website will be fine.

Pick a phone and don’t talk to me about why you picked it lol.

However I just wanted to point out that WordPress is the best =)

Here are the facts:

#1 WordPress is the most popular

#2 WordPress has the most extensions

#3 WordPress hosts some of the largest sites on the internet – Rolling Stones, Paris Hilton’s site, McAfee, Nokia. Honestly if it’s good enough for these companies it’s probably good enough for your business.

Now, some people like Joomla and Drupal and that’s fine. At the end of the day it’s no big deal, they all get the job done but here’s a couple of poins to selecting the best CMS Platform for YOU:

What does your developer use?

If you have a developer that currently manages your website who you have a good relationship with. Ask them what they use. As long as it’s not some CMS platform that no one has heard of go with them. They’ll be able to install it for you and make it look good and can support you if you run into any problems.

Do you have experience?

If you’ve used a CMS platform in a previous job or website use that. Trust me there’s no reason for you to invest hours of time learning WordPress if you are all ready familiar with Joomla. Waste of time.

So at the end of the day it’s up to you what CMS platform you use but I think this screenshot sums it up:

That blue line you see winning is WordPress.

The brown line at the bottom that never had a chance is Drupal.

The red line is Joomla, you’ll notice that at one point it was beginning to catch up in popularity but eventually people stopped caring. You have to ask yourself why.

Look I’ve used Joomla a couple of times (one of my client’s websites was made in Joomla) and I have nothing against it, I really don’t care which CMS platform my clients choose however at the end of the day WordPress is the most popular. And you have to remember it’s not just about getting “what’s hot”, a larger user base means more extensions, a larger pool of WordPress developers (meaning better pricing – supply and demand you know how it goes), a larger plugin/extension directory etc.

WordPress… WINS.

P.S. When I say WordPress I’m not talking about WordPress.com which hosts your website for you, I’m talking about WordPress.org, which gives you the entire WordPress platform that you can download and throw straight on to your server.