Long a de facto standard for large companies that need to manage constantly changing web content, content management solutions (CMS) have now become common for online businesses of all sizes. Today, many small business owners are considering whether to take the next step – implementing a more robust CMS, or if their needs can be adequately served using the quasi-CMS functionality available by using WordPress as a CMS website platform. This article will compare WordPress to more powerful, but still inexpensive CMS solutions, such as the popular open source CMS products, including Joomla and Drupal. With a firm understanding of your unique requirements, you should be able to make the right choice for your business.
The Benefits of WordPress as a CMS Solution for Small Business
Using WordPress as a CMS is one of the most popular platforms for non-technical users to quickly and easily create and launch a new website. Although not marketed as a CMS solution, several aspects of its user functionality provide CMS capabilities. Because of its popularity among bloggers – it is by far the most popular platform for that purpose – WordPress enjoys a huge user community and hundreds of business partners. That community is a great resource for troubleshooting help and technical support.
WordPress partners also offer thousands of application plug-ins and add-ons that expand its functionality, and new technology is released weekly by the community. While the core WordPress solution offers only basic CMS functions, those community resources provide almost anything the small business owner needs to create and update a vibrant, ever changing website. And, WordPress is incredibly easy to use; especially, when compared to the popular full CMS solutions. Users require only a basic knowledge of how a CMS system works to be immediately productive. Content can be updated in seconds by almost anyone who knows how to surf the Web.
The Disadvantages of WordPress as a CMS Solution for Small Business
The downside to using WordPress as a CMS essentially arises from the fact that…it’s not a CMS. WordPress is a blog application, but because bloggers frequently post new content and often edit older posts, it includes tools for managing blog content and featuring specific blogs. What the CMS vendors would describe as a serious lack of functionality, a small business owner using WordPress as a website platform might call “ease of use.”
Obviously, WordPress is limited in how it can help you manage content. Scheduling new content to appear, creating Event Calendars, and managing an opt-in subscriber list are just a few of the capabilities the core WordPress application does not provide. Yes, there are plug-ins and add-ons available in the aftermarket; however, they often take some technical expertise to implement and integrate, which detracts from the value proposition of a CMS, which is based on empowering the non-technical user.
If you desire a very professional appearance and robust CMS functionality for your website, then you should consider hiring a web designer and implementing a true CMS solution. However, if you only need a site that represents your company well and have basic content management requirements, such as editing text and inserting images, WordPress will work fine, but it is not as capable as the larger, more powerful CMS solutions and shouldn’t really be compared to them.