One of the most important decisions your company will make is choosing the right content management system (CMS) for your website. Over a decade ago when it was first released, Drupal 7 was a popular CMS for large organizations. But now with news that Drupal 7 is expected to no longer be supported, many businesses are reconsidering their CMS choice.
Is your website on Drupal? It might be time to switch to WordPress. Compared to Drupal, WordPress allows you to manage your website more efficiently and create a better experience for website visitors.
Drupal 7’s end-of-life (EOL) is expected to be November 1, 2023. At that time, businesses with websites operating on Drupal 7 will lose support from the Drupal developer community. They must soon commit to a complete website rebuild.
Why? There are a few reasons, including:
Security: Drupal 7 will no longer receive security updates or bug fixes, making your website vulnerable to attacks from hackers. You need the latest security features to protect your website from threats.
Performance: Drupal 7 is built on outdated technology that is not designed to handle the demands of modern websites. It can be slow and unresponsive, irritating those who visit the website.
Features & functionality: Drupal 7 is missing many of the features and functionality that are available in modern CMSs. This can limit your ability to create a dynamic, engaging website.
Organizations ultimately have a choice to make:
Either move is a big decision. But if your business needs to move off Drupal 7, now is a great time to migrate to WordPress—and refresh your web experience.
WordPress continues to be the world’s leading CMS, powering millions of websites around the globe. The platform is used on 43% of all websites with a known CMS. This gives it an impressive ~64% CMS market share.
By comparison, Drupal is used on only 1.2% of websites, equaling a mere 1.8% market share. Drupal has a rather complex user interface and a steep learning curve, which may explain the low adoption.
Other popular CMSs being used in 2023 are Shopify and Joomla, as well as low/no code simplistic website builders like Squarespace and Wix. While these platforms are suitable for small-medium sized businesses, large enterprises need more from their website CMS.
Why switch from Drupal to WordPress? That’s the question businesses are asking themselves as Drupal 7 prepares for EOL. Here are some of the reasons organizations are changing their website CMS:
Ease of use: WordPress is known for its user-friendly interface, which makes it easy for anyone to manage the website, even those who are not tech-savvy. Drupal, on the other hand, can be more complex and may require more advanced technical skills to use it effectively.
Greater flexibility: WordPress has a huge ecosystem of plugins, themes, and support resources available. This can make it easier to customize your website so it’s exactly what you and your customers need. Drupal does not have as many options for customization.
Speed & SEO: WordPress is built on modern technology that’s optimized for speed and performance. This can make your website load faster and improve the user experience. It can even help you rank higher in search engine results. Drupal can be slower and less efficient, negatively impacting your website’s performance.
By making the switch to WordPress, your organization can enjoy the benefits of a user-friendly CMS, increased flexibility, and improved SEO.
Upgrading from Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 or another CMS such as WordPress is essential for the security, performance, and functionality of your website. But migrating from one CMS to another is not a simple process.
It can feel overwhelming to export and import all your content, install plugins, and configure settings, redirect old URLs, and test all the links and website functionality so you’re confident everything works as it should.
However, the end results are well worth it, as WordPress offers several benefits over Drupal.
If you’re still using Drupal, it’s time to start thinking about making the switch! tbk can help you migrate your website from Drupal to WordPress.