The top five content management systems of 2020, according to one site, are as follows; Wix, Kentico, Bolt, WordPress and HubSpot. They were ranked on a scale of 1/10, based on ease of use, support, pricing, and features, because determining the ‘best’ one is totally subjective, and depends on several different factors. Of course, the categories all received their own rankings, but the overall rank is what I’ll be focusing on in this assignment.
Starting with Wix, which received a solid 8/10, the reviewer left a detailed note describing both pros and cons. Starting with the pros; the price is fair for what you get, starting out between $13 and $23 per month, depending on the package. The site editor was described as intuitive and easy to use. And finally, Wix is the only CMS on the list that has animation capabilities. The cons, on the other hand, as listed as follows: Can’t switch templates after going live, which would present a problem after awhile. Changing things up is a good way to stay fresh, and stay interesting. The second con was interesting; slower page loading. I find that strange, because I had always considered internet provider and hardware more responsible for a factor like that, than the website itself. Finally, Wix does not have any built-in analytics, which could make running a business from it more difficult.
Kentico was next on the list. Overall, it ranked a 7.8/10, which is still reasonably high. The pros included extensive customization options, an intuitive interface, and excellent support. Being intuitive is a big seller for CMS’s, because part of the whole point of using one is to work around not knowing how to code, plus other tech-savvy skills. Things listed under the ‘could be better’ section included; high pricing, at almost $8k a year, that’s not cheap. At that price, pretty much the only customers Kentico receives are corporations and high-end business offices. The next con was the learning curve; Kentico offers a unique interface that is different compared to other CMS’s. Though, if it’s intuitive, getting a feel for it should theoretically not take too much time.
Next up, we had Bolt, with an overall score of 7.4/10. I had never heard of this one before, so I was curious to learn about it more. Described as ‘small but mighty’ by the reviewer, Bolt offers open sourced software and fast response times in the way of pros. As far as cons, it offers fewer features than other CMS’s, requires the need for knowledge in web development, and has fewer resources available (like plugins, mods, etc). It’s interesting to me that it still scored so high, despite seemingly not having as much to offer. That could do with the fact that, like WordPress, Bolt is free.
Fourth on the list was our very own WordPress, with another score of 8/10. It offers well-rounded pros, including the ‘forever free’ plan, plenty of options for customization, and online resources and forums. On the flipside, however, it does come with its’ own set of cons. Although I have never personally experienced this, the reviewer made note that the customer support could be better, though that could be subjective. Next up was the plug-ins that are only available via low-level plans. And finally, it has a single admin dashboard–which is not viable for a business that isn’t self-made and run.
Finally, the last was another CMS I hadn’t heard of. HubSpot came in at the lowest out of the five, with a 7.2/10 rating. With that being said, let’s start with the cons first for this one: the first being a required knowledge of HubL over regular coding (the fact that it requires coding at all, being a CMS, makes it less desireable to the wider market). It has a small selection of templates, so not a lot of variety available, and a lack of site ownership. The pros, on the other hand, seem to balance the cons out pretty well HubSpot has built in analytics (good for businesses), built in marketing tools, is optimized for mobile devices, and has integrated management. So, even if you aren’t the site owner, there is still some flexibility for managing the site–sort of like a passenger-seat driver, almost.
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