The WordPress brand has become synonymous with the word “website”. It’s undoubtedly the most popular Content Management System (CMS) in the world. As of 2022, WordPress controls 64.1% of the CMS market and is used by 43.2% of websites on the Internet.
Essentially, WordPress has left its competitors eating its dust. Shopify is a distant second with a market share of 6.4% and usage of 4.3%.
Given the statistics, why this article? Why should you consider other brands of CMS when WordPress is clearly the market leader?
Let’s make an analogy using a popular consumer item – shoes.
Nike Air Jordan 1 is the best-selling sneaker of all time – but it doesn’t mean that it’s for everyone. As a basketball shoe, you can’t get value out of it if you’re a long-distance runner.
Shoe collectors and those who are in the market for athleisure would find more value in the Air Jordan 1.
The same can be said about choosing a CMS for you. There are several brands of CMS in the market and many of them were designed for a specific purpose. Likewise, they have their set of advantages and disadvantages.
In this article, we’ll discuss what a CMS is and how WordPress compares to the other CMS brands in the market.
What Is A CMS?
A Content Management System or CMS is a software program that allows users without coding knowledge to build and manage their own websites.
Instead of coding, you can design the look and set up the functionality of your website by downloading templates and incorporating plug-ins that provide different features.
CMS is designed to be user-friendly. The interface makes it easy for the user to navigate through the program, add features, effect changes, and carry out improvements as he goes through the design process.
A CMS consists of 2 applications:
- Content Management Application (CMA)
- Content Delivery Application (CDA)
If you want to write and publish a blog, you go to the Admin Panel and click on the appropriate key to write a new blog. On that page, you type in the content, add images, and other details needed to complete your blog post.
Once you’ve reviewed the blog and are happy with it, all you have to do is click “Publish” to make your content visible and accessible to site visitors.
The CMA handles all of the technical actions and changes that you made to create your blog. The CDA takes all of the information you included in the CMA, makes a code for it, and publishes it for your site users to see when you hit the “Publish” button.
CMS Vs. Website Builder: Is There A Difference?
You might have come across some web design articles that interchangeably describe CMS platforms as website builders.
Allow us to clear up the confusion…
CMS programs fall under 2 categories:
- CMS Platforms
- Website Builders
Both types of CMS will let you create a website even if you don’t have coding experience because you have access to tools and templates that were designed by professional programmers. The difference lies in how each CMS type enables you to manage the website.
With a Website Builder, you can set up a website faster. The tasks for site maintenance, security, and frequent backups are done by your web host service provider.
The trade-off for speed and convenience is the lack of flexibility in customizing the design and functionality of your website.
This is where a CMS Platform has the advantage. Yes, the trade-off with opting for a CMS Platform is that it will take a bit more time to build the website but you have more options available to customize its design and performance.
Businesses that want a website to function more like a showroom or a portfolio such as car sellers, photographers, artists, and restaurants might prefer a Website Builder.
But if you have plans to grow the content of your website as your business grows in terms of profitability, number of followers, and customers, a CMS Platform would be ideal for you.
What Are The Criteria For Choosing A CMS?
Using a CMS is an excellent way for hard working entrepreneurs – some of whom don’t have coding experience – to have their own websites.
But how do you choose the suitable CMS for your business?
Here’s a simple, 5-point criterion to help you choose the right CMS for your business.
1. Ease of Use and Convenience
You might be surprised to find out that someone in your team remains intimidated by a microwave.
When you’ve entrusted specific tasks to team members, you don’t want to take chances one or two constantly find themselves challenged with navigating through the CMS.
Look for a CMS with easy-to-use features and an interface that allows your team members to accurately follow workflows and procedures.
2. Degree of Customization
Generally, the more options available to customize your website the better. But you might not need some of these options right now.
Sit down with your web designer and take a look at the feature.
Considering your long-term goals for your business and the current trends in the industry, what possible features can you incorporate in your future in the next few years?
3. Layers of Security
You can’t go wrong with having a website with more layers of security. Everything that’s uploaded on your website is an asset. You want to protect them from being stolen by cyber-criminals.
Site users prefer to patronize websites that offer multiple layers of security. Consumers are aware of the constant threat posed by hackers. The last thing your customers want is to have their personal information stolen and used for illegal activities.
A good rule of thumb to follow is to choose the CMS program that offers the best security features. You should only focus on running the day-to-day tasks of your business and not have to worry about the safety of your assets and customers.
4. Price
Price is an important consideration not only if you’re on a tight budget but to manage your expenses efficiently.
The most expensive product isn’t always the best. It’s likely that the pricier CMS platforms have features that other brands don’t have. If you don’t need these features, then you can opt for a lower-priced CMS that can build a website that’s ideal for your type of business.
5. Market Share
When it comes to market share, WordPress is the unquestioned king of the industry. But if there’s another brand of CMS that’s better suited to build the website you have in mind, find out who the other end-users are.
Visit their websites and assess your experience with them. It’s a big plus if the list of end-users for this particular brand of CMS includes successful companies in your industry.
Why Is WordPress The Number One CMS In The Market?
WordPress is a CMS platform that uses open-source software. This means that the developer of the software program allows the user to modify and share publicly for any purpose.
Here are 5 advantages of using open-source software:
- Support processes of organizations that subscribe to agile and flexible management policies;
- Faster resolution of tech issues that need troubleshooting;
- Reduce the cost of startup operations;
- A high degree of accessibility from the IT community helps address security issues immediately;
- An easier way to manage licenses.
WordPress was first launched as a blogging platform. But because it runs on open-source software, it quickly evolved from a blogging platform to a program that can build and manage websites with different functions.
To accommodate the evolution of WordPress as a software solution, developers created thousands of plugins and template designs that can be used to improve the performance and look of the website.
Let’s apply our 5-point criteria to find out why WordPress continues to be the number one CMS platform in the market.
- Ease of Use and Convenience – Highly-intuitive interface that beginners or those without coding knowledge can easily add blog posts, implement changes in web design, and incorporate new plugins.
- Degree of Customization – With over 57,000 plugins and 31,000 template designs to choose from, are highly customizable.
- Layers of Security – WordPress has a built-in feature that informs the user of the plugins that need updating. Outdated and hardly-used plugins can be converted into entry points by hackers.
- Price – WordPress is free to download but there is a one-time fee of US$200. There are plugins and templates that won’t cost you a cent. However, plugins and templates that offer more features will carry a cost.
- Market Share – Too many to mention! But we’ll drop a few names – Sony Music, CNN Press Room, Time Magazine, Microsoft, META, Etsy, TED, The Rolling Stone, Vogue, BBC America, The Walt Disney Company, and The New York Post.
As far as maintenance is concerned, it won’t cost you much to take care of your WordPress website. And given the threat of cyber-attacks on a daily basis, the cost is worth it.
Check out our Extreme WordPress Care Packages. They’re affordable and cover all the important areas of WordPress security and protection such as daily backups, plugin updates, and daily monitoring of security and uptime.
What Are The Other CMS Brands In The Market?
Now that you know why WordPress is number one, let’s find out who the other top players are in the market, what their key features are, and if one of them is better suited for your business.
1. Shopify
Shopify is a website builder that’s popularly used by small businesses to set up e-commerce websites or online platforms that allow them to sell their products on social media networks and third-party marketplaces on the Internet.
- Ease of Use and Convenience – Users of Shopify describe their experience with the CMS as easy as WordPress. It has built-in tools that anyone attempting to build a first-ever website won’t have problems using.
These tools can be used to set up payment processing systems, post product reviews, manage inventory, and even provide lending services to customers. - Degree of Customization – You have more than 70 store themes to choose from plus features that allow you to customize font styles, graphics, colors, and images.
Shopify also lets you add a “Buy” button that links your e-commerce store to your social media pages and accounts at third-party marketplaces. - Layers of Security – All e-commerce stores that are built with Shopify are automatically PCI compliant.
PCI is the shortened acronym for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard that was developed by the PCI Council. All credit card companies are required to be PCI Compliant.
The purpose of creating the standard is to eliminate credit card fraud and protect the personal information of credit card holders from getting stolen. - Price – Shopify offers payment plans that can meet your budget. The Basic Plan is at US$29 per month and includes SSL certificates, web hosting services, and a Shopify domain.
For US$79, you get additional features such as report generation and gift cards. The third plan is called “Advanced Shopify”, which costs US$299 and gives you more seats, discounts on payment processing fees, and site analytics. - Market Share – Among the companies that use Shopify are Sephora, Kylie Cosmetics, Gymshark, MVMT, Fitbit, Red Bull, and Lindt.
2. Drupal
Drupal is also an open-source CMS platform popular among digital marketers, ad agencies, and software developers. Aside from being easy to use, Drupal allows anyone with a basic knowledge of web design to build a site that can handle a high volume of traffic and manage a large amount of data.
- Ease of Use and Convenience – Unlike the previous CMS Platforms that were discussed, you’ll appreciate the value of Drupal more if you have knowledge of languages such as CSS, PHP, and HTML.
Compared to WordPress, a Drupal-powered website will need more time to develop. - Degree of Customization – Similar to WordPress, Drupal also has an impressive list of close to 50,000 themes and add-ons for you to choose from.
Again, having a programming background will help you maximize the value of the extra features. - Layers of Security – Instead of providing automatic updates on the latest programs and templates, Drupal harnesses the power of its community by having 40 members oversee the CMS platform’s security protocols.
The obvious risk is that oversights can easily create openings for hackers to infiltrate the software.
However, according to a study by the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures System, websites that use Drupal have the lowest number of hacking incidents. Yes, even lower than WordPress. - Price – Considering that Drupal is best appreciated by those with some coding experience, you can expect that the more complex development of this CMS Platform will lead to a more expensive website design.
The estimated cost of developing a Drupal website can range anywhere from US$12,000 to US$45,000.
If you’re going with Drupal, we recommend outsourcing the task to a professional web design agency. - Market Share – Tesla, Nokia, McDonald’s-Australia, Taboola, Warner Records, Promet Source, OpenSense Labs, and Charles Schwab are among the companies that have Drupal websites.
3. Joomla
Joomla is another open-source CMS Platform that is used to create websites for e-commerce, community forums, and photo galleries.
Like Drupal, having basic coding knowledge is a big plus. However, the interface of Joomla is often compared with WordPress with regard to user-friendliness.
- Ease of Use and Convenience – Joomla offers more features than most open-source CMS platforms. For example, you have the ability to create pages for different languages.
Another advantage is that Joomla allows you to customize posts with its wide variety of add-ons and templates. Lastly, Joomla enables you to apply changes to your site’s menus, edit articles, and modify SEO.
Unfortunately, these changes can only be done on the backend of your website which might be difficult for first-time users without basic programming knowledge. - Degree of Customization – Although not as impressive as WordPress or Drupal, Joomla has an extensive library of add-ons to choose from. Currently, there are 6,000 add-ons and templates that are available for users.
- Layers of Security – When it comes to program security, Joomla combines the protocols of WordPress and Drupal. There are scheduled automatic updates and Joomla has a 13-member team that oversees the safety and security of the software.
The problem with this two-pronged approach is that the automatic updates are scheduled which means lapses leave openings for hackers to attack.
Compared to WordPress and Drupal, Joomla websites had the highest number of identified vulnerabilities. - Price – The cost of having a Joomla website resides somewhere between the cost of a WordPress and Drupal website. The estimated cost of developing a Joomla website ranges from US$700 to US$7,000.
- Market Share – Harvard University, the University of Notre Dame, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Holiday Inn, The Hill, Ariel Investments, and Nintendo Nordic are a few of the businesses that have placed their trust in Joomla.
Conclusion: Which One Is For You?
Because of its vast availability of resources, it’s hard to go wrong with WordPress. The CMS Platform has grown from a software program for bloggers to one that can manage the needs of a diverse selection of businesses.
Shopify is an excellent CMS that has won the trust of users and consumers but you can also design an effective e-commerce site with WordPress.
WordPress is, hands-down, the easiest CMS to use. Unlike Drupal and Joomla, you don’t need coding experience to enjoy the key features of a WordPress website.
It’s also budget-friendly with thousands of free templates to choose from and add-ons to upgrade your site’s functionality. The extensions and templates that require payment are affordable and won’t sink your budget.
But if your business requires more technical resources and you have deeper pockets, Joomla and Drupal might have the features you’re looking for.
In any case, if you’re in the market for a website for your business, give us a call or drop us an email and we’ll get you started.
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