When it comes to managing your website, choosing the right CMS is extremely important. There are numerous content management services available and each of them come with their own benefits and disadvantages. With this being said, there are 2 CMS platforms that really stand out and can be compared directly, Joomla and WordPress.
Each of these platforms are well known for offering extensive customization opportunities, ease of use, as well as communities that are very active. While both Joomla and WordPress have their list of pros and cons, each of these platforms can be used to build a modern site with extensive features. The question is, how do you choose the best one for your needs?
Let’s compare both of these platforms to determine which of these open source CMS’ is right for your next development project.
WordPress Vs Joomla
The first thing that should be noted before the comparison of these two platforms begins, is that both Joomla and WordPress are not stand-alone software pieces, nor are they SaaS subscriptions that are hosted for you.
This means that these platforms will only work when they are installed on web server, which may come from a 3rd party. Now let’s look at how each of the platforms compares in four different areas.
1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
The first comparison of the two platforms is based on the SEO of each. In this category, Joomla has seems to have a slight edge as the platform allows users to set up meta descriptions as well as keywords for any new articles that are written, and it does this out-of-the-box while WordPress does not.
WordPress – SEO through plugins
However, even with this option available on Joomla, the SEO capabilities of both platforms is not really apparent until you look closely at the extensions and plugins that are available. WordPress offers the popular Yoast plugin for SEO. This plugin is very powerful, has a ton of features, and perhaps the best thing of all is that anyone can learn to use it within just a few minutes.
Yoast will categorize your SEO score within different areas by using a traffic light system. The plugin will also tell you how you can improve your score in each of the areas and will also rate the readability of your posts.
Joomla boasts the same
The best equivalent plugin available on Joomla is EFSEO. This plugin allows you to do many of the same things, including editing your meta description your sites front end and includes an automatic mode for gathering data without any input.
While EFSEO is pretty handy, it really is not a match for Yoast and because of this, when it comes to SEO, WordPress is the winner.
2. Security
Security is extremely important when it comes to your website, so which of these two platforms offers the best security?
Wordfence, iThemes Security, and dozens more plugins
WordPress is very popular and because of this has a large target in terms of vulnerability. Since there are thousands of plugins available on the platform it can be difficult to ensure that each one is secure. In addition, WordPress does not offer a SSL connection from the dashboard and the majority of the security features rely on plugins entirely.
Joomla, provides an option to force SSL connections as well as 2FA. Additionally, Joomla offers its own security extensions and the developers have a list of extensions that are known for being vulnerable.
As far as security is concerned, Joomla is the better option.
3. Potential Customization
When it comes to plugins and extensions, both platforms have a large offering. However, when looking closely at some of the top plugins available on each of the CMS platforms, WordPress has the edge as far as sheer number as well as the number of “polished” plug ins available. WordPress has both free and paid customization options, as well as some very widely known plugins like WooCommerce for eCommerce stores.
It is also easier to find themes on WordPress that provide a better experience than most of the templates available on Joomla.
4. Content Management
Both Joomla and WordPress are very complex content management systems that allow the you to create as well as manage almost every type of website that there is. While WordPress is sometimes associated with being a platform for mainly blogs, it can also be used for great landing pages as well as sites that are a bit more complex.
Joomla is technical but feature-rich
Joomla is well known for being complex. When building a site on Joomla it can evolve into almost anything that is desired. However, trying to learn the system can be difficult for many, especially those that do not have much experience when it comes to web development.
WordPress is beginner-friendly
While the two platforms are fairly equal in terms of their potential, WordPress is much easier for users when it comes to managing their content. Just about anyone will be able to install the CMS platform and learn quickly how to create pages, posts, and custom post types. Joomla is not as forgiving in this area.
For this reason, the final round goes to WordPress, which means that overall WordPress is the best CMS choice.
Conclusion
When it comes to this particular comparison it is important to note that Joomla is a bit more flexible in some areas than WordPress as the system is extremely customizable allowing you to create a ton of customizations without needing plugins. It also has social networking capability out-of-the-box.
However, when conducting a comparison there can really only be a single winner and overall WordPress is the stronger choice thanks to its huge development community.
WordPress has the simplicity and features
WordPress is better when it comes to customization through plugins, SEO, as well as content management. In addition, WordPress is just much easier for new users to navigate. The popularity of the platform just adds to the pros as it provides users with a great support system overall.
When it comes down to it, both of these platforms are the best of the best, so there really is not a wrong choice in the matter. Additionally, no matter which platform you choose, it is easy to have them installed on an affordable host.
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