Which CMS is right for you? WordPress and ExpressEngine both offer a number of strengths that can help small businesses, charities, or other nonprofit organizations achieve their online goals. In the WordPress vs ExpressionEngine debate, the winner is often the CMS which meets the most needs a business may have. Here is a look at the strengths and weaknesses of both.
The Strengths and Weaknesses of WordPress
1. WordPress is especially useful for those who wish to blog.
If marketing content is included in your site plans, then WordPress has a definite advantage. It was initially created to be a blogging platform and setting one up on this CMS is incredibly easy. There are a number of plugins that are easy to download and install which help to further enhance the process as well.
2. It is an informational warehouse.
WordPress is designed to provide visitors with fast access to needed information. It can become a portal for individual product research, be a primary website presence to describe missions and philosophies, or be a general information resource.
3. WordPress creates an easy-to-access portfolio.
Images are the backbone of content on the internet today. Every image helps to increase the amount of traffic a website receives. With themes and plugins specifically designed to help make images easy to upload and access publicly or through a design gallery, a customized content-rich website is very easy to create.
4. It is highly affordable and easily integrates.
WordPress has over 37,000 different plugins available to it, with many of them coming from third party developers. With premium themes often priced below $100 and easy access to coding to make needed tweaks, the value that is seen here is enormous, even if some of the plugins aren’t fully supported should problems arise.
5. Multiple domains can be controlled through one platform.
WordPress offers a multsite function that allows admins to access every website from one central dashboard. Each additional domain that is managed can then be accessed through its own “sub dashboard” for fine-tuned control.
The Strengths and Weaknesses of ExpressionEngine
1. E-commerce is much easier to complete.
ExpressionEngine requires add-ons like WordPress requires plugins, but the basic platform does come with a simple selling module that will let a business begin selling right away. The product control works with a majority of today’s CRM applications and third-party shopping carts easily integrate into the platform as well.
2. Content distribution is easy to control.
ExpressionEngine offers multiple levels of membership so that content distribution is easier to manage. It comes with the core package so that any subscription services can be put into play right away to start making money. This distribution is easy enough to control right out of the box that it can even become a subscription community that protects members in just minutes.
3. Websites are completely custom experiences.
Instead of purchasing themes, writing code, and installing plugins to change the appearance of a site, ExpressionEngine creates new sites from the ground up. This means more channels of content can be created and delivered at any time. Relationships make it easy to connect content together. The multiple site manager allows an owner to manage several sites from a central dashboard.
4. It has quality security.
ExpressionEngine hasn’t had a major security breach in over a decade. This added security comes with a cost, especially since the initial base installation of WordPress is free, but the security provided on the paid platform will help to better protect the core information that is being used by a business to create profitability. That’s not to say that WordPress isn’t a secure option either, but with tens of thousands of third-party options, there is more risk of a security breach on WP than on EE.
5. It is much easier to grow a brand.
A website built through ExpressionEngine is designed to be a long-lasting presence with very little maintenance. This means it is easier from a business to grow its brand because there are fewer updates that may interfere with the functionality of the site.
Both platforms offer something that can make it advantageous over the other. In general, businesses that are looking for a fast way to begin an ecommerce presence should consider ExpressionEngine over WordPress. For those who are looking to create prospects through the use of meaningful information and have tools that bring leads toward the end of a sales funnel, then WordPress should be considered first instead.