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The number of websites that are launched every year is growing and the figures are staggering. A recent study by the Daily Mail showed that 70 new domains and 571 websites are launched every minute. Another survey showed that in the beginning of 2016 alone, around 866 million websites were launched. This is because when it comes to satisfying a need or getting a solution, the whole world is turning to the internet.
While many businesses opt to hire a web designer for building their websites, they fail to consider the many options that they can use to set up a decent website on their own. This can be pretty economical for small and medium businesses and also for professional freelancers.
The most popular way of setting up websites is to use Content Management Systems (CMS). CMS software allows you to set up your website without having to commit a single pixel or line of code. If you have the time and energy, then CMS is the perfect option for you.
Globally, the most popular CMS providers are WordPress, Joomla and Drupal.
1. WordPress
Released by Matt Mullenwegg in 2003, WordPress has become the most popular CMS provider in the world and is widely used by small-to-medium businesses as well as major corporations, including Forbes, Sony and CNN. More than 12 million websites are powered by WordPress and the software has had more than 140 million downloads.
“WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website, blog, or app. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.”
WordPress is open source software and can be downloaded for free. It is extremely customizable with 2000+ themes and 27000+ plugins. Installation is easy and does not take more than ten minutes for the average user. It is also quite user-friendly – users with limited computer knowledge can operate the software without any hassles. All these features combined to make WordPress one of the most popular content management systems in the world.
2. Joomla
Joomla was first released in 2005 as a fork of Mambo, an open source CMS development project. Like WordPress, Joomla is written in PHP. It is the most preferred CMS for e-commerce and social networking sites. In 2016, more than 2 million websites are managed using Joomla.
“Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla the most popular website software available.”
Like its parent, Joomla is open source and freely downloadable. It has been downloaded more than 30 million times, second only to WordPress, and is used by companies like The Hill and Harvard University.
Joomla has about 900+ free themes and 7000+ plugins to choose from. Similar to WordPress, Joomla can be installed with a single click and the installation procedure will not take more than 10 minutes. However, it is not as user friendly as WordPress and requires a bit of technical know-how to operate.
3. Drupal
Released in 2001 by Dries Buytaert, Drupal is less popular than WordPress and Joomla. Like its competitors, Drupal is also written in PHP. The Drupal CMS follows the “one size fits all” principal and can be used by all kinds of businesses, whatever their requirements may be. More than 600,000 websites in 2016 are managed using Drupal.
“Drupal is an open source content management platform powering millions of websites and applications. It’s built, used and supported by an active and diverse community of people around the world.”
Like its competitors, Drupal can be downloaded for free. It has been downloaded more than 15 million times and is used by Linux, The White House and The Warner Brothers for their websites. There over 1800 themes to choose from as well as 24000+ plugins. Although Drupal is user friendly, it is harder to install and customize compared to WordPress.
Depending on your requirements, any of these content management systems will serve their purpose: powering a decent website that communicates with your audience.
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