Less people are spending time window shopping and more people are taking to the internet to find what they need. That means a lot of people’s first  experience with your brand will likely take place on your website. Choosing the right CMS (content management system) for your business will help you create and run your business more effectively. Open source CMS platforms such as WordPress give you the opportunity to create your website the way you want it while also providing the ability to manipulate the coding to customize your site.

Choosing the right CMS for your business is an important decision, focusing on these characteristics will ensure that your choosing the right platform for your website redesign:



Reputation & standards

Look to opinion leaders and seek word-of-mouth recommendations to source feedback on the best CMS. This feedback can give you more information on the differing platforms to help you understand how your needs can align with what the platform has to offer. Explore whether the CMS operates with open standards and has ongoing efforts to develop the software, this shows how innovative each platform will be.


Commercial & community support

Third party commercial support can also give you a better idea of the digital leaders supporting this platform. Corporate companies like IBM and specialist open source organizations like Sirius contribute to platforms to better the experience for users. Community support is also a great way to see how users are interacting with the software and how supported the users are when looking for help on any topic.

Remembering these traits when choosing the CRS platform for your business can ensure you select the right platform for your website redesign and development. These characteristics are great tools to use when comparing platforms, and here’s some information on the three giants in the CMS world to make your search easier:


Joomla

Joomla has established itself as a platform with a good balance between customization possibilities and user-friendliness, but more complex than WordPress. You’ll have to take some time getting used to assigning plugins to modules, configuring layouts and other necessary manipulations. Joomla has a big community support system, extensive documentation, and is used by millions of users globally, including small businesses, corporations, governments and nonprofits.


Drupal

Drupal has it all. You can do almost anything in Drupal with endless options outside of the CMS box. Many things in WordPress or Joomla that usually require custom coding have solutions already in the default Drupal. Drupal takes a lot of time and experience to master, and is more fit for huge websites that can afford full-time administrators.


WordPress

WordPress is the global favourite and powers over half the world’s CMS sites. WordPress has a committed community, tons of free extensions, and the easiest-to-use interface. It’s incredibly simple; create the page, post something on it, and watch it come to life on the front-end of your site. WordPress has the best reputation out of the three, has a high set of standards and is always looking to innovate their platform, and an extensive level of corporate and commercial support. 


These three are the big CMS platforms, but there are many more custom web design platforms out there. When building the site that you need,  you may require outsource web development to ensure that the website meets your needs Interested in learning more about the website redesign process? Download our latest ebook covering exactly that below. 

Elements of a website redesign