The Best Content Management System Tools in 2016

Content management systems have become more important than ever nowadays. They basically make a straightforward, clear distinction between code and content.

For many business owners out there, that’s nothing short of a godsend.

After all, not all of us have had the time to acquire various coding skills. Running a business is already time-consuming and challenging enough. Luckily, the advent of CMSs (Content Management Systems) has ensured that won’t be a problem anymore.

Nowadays, you can just pick the CMS you need and start implementing all your online content ideas with ease. Still, how do you choose the right CMS solution?

Well, for starters, you should know that content management systems are split into various platforms. These two are the most popular:

• ASP.NET, developed by Microsoft and supported on Windows based operated systems, in 2016 Microsoft released ASP.NET core which allows ASP.NET to be leveraged on top of Linux – There are several commercial and opensource options available built on ASP.NET with DNN and  Kentico as two good examples.
• PHP, which has really dominated the web application space now with the vast majority of sites online today being built in PHP – Examples of CMS solutions built on top of PHP include WordPress and Drupal

Honestly though for most business owners and operators the choice of the underlying programming language your platform is built on top of is of little concern as it’s likely chosen by the developers that you’ve hired to build your site for you.  You just want to be able to operate it, update it and maintain it easily.

So let’s get to what really interests you: The best CMS tools of 2016!

1. WordPress

It’s not a shock that WordPress is the first thing to come to mind when we discuss CMSs. After all, just two years ago, around 74 million websites relied on WordPress.

What’s more, this CMS enjoys a 58.7% share of the entire content management system market. Quite clearly, it’s doing something right.

Well, we’re going to help you really decide if this CMS is right for you or not. Here are the main benefits of using WordPress:

• It features a user-friendly design – You won’t have to spend too much time learning the ropes. Installing websites and using this CMS won’t be time-consuming at all.

• The community is large and ready to help – Most developers have no problem openly sharing their code online. As a result, you get to save plenty of time on this by having quick access to the script you need.

• No prior characterization is needed – Thanks to its design, you won’t have to worry about dealing with an in-depth prior characterization. You just start with what you need and add features as you go along.

Plus, WordPress is rather cost-efficient as well. Still, you should keep two things in mind.

For one, WordPress is mainly built for small content websites. If you have more complex things in mind (eCommerce, for instance), you can upgrade, but it can get quite expensive.

Secondly, WordPress can sometimes slow down your website. That’s because it contains a lot of generic code which isn’t necessary for each individual website.

All in all, WordPress usually ends up being your go-to option when looking for a content management system.

2. Drupal

While Drupal might not be as popular as WordPress, it still seems to be a favorite with various business owners in 2016. If you’re not sure about it yet, just keep these benefits in mind:

• It’s great if you want to quickly test out your ideas – Thanks to its convenient design, you can actually have a prototype tested out over an entire weekend if you so desire.

• Drupal security updates are prompt and reliable – It’s safe to say that an open source platform is usually the target of many hacker attacks. Fortunately, Drupal’s security team takes their job very seriously and delivers quality results.

• The community is huge and extremely helpful – While the Drupal team also offers decent support, you’ll find loads of fans in the community who will be more than happy to lend you a helping hand.

Are there any drawbacks you should consider? Well, of course – that’s a given with anything in life. Here are some things you might not like about Drupal:

• The learning curve is quite steep – Unfortunately, getting the hang of Drupal is not a walk in the park, as is the case with WordPress.

• Drupal will eat up a lot of resources – In order to offer such a flexible design, the platform needs to process numerous lines of code. As a result, it can end up stressing your hardware quite a lot.

• Larger websites might deal with inconveniences – That’s because the contributed modules will eventually come into conflict with one and the other. The results are usually annoying errors and crashes.

3. DNN

Formerly known as DotNetNuke, DNN has been powering over 800,000 websites for years now. So, it’s no wonder that it also made our list.

Plus, it’s hard to overlook why it’s so popular in the first place:

• It’s quite stable – You rarely have to worry about dealing with any downtime.

• It’s free – The Community Edition doesn’t cost anything and is quite decent. If you need more, you can always choose between the Professional and Enterprise Editions.

• The variety of themes and plugins is great – You’ll surely find something that suits your tastes and business goals. Plus, the pricing is pretty fair too.

Unfortunately, you might have to struggle when it comes to the user experience on your website. Why? Because trying to get multiple, separate modules to work together can be difficult. You see, DNN’s community is vast and there are a large number of modules and skins (these are the themes used by DNN) available and not all modules and skins have been developed by the same level of developer and often you’ll find these modules don’t work together nicely.

But this really shouldn’t be a huge concern as DNN by itself is pretty robust and you’ll most likely be pleased with the end result.

4. Kentico

The last highlight for today is Kentico, a content management system that is easy to tweak to make sure it meets all your needs.

Here’s what else it has to offer:

• Extremely useful features – You can take advantage of things like analytics and logging data. The best part is that it’s all built into the system.

• Reliable documentation – It’s not as widespread as the DNN documentation. Still, you can get straightforward info quite fast.

• Decent customer support – You won’t really feel like you’re handling it all on your own, as the Kentico team is always happy to help out.

However, this is where one issue might pop up. Basically, the customer support is great. Problem is, that’s mostly after you’ve purchased one of their subscriptions. And the costs can get quite high.

Also, you might not enjoy the fact that you need to know some technical skills if you want to work with the templates.

What Do All These Content Management Systems Have in Common?

They are all included in our CMS Solutions service. Yes, that’s right – we offer cloud and web hosting for all of them. 

And the best news – we cover both! .NET or PHP CMSs!

Ultimately, the choice of CMS depends on your particular needs and preferences. However, you should never leave cloud or web hosting up to chance. It’s best to always strive to work with the best.

Well, we believe we can meet your needs. Get in touch with us and let’s discuss what we can do to help you out.