Wordpress or Joomla? Discussion
-
Hi All
I'm about to start on a new project where I've been having lots of discussions with the developers involved on the merits of both wordpress and joomla. I'm experienced with wordpress but haven't really done too much with Joomla. I've found some general info on Joomla online, most issues seems to be around duplicate content, but can't seem to find too much else.
Therefore I thought I'd throw it out there for discussion as I'd love to hear from those of you who have used both CMS's and the drawbacks/ pitfalls or plus points in both.
The project is based around a non transactional site, offering a service, but no product. There's lots of thought leadership type content planned, either through interviews, surveys, articles, video etc, and some linkbait etc. Lot of content will also be newsworthy so keep Google news etc in the back of your mind too. Lots of social integration too...
Looking forward to hearing what you might have to say Mozzers.
-
Have you considered Expression Engine? Might be worth considering.
-
Thanks for the details response again!
-
Thanks Ryan.
This un-usual project ratio is for one reason.
We have more niche customers who need their niche specific features, as compared to general websites.
For Example, this month, we did 2 projects.
1. Rent a Car Company: their full automatic quote and reservation system including Fleet management.
2. A job Board including lot of advance HR portal features.
And joomla provided us great foundation, and for both requirements, some components were available which helped us to customize and deliver the solution quickly.
In the best of my knowledge, wordpress doesn't have any solutions available for both requirements.
I hope this clarify that why we have un-usual ratio.
-
Khuram's response offers some great specifics as to how to help make a choice between the two platforms.
I am surprised by the project ratio. Most developers I know have the reverse where they had 100 WP projects and 20 Joomla.
-
We have worked on over 100 joomla projects and almost 20 projects of Wordpress.
I am fully agree with Ryan, that its largely depend on developers that what type of issues you face with site either it is developed in Joomla or Wordpress.
I usually make my decision based on following points:
- If site is niche based like for specific Industry. Joomla is better, as it has plenty of extensions available for specific industries like auto, realestate, event management, etc.
2. If site is multi-ligual, I choose Joomla. As it can handle multiple languages from within one system with really powerful options. Wordpress, we have to make separate installations for each language.
3. Multi-Template Website: Joomla can easily have different templatings for different parts of website.
4. If site is for small business, which doesn't need above complexities, I prefer to use Wordpress. As it is simple specially for end user to handle.
As far as SEO is concerned, Before Joomla 1.7, Wordpress was on Top. But now Joomla has almost same options. But definitely, as Joomla sites are usually more complex, SEO handling can be more complex.
One more thing, I am not sure about Wordpress, but Joomla's Admin panel is also fully customizable. We can make our own internal template, hide complex stuff for advance users only. And you can brand inner panel with your own graphics etc.
-
Joomla can be a pain in the arssssss if you do not have a good team of developers who understand it and its work around.
If wordpress can do the job id stick with wordpress. If you see functionality which joomla can handle and wordpress cannot, then you know my next suggestion.
In the future if you do not need major functionality and just a basic site for SEO & PPC purposes I would use modx. Its very easy to use and developers love it. SEO functionality is built in.
-
Thanks Ryan, that's the kind of info I'm looking for. I have a lot of faith in the developers in this project and they are suggesting Joomla is a better option for them to achieve what they want, but very aware of the SEO aspects and want to ensure I'm happy. Appreciate your thoughts.
-
The content I've found online seems to focus on issues such as duplicate content issues being a bit of an issue.
There are not any duplicate content issues I am aware of on a properly designed Joomla site. With both Joomla and WP (and many CMS), the sites are created by site owners or less experienced developers and the result is a variety of quality issues such as duplicate content.
Another issue is rather then resolving the core problem, the site owner or developer will simply add on an SEO extension which can resolve the problem but it also buries it. The solution is not ideal.
Is there any major drawbacks on Joomla that I should be aware of though? Any limitations?
Nothing specific to Joomla I can think of other then general disadvantages inherit to all CMS.
The only quirk specific to Joomla is their software upgrade model. They provide a major version upgrade every 18 months, and a minor upgrade every 6 months. The result is many site owners and extension publishers stick with the major updates, while others update more frequently. The system is not ideal as you may wish to update your version but are unable to do such because you are dependent upon an extension which has not been updated to work with the latest version. This situation can happen with any CMS package, but it is more prominent in Joomla due to their update model.
The solution...be more selective as to which extensions you become dependent upon.
-
Great feedback so far guys. As I said, I have little experience with Joomla. The content I've found online seems to focus on issues such as duplicate content issues being a bit of an issue. I've found a few plugins that seems to be able to fix such issues. Is there any major drawbacks on Joomla that I should be aware of though? Any limitations?
-
I'd have to cast my vote for Joomla! on the basis that it offers a tremendous amount of flexibility, has a massive user community and a seemingly endless supply of extensions.
Don't get me wrong. Both are quality choices. Wordpress is a bit easier to use out of the gate, but in my experience Joomla! is simply more customizable/flexible.
Search engines love Joomla!, though you can't go wrong on that count with Wordpress either.
In the end, it may come down to finding an template that just "fits" for your concept.
-
Both WP and Joomla are quality choices. Earlier this year I spent several weeks evaluating many CMS solutions. I chose Joomla and WP as the two I preferred and have been guiding clients to use one of those two choices based on their needs.
WordPress is my preference if a client has basic website needs, or requires easier or simpler administration.
Joomla is more flexible, but it is also more complex.
Based on the information you shared, I agree with Gyi on the WP recommendation.
-
Based on your description, I'd go Wordpress.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Subdomain SEO question (php script on domain + wordpress on subdomain)
Hi Moz fellows, I am doing my first website which is entirely .php scripted. But I would like to have a wordpress blog to create content and blog posts, while the .php side of the website is more for sales pages and user generated listings.The only way to do this is to install wordpress on a subdomain "blog.website.com" QUESTION: If all my keywords targeted content is on the subdomain's Wordpress blog, but all my guest blogging efforts link to my main website, which one will rank? The subdomain or the domain? I need the domain to rank well as it is a Fiverr-like script, so if tons of people land on my "blog.website.com" subdomain, they will not convert into users... Let me know if you have experience with such a scenario, and thank you all in advance for your help! -Marc
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | marcandre0 -
Anyone deal with WebSynthesis as a WordPress host?
Curious to get feedback from users who have used or are currently using WebSynthesis for their WordPress web hosting. I'm also open to hear about what you are doing if not using WebSynthesis, like WPEngine or GoDaddy's new Managed WP solution, etc. Thanks!!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | WhiteboardCreations0 -
Wordpress Permalink Structure
A quick Wordpress Permalink checkup... I'm generally a fan of %postname% Permalink structure in Wordpress - although this does create a completely flat architecture, so that ALL Pages AND Posts are found at www.domain.com/_________ I'm sure I've heard, read, or ingested somewhere that it makes more sense to use /blog/%postname% which then makes all Blog Posts reside at www.domain.com/blog/________ with the static Page content still being at www.domain.com/________ Any thoughts to why this would NOT be a good idea? To me this seems more logical.. and like I say I'm sure I've heard an authority say Google kind of prefers that it can differentiate Blog content from everything else. I've used this successfully on a few sites so far, and all seems to be good. (Moz although not Wordpress, uses this structure for it's blog). Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | GregDixson0 -
Change Joomla to Wordpress (Better SEO)
Hi, I'd like to change my cms but I am afraid 😞 I have lots of content in Google, so I know I should make 301 list but what do you think about the change? Now I am in good position and I don't want to make bad my rank 😞 Please let me know which way is the best and secured 🙂 Thanks, Misi
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Netkreativ0 -
Easy way to change wordpress category titles. Currently categories are appearing with the same title?!
I'm working on a wordpress adult dating review site and have started to set up categories for each of my main keywords. I have also started to add sub categories by county and town and so far have done so for the counties of 'Lincolnshire' and 'Derbyshire'. The problem is though that for each of my subcategories the page titles are appearing the same. For example: www.mysite.com/category/online-dating/lincolnshire/spalding (root category online dating) shows the title as 'Spalding'. www.mysite.com/category/adult-dating/lincolnshire/spalding also has the title 'Spalding' even though it's root category is different (adult dating). It's probably easier to go to http://www.top-10-dating-reviews.com to see how it's set up. If you click in the category text in the top menu and navigate to dating/derbyshire/alfreton for example and then adult dating/derbyshire/alfreton you'll notice the page titles are the same. I use all in one SEO pack and have rewrite titles checked with category titles set to %category_title% | %blog_title%. I also use category SEO updater. In order to prevent duplicate content issues how can I simply make the title of each category category root title/category subtitle(county)/category subtitle 2(town). The title of each category page would then read for example Online Dating Lincolnshire Spalding.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | SamCUK0 -
Best Keyword Taxonomy Discussion
Sorry to bring this up again but I think the title was very misleading resulting in helpful members ignoring the question/thread completely. Also, I believe this should be in the discussion section, but please correct me if I'm wrong? Hi All, This is my first post and hopefully a question that could help others in similar positions as I haven't been able to find a concrete answer on this anywhere. Say we are trying to rank for the keyword "security testing tools". Product name is "Sectest" and its a security testing tool. *We currently have an "SEO" section that is purely good content and the idea with this is to be able to rank for "security testing tools" talking about what to expect and look for in such tools and relevant content - Linking to our product page at the end of it. structure is brand.com/security-testing/tools and that would have a link to brank.com/products/sectest Obviously product pages would get their meta tags and content re-written so we don't compete for the same keywords. Is this approach optimal? or would google want us to link directly to the product page instead of "information" about security testing tools? Nobody in our sector is taking this approach and we have already started it, but I am starting to wonder if I am getting into big trouble further down the line. Thanks and best regards, 2 Responses<a class="image-button add-response-button"> </a><a name="post-131828"></a> | JorgeGarciaAspirant | about 22 hours ago |JorgeGarcia Just to make it clearer. Our competitors seem to be using "security testing tools" directly in their product pages. We would like to use "security testing tools" for a page with content on it and an introduction to our product and then link to our product page. | <a name="post-131872"></a> | SEO5Journeymen | SEO5Director - Marketing at SEO 5 Consulting Hi Jorge, How are your competitors ranking for their approach by using security testing tools directly. If they are doing well then i would adopt the same strategy and try to beat them with quality backlinks and good on site optimization. SEO is not the only thing you have to worry about , you also should keep conversion rates in mind. By first taking the visitors to a security tools page and then your product page you are increasing your conversion funnel and this might impact your conversion rates. At the end of the day , it's all about sales/revenue/leads/ROI so you dont want to do anything to jeopardize your conversions. That one extra step that the visitor has to take might result in fewer conversions. <a class="image-button add-response-button"> </a> | <a name="post-131946"></a> | JorgeGarcia |
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JorgeGarcia
JorgeGarcia Hi there, Although I do understand your reasoning, we have the resources and people quantity to focus on all things at once being a big a company. So at the present moment it wouldn't be a matter of prioritizing work - but rather - delivering the best future-proof strategy. I don't mind doing the same as our competitors, but sometimes stepping out of the sheep line is good. You do make a great and very valid point addressing that this is an extra step for the visitor and could lead to fewer conversions. This is holding me back a little bit. But, if properly implemented, wouldn't a content focused site rank way better than a product page would? I guess the real question is if prospects would really find value in the information about "security testing tools" or they would rather just get the product page instead. But just looking from Google eyes, what do you think of this approach? _After re-reading my post I realize I might sound as if all I want is you to agree with me and justify my approach, I don't really. I would really value any honest thoughts and reasoning 🙂 _ |0 -
What is Structured Data and how to add it WordPress Blog Via Meta tags ?
Hi Friends, Can anyone please tell me what is Structured Data and how to add it to WordPress blog via meta tags because I don't want to show on my blog but show in Google Search. Is there any helpful plugin or some codes? Then please help me to sort it out this problem. Thanks, OM1YI
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | KLLC0 -
How To Create Dynamic WordPress Tags
Does anyone know how to make WordPress "tag" pages automatically generate a description based on the posts included in the tag? I have a lot of tags, and most of them rank well for long tail keywords. However I have noticed that although they have a dynamically generated "title meta tag" they do not generate a "description meta tag". I know WordPress lets you customize the description for each tag, but I have way to many for that. I need the description meta to be auto generated from the posts that are being tagged, rather than not including one at all. Does anyone know how to do this?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | MyNet0