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bmckeiver

One of the most important things that people consider when looking at content management systems (CMS) is their viability in the SEO market. In fact, it's becoming so important that people are sometimes afraid to choose a CMS on the basis that it may not be optimized enough for their needs. To help fend off the confusion, we've put together a list of what we feel are the best SEO Friendly CMS on the market today. This list is entirely focused on open source systems and does not focus on commercial products.
<h3>MODx</h3>
MODx is arguably one of the best SEO focused CMS out there. What makes it different is that you do not need to make theme alterations to make a site perform well, nor do you require plugins. It's summed up best by the MODx team and holds true:
<blockquote>
MODX allows you to control 100% of what is output with virtually no effort. Unlike other systems that require learning complex theming engines, in MODX you work with HTML and as many custom variables for the site you need. It takes minutes to build a site that performs amazingly well in Search Engines and because site builders are in total control and can change the output at any time, making tweaks is just a few clicks away.
</blockquote>
MODx continues to get better and better with each new version that's released and it's no surprise it's gaining so much popularity. There is definitely a bit of a learning curve to get started but it's a great system all around.
We recently reviewed it (<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/modx-review/">MODx Review</a>) for those who want a quick look at this powerful CMS.
Concrete5
Concrete5 is a relative newcomer to the CMS space but has become increasingly popular based on it's ease of use and functionality. Concrete5 sites perform quite well in the search engines and pages can be edited to include all of the necessary metadata by default. Couple this with nice clean URLs and caching and you've got yourself a good setup for a successful site.
Check out our <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/concrete5-review/">Concrete5 review</a> for more info on this great system.
Joomla
In previous versions of Joomla (1.5 and lower) I would have excluded them completely but since 1.6 has come out, they have turned things around and introduced a ton of SEO improvements. Search engine friendly URLs, custom meta data per page (section, article, etc) have made Joomla a force to be reckoned with. It also goes without saying that it must perform well otherwise their main site wouldn't have a page rank of 10/10 would it?
Check out our recent <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/joomla-review/">Joomla Review</a> for more information on this popular CMS.
WordPress
There is an incredible number of plugins that can be used to extend WordPress with regards to SEO. It's only fourth on the list because the other systems above it include these functions natively and do not require plugins. With the right selection of plugins and proper permalinks selected, WordPress is a true powerhouse when it comes to SEO.
Website: <a href="http://www.wordpress.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WordPress</a>
Drupal
Drupal, like WordPress, relies heavily on plugins (known as modules in this instance) to enable SEO functionality at its fullest. Drupal sites typically perform quite well by default but with the addition of the right modules, it too becomes a powerhouse.
Read our <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/drupal-review/">Drupal Review</a> to learn more.
Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know your favorites and experiences in the comments below. We updated this article on 4/1/2011 as it had become rather outdated so please, do share your thoughts.

The Top 10 Best SEO Friendly CMS

mike-johnston

It can be a difficult decision to switch from some of the web based solutions that are offered by major industry players such as blogger et al. However, there is a major advantage to running your own blog software.. customization.
No hosted solution can offer you the flexibility of simply getting your own cheap (or free) web host and creating your own blog.
Some of the major players in this industry are: WordPress, B2Evolution and ExpressionEngine but there are plenty of other lesser known but just as solid solutions available as well. Browse our list here to see the full choice (there are likely more, we simply haven't found them yet.. )
Let's run over some of the main features most common when people are looking for a blog solution.
<ol>
<li>SEO: If you aren't familiar with this term yet, you will be. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and basically means that the software offers a way to optimize the way URLs, Content and Links are viewed in order to give you the best possible exposure when being spidered by a search engine web crawler. For a full explanation of what SEO is, there is an excellent article here: <a href="http://www.seomoz.org/article/bg1">http://www.seomoz.org/article/bg1</a>.</li>
<li>WYSIWYG EDITOR: Wysiwyg stands for ‘What You See is What You Get' and basically means that as you are typing your article or blog post, you are able to format and use the same type of options you would have available in your favourite word processor.. and that what you see as you type, is how the text will look once published. There are several commonly used WYSIWYG editors used by most blog platforms. The top two are TinyMCE and FCKEditor.</li>
<li>IMAGE Handling: By default, most wysiwyg editors only offer you the ability to add images via url and not to upload directly from your computer (which is a pain imho). One of the things you need to be conscious of is whether the blog platform you are choosing offers image uploads or whether it's going to be more difficult to add an image to a post.</li>
<li>THEMES: Not everyone is a designer, I will be the first to admit that without a base theme to start from, I have the imagination of a piece of granite… so for myself and most users, it's important that the Blog software is either a) easy to theme or b) offers a good selection of starter themes to choose from.</li>
<li>EXPANDABILITY: Depending on what you want to do with your blog, you will likely want the option to take advantage of some of the services offered on the web for bloggers to share their posts with the world and/or to monetize the blog. In order to be able to do this, you need to be able to either code well in HTML/PHP or be able to choose a platform that has addon modules to help you do this quickly and easily.</li>
</ol>
Now that we've covered the basics (and I'm sure there is more.. this is just designed to be a starting point)… we will now look at some of the major CMS platforms available and what they have to offer.
THE PLAYERS
<ol>
<li><a href="http://wordpress.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WordPress</a> – Designed initially as a simple blog platform, this software has exploded into somewhat of a cult classic in the world of blog software. WordPress offers more themes, modules, options and expandability than any other blog platform released to date. The best part? It's still extremely easy to use and very very simple to install. WordPress meets all of the above and more but it's not for everyone. Some may simply not find the interface appealing and others may simply want to try something different.</li>
<li><a href="http://expressionengine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ExpressionEngine</a> – Another very good cms solution with a massive list of features. It doesn't match WordPress as far as available themes and modules but it has alot of the key options out of the box without the need to installing anything additionally.</li>
<li><a href="http://movabletype.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MovableType</a> – MovableType is a strong competitor of WordPress and only recently went Opensource when it became apparent that WordPress was succeeding quite well by going this route. MovableType main downfall in my eyes is it's difficulty to install. It does, however, have very good support, nice themes and a good selection of modules.</li>
<li><a href="http://b2evolution.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">B2Evolution</a> – One of the few that offers out of the box ability to run multiple blogs from a single installation. Updated frequently and with a fair amount of themes and modules, B2Evolution is a strong up and coming blog platform.</li>
</ol>
There are plenty of other platforms out there as well, I couldn't possibly cover them all in one article.
You'll want to explore the choices available and find out which one suits what you need. The only way to truly do so is to try them out. Most of the sites offer demos which you can try. You will also find future reviews here on this site as well.

5 Tips to help you Choose your Blog Software

Choosing a CMS can be an arduous and lengthy task. How do you choose from a list of several hundred (or potentially more) software packages to find the one that best suits your needs? We will discuss the best steps to take in order to help you make an educated decision.
Step 1. Determine the purpose of the CMS and what you hope to gain from it.
Not all CMS platforms are the same, there are some that are geared towards publishers, some are geared towards personal sites and others are corporate focused. Before you can make a good decision you need to know what you want it for. Do you plan to use the CMS for blogging but with some added functionality? Or would you prefer to have something that you can publish news about a topic on? Alternatively, you can also use a CMS to build a social network or for a corporate intranet. They have a lot of uses and step 1 is to narrow down what yours will be.
Step 2. Determine what functionality you require from the CMS.
Some CMS platforms have limited plugins and can only be extended to a certain extent, while others have huge number of plugins but steeper learning curves. You need to think about what kind of functionality you want on your CMS.
To help you decide, here’s a list of typical features of some of the more mainstream CMS platforms:
Tag Clouds – allows you to have a batch of words a user can click on to search your site. See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_cloud" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a> for an example.
Forums – This is a common one. Ensure the CMS you are considering has this functionality if you require it. There are alot of different ways these can be added. They can either be built into the CMS, attached to the CMS via a plugin or completely separate. Make sure you investigate which method you prefer as this can be a large frustration to find out you can’t add one after the fact.
Polls – Do you want to be able to post polls that allow your users to vote on specific issues. If so, you’ll need this function.
Ratings – If you want to be able to rate your content, then you’ll need to ensure the CMS you are looking at has some method of doing so, either with a plugin or a tag or snippet.
Captcha – This is a challenge response system that is designed to prevent spam from getting into your comments or any other area that allows user input.
Wysiwyg Editor – This one gets most people. This stands for What You See Is What You Get. Essentially this means that the CMS has the ability to allow you to enter text or pictures in a word processor kind of interface (similar to microsoft word or openoffice).
Gallery – The ability to add photos, video, etc to your site.
Step 3. Will the CMS be compatible with your host?
Depending on the host you are using, you will need to know what they support. There are PHP based CMS platforms and there are Java, C#, Ruby Rails and other CMS. You also will need to know which database type your host supports, whether it be MYSQL, Oracle, etc. Don’t forget to compare version numbers as well. For instance, a PHP5 based CMS will not necessarily work on a PHP4 host.
Step 4. How themable is the CMS in question?
Depending on your skill level, you may want to find a CMS that is easy to theme, unless of course you are a designer. Check google for “drupal themes” or “joomla themes” for example if you are considering these two and ensure that you can find something you can make work for your needs.
Step 5. (Getting tired yet?) How active is the CMS' Community?
This one is important. Ensure that the CMS you are choosing has an active user community and/or decent support. Alot of opensource CMS platforms have forums and the easiest way to find out whether they are active or not is to see how many new posts there have been recently and whether they have had helpful replies. Don’t always expect support from the CMS developers, most of the time they are far too busy or just simply not available as lots of them do the development for free.
This is just a start, we could write for days.. and perhaps we will at a later date.
Thoughts? Share them below.

5 Tips to help you choose a CMS

Today we are going to present our list of the top 5 content management systems for dummies. The intent is to provide options that may be suitable for people with little to no experience with web development.
Without delay, let us present… Top 5 CMS Choices for the Complete Beginner.
#1 – <a href="http://www.concrete5.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Concrete5</a>
Concrete5 is an incredible system. It's refreshingly simple and easy to use yet powerful. What we liked the most was the ability to get straight to the “meat” of editing without ever having to look at a line of code. The C5 team doesn't just think outside the box, they think outside the constraints of what is possible and have come up with an amazing CMS. We can't wait to see what happens when people realize the potential this CMS has.
#2 – <a href="http://www.jaws-project.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jaws</a>
Have you heard of Jaws? Expect this little CMS to bite a good chunk out of the easy to use side of the industry. Jaws is a very interesting Ajaxified CMS that offers an immensely simple user interface with easy to use gadgets that quite simply rocks. What's also appealing about Jaws is that it's just fun to use.. something we don't see very often.
#3 –<a href="http://start.websitebaker2.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Website Baker</a>
You want something easy to use but with some horsepower under the hood, website baker is bringing it. With development of version 3 underway at this writing, we can't wait to see what they come up with as our understanding is that it's a complete rewrite from scratch.. a new recipe so to speak. In the meantime though, version 2 remains stalwart as one heck of a great choice for new users everywhere.
#4 – <a href="http://wordpress.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WordPress</a>
You can't write a list like this and exclude WordPress. Not only is it one of the most popular blog turned content management systems in the world today, it's also one of the easiest to use. Haven't tried it? You should.. it's powerful and well backed. With an unrivaled community, amazing plugins and tons of templates.. you can't go wrong with WordPress.
#5 – <a href="http://www.getpixie.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pixie</a>
A new name in the world of content management systems, we recently introduced you to this svelt little CMS in October. Not only is it user friendly and fun to use, the interface is attractive and while new, it looks like it has tons of potential.
We're sure there are plenty of other CMS options we haven't covered in this article, so why not share? We'd love to hear what YOU think is the best choice for new users.
We're sure there are plenty of other CMS options we haven't covered in this article, so why not share? We'd love to hear what YOU think is the best choice for new users.

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Agentic AI for Agencies in 2026

The Top 10 Best SEO Friendly CMS

5 Tips to help you Choose your Blog Software

5 Tips to help you choose a CMS

Top 5 Content Management Systems for the Complete Beginner

Power your CMS on AWS