A Blog or A Content Management System – Which Platform Is Best For Your Website?
In the blogging world, getting your voice heard is best achieved by choosing the right type of software and/or web application for your needs. There are hundreds of products to choose from. So let’s take a look.
There are two many types of applications that are used for blogging: blog software and Content Management Systems (CMS). The main difference is that a CMS is much more robust than blog applications. CMS is more about developing a full site and web prescence in which a blog is a component of the whole.
If your goal is to simply publish day-to-day content on the ‘Net, a blog is what you need. A blog is easy to set up and maintain while giving even a beginner all the tools needed to generate a web presence.
With incredible web applications like “”Wordpress” and “Typepad”, someone who knows very little about computers or the Internet can be up and running in no time. Also, check out Google’s Blogger, as it is one of the best free blogging services. WordPress is arguably the most popular of the blogging platforms, and is available to run from your own server or web provider, or directly from the web. WordPress features the most support, the most design templates, is highly configurable, and it is free.
For those who want a full blown suite of web applications, the content management system can’t be beat. The typical CMS allows everything the average blog can do and much more. A CMS has traditional Date/Time blog entries & creation of static web page that blogs like WordPress offer. Joomla and Drupal (two of the most popular CMS platforms) offer scores of add-on widgets that go far beyond what a blog can offer.
The Robust nature of the CMS allows large companies and organizations to use them as their entire web site. Many content management systems allow users to create blogs and web pages even add pictures, music and video. MySpace, Facebook, Friendster and other social networks are run on extremely robust content management systems backed with industrial sized databases.
Along with Drupal and Joomla, Expression Engine is another, more robust CMS choice. One thing that anyone choosing a CMS platform over a blog platform needs to consider is a CMS system will come with a steeper learning curve and needs more maintenance and design skills. Making big changes to the platform also may require PHP and SQL skills.
So, in making your choice, if you only need day-to-day online journals with no frills, a normal blog platform will be excellent. For those with robust needs that will likely expand, a CMS is much better (but be prepared to learn the technology at least a little).