Are you looking for the Best CMS for Websites?
More than 64 million active websites use Content Management Systems (CMS) at the moment. Users don’t need to write website code from scratch to develop websites or manage their content when using a CMS. However, choosing the incorrect CMS platform while building a website would only make things more challenging.
There are currently between 1000 and 2000 content management systems in use, and the number is rising. The decision must take into account the purpose and breadth of the website because each has a distinct target market and offers a variety of features.
What is CMS?
A content management system, or CMS for short, is software that enables non-technical individuals to easily generate, manage, and alter content for websites.
Programming languages like HTML, JavaScript, and CSS are typically used to create web pages. You would need to master these languages and write a lot of code if you wanted to construct a website without using a CMS platform.
How does a CMS Work?
You must first comprehend what it’s like to develop a website from scratch in order to understand how a CMS functions. To add text, graphics, navigation bars, and other website building pieces, you would start with HTML. In order to design those elements to reflect the distinctive look and feel of your brand, you would then use CSS.
With a content management system like WordPress, you can just write your content in an interface that looks a good bit like Microsoft Word. instead of writing out HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, be able to bold words, create links and CTAs, and include pictures and tables by dragging and dropping few modules or clicking a few buttons.
Simply go to the relevant section in your admin panel to make further changes to your website, such as modifying the adding extensions. This illustrates how the CMA works: all of these modifications are done in a user-friendly interface while concealing the code from you, the end user.
A CMS is made of two parts:
- A content management application (CMA): enables you to really manage and contribute content to your website.
- A content delivery application (CDA): makes the content you enter in the CMA available to your visitors after appropriately storing it.
After you’re through making changes, the CDA will take the information you provided into the CMA, put the code together, show it to your front-end visitors, and then save it. This implies that, rather than manually uploading a page to your server to publish a new blog post, you simply click the Publish button.
Why Use a CMS?
Little to No Coding is Required
CMS systems have revolutionized web design by allowing non-developers and other users to create websites without coding. The days of relying on web designers and developers to create an online presence for your company are long gone.
Without coding, you can build and manage content, change the look and feel of your website, and install extensions to give it more features. Most platforms do allow you to add custom code for more precise control over your site, it’s vital to know.
A Good Selection of Templates and Themes
The majority of CMS platforms have a number of premade templates that you can use to quickly change the look of your site. They may also have an impact on how your website behaves.
By selecting a responsive template, for instance, you can guarantee that your website looks fantastic on all devices without having to write a lot of code. Templates can speed up and simplify future website redesigns in addition to saving you design time before your site goes live.
Security
Nobody wants their website to be hacked in today’s world, especially proprietors of e-commerce websites. Websites are particularly susceptible to hacking attempts and are frequently the focus of these attacks.
However, a large team of programmers and computer scientists regularly tests content management systems in an effort to shield users from all possible security risks. In addition, there are countless plugins and tools that are individually created to improve the security of your website.
Easy Collaboration
With the aid of content management systems, numerous people can easily collaborate on various projects in addition to having access to your website. Multiple users can contribute, edit, or update material on the website using separate accounts directly from their own computers or devices.
Additionally, the best CMS store all of your online material for you in a single location and make it accessible to everyone with a website login, so you no longer need to transmit several files to various recipients. Even better, content management solutions are incredibly practical for mobile users. The back end of your website is accessible from anywhere. All you need is an internet connection and a computer, tablet, or mobile device.
Edit User Roles and Permissions
A CMS’s integrated (and frequently adjustable) user roles and permissions enable you to communicate in the most effective and secure manner possible. Content creators, for instance, can have all the rights necessary to create, publish, and maintain the content, but they won’t be able to uninstall plugins or otherwise drastically change the design of the website.
Easy and Quick Site Maintenance
Making adjustments to your website without some of the best CMS out there may be time-consuming and expensive. However, using a CMS has never been quicker or easier for maintaining your website.
Instead of manually sifting through pages of code to make a change, content management systems let you upload or edit information with a few quick clicks. Additionally, with a few additional clicks of a button, general updates and other support tasks that preserve the health of your site may be completed extremely rapidly.
Now that we know what CMS’ are, their functions and reasons to use them, here are the top 5 Content Management Systems(CMS) in 2022.
WordPress
WordPress, which was first introduced as blogging software, has grown to become the best CMS ever. The open-source platform is frequently utilized in the publishing and blog-friendly industries since it focuses on editorial features like articles and blog postings.
It may be helpful for smaller firms who are just developing their web strategy or have less knowledge of design because of its interface and website themes’ ease of use.
It’s crucial to distinguish between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. WordPress.org is a free open source content management system (CMS) that was first created for blogging but is now used by a variety of websites and online retailers. WordPress.com is a website that hosts blogs.
Pros
- WordPress is designed to be easy enough for beginners without coding knowledge
- WordPress gives you the adaptability and independence to create any type of website (online store, auction site, membership site, etc).
- Every user may customize their site’s design, create blog entries, install plugins, alter the permalink settings, and more thanks to its user-friendly dashboard.
- WordPress has one of the most extensive libraries of plugins and themes that can be downloaded to alter the look and feel of a website.
- WordPress has excellent search engine optimization capabilities (SEO). Creating URLs, categories, and tags for your posts that are search engine friendly is simple. Another option is one of the many SEO plugins available to you.
- Being an open-source CMS, WordPress has a sizable and devoted community. You can obtain assistance with any issues you encounter by joining groups like the WPBeginner Engage Facebook group.
Cons
- You’ll be in charge of handling things like security and backups in addition to setting up your hosting and domain name.
Joomla
Over 2% of websites are powered by the open-source CMS Joomla. The basic software of Joomla provides greater capabilities out of the gate than other best CMS platforms, like its multilingual features, which makes it one of the best CMS you can choose. It has a wide variety of templates and extensions. Although you’ll require hosting and a domain name, using it is free.
Like WordPress, it was first made available in 2005, thus it has been around for a while. With so many features, Joomla can be installed with only one click on various web hosting. the initial setup can be difficult for beginners, but it’s a great CMS platform for programmers and seasoned website designers.
Pros
- Compared to most of the best CMS systems, Joomla offers more functionalities right out of the box. You may manage hundreds of users with its built-in capability, create pages in numerous languages, and make custom post kinds that utilize various templates or themes.
- Any of the 6,000 extensions listed in the official directory can be downloaded to provide you with more control and functionality over your website.
- Even if you don’t intend to ever touch a line of code, you may still utilize Joomla because it is very helpful for developers. Content editing is simple.
- You can use Joomla to run an e-commerce store as there are extensions available for this.
Cons
- There aren’t a lot of choices for extra extensions. You might be let down by Joomla if you’re used to a CMS like WordPress, which includes thousands of free themes and plugins that enhance the basic capabilities.
- Because the platform lacks integrated functionality for automatically scheduling updates, attackers and hackers have additional opportunities to exploit known vulnerabilities.
Drupal
Drupal is yet another open-source CMS platform. The UNICEF website, Pinterest and a number of university websites are among the notable websites powered by this CMS.
Its adaptable API architecture, created for expert web developers, enables many digital platforms. Drupal optimizes its built-in features for improved performance and security when compared to Joomla and WordPress. It’s also important to note that Drupal websites receive more traffic than those powered by competing CMS systems. This makes it one of the best CMS in the market.
The CMS enables developers to design sites that can manage massive amounts of data and high traffic or allows marketers with less advanced skills to establish a site from a template.
Pros
- Drupal makes adding content simple. There are many options and flexibility in the custom content kinds.
- Drupal’s modules and themes are extensively configurable (equivalent to WordPress plugins). This implies that you can use these tools to build a site that accomplishes exactly what you want if you have the necessary coding expertise.
- Less susceptible to security risks because the CMS software frequently performs security tests.
- With a built-in system that allows you to establish new roles and define their rights, user management is simple.
Cons
- It can be challenging to understand how to modify your site’s design or add new features when using Drupal. It surely isn’t as user-friendly for beginners as WordPress.
- Managing the platform, such as upgrading to a new version, can be time-consuming.
- Requires familiarity with HTML, CSS, and PHP code
Wix
Wix is one of the best CMS and website builders for making attractive, useful websites. This cloud-based development platform enables you to launch a personal blog, an e-commerce store, or a company promotion campaign.
It has drag-and-drop functionality and web hosting options. It works best for most users and is simple to use. because a great website may be made with little to no effort from you. No design expertise is required.
Pros
- It’s really simple to design sites that appear exactly as you want them to with Wix’s drag-and-drop interface. Any area of your page can be chosen and edited.
- In Wix, you can pick from thousands of free design templates. As they are entirely responsive, they look fantastic on both PCs and mobile devices.
- Wix offers a free Wix ADI (advanced design intelligence) tool that automatically creates your website for you.
- From the Wix App Market, you can add a variety of apps to your website. These work similarly to WordPress plugins to add new features to your website.
Cons
- Only paid plans on Wix allow you to operate an e-commerce store, and even then, you can only accept payments through PayPal or Authorize.net.
- On Wix, you cannot switch to another template after making your selection. This can force you to use a layout that isn’t ideal for your website.
- Wix doesn’t allow you to easily download your data and export it.
HubSpot CSM Hub
HubSpot CMS Hub is a fully integrated content management system created exclusively for marketers and business owners. It’s one of the 5 hubs of HubSpot
CMS Hub is a great option for developing businesses as well as huge corporations seeking an all-in-one system to manage their website because it is built on top of HubSpot’s CRM platform, which contains a variety of marketing automation, and sales, service, and operations features.
Check out our full HubSpot review
Pros
- CMS Hub is one of the best CMS platforms that allows people with little to no technical skills to create a personalized site right away. You can also continue to use the same platform you used to produce your content while managing, optimizing, and monitoring its performance.
- It is simple to generate and optimize your site content thanks to contacting attribution and built-in SEO tools.
- You can integrate your favourite apps from your tech stack like Gmail, Facebook Ads, and Twitter. That way, you can access all of your data in a central location.
- To protect your website from DDoS attacks, hackers, and other anomalies, CMS Hub has built-in security features including a worldwide CDN and Web Application Firewall. It also has a dedicated security staff.
- To change the appearance of your website, you can also select from more than 3,500 premium and free themes in the HubSpot Asset Marketplace.
- To simplify your operational procedures, HubSpot CMS seamlessly integrates with their email marketing tool and sales CRM.
Cons
- There is no free version, but they do offer a free trial.
- HubSpot CMS is not ideal for e-commerce websites.
Best CMS conclusion
You can develop over time by using a content management system to create and maintain your website. The best CMS will not only centrally store all of your web material, but it will also facilitate team collaboration, enable quick and simple updates, and provide templates and extensions to let you personalize your site.