Is WordPress an Enterprise-level CMS?

WordPress is the world's top and most popular Content Management System (CMS), and the platform is used by about one-fourth of all websites across the globe. Additionally, WordPress is used for websites large and small--as it is highly adaptive to the needs of its users.

Is WordPress an enterprise-level CMS?

First, we should mention that the term "enterprise" has no shared or singular definition when it comes to content management solutions. The needs of enterprises vary according to their publishing needs, team structures, and infrastructure. With that being said...

WordPress has evolved to become a strong contender as an enterprise-level CMS. Yes, WordPress can be a powerful enterprise-level CMS. Below, we will outline the features and capabilities that make it suitable for enterprises.

Features that make WordPress great for enterprises

• Multi-site publishing
• Multiple authors and flexible user types, roles, and permissions
• Automatic system updates
• Extensibility
• Multilingual websites
• Powerful content publishing tools
• Full suite of SEO tools and capabilities
• Great user experience on the admin side (intuitive)
• Content publishing calendar with workflows (using Editflow)
• Massive developer support around the world -- no other system compares
• WordPress VIP - enterprise-level hosting and support
• Full Standards Compliance
• Centralized media management
• Own Your Data

What enterprises use WordPress?

WordPress can boast an impressive list of high-trafficked publishers that employ WordPress for their complex needs.  The list includes Forbes, CNN, NY Times, Mashable, TechCrunch, MTV, Wall Street Journal, and NASA.

Multilingual capabilities

WordPress is a Multilingual content management. WordPress is available in more than 70 languages. WordPress web designers can additionally access languages other than English for the development process. This feature can be incredibly important for multinational companies.

Powerful publishing tools

WordPress supports a number of highly valuable publishing features. You can create drafts, schedule publication, and look at your post revisions. Make your content public or private, and secure posts and pages with a password.

Is WordPress great for all enterprises?

No, WordPress is not a silver bullet that solves all the needs of enterprises. Each content management solution has strengths and weaknesses, and this includes WordPress too. For example, WordPress does not support the complex role management that Drupal contains. This does not mean that WordPress doesn't support role management, but some tools simply have greater strengths in that area, for example.

Powerful SEO capabilities

SEO has been a strong consideration since the early versions of WordPress. Features like pretty permalinks, auto-generated URL (from the title), META data control, integration with Pingomatic and highly valuable plugins, such as Yoast's SEO plugin, make WordPress a highly competent search marketing tool.

Mobile-friendliness?

Of course, WordPress is mobile-friendly front to back. You can even manage a WordPress website from your phone since the admin system is completely responsive. Developers have full control on how they build the frontend experience for WordPress websites--they are not locked into a single RWD framework--customization potential is maximized.

Multiple authors

WordPress was built to accommodate multiple authors – a crucial feature for any serious publication or enterprise-level website. You can extend the multi-author capabilities with a powerful and free Plugin called "Editflow" to add editorial workflow capabilities to extend the benefits of a multi-author environment.

Multi-site content management

WordPress can be easily set up to power a network of websites. Multi-site capabilities have become a native feature of WordPress, and with the introduction of multi-site capabilities, WordPress has truly become an enterprise-ready CMS. The multi-site capabilities allow for using sub-domains, sub-directories, and domains within the network. Multi-site features allow for central management of corporate, university or large organizations that have numerous business units but require centralized management.

User role management and permissions

A website can easily manage user access to tasks such as writing and editing posts, creating web pages, tagging, creating categories, moderating comments, managing plugins, managing themes, and managing other users, by assigning a specific role to each of the users. User and role management can also be extended through programming or plugins to achieve the right level of granularity for an enterprise.

Content publishing calendar with workflows

One of our favorite plugins is a tool called "Editflow," which provides professional editorial workflows, editorial calendars, role assignments, and story budget management. Editflow can be used for corporate websites just as easily as it can for web publications.

Media Management

WordPress has powerful media management features. First of all, media management and browsing are centralized within a media library. The content in the media library can be accessible to all content types--blog posts, pages, and even custom content types. WordPress also supports a fun, drag-and-drop system for importing media.

Application Framework

WordPress is, first and foremost, a platform for web developers. You can even use WordPress to build a web application. Under the hood, WordPress provides a lot of the features that your web application will require. These features include translations, user management, HTTP requests, databases, URL routing, and much, much more.

Security: Is WordPress secure?

Security in WordPress is taken very seriously. However, no system is inherently secure. There are often misconceptions about Drupal, WordPress or another system being inherently secure--this is just not true.

All content management systems, platforms, and server environments pose security risks. If basic security precautions aren't taken, the risks increase dramatically. Carelessly installing WordPress plugins, for instance, can cause a security risk. With many plugins, you do not know who built them or how they coded the plugins. We suggest reviewing the WordPress VIP plugin list for pre-approved plugins (https://vip.wordpress.com/plugins/). If basic security precautions are taken, WordPress can be a very secure platform on which to build websites.

Security tips to consider (not an exhaustive list)

• Limiting access - Don't give someone access unless they need it, and obey security rules.
• Trusted Sources - Don't install themes and plugins from sources that you don't explicitly trust. Build themes and functions in-house (or with a solid WordPress agency) on the WordPress platform to ensure scalability and reliability.
• Keep the system up-to-date.
• Use a secure hosting environment.
• Containment and backups - The hosting location is important, plus ensure you keep clones of the environment to safeguard against loss.

Learn more:

• Benefits of WordPress for enterprise websites
• Is WordPress good for nonprofits?
• WordPress myth: Large organizations don’t use WordPress