Best Content Management Systems (CMS) of 2020

a laptop and a cup of coffee

The past few years have seen a notable pivot toward content marketing. Strong content is the key to connecting with your target audience and developing a digital relationship. Using a quality content management system (CMS) can make websites more dynamic and streamline your content development process. While there are some notable big names, each year sees shifts in what the current best content management systems are.

WordPress

Unlesss you’ve been without the internet for the past decade, you’ve no doubt heard of WordPress. It’s one of the top content management systems every single year. This is due, in large part, to the fact that WordPress comes with a free option. Of course, you can use a domain service to secure your own site within the frame of WordPress’s backend. Both the free and paid options that WordPress offers are intuitive enough for new users to deploy a functional website in no time at all. However, many of the features, plugins, and add-ons are deep enough to allow for some truly remarkable customization.

Perhaps one of the best features of the WordPress CMS is the ability to integrate popular SEO programs. These can parse your content in real-time and assess how well you’ve optimized your text and webpages. These plugins can also provide suggestions for improvement and help you spot inconsistencies. If you leverage an SEO service alongside a tool like Grammarly, you’re going to be producing optimal content much more quickly and easily.

Magento

Magento has grown significantly over recent years. They hold over a fourth of the CMS market share and are favored by top-tier clients like Nike, Samsung, and Ford. Magento carries a suite of promotional and marketing tools. These tools are industry leaders in terms of flexibility and adaptability. Plus, Magento puts a particular focus on scalability. The CMS can manage multiple websites through one platform and allows for the integration of third-party applications so your customization options truly know no bounds.

Other key features that attract CMS initiates include Magento’s ability to integrate with platforms such as Google, eBay, and PayPal. Users also enjoy the one-step checkout functionality and the secure account controls which include the ability to modify orders on the fly. While its learning curve is a bit steeper than WordPress, Magento is still an industry favorite that continues to improve year after year. Plus, Magento offers demos so you can try before you buy.

Shopify

Want to make things easier on yourself? Need to get a website up and running within the hour? Shopify is a CMS platform that is most aligned with your goals. Shopify makes e-commerce a snap. Its intuitive interface allows you to add, modify, and remove products with little-to-no interruption to your digital storefront. Inventory tracking is similarly user-friendly. You can use the drag and drop functionality to reorder your inventory and classify it by metrics like weight, price, and tracking. With all of the classification and organization components available, you’re able to generate several variants of each and every product.

If you don’t want to navigate the frustrations and potential hangups of crafting your own shipping and distribution network, Shopify also integrates with third-party shipping platforms. One of the most popular is Fulfillment by Amazon which allows you to leverage one of the world’s largest shipping and distribution networks. While Shopify might not be as deep or feature-rich as some of its competitors, it can’t be beaten when it comes to overall ease of use.

Of course, these three CMS platforms aren’t the only ones on the market. There are still platforms like WooCommerce, Squarespace, and Wix to consider as well. However, weighing their strengths and weaknesses makes it apparent that WordPress, Magento, and Shopify are at the top of their respective games.