In this digital age, creating a successful online business requires you to invest in a reliable content management system (CMS) that can effectively support your website’s needs. WordPress and Joomla are two well-known platforms in the industry, although we have to admit to being biased towards the former.
Both are trusted CMS’s which allow you to manage your website without needing to be an expert at coding. However, when taking a closer look, it is clear that WordPress is the crowd favorite. As of now, it controls nearly 60% of the CMS market and powers close to 30% of all websites.
If you want to know why most website owners prefer WordPress over Joomla, then read on as we compare these two popular platforms.
SEO
WordPress is known for its user-friendly interface and effortless manageability. It also offers the same simplistic approach when it comes to SEO implementation.
Whether you are a seasoned web developer or creating your first website, the variety of WordPress plugins available make advanced SEO a breeze.
Plugins like Yoast give clear indicators of the status of various metrics which search engines asses to rank a website and its content.
That being said, there are similar plugins that do the same job on Joomla too. The platform enables the addition of meta descriptions, keywords, title tags, meta tags and offers basic SEO-optimization functionality.
However, they are a little more complicated and not as easy to implement as plug-ins on WordPress.
Customization
When it comes to customizing your website, both WordPress and Joomla make use of different add-ons such as plugins, extensions, themes, templates, components and modules to give it the look and functionality it needs.
WordPress has over 54,000 plugins available compared to Joomla’s 8,000 extensions. Both plugins and extensions can add additional functionality that caters to your website’s specific purpose.
To change the appearance or style of your website, WordPress offers over 5,000 unique themes. However, the amount of appearance-altering templates provided by Joomla is unknown since this platform does not have a template library.
In essence, Joomla and WordPress are both extremely customizable and flexible when it comes to website design and functionality. WordPress has an extensive free library of all the plugins and themes you could need, while Joomla does not have a template library, and their directory of components, modules and plugins are largely paid extensions.
Content Management
WordPress is known for its amazing ability to create and manage blogs posts extremely well. However, managing media files, creating landing pages and building other complex content sites with this CMS is also relatively easy.
The intuitive process of creating content using WordPress makes it ideal for marketing managers and website novices alike. Its visual editor provides drag and drop functionality and allows you to effortlessly create, edit and format your content.
In contrast, Joomla is an excellent choice for more intricate and complex documentation. This CMS can also be used for blogging but because the learning curve is elevated without previous web development experience, most newcomers opt for WordPress instead.
Ease of Use
WordPress is easy to install and will enable you to set up your website in record time. The user-friendly interface gives one an encouraging nudge to intuitively discover exactly how this CMS works.
Moreover, the available plugins and themes enable website customization without any previous coding experience. If you have a newer WordPress version you can now also make safe, code-free theme changes through the WordPress Customizer.
In addition to the user-friendliness of the CMS, there is also ample support available online in the form of support forums, handbooks, and guides.
Similar to WordPress, Joomla also makes use of an auto-installer. However, after installation, you will first have to create page and content categories before you can churn out content. This CMS also offers a lot more options on its admin control panel which may feel a bit overwhelming to newcomers.
Cost of Development
WordPress and Joomla are both open source and free to install. They both also offer a multitude of functionality free of charge which means that the majority of your costs will go towards hosting and web design.
Creating and developing a website on WordPress can cost anything from $100 or more, based on how much you are willing to spend. However, website creation for Joomla websites may be a bit more expensive due to their web design and maintenance needs. Ultimately, WordPress is the more economical choice when just starting out.
If you want to begin the process of migrating your website from Joomla to WordPress, WordHerd can work with you to safely and securely migrate any CMS to WordPress without compromising your data. By trusting us with your website, we can help you choose a CMS that will truly compliment the unique needs of your online business.