Finding the Best CMS for Your Small Business

Content management shouldn’t be difficult — There are platforms on the market that are powerful, but can make your life as a business owner and content creator much more challenging. If you’re ready to create your new website and you’re looking into the best CMS for your small business, then your three best options are Joomla, Drupal and WordPress. They’re all secure, customizable, relatively easy to use and open-source — but are they all equal?

Ease of Use

WordPress wins easily here as it was designed for non-programmers, and for most websites it offers all the power that you’ll need. Joomla is still relatively good for beginners, yet it does require light technical skills to take full advantage of the platform. Drupal is the most challenging platform to learn, with the most successful users having a solid grasp of HTML, CSS and even PHP.

Flexibility / Upgrade ability

Each platform provides you with a robust user network that includes both free and paid plug-ins. WordPress and Drupal win here: with close to 50,000 free plugins each while Joomla lags behind with less than 10,000 free plug-ins. WordPress wins again, with nearly double the free themes offered by runner-up Drupal.

Support Options

While all three CMS platforms have extensive user communities, it’s fairly obvious that Drupal and Joomla communities are meant for a) techies or b) those looking for ways to reach appropriate techies. WordPress, however, offers non-condescending and truly helpful video tutorials and step-by-step walkthroughs of common tasks. Even more attractive, finding a qualified WordPress developer is an easy task due to the size of the install base of the platform.

Security

With all the malware floating around on any given day, security is a huge issue for businesses today. It stands to reason that with the massive install base of WordPress, hackers would be drooling to take a swipe at it. Fortunately, while WordPress-based websites are targeted, the codebase is very secure and includes an auto-update mechanism for patches to keep things safe. The Joomla community is also very active, responding quickly to any threats and pushing updates. Drupal follows strict security protocols as well. The good news is that any direction you go, as long as you’re properly backing up your site and accepting automated security updates you’re in good shape.

While all three platforms offer benefits for specific types of users, WordPress is the overall winner for ease of use, flexibility, support options and a strong three-way tie with Joomla and Drupal for security.