When it comes to Content Management Systems (CMS), WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal are three of the most popular options available for experienced, professional digital marketing and web design work.

A CMS is important to use as a digital marketer, but also as a business owner who wants to increase online visibility, because using one allows the person to easily make large changed to website content, design, SEO, and its overall uses in every way, much easier on a daily basis.

Each Content Management System has its own unique features, advantages, and disadvantages, making them suitable for different use cases.

Let’s dig in and compare and contrast the uses and applications of these three CMS platforms.

WordPress

WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world, powering over 40% of all websites on the internet. It’s used by global celebrities such as Sylvester Stallone, huge bands such as Beyonce and Snoop Dogg and the Rolling Stones, banks, universities, and mega-corporations such as Walt Disney.

It’s an open-source CMS that is relatively easy to get up to speed on and acclimate to, and has a large user community. Open Source essentially means that the coding, or programming core to what makes WordPress work is not hidden and it is available to the public to see.

Why Open Source is Good

(Let’s digress here for a minute to discuss what this means to non-technically inclined people out there: When we say the WordPress CMS is open source, the reason that matters to developers is that it means we can see the core code that makes it work, can create our own “versions” of WordPress if we want to, build additions or “plugins” for it easily, and also tell if it’s safe and what tracking is done. Content Management Systems that do not provide open source coding can mean we as developers don’t know what’s being tracked, where, when, by whom, or build as easily for it or troubleshoot for it as easily).

WordPress is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses, bloggers, and personal websites; however, as we’ve touched on briefly above, it’s also used for global universities, corporations, bands, brands, and global icon celebrities. So you’re only limited by your ability and imagination.

It is also a good choice for eCommerce sites, as there are many plugins available that allow users to add shopping carts and other types of eCommerce features to their websites. There’s literally an almost infinite way to add eCommerce to a WordPress site. I’ve personally built every kind of eCommerce site you could imagine, from using eCommerce to enable service providers to take payments for consultations or services to package offers; to coffee shops, nonprofits to take donations, restaurants accepting payments for orders, concert ticket sales, private events, space reservations, special branded items such as custom sauces and apparel.

WordPress has a vast selection of themes and plugins available, making it easy to customize the look and functionality of a website. It is also known for its realitvely user-friendly interface, which allows users to create and edit content without any coding knowledge.

Some examples of websites that use WordPress include TechCrunch, CNN, Glad Trash Bags, Brown University, Blondie, The New Yorker, and BBC America.

Joomla

Joomla is another popular open-source CMS that is used by millions of websites. It is more complex than WordPress, but it offers more customization options.

Joomla is a good choice for websites that require more complex functionality, such as social networking sites, e-learning platforms, and online forums (not that you couldn’t create those with WordPress, however).

Joomla has a more powerful user management system than WordPress, which makes it easier to manage large groups of users. This is a key differentiator. It also has a wide range of templates and extensions available, making it possible to create complex websites with ease.

Some examples of websites that use Joomla include Harvard University, Linux.com, and MTV Greece.

Drupal

Drupal is a powerful open-source CMS that is used by some of the world’s largest websites. It is the most complex of the three CMS platforms, and it requires more technical expertise to use. Drupal is ideal for websites that require complex functionality, such as e-commerce sites, government websites, and large online communities.

Drupal has a powerful taxonomy (menu) system, which makes it easy to organize content and create custom content types. It also has a strong security system, making it a good choice for websites that handle tons of sensitive data.

Some examples of websites that use Drupal include The Economist, The White House, and the University of Oxford.

WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal Best Use Cases

When choosing between WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, it is important to consider the specific needs of your website. Here are some examples of the best use cases for each platform:

• WordPress: Small to medium-sized businesses, bloggers, personal websites, and e-commerce sites. For 99.9% of all businesses, it is ideal and absolutely fine.
• Joomla: Larger social networking sites, e-learning platforms, more secure and multi-layer online forums, and websites that require complex functionality.
• Drupal: Larger eCommerce sites, government websites, large online communities, and websites that handle considerable sensitive data.

Pros and Cons

When it comes to actually using WordPress, Joomla and Drupal there are good things and bad things about each.

In this particular instance comparing them as a group of CMS tools available to developers, popularity says a lot about ease of use.

WordPress has the easiest learning curve. However, that comes at a price. Since WordPress (or “WP” as it’s commonly called) is so widely popular, it attracts more hobbyists and amateur developers than Joomla or Drupal. This means that the greater adoption brings with it more security issues, more plugins (think apps that “plugin” to websites) that are security risks or simply don’t work, that have glitches, or take days to learn to use adequately if not longer. WordPress is more likely to attract hackers and amateur developers due to its popularity and ease of use compartively speaking.

One of the main reasons “is WordPress safe to use” or “is WordPress okay for my idea” or whatever are such common questions on online forums is because it’s the first go-to for those new to the concepts of growing a business online. It’s sort of like going to a top tourist destination in that you’ll have more familiarity and higher prices but conversely attract larger crowds and more pickpockets.

Joomla on the other hand, having a steeper and much longer learning curve, attracts fewer hobbyist developers or “website in a day for ten dollars” enthusiasts, thereby giving it fewer bulk security problems, and more precise applications. Designing to agency levels and applying appropriate SEO across the site can take longer as well.

Drupal, being even more time-consuming to learn how to use, having greater built-in secutiy features, is at the bottom of use instances for those reasons, so has far fewer security issues, bugs and glitches, or hacking attempts. It takes much more time and dedication to learn to use than WordPress, thereby attracting far fewer hobbyists, amateur developers, hobbyist business owners, and as a result fewer hackers.

If we were to compare these most popular CMSs to objects, we could say WordPress is a rubbery bouncing ball, Joomla is a football or basketball, and Drupal is a brick. One will bounce when your foot makes contact with it and the other one will break your foot when it makes contact with it. 

So what’s the right fit for your business?

WordPress fits most businesses. It’s good enough for Stallone, Beyonce, Disney, Brown University, Glad Trash Bags, and most business websites, so odds are it’ll work for you as well. If security is a concern, and you’re ready to hire a serious, experienced developer, Joomla works fine. If security is a top concern, Drupal is the way to go.

Summing Up

In conclusion, WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal are three of the most popular CMS platforms available.

Each has its own unique advantages and disadvantages, making them suitable for different use cases.

When choosing a CMS, it is important to consider the specific needs of your website and choose the platform that best meets those needs…and bear in mind that all CMSs will have attendance bugs, glitches, require updates, security scans, and proper procedures to use effectively.