The Big 3: Tips For Choosing A Content Management System For Your Website

Posted on: 26 September 2018

Choosing a content management system (CMS) for your website is one of the biggest decisions you will make. Not only can each CMS affect how easy or expensive it is to manage a website, it may also factor in to your design options.

Affordability

Your budget will heavily dictate the CMS you choose. WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal are all free options, but the expense can become a concern when you consider hosting and who will manage your website. WordPress is a popular option for people who have limited storage and bandwidth on their hosting plan. If you want a more robust CMS, you likely want unlimited storage and bandwidth, just to be sure your hosting plan is capable of handling your CMS and all the features you add to your website. Additionally, since both Joomla and Drupal can be more complex to use, a novice will find they need a professional to manage their website, which can add to the overall expense.

Features

WordPress is frequently prized for the availability of free features, from templates to plug-ins, which maximizes what you can add to your website without complex coding knowledge. As your web design concepts become more complex, free features no longer matter because you need a professional web designer to turn your ideas into a website. Although Joomla and Drupal may not have as many features out-of-the-box, both CMSs tend to work well for complex designs that will be coded by a professional designer. Some complex additions you might want can include intensive graphics or programs uniquely coded for your website. If you want a CMS that can grow with you as your needs change, you may find Drupal can handle it all regardless of how large your website grows in the future.

Security

Security is a major concern with websites, especially ones that contain or process sensitive information, such as credit/debit transactions. Although every CMS can be hacked, some are more prone to security breeches than others. Since WordPress is one of the more popular CMSs, it is also the one most vulnerable to attacks. If security is your primary concern, it is better to use a CMS that less prone to attacks. Drupal is considered the most secure of the three main options. Regardless of the CMS you want, your final decision might rest on how easy it is to integrate common payment processors into your website. Ideally, you want a CMS that works well with third-party payment processors, so your business and customers have an extra layer of security when dealing with financial information.

When you have a website, the design is the fun part, but the underlying CMS can make or break your design. By choosing the right CMS for your needs, you can have a website with limitless features. Contact a company like Megastream to learn more.

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