But just what CMS should you choose?

If you are a greengrocer selling fruit & veg, you want to make sure that all your ripest apples, juiciest plums and prize turnips are in clear view right at the front of stall. Or if you own a boutique, the very latest trends need to be in your shop window. Or maybe you own a high-street travel agency, your very latest hot deals should scream from your windows. It’s easy to swap and promote your goods – or ‘content’ – in a live situation.

In these situations, you would simply make a change to what you didn’t like, or react to what was in demand. You would have access to stock, accessories or posters. As the person in charge, you could manually change things over. No need for help, no special expertise.

Now, imagine the greengrocers, boutique and travel agent are not ‘bricks & mortar’ buildings, but all online.

The best looking products, or your Content, still needs to be updated and the websites aim to give visitors the same experience & range they would expect in a shop. They would expect to see, inspect and understand your latest produce, clothes and tickets without having to try too hard. So how would you keep your Content… your products, prices, news stories and offers updated?

Well, you would need your website to built with an easy to use Content Management System or CMS – a platform for your business to build its website upon. A good CMS would produce a set of helpful and easy to use tools (style guides, templates, themes and clever plug-ins) to deliver a powerful website without the terrifying need to touch any code or being bamboozled by jargon.

There are literally hundreds of CMS platforms to consider but the three leading ones are WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. All are free, offer great features and strong security.

So what’s the difference and what one should I use?

Well, the thing to bear in mind is one will always be better than the other when you have a specific purpose. But no one is generally ‘better’ than the other. For example, a tractor is best to plough a field, but would be rubbish on the school run. Equally, a Prius is ideal to ferry the kids about, but would make a terrible

mess in acres of muddy field.

So to know if you need the latest John Deere or a Prius, you need to work out what you are trying to do. This in it’s self could be a mammoth task and getting it wrong could be a disaster. But one of these three CMS will fit your unique situation the best, whether that’s starting a modest online grocery business or setting-out to take the travel industry by storm.

Let’s see how they compare to find the perfect choice for you. As a quick overview to all three:

WordPress

Generally the best choice for beginners because of its ease-of-use. They say that if you can edit a Word document, you can edit a Wordpress website. It works especially well for start-ups and small to medium sized businesses, blogs or community associations. But having said this, some really powerful sites are built on a Wordpress platform such as Mercedes-Benz and our own website at Fresh Consulting. But on the simple end of the spectrum, take a look at UK travel site This is your Kingdom.

It requires no technical knowledge or expertise. Wordpress benefits from powerful plug-ins like ecommerce, maps and forms. In generally a great starting point. In fact, it is so powerful that some of the largest websites in the world are built using Wordpress – like Toyota Motors in Brazil… or our own website at Fresh Consulting. But on the simple end of the spectrum, take a look at UK travel site This is your Kingdom.

Joomla

Generally, a more dynamic platform which is great for e-commerce or coping with huge amounts of content or more complexed social networking websites. It is not as easy to use as WordPress and a basic understanding of technical skills. And the administration area is more complexed. It enables fast and rapid development.

Drupal

​​The most difficult, but also the most powerful. It requires a familiar understanding of HTML, CSS and PHP coding but developers can build the most powerful, customisable, exciting and flexible websites in the world, like our website for Ben Bridge the Jewellers, Fornetix Software or Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.

In summary:

Looking to get started quickly with a simple business website or blog? Look no further than WordPress.