Which CMS should you use for your website?

CMS stands for Content Management System. WordPress powers more than 51% of the worlds entire internet especially the backbone on which the internet is built upon.

If you are looking for developers, WordPress is going to offer most of the resources than anything else. Most significant amount over the competitors like Joomla.  A lot of the developers find it easy to extend and customizable than any of the tools out there so it’s just more common. Thus you can have an easier time working with it than anything else.  This also means that WordPress is the most targeted by hackers in the vulnerabilities because it’s most used. So we find most vulnerabilities which are mostly caused by Plugins which are outdated than fixed to the current security standards. So, keep that in mind when you are working within WordPress and for the lot of users who adds plugins constantly to their sites WordPress can end up what we called “WordPress Bloat”.

WordPress Bloat means the more code you have that’s unnecessary, the slower your site will be. In WordPress when you use a lot of Plugins for the site results in a lot of unnecessary load ex. a theme which you purchased and comes with plugins and a lot of unnecessary codes and you are not using it for your particular business, you will have a slower site. The Bloat, vulnerabilities, these are the same problems you will encounter with any CMS.

So, before you say which CMS should I use? or Do we need a CMS?

The solution is a static site which comes with HTML, CSS, JS. So there is not going to be any backend, no admin panel, no dashboard or user interface where you can edit the content within your website. Because you have to actually work within the programming language or code area.

So, Why choose a static site? For the following reasons:

• Faster to load, Faster to build, Less Expensive, Don’t have to hire a backend developer.
• Little to no maintenance
• There is no plugin to be hacked.
• No learning curve in how to use the CMS when to choose a static website?
• If you are not updating your website with new content weekly such as Blog or e-commerce etc.
• If your business has a simple call us, input your contact info etc.
• If you are publishing static information about your company no need for dynamic interactions.

So it will be best option to have a simple static site with dedicated servers with SSL and encrypted HTTPS.

Then it will be a pretty good option for most of the businesses.

One may ask when to choose a CMS?

When you will be updating content on the site regularly. If you are going to be selling products and require e-commerce functionality.

There are some options for CMS –

Like Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, WordPress, Drupal.

Sometimes you may require hosted solutions like Squarespace, Wix, Weebly etc.

So when do you need a hosted solution? The answer is: – If your site is Portfolio site

• If you don’t require custom functionality
• If you don’t want to deal with hosting, server administration
• If you have a good option for individuals, non-business uses.

Similarly, you may want to know when to choose Open Source solutions?

• When you will be requiring custom functionality
• When you want to control and want flexibility
• When you have a budget for developers.

Let’s See each of these CMS’s in brief:

WordPress:

For many of your needs, WordPress will be the most accommodating, flexible, customizable and plenty or good WordPress developers. Easily find developers if there is anything that you need to add on to your site. They have many plugins, themes available out there. So if you want to have a low-cost solution then WordPress can be easily used in such a way.

Drupal:

Drupal is an Enterprise level solution. There are going to be a fewer developer. Harder to find developers and much more expensive. You need to choose Drupal if it is absolutely necessary for larger clients. Don’t want to be on WordPress, there is a bit of security issue. If you have an enterprise level need then Drupal will be a good choice. Because there is a target which can be targeted.

Squarespace:

The good hosted solution for small businesses looking to DIY. Squarespace has an excellent selection for templates to chose from, So you can plug and play. Your content into a predefined theme.

Wix and Weebly:

Good choice for individuals looking to showcase work in a portfolio. However, if you are running a business, consider that using Wix or Weebly comes across as unprofessional. This may be unfair to Wix and Weebly as they have worked hard to improve their product offering, but you can’t beat public perception.

Summary

• WordPress: Most versatile backend CMS
• Drupal: Enterprise only
• Squarespace: Good hosted solution for small businesses looking for DIY
• Wix and Weebly: Best for individuals and personal projects.