From a blogging platform to a versatile CMS, WordPress has evolved to become the largest tool for creating amazing websites and mobile applications. The official website of WordPress states that it is used by over 28% of the websites on the internet. It is easy to use, simple, flexible, SEO optimized, and with thousands of plugins, its functionality is just limitless.
Drupal, on the other hand, is another popular CMS which is more development-based and technical. You won’t get all the easy to use tools here like that in WordPress. But yet it is a powerful framework that is used to build many complex websites. The nature of Drupal suits more advanced users and developers who can customize it according to their own requirements.
When it comes to choosing a CMS there has always been a debate between Drupal and WordPress. Most of the users prefer WordPress as it holds many advantages over Drupal.
Today, I would like to discuss 10 such reasons why I choose WordPress over Drupal:
1) Attractive Themes
WordPress comes with a theme directly from which one can choose a theme that suits their requirements the best. Also, uploading your own theme is also just a matter of click with WordPress. There are so many new WordPress themes coming up every day due to the high demand for WordPress sites.
Drupal, on the other hand, lags here as its community is quite small as compared to WordPress. Hence, one can find a limited number of themes in Drupal.
2) The backward compatibility advantage
Since WordPress is used by a huge number of people backward compatibility becomes an important issue as every user may not be up-to-date. The issue of backward compatibility actually arises when you are using an updated version of the software on your website but your client is not. So, then WordPress makes it possible for your client to still access your website. For site owners even, if they have not updated their WordPress, they can still continue using it.
Drupal ignores this need of backward compatibility which can be risky for businesses and they may have to invest in rewriting their website if the version that they are using becomes obsolete.
3) WordPress designers are easily available
Need to take your business online but don’t know how to code? This can be a situation for a number of business owners as everyone cannot code! If you are considering a WordPress site then it can be easier for you to find a designer or developer. One reason for this could be the huge popularity of WordPress. Secondly, it doesn’t demand hardcore coding. Hence, there are many WordPress website developers available.
If you are considering using Drupal then, you might need someone who has experience in designing a website in Drupal with PHP skills as well. But, since Drupal is not that popular so, finding such a developer could be difficult and expensive.
4) Enormous WordPress Community
Stuck at any place in your WordPress website? Are you a newbie in the era of online business? The massive WordPress community has all the answers! Also, learning WordPress is easier than Drupal because there are a number of tutorials available for WordPress. The Drupal community no doubt is increasing but it is yet not as massive as the WordPress community.
5) WordPress is easy to debug
The WordPress themes provide a facility to set breakpoints and debug the code easily. Hence, a lot of developers too prefer WordPress. The Drupal architecture is quite nested on the other hand, which may take some time and efforts to debug the code.
6) Easy Customization
There are a number of WordPress plugins available from third parties for WordPress than Drupal which plugins allow to customize and extend the WordPress sites easily. Thus, one can create sites such as portfolio, E-Commerce, blogs, gallery membership sites, and a lot more using WordPress.
Drupal can also be customized but it involves a steeper learning curve than WordPress. It requires efforts doing some customization in Drupal hence the non-techie always goes for WordPress.
7) The SEO Debate
Drupal and WordPress are both good when it comes to SEO. But still, WordPress manages to overshadow Drupal because of amazing plugins for SEO like all in one SEO and Yoast SEO. No doubt Drupal comes with features like inbuilt cache which makes the page load faster and Yoast SEO is also available for Drupal. But the availability of plugins that can improve the site’s SEO in WordPress makes it much better and popular than Drupal.
8) WordPress loads faster than Drupal
Performance of website is now considered a tool for SEO rankings and WordPress managers to win here. Although Drupal claims about inbuilt caching and enhanced performance but not everything can be cached in a page. Drupal sites run about 100 SQL queries for every page load while in WordPress site this number is as low as 10. Also updating the CMS takes more time in Drupal as compared to WordPress.
9) Ease of Use
Drupal can sometimes be difficult to accommodate for a beginner. Hence, the learning curve may increase. A non-tech user may find managing everything complicated but, a developer can easily cope up with Drupal. WordPress, on the other hand, is known for its easy-to-use features. Anybody with no experience of making websites before can start their own website with WordPress very easily with a few clicks and installations.
10) Cost Effective WordPress
Although both Drupal and WordPress are free to download there is some additional cost involved. One can find a number of free good WordPress plugins and themes while this is not in case of Drupal. Good themes in Drupal may not be free. When it comes to developers, WordPress developers are easily available and hence they are not much expensive. Drupal developers are not easily available and hence can be expensive too.
In the end, it all depends on your requirements, skills, and complexity of your website. WordPress is hugely popular because it is easy to learn and use. Moreover, you can find a helping hand everywhere on the Internet if you face any troubles. Famous sites like eBay, Yahoo, Sony, Samsung, and New York Times use WordPress. With low setup and maintenance costs, WordPress is for everyone! So what’s your choice? Which CMS are you using?