Concrete5 vs. WordPress – Comparison

26 July 2019 Daria

Concrete5 vs. WordPress - general information on both
Concrete5 vs. WordPress - features
Concrete5 vs. WordPress - design
Concrete5 vs. WordPress - usability
Concrete5 vs. WordPress - SEO
Concrete5 vs. WordPress - plugins
Concrete5 vs. WordPress - security
Concrete5 vs. WordPress - target audience
Concrete5 vs. WordPress - comparison table

Concrete5 and WordPress are the two strongest CMS platforms used to create different types of sites. We suggest you consider the differences between Concrete5 and WordPress. Comparison of the two platforms may help you choose the best one and start implementing projects.

Concrete5 vs. WordPress - general information on both

Concrete5

Concrete5 is an open source CMS. It is not yet very common, but is rapidly gaining momentum. Concrete began its history in 2003. In 2008, version 5 of Concrete was released, after which Concrete was renamed Concrete5 and became the platform under the MIT license.

This CMS allows people involved in website development to easily manage the content, including the structure of the site. The most important goal of Concrete5 has always been the ability to easily create and manage the site. On the chosen platform it is possible to implement:

blogs, internet magazines, and newspapers
e-commerce websites
government websites
portals
social networks
church and religious group websites
personal or family home pages
any school, college, or university website

WordPress

WordPress is a powerful open source platform for personal blogging, website, or web application. It contains an excellent set of features to make the process of creating online publications as simple and convenient as possible. WordPress is designed for installation on your own web-server, or on the server of your host, which provides full control over the blog. It also means that you can install WordPress on a regular computer or deploy it on the internet.

The first version of WordPress was released in early 2003. At the moment WordPress occupies a leading position not only among other CMS, but also in the field of website development. More than a third of all websites use WordPress. If you look at content management systems (CMS), then this figure is higher. It is about 60% of all platforms.

With WordPress you can create the following:

online e-commerce shop
forum
coupon and discount site
card catalogue
something like Twitter
vacancy site
ticket system
reservation system
user group system
notice board
analogue of YouTube or Quore
shortcuts
direct marketing/landings

In other words, with the help of these CMS you can create any kind of site. The main thing is to want to put your ideas into practice!

Concrete5 vs. WordPress - features

The following features are available by installing SEO.

Concrete5

intuitive editing (Editor simplifies the setup of your site exactly as you want)
optimized and adaptive (the site will look great on any device. The latest HTML, CSS and JavaScript methods are used)
modular building and templates (the desired appearance can be created using the style editor)
integrated reporting (All reporting is in one interface)
comments (comment system supports streaming comments)
content process (the ability to create private web pages that only some participants can evaluate)
SEO is enabled
security (new technologies to protect confidential information)
support (providing assistance in any questions)
marketing tools (creating surveys and forms with built-in modules)
add-ons (possibility to install extensions and templates directly in the control panel)

WordPress

simplicity (downloads quickly and all settings are made as easy as possible)
flexibility (creation of any kind of site with the help of this CMS)
search engine (optimized)
statistical data (helps site owners to monitor internet resources, and improve if it is necessary)
commenting (built-in comments that you can manage)
content process (the ability to create private web pages that only some participants can evaluate)
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is enabled
security (constant checks and use of modern programs to prevent hacking)
support (24/7 support, and answers to questions)
languages (CMS is available in more than 70 languages)
add-ons (a large number of plugins, themes, and templates that can be downloaded free of charge)

Concrete5 vs. WordPress - design

Of course, there are many similarities between WordPress and Concrete5. For example, you can easily and quickly set up themes and available templates. You can also see similarities in widgets. Both CMSs provide a large number of widgets.

Concrete5

Initially, a standard Elemental theme is available in Concrete5. It can be easily customized for any website. But there are other options for the case if the theme does not fit. Of course, Concrete5 does not have as many themes as WordPress, but you can find free layouts for Concrete5 on the internet. You can also download directly through the official website Concrete5, or connect to the marketplace and download through the administrator. The CMS itself has many features that allow you to work with the external views of your page. For example, the Design tab allows you to add color, background image, indents, and borders to the selected module. The feature is also considered the ability to use the already created style for other modules.

WordPress

WordPress uses templates to generate pages. You can manage them and edit templates using the Template Editor Tools (or Template Tags). WordPress also includes editing files. This means that you can edit the template and all related files directly in your browser. You can also create, or use, free built-in themes. In addition, there are a lot of WordPress-related themes on the Internet that differ from each other. Moreover, there are many paid themes available. Their price is small, but will definitely fit your goals. You cannot doubt the originality and features of your site. In the Plugins section you can find available extensions and download them. You need it, for example, for website design or for editing certain elements.

Concrete5 vs. WordPress - usability

Concrete5

Concrete5 is also an easy to use CMS. It has an intuitive user interface with a wide range of features for newcomers. Friendly URL, batch download, copying of materials, style settings for editing materials, and visual editor - this is only a small part of the functions that create usability. Another important item is the recovery of deleted items. This is a very important and useful thing. Just like in WordPress, plugins play an important role. They can be installed from the official website, or found on the internet. They open up a lot of possibilities and options for editing your sites.

WordPress

In the case of WordPress, where the interface is very user-friendly, there will be no problems with the installation. You can download it yourself. Built-in instructions and training materials will be needed at the initial stages. As standard, this system is limited by its functions. The flexibility of the system provides plugins, which are available in the administrative panel, or on other sites. These extensions provide security, help optimize the site, and add new features. Of course, the fact that the usability of the site depends on the design is not less important. And again, in this case there is some help from plugins. They provide adaptability, activation, and convenience of the themes.

Concrete5 vs. WordPress - SEO

Concrete5

Concrete5 is optimized for search engine optimization without any additional settings. In the SEO section, you can change the properties of several pages simultaneously. SEO tools can be used for many purposes. Here are some of them: viewing statistics, tracking code, search index, optimization, and other types of searches. A mass SEO page update is also available.

WordPress

WordPress contains a good set of add-ons to promote your business in search engines immediately after installation. You only need to make a few additional settings, but the benefits will be significant. Of course, WordPress has built-in basic functions for SEO, but it is better to use special plugins for SEO.

Concrete5 vs. WordPress - plugins

Concrete5

Plugins are used to extend the basic functions of Concrete5. They can be found on the official website of the developer in directories. Unfortunately, there are not many free extensions. Therefore, if you want to add useful features, you need to buy paid extensions. Or you can create your own module, as well as attract specialists to develop the module.

WordPress

One of the reasons for the popularity of WordPress is the presence of a large number of plugins. Plugins will help to make your site functional. They are sometimes even called the foundation of the site. You will in nearly every case find the plugin you need, but it will take time, because it is really difficult to find a suitable one among the huge number of beautiful plugins available. To do this, you can search the internet catalogs with the best plugins, always indicating the purpose of the store. For example, WordPress for e-commerce. For many modern and popular themes WordPress has already created an optimal package of plugins. The most frequently used plugins for WordPress include the following: WooCommerce, Yoast SEO, W3 Total Cache, Contact Form 7, and Broken Link Checker.

Concrete5 vs. WordPress - security

Concrete5

Of course, it is worth saying that Concrete5 is more secure against hacking and viruses. This is facilitated not by the strong popularity of the site, and the use of the latest security technologies by developers. Concrete5 is tested and supported on hackerone.com/concrete5. There is also a built-in security code, confirmation of registration by e-mail and compatibility with SSL.

WordPress

As it was said earlier, WordPress is one of the most popular CMS in the world, so WordPress is the most often hacked CMS. In addition to the security technologies used by WordPress developers, you can also secure your individual site. For example, you may use two-stage authentication, moving the site to secure hosting, constantly scanning WordPress for malware. It is also possible to protect the site with different plugins.

Concrete5 vs. WordPress - target audience

The basis for the promotion of any site is the knowledge of the target audience. The target audience is all users to whom WordPress and Concrete5 are specifically targeted. These include both large businessmen and ordinary people who create their own blogs, or just visit the sites. Both web-resources direct advertising to specific consumers. All visitors of WordPress and Concrete5 are divided into three groups. These are users oriented to getting the necessary information, users choosing the right product, and users oriented to purchase. Each CMS treats its clients responsibly, so they use statistics services, study comments and reviews, and use special programs to collect the data of interest. In this case, both web resources are responsible for their target audience. We believe that this is very important for their promotion and popularity.

But no matter how hard both CMSs try, WordPress still has a more active and larger target audience. The reason for this is the unrealistic popularity of the site.

Unfortunately, the main drawback of Concrete5 is that the CMS is still not able to form a permanent active user community. There are several groups of specialists involved in the development of the system, but this is clearly not enough to popularize Concrete5.