The Best CMS Platforms in 2020

The Best CMS Platforms in 2020

Looking to build your own website?

Are you on a tight budget?

A Content Management System (CMS) might just be what you’re looking for. With new technology, better UI, and easy-to-understand functions, building a website has never been easier than it is today.

Where previously you needed a team of developers to even create the simplest of webpages, you can now build user-friendly, complex websites from your own laptop.

But finding the right platform to build your website could be quite confusing, especially with so many options available.

To help you out, we’ve set up this quick guide detailing what CMS platforms are and all the best CMS platforms currently available on the internet.

Let’s dive in.

A Low-Down on Content Management Systems

A CMS platform is an integrated software that allows a layperson to build a full-fledged, professional website without needing any prior coding knowledge. You don't need to understand any of the background work that goes into a website; the best CMS platforms allow you to choose from sleek templates and make design customizations as you please.

A typical webpage is written in CSS, JavaScript, and HTML coding languages. However, a CMS platform bypasses this step and integrates it into the application’s functions. You don’t need to touch any code when creating your website— unless you want to.

Now that you know what a CMS platform is, let's take a look at some of the best CMS platforms around.

1.   WordPress

Unless you're living under a rock, you've probably heard about WordPress. This is by far the largest and most popular CMS platform on this list, and it's no surprise.

First conceptualized as a blogging platform, WordPress has been the pioneer of CMS innovations. It's easy to use User Interface, and unlimited choice of themes and plugin customizations put it way ahead of the competition as an all-purpose CMS.

Fun Fact: WordPress powers around 35% of all websites on the internet right now.

Also, don’t get confused between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. While they’re from the same company, they serve different purposes. WordPress.com is a blog hosting platform and won’t build any websites for you. For that, you’ll need to go to WordPress.org— the CMS platform.

Pros of Using WordPress

·         It’s an all-purpose CMS platform where you have the freedom to customize sites for any use. For example, you could build a social networking website, an online store, or a membership site for your customers.

·         It’s extremely user-friendly. You don’t need any coding knowledge to use WordPress.

·         You have thousands of themes, plugins, and tools to choose from. The customizability you get with WordPress is unmatched. Plugins and themes can be free or paid.

·         WordPress is great for SEO. It has a lot of helpful tools and plugins designed to improve your website’s SEO, and you can easily create tags, categories, and URLs for your posts.

·         It's an open-source CMS, meaning that there is a big and helpful online community of users and developers ready to support you.

Cons of Using WordPress

·         WordPress does not manage website backups or security. You’ll have to find a way to manage that on your own.

·         You will also need to buy and set up your own hosting and domain name.

·         All the options can sometimes be overwhelming.

2.   Joomla

Joomla usage is on a bit of a decline, but don’t be fooled. It is still one of the best CMS platforms around and still runs around 2.5 million sites.

Joomla is a more sophisticated version of WordPress that is built around a series of modules and components with advanced user management options. It's free and open-source, just like WordPress. The most common use of Joomla is to create a customized social network experience.

It’s more appropriate for more experienced website builders and developers— beginners should probably steer clear.

Pros of Using Joomla

·         There is a lot of community support available to Joomla users.

·         It’s perfect for complex and detailed websites because of the flexibility and options available.

·         It can still be used without ever having to touch code.

·         Joomla is great for running e-commerce stores.

Cons of Using Joomla

·         It’s pretty complex and not usually something a beginner can handle.

·         You may face some compatibility issues if you use a lot of modules and extensions.

·         You don’t have a lot of opportunities to add additional extensions. You won’t find the same breadth of plugins and themes available on WordPress.

3.   Drupal

If you’ve ever been part of a discussion regarding the best CMS platforms, you’ve probably heard the name Drupal once or twice. It’s quite similar to Joomla in the way it works. You get similar flexibility when dealing with custom posts and can operate with multilingual sites without any additional downloads.

Drupal is best for building complex sites for enterprises and businesses. It can easily handle heavy content and customization.

Fun fact: The website of The BBC and The Economist were built using Drupal.

Drupal has a detailed taxonomy system that you usually don’t find with other CMS software.

Pros of Using Drupal

·         Offers some of the best security around for your website. You don’t get this in Joomla or WordPress.

·         You have advanced user management and permission settings.

·         Community support for Drupal is also excellent.

·         Lots of module options.

Cons of Using Drupal

·         You will probably need an experienced developer to work on Drupal because it’s pretty complicated.

·         Themes can often be very expensive.

Conclusion

If you don’t like the three best CMS platforms in this article, here are some more you can check out:

·         Weebly

·         SquareSpace

·         TYPO3

·         Magnolia

·         Magento

Ultimately, the CMS software you choose to use will depend on your level of coding experience, the complexity of the website, budget, and customizability requirements. The best three options mentioned in this article should meet the needs of most people.