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WordPress vs Joomla: Which One to Choose for Your Website?

Choosing a Content Management System (CMS) is an important decision that can have huge repercussions for your website. There are a number available, each with their own pros and cons but there are 2 platforms that stand out among the pack that can be directly compared: WordPress vs Joomla.

Both platforms are renowned for their ease-of-use, extensive customisation opportunities and active communities. While WordPress and Joomla have their respective pros and cons, they can both be employed to build modern, feature-filled websites.

So how are you supposed to choose which one is right for you?

WordPress vs Joomla

The basic difference between WordPress and Joomla is that Joomla is a portal or community-type site, while WordPress is a blog-focused CMS. However, both WordPress and Joomla aren’t standalone pieces of software. In other words, they only work when installed on a web server.

Search engine optimisation

If we compare the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) capabilities of both platforms out of the box, Joomla takes a slight edge due to enabling its users to set meta descriptions and keywords for new articles.

That being said, the true SEO capabilities of either platform aren’t readily apparent, unless we take a look at the plugins or extensions available for the task.

On WordPress’ side, there’s the incredibly popular Yoast SEO plugin. It’s powerful, offers lots of features and best of all, anyone can get to grips with it in a matter of minutes.

On the other hand, Easy Frontend SEO (EFSEO) is the best Joomla-equivalent to Yoast. It enables you to carry out many of the same tasks, such as editing your meta information directly on the front end of your site. It also includes a handy, automatic mode for generating this data without your input. However, it’s clear that as handy as EFSEO is, it’s no match for Yoast.

WINNER: WordPress

Security

When it comes to security, any system is only as strong as its weakest link. So the question is, which platform is more secure out of the box?

Due to its popularity, WordPress has a giant target on its back when it comes to security vulnerabilities. Each WordPress install is unique, thanks to the thousands of plugins and themes available for the CMS. While this is a definite positive, it’s also a nightmare from a security standpoint. It’s impossible to make sure that every plugin employs proper safety standards and remains compatible with newer versions of the platform.

Moreover, WordPress doesn’t ship with basic features, such as forcing a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connection on its dashboard – you need to modify its core files to enable it – or Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). In fact, most of its advanced security features rely entirely on plugins.

On the other hand, Joomla ships with both an option to force connections over SSL and another one for 2FA. In addition, it offers its own set of security extensions and its developers maintain a list of those extensions with known vulnerabilities.

WINNER: Joomla

Customisation potential

Both CMSs have their own roster of plugins for the most conceivable of use cases – although WordPress wins hands down due to sheer number.

However, when looking into the top plugins on each respective CMS, WordPress’ offerings have a greater subjective “polish”. While Joomla offers just as many features as its WordPress counterpart, WordPress provides a better experience overall.

Moving on, when it comes to customising your website’s style, there are WordPress themes on one side and Joomla templates on the other. And the same story repeats itself here as with plugins. Not only is it easier to find high-quality WordPress themes, but they also often offer a higher level of support and a mostly better experience.

WINNER: WordPress

Content management and potential

Both WordPress and Joomla are complex CMSs, enabling users to create and manage just about any type of website. Although WordPress is often associated with simple blogs, it’s also a great solution for landing pages and even more complex websites.

On the other hand, Joomla is renowned for its complexity – although it does offer some fantastic documentation. A website built with Joomla can evolve into anything it wants, but the learning curve is much steeper for users with no experience in web development.

Despite being equal when it comes to sheer potential, it’s fair to say that WordPress enables its users to manage their content with relative ease. Anyone can install the platform and pick up how to create posts, pages or custom post types within minutes, whereas Joomla is less forgiving.

WINNER: WordPress

Conclusion

Taking all of the above into consideration, WordPress is the winner! It beats out Joomla when it comes to SEO, customisation possibilities and content management – so the choice is clear.

Furthermore, WordPress is just plain simpler to pick up for new users and its popularity gives it the added edge of providing users with a better support structure.