5 Best CMS To Build A New Website for Small Businesses

Today it is unthinkable to exist as a small businesses without an online presence. Owing to the transformation from traditional business practices to modern digitization means, a business website is now a necessity. Nowadays, creating a website has become easy due to the presence of web development services in the USA.

Such web development services provide customized web services and CMS platforms for building a small business website. One can ask, Should I choose a standard CMS platform or custom web development services? Which one will accomplish my business needs?

Let’s discuss first the difference between building a website through CMS platform and custom web development service.

Let’s discuss first the difference between building a website through CMS platform and custom web development service.   Moreover, you can compare website builders here.

STANDARD CMS WEB PLATFORM:

Some of the key features of CMS web platforms are discussed below:

1. This is an open-source and free platform with a variety of features for any type of small business website.
2. The website can be built easily & quickly using standard templates/themes.
3. Third-party plugins are available for complex features as well.
4. There are absolutely no worries about security risks since regular updates keep your website safe and secure.
5. There is greater community access for assistance if required.
6. Moreover, it has in-built software that allows third-party integration for the transfer of any data.

CUSTOM WEB DEVELOPMENT SERVICES:

Custom web development services have their own set of distinct features. Following are some of the principal aspects of a custom web development service.

1. Offers web developers proficient in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, etc.
2. The cost is much higher for building a new website from scratch by expert web designers as compared to the Standard CMS Web Platform.
3. A comparatively longer time is required to complete and it is usually difficult to manage.
4. Third-party libraries and plugins and necessary codes may be used only as per customer’s requirement.
5. It develops a personalized integration system to connect the data and communication for third-party integration.
6. If you need to change the developer, then you can face problems with a new developer as he/she might not be proficient in reading codes written by someone else.

The choice between CMS platform and custom web development services depends on many factors. However, the bottom line is that you need a cost-effective solution to save your time & money and for this, the CMS platform is the best option.

Now the question arises which CMS platform one should you choose? Before answering this, first, you need to know the key features in any CMS as listed below:

• Easy to use and edit contents efficiently.
• Flexibility in Data movement.
• Availability of Extensions and Addons.
• Third-Party Data Integration & Community Support.
• Affordable cost as per needs.

The following are the Top 5 CMS Platforms. You can easily grab the features and pricing strategy of each platform for selection in the table shown next.

1. WordPress
2. Shopify
3. Joomla
4. Drupal
5. Wix

CMS Platform	Pros	Cons	Costs
1.     WordPress	§  Availability of thousands of themes & plugins (free & paid). §  Offers search engine optimization to create SEO-friendly URLs. §  You can download your content in XML format to move in a different system in the future, whenever needed.	§  Need to set up a hosting and domain name, thus security and backups is user’sresponsibility. §  The user may get perplexed because of overloaded features.	§  WordPress is free for starters. However, you have to pay for packages like personal, premium, business and eCommerce plans. The cost ranges from $4 to $45.
2.     Shopify	§  Provides integrated solution for accepting payments through credit/debit cards including PayPal. §  Several themes and extensions are available. You can buy third-party Shopify apps that allows you all sorts of features. §  24/7 support through live chat, email, phone, and even Twitter is available.	§  Due to addition of third-party apps, cost can go on the higher side. §  Shopify’s apps are quite limited as compared to WordPress’s plugins.	§  The cheapest plan is $29/month. The expensive one is $299/month which includes more features. However, you can have a discount for paying a yearly package.
3.     Joomla	§  Good choice for building complicated business website. §  Easy to edit your web contents. §  Can used to run an e-commerce store as required extension is available.	§  Bit complex and may need to hire a developer as per your needs. §  Options are available for additional extensions. §  Some compatibility issues might happen if different extensions and modules are used.	§  Joomla is free. You will bear the cost for domain name and  web hosting server account as stated above for WordPress. §  Cost can go higher for paying additional extensions and services for web developer.
4.     Drupal	§  Easy to incorporate the web content as plenty of options for the custom contents are available. §  Offers lots of different modules that you can add to your site. §  Community support option is available. §  You can create new roles and specify their authorizations.	§  Not a beginners-friendly as WordPress. §  Difficult to change appearance of your site or adding extras.	§  Drupal is free. However, you will incur cost for domain name and  web hosting server account as stated above for WordPress.
5.   Wix	§  Easy to create and edit pages due to Drag and Drop interface. §  Variety of pre-made templates you can choose and looks great on mobiles and computers. §  From Wix App Market, you can add lots of apps to your site.	§  Not possible to change a selected Wix template to a different one. §  E-Commerce cannot be run on Wix unless you upgrade to a paid plan. §  Not allowed to download your data and export it.	§  You can use Wix for free, if Wix-branded domain name and ads running on your site is acceptable to you. §  The paid plans start from $4.50 per month (paid upfront annually) and go up to $24.50/month or more.

Conclusion

For small business website, custom development is often not required. As discussed, custom development takes longer time, is expensive and difficult to manage. Conversely, CMS websites are quick to install and can be customized as needed. Unless the requirements call for it, you only need to opt a good CMS platform to get your website built.