To qualify as an exceptional content management system, a platform should incorporate behind-the-scenes content management applications (CMA) using which users can update their website. Further, the platform should have a front-facing content delivery application (CDA) that copies the data entered. It should also send the data to the server for updating the website.

WordPress does both! Its CMA is used to create content for websites and blogs. Then, its CDA takes the data and converts it into a perfect web page or blog post that’s visible to the users. All this can be done without the help of a professional web designer, developer or webmaster.

If you run an enterprise-level business, you need an enterprise CMS like WordPress that can meet all your business needs.

There’s no doubt that WordPress, a platform that powers over 75 million websites, is an ideal enterprise CMS. WordPress offers several features and its hosting options are even more enticing to enterprises. No wonder, an increasing number of businesses find it beneficial to migrate to WordPress from Sitecore, Drupal, Joomla and other CMS.
In this post, we will throw light on why WordPress scores high as an enterprise-grade CMS.

Features of an Enterprise-Grade CMS and How WordPress Scores

All businesses need a content management system that can help them create, share and update content. However, these needs differ for SMBs and firms with an enterprise-sized entity.

For instance, the capabilities and the sheer scale will be different. A small business operating in one location may not require multi-site, multi-language CMS like a full-sized enterprise. Similarly, an enterprise would require a CMS that can reach customers across the globe at any time and on any device.

Hence, having an enterprise-grade CMS is a must. Let’s understand the features of an enterprise CMS vis-a-vis how WordPress performs.

1. Extensive Content Capabilities

Enterprise-grade CMS should be built with the content editor in mind. Content templates usually help content creators create an efficient workflow. They also analyze what’s written, create meta descriptions and recommend categories and tags automatically.

Does WordPress offer extensive content capabilities? Yes! WordPress offers a user-friendly content editor and a seamless experience for the end-user. The best-in-class content editing experience has a profound impact on the quality of content published.

For instance, WordPress’s Gutenberg Project offers a range of innovative features to empower content creators and help webmasters make informed decisions regarding the content layout, SEO and user experience.

Though WordPress doesn’t incorporate pre-made content templates you can surely create templates or add plugins to streamline your workflow. The templates created will appear in the drop-down list in the attributes panel for use.

2. Headless Content Management

In this modern world, enterprises are constantly under the pressure of weaving their brand through a myriad of innovative digital experiences. As new technologies emerge and customer expectations rise, businesses will have no choice but to support omnichannel brand experiences across a variety of devices and platforms.

Firms need complex distribution channels (like virtual reality, wearable devices and the internet of things), and going headless can help them develop applications for these devices by deploying APIs.

Hence, enterprise websites need to be faster and more scalable than before, offering engaging, personalized and intelligent end-to-end experiences to users. For this reason, enterprises need a CMS that can store the frontend content and allow businesses to deliver content efficiently on the channels their customers use.

WordPress provides Representational State Transfer (REST) APIs (also known as RESTful API) as a headless solution that allows developers to deploy content through the CMS platform using different technology channels. So, you can put your content into a database and it then flows into a range of applications through the RESTful API. The result – content that looks seamless and perfect on tablets, computers, mobiles, and various apps.

The best part about WordPress is that it does integration well. Integrating applications and APIs into WordPress isn’t demanding. With a plethora of plugins available for the purpose, enterprises using critical applications to run business operations can easily work with WordPress.

3. Multisite Management

In the modern world, most enterprises have multiple websites for each of their brands or as per locations and product lines. These enterprises need to manage each of these websites. For instance, they have to ensure consistent communication and brand messaging and maintain compliance standards.

This is where multisite management helps. It allows businesses to build, view and edit websites from a single interface. Thus, businesses can control and reuse content across multiple sites while ensuring efficient content creation.

Here are a few scenarios where a multisite network makes sense.

• A business website that has multiple websites as per products, categories, locations and branches
• A magazine website having multiple sections managed by different teams
• A government or non-profit website that has different departments, locations and regions
• A network of blogs running on multiple subdomains
• Schools, colleges or other educational institutions allowing students to create their blogs on the institution server

WordPress Multisite allows web developers to manage multiple websites on a server using the same WP installation. The enterprise-grade CMS comes with an in-built capability to create several websites that can be managed from one dashboard, username and password.

So, as an administrator, you can easily manage multiple sites with each website having its admins. The admins will have the capabilities to manage their websites. Moreover, you can install plugins/ themes and activate them for various websites with one download. Finally, WordPress Multisite makes it easy for developers to manage updates. All you need to do is update your WordPress, plugins or themes on one ‘master’ install.

Tools like InfiniteWP or iThemes Sync make it easy for administrators to manage multiple websites under one roof without having to switch between websites.

4. Multi-Tenancy

Whether large or small-sized, all enterprises constantly require guaranteed uptime and prompt security patches. Moreover, they need a CMS that allows the system administrators to manage multiple clients in one place.

With multi-tenancy, the CMS can streamline ongoing maintenance and upgrades simultaneously for all clients. Because these updates are simultaneous there’s only one version of the software, leading to quick response times and improved service.

Just like multisite, WordPress supports multi-tenancy. It’s not as straightforward to set it, yet it’s possible to leverage its multi-tenancy advantages.

5. Detailed Analytics Tools

Website analytics shows webmasters how the site visitors behave on the website. It points out information, such as the age, gender, location and other details of the visitors and how they landed on the website. Further, site owners gain access to other important marketing data that feeds critical business decisions.

For instance, once a content marketer gets to know the most popular content on the site, they can create similar content to boost traffic and user experience. This can go a long way in improving one’s credibility and conversions.

Hence, an enterprise-level CMS should be able to integrate with analytics tools like Google Analytics. It shows the details on the CMS dashboard, allowing marketers to come up with data-centric insights that drive ROI in their enterprises.

WordPress offers a sea of plugins like MonsterInsights and ExactMetric that add integrations for several analytics tools. A majority of these plugins are developed by the community.

6. Enterprise-Level Security

Regardless of their nature, security breaches can be devastating for all organizations. The costs associated with such breaches can eat into the bottom line of the firm, putting them out of business for several years. The 2020 Cost of a Data Breach Report points out that the global total cost of a data breach averaged $3.86 million in 2020 and a majority of these breaches were caused by malicious attacks.

Hence, an enterprise CMS should be secure enough to keep the organization’s sensitive data and customer information safe. The enterprise-level CMS platform should put security first and offer the confidence that the information, whether of internal and external users, is protected. Moreover, it should have the capacity to patch the vulnerabilities as and when they occur.

Since WordPress powers 39.5% of the web, it’s natural for hackers to target WordPress-based sites. But this also means that WordPress is the most vetted and tested CMS with a secure core. Moreover, WordPress has several security plugins to protect websites.

For instance, plugins like Sucuri, iThemes Security Pro and Jetpack Security among others can offer brute force security protection and more.

7. Unlimited Scalability

For enterprise applications, a CMS must be scalable on a global level. A scalable infrastructure is about effectively handling variables and unknowns which is quite common when running large enterprise-level websites. In such cases, a consistent and scalable platform is critical.

WordPress is a great platform for enterprises of all sizes as it’s extremely scalable and can serve thousands of users logged in at a time. Moreover, the wide variety of performance-enhancing plugins along with its elastic architecture make WordPress the most scalable platform available to site owners today.

Being open-source, WordPress allows enterprises to make decisions at their own pace. Further, they can respond to market trends and manage issues with agility, without having to depend on any vendor.

For instance, it takes care of the updates and management, including all the security features required to run a website. Further, WordPress is available in more than 100 languages, allowing webmasters to create multilingual sites and tailor content for global visitors.

Hence, by choosing WordPress as your enterprise-grade CMS you can rest easy knowing that your website will perform seamlessly regardless of the traffic strain and the location of the visitors.

8. Multi-Tiered Access Privileges

Large organizations often need multiple tiers of access privileges for specific tasks. In such cases, the enterprise-grade CMS should allow admins to specify which tasks each user is permitted to perform.

Also, it should mention the types of content and the areas these users can work. Multi-tiered access privileges are critical for industries like healthcare and finance that have strict regulations and compliance requirements are high.

WordPress offers default roles for administrators, authors, content editors and other tasks. Permissions are based on specific tasks and functions.

9. Longevity

When investing in an enterprise-grade CMS it’s critical to keep longevity in mind. You surely need a CMS that’s here to stay and whose core team is actively involved in maintaining and improving the platform.

Choosing a viable and modern enterprise-level framework like WordPress can save you a lot of headaches in the future. The CMS is an ideal choice for enterprise businesses as its team is committed to backward compatibility and modern development.

Further, WordPress has a dedicated community that’s constantly contributing to its maintenance and development. Hence, WordPress is a wise choice for forward-thinking business owners.

10. High-Level Technical Support

One critical aspect of every enterprise-grade CMS that shouldn’t be ignored is the presence of a robust technical support team. This is critical as users rely on such support when anything goes wrong. No organization can afford downtime or poor user experience.

Owing to its large community, WordPress has extensive online support forums and resources that help users find solutions to routine issues. Beyond community support, it also offers high-level professional support in the form of a 24/7 tech team that can fix issues and get you back to business in no time.

Where Does WordPress Shine (Besides the Above-Mentioned Features!)?

Search engine optimization is a critical aspect of an enterprise’s marketing efforts. SEO-friendly content can help you get to the top of your search marketing game. An ideal enterprise CMS helps businesses stay on the top of the search engine algorithms.

Websites built on WordPress consistently rank high in the SERPs as the CMS has easy-to-use tools that help businesses optimize their brand content. Plugins like Yoast SEO analyze content in real-time, carry out keyword research and focus on other SEO essentials to ensure that the enterprise performs well in the SERPs.

Summing Up

When it comes to performing as an enterprise-grade CMS, WordPress has undeniable credibility. For nearly 18 years, WordPress has been the most popular CMS on this planet with a vast ecosystem of developers, designers and WordPress-specialized agencies.

It started as a mere blogging platform but now is growing and evolving to be the first choice when it comes to an enterprise-grade CMS. WordPress along with WordPress hosting is the top choice among businesses looking to scale for years to come.

With its exceptional user experience, features and community support WordPress is here to stay! We hope the reasons shared above have convinced you about its role as an enterprise-level CMS.