Building a website can be a daunting task, especially if you have no prior experience with coding or HTML, CSS, and Javascript. CMS systems make the process of building a website 10x easier. Choose a theme, and add your content. No need to fiddle with weird code.
Wordpress
WordPress.org is our number one choice for the best CMS platform. It’s the world’s most popular CMS software, and it powers around 35% of all websites on the internet.
It’s important to not confuse WordPress.org with WordPress.com. WordPress.org is a free open source CMS originally designed for blogging, but now it’s used by all sorts of websites / online stores. WordPress.com is a blog hosting platform.
Pros
- Flexibility
- No coding knowledge required
- There are thousands of WordPress themes and plugins available, both paid and free.
- WordPress is really well designed for search engine optimization (SEO)
- There’s a huge and supportive community around WordPress, as it’s an open source CMS
Cons
- You’ll need to set up and manage hosting and domain.
Joomla
Joomla is another popular free open source CMS platform that comes with lots of different templates and extensions. It’s free to use, but you’ll need hosting and a domain name.
Pros
- Flexibility
- Code, or Drag ad Drop. You Choose
- Like WordPress, Joomla is open source, and there’s lots of community support available
- You can use Joomla to run an e-commerce store as there are extensions available for this.
Cons
- Complex system
- Limited extensions
- Compatibility issues if you have a lot of different extensions and modules installed
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce platform in the world. It’s really flexible and it’s easy to manage. And whilst it not technically a CMS, it is one of the best Ecommerce platform out at the moment.
Pros
- Free version available
- Wide selection of themes
- Many plugins and extensions available
- You can sell physical or digital products
- You can fully manage your inventory through WooCommerce
- WooCommerce comes with PayPal and Stripe payments by default
Cons
- WooCommerce technically works with any WordPress theme, but you may want to stick with themes made specifically for WooCommerce for extended support.
Wix
Wix is a popular CMS platform, though it has some limitations. With that said, Wix is beginner-friendly and it might be worth considering. It offers a free plan, too.
Pros
- Wix’s drag and drop interface makes it really easy to create pages that look just how you want
- Wide selection of responsive templates
- You can add lots of apps to your site from the Wix App Market
Cons
- Once you’ve chosen a template on Wix, you can’t change to a different one
- You can’t run an eCommerce store on Wix unless you upgrade to a paid plan
- Wix doesn’t allow you to easily download your data and export it
- If you’re using the free plan, you’ll have a Wix-branded domain name and ads on your site
Shopify
Shopify is another all-in-one hosted CMS platform. You won’t need to buy hosting, install any software, or manage things like updates and backups. It has a straightforward drag and drop interface. It supports in-store sales, which is great if you have a physical store as well as an online one.
Pros
- You can accept credit and debit cards through Shopify’s integrated payment solution
- There are lots of extensions and themes available for Shopify
- You don’t need to upgrade if you make over a certain dollar amount in sales
- Shopify has 24/7 support through live chat, email, phone, and even Twitter
Cons
- Your costs can end up quite high if you want to add lots of third-party apps to your store
- Not flexible
TYPO3
TYPO3 is a free, open source CMS platform that has been around even longer than Blogger. It was originally released in 1998. It’s an enterprise CMS, which means it’s useful for intranet sites (internal company sites) as well as websites.
Pros
- TYPO3 can handle really large websites, including ones that have multiple websites in different languages
- TYPO3 can be extended with more functionality
- You can easily modify the access rights of different individuals and groups who work on your site
- There are over 6,000 extensions and applications
Cons
- Themes are limited
- Complex systems and specialised knowledge required
