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WordPress or Umbraco for web design?

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WordPress screen at a web design agency

By Karen Oliver

One of the key ROI deciding factors for many SMEs when asking a web design agency to source a CMS is of course price, and that’s where the choice narrows to the so-called ‘Open Source‘ solutions where software fees are, often but not always, out of the equation.

There are many CMS offerings, some of which are very popular such as Joomla and Drupal. However, from our experience, when it comes to the needs of a non-technical user looking for a simple administration interface, the best solutions currently available are Umbraco or WordPress.

WordPress

WordPress is a platform evolved for the blogosphere, hence its simple-yet-powerful interface for website design too. Pages, posts and media can be added and updated very quickly and there is a massive choice of excellent themes and functional plugins. This means fast development of professional looking websites and blogs – which can be hosted for free on WordPress.com!

The main limitation of WordPress is that apart from the features above, it is hard to publish anything else as content types are very much limited to… pages, posts and media.

Umbraco

Umbraco offers a more comprehensive approach to content management by providing full customisation of content types which means it can be tailored precisely to the publishing needs of any advanced website and web application. (e.g. Share Radio Web Design). Umbraco provides the simplest admin interface with an intuitive tree-like navigation and tabs for moving around the content options in a very zen-like de-cluttered screen.

Umbraco also offers industry-level security features making it ideal for managing extranets and any other private areas.

As a whole, the decision to choose WordPress or Umbraco is down to specific requirements and the agency’s preference. In our experience, both platforms have much to offer as long as they are properly implemented and meet your web design requirements.

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