With the ever increasing numbers of people venturing into the online marketing world, the need for open source web developing software has increased accordingly. Web design companies and web designers have come out in the open to support development of such software which is instrumental in ensuring the continued success of online marketing businesses. Both Joomla and WordPress are example of these software and they are established applications used in web design by millions of online marketers around the globe. They are also the most popular web design software with established groups and communities of users on the internet. In fact, there are numerous blogs and quality forums online dedicated to the usage of both Joomla and WordPress. Even though there are other web design applications available such as Drupal and Typo 3, the popularity of these applications has been far exceeded by Joomla and Word Press. The flexibility offered by these two applications enables web designers and professionals to be able to customize them according to the client’s specific needs. This article contrasts Joomla and WordPress.

The first point of contrast is in usability where WordPress does better than Joomla from the perspective of both a developer and an end user. WordPress is simple and easy to learn and familiarize oneself with. Joomla on the other hand is more complicated but it offers more features and advanced functionality.  Versatility is another point of contrast where Word Press is more of blog software than Joomla which leans more towards advanced content management. WordPress will not disappoint in content publishing while Joomla contents are diversified and cater for every market and industry. WordPress would be good for someone setting up a website in a hurry while Joomla will be more appropriate in designing an advanced website.

WordPress can be credited for its search engine optimization advantages and pages built with it tend to rank higher in search engines.  Joomla on the other hand needs extra customization in order to rank high in search engines. In terms of scalability, Joomla takes the lead. It can be employed in designing small websites as well as to add complex functionality to a website. WordPress does well in publishing information but falls short in designing complicated websites. Joomla can be scaled as required but WordPress with its add-on features cannot compare to Joomla.

Joomla also ranks well in terms of integration. It can be integrated with other third party software applications with relative ease. It has a powerful API used to integrate with systems making Joomla websites easily integrated with other websites. When it comes to development of custom-made features, Joomla again takes the lead with its framework proving more suitable in custom-made features development. The add-on components on a Joomla website are more superior to those of WordPress.

WordPress has a simple and less bulky administration panel that is good for websites which major on publishing information. The panel options are limited to addition of new content, media or information updates. Joomla has a superior and fully customizable administration panel with powerful add-on features fit for any online activity.