As a digital marketing agency, we at Universal Web Design felt we should briefly show you what’s on offer when it comes to designing your first website. Now we have devised the ultimate battle of platforms –
WordPress vs. Joomla.
Before 2007, most websites were constructed using HTML, CSS, or sometimes even Flash. Now, in 2015, creating your first website couldn’t be easier. Thanks to easy-access Content Management Systems (CMS), website design has never been cheaper, faster and easier to do. Most platforms charge a small fee, you can easily set up basic website in 30 minutes, and to use the system requires very little, if any, knowledge of coding or programming. But when it comes down to the two leading contenders in the CMS market, which is best for business?
WordPress is currently the major contender in this race. This platform is easy to get the hang of, and although, for more than basic use, the company does charge a small fee (which UWD’s web design package covers the cost of), we find it’s worth it to get an end result which stands out. Since being released in 2003, it has had over 140 million downloads, and currently more than 60 million websites use the service, including some major names such as CNN, Forbes and Sony.
It also sports 2000+ professional, ready-made themes and 27000+ plug-ins, making setting up your first site even easier, especially with one-click installation, and a waiting time of just 5 minutes to install. Plus, as an Open Source platform, it becomes extremely cost-effective. Developers can create plug-ins themselves, which means clients aren’t tied down to one company and ever-rising fees. Typically, this would cost anywhere between £50 and £300, and any alterations or integrations would set a business back £500 to £3000. Its Community Support feature is also an extremely useful tool for first-time site designers, as so many people use the platform, making it extremely easy to find advice on any issue. But for an experienced designer, the end result can be an outstanding online presence – as can be seen with the big clients mentioned above.
Another major contender, and a rising star in the CMS industry, is Joomla. It is often regarded as the best platform for social networking sites, and is regarded as a powerful CMS, running smoothly on most servers. It is considered by some as a middle-ground between WordPress and more difficult services, as it too is not very technical.
To date it has had over 30 million downloads and provides 900+ themes as well as over 7000 plug-ins. Notable users include Harvard Univeristy and TheHill.com, due to its ability to cope with large amounts of traffic. Joomla also runs as an Open Source platform, however given the more complex nature of the software (at least in comparison with WordPress), this can be more difficult. But still, like WordPress, you can effectively purchase pre-coded script, again making your site more cost-effective at a fraction of the usual price. Any good online marketer will tell you that plug-ins are extremely beneficial and cost-effective for any business; big or small.
Overall, Joomla is considered a much more powerful CMS, and good for sites that are expecting large amounts of visitors from day one. However, WordPress does offer significantly more plug-ins and themes. Major companies use the platform because they know they can trust it, but it appears to be designed with small businesses in mind. Not to mention the fact that it contains an in-house SEO tester to make sure your posts have a good chance of being found. Being the least complicated of the two it is the perfect service for setting up and regularly updating your SMEs first website. Of the two, it would appear WordPress is the clear winner.
If you’d like to view Universal Web Design’s very own web design packages, click here and see what we offer – quality products at great prices. Here at UWD, we have a team of WordPress experts, who can help with new website design and build projects or existing sites.