Why Duda Is My Preferred CMS
Duda vs. WordPress, Wix, Squarespace & Webflow
by Shane Dougherty
April 25, 2023
What is a CMS?
CMS stands for Content Management System. This is a no-code approach to creating and maintaining websites.
A no-code platform like Duda is nice because you don't have to create websites from scratch. Now, if you have an IT wizard on your team, creating raw HTML & CSS files, selecting the right frontend framework, and handling the server side hosting are not too daunting. However, the problem with this scenario is that you can become overly reliant upon a single person to maintain your digital presence.
We’ve found that our clients are looking for a website builder that is easy to use and maintain.
Not all CMS’ are created equal.
There are different flavors of Content Management Systems. Some are more developer oriented, while others lean more heavily into the no-code side of things. Some are open source, while others are not. We'll dive into these issues later on.
Here are some of todays most popular CMS’:
- Duda (FYI, many Duda websites are private-labeled by web agencies)
- Wix
- WordPress
- Squarespace
- Webflow
I'm going to break down why I prefer
Duda
over other platforms.
Let's consider 4 factors in choosing a good CMS...
1. Design Flexibility & Ease of Use
When it comes to creating a new website or cloning an existing one, design flexibility is very important.
Most modern CMS’ have drag-and-drop capabilities to help you build out your desired UI for desktop, tablet and mobile screens. This is important as just over 60% of all web searches come from mobile devices, so it's imperative that you use a platform that is mobile responsive out of the gate (Wix has struggled a bit here).
Now all CMS' are inherently limiting by nature. What I mean by that is, they employ certain design patterns and rules that you have to abide by. However, I’ve yet to encounter a design wireframe that couldn’t be replicated onto a Duda website.
In terms of ease of use, editors can vary widely in this regard. Webflow, for example, offers lots of design freedom- but it borders on the ‘coding from scratch’ side of the spectrum. Webflow is a robust program, but building out a simple 5 page website can be very tedious, time-consuming, and expensive.
As we traverse to the opposite end of this usability spectrum, platforms like Wix and Squarespace are deliberately minimalistic. With platforms such as these, you’ll be able to change some font colors and adjust a few other items, but that's about it. You will not have the flexibility to change background colors or introduce some subtle animations that really make your site pop.
2. Maintainability
Duda has a managed backend. That’s music to my ears, as it’s one less thing that I or our clients have to worry about. Contrast that with an open source platform like WordPress, which does not offer backend management. And since WordPress is heavily dependent on various plugins, it requires a lot of effort to maintain a website. Duda boasts of a 99.9% uptime. It is extremely easy to maintain.
I spoke with an owner of a web development agency who told me that when he switched over from building WordPress websites to Duda websites, he no longer needed to keep a dozen or so developers on staff to handle all the updates and support tickets he was accustomed to.
As a frontend developer, I believe Duda offers me all the necessary tools I need to build out anything our clients may need. If that requires connecting to external APIs or creating custom widgets, it can be done.
The platform also allows you to access the HTML and CSS if you so choose. You can write custom scripts using JavaScript, with JQuery as an available library, as well.
3. Security
Solertiae is an IT services company, so naturally, security is everything to us.
WordPress, which makes up ~60% marketshare of all websites, is a prime target for hackers since there’s so much opportunity for exploitation. Furthermore, many of these sites fall short of cybersecurity best practices because of the presumption that their site must be secure because it's hosted on such a mainstream platform. Unfortunately, a very popular plugin for WordPress (Elementor) was recently compromised and exposed millions of websites to this threat. You can read more about that here: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/03/hackers-exploit-wordpress-plugin-flaw-that-gives-full-control-of-millions-of-sites/
This topic is especially pertinent for our nonprofits and churches that have data privacy and physical security considerations.
Duda is built upon
Amazon Web Services.
As one Duda agency owner puts it, “[There's] No more updating Wordpress themes and plugins—or worry[ing] about hacks and malware.”
Duda utilizes two-factor authentication, antivirus security, malware protection, path management, and automated vulnerability scans.
Your content (i.e. images, files, scripts, etc.) are automatically backed up on a daily basis via AWS.
You can read more about Duda’s security measures here:
https://support.duda.co/hc/en-us/articles/1500001597862-Security-Measures
4. Page Speed & SEO
Duda websites are snappy!
Duda uses Amazon Web Services, which has an incredibly reliable, global CDN
that helps your site be more performant.
Check out this quote below:
We used to be an almost exclusive Wordpress shop until we started with Duda. I was very reticent to move away from Wordpress until we migrated 10 Wordpress websites to Duda almost 3 years ago.
What did I discover? In one word—results. All of the migrated websites saw a dramatic increase in traffic, but more importantly, a dramatic increase in leads for my clients.
We have migrated [hundreds] of websites to Duda—all with much better results. 100%. This is not an aberration.
Nat Rosasco
Founder at Olive Street Design
It's no wonder why Solertiae has elected to resolve its constituent's online needs via Duda's platform.
One of the main ways our Sites Essentials service provides additional value to you is through our custom widgets. We've developed custom widgets that are specifically designed to help your nonprofit or church pull in and render information directly from your database - this means no more double data entry!
Imagine being able to seamlessly display the following content to your website:
- Events
- Small Groups
- Mission Opportunities
- Job Opportunities
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Audio & Video Resources
- PDFs & Weblinks (A great option for organizing training material)
- Personnel and Profile pages
- And more!
This one feature alone can save you countless hours of time (and not to mention all the expenses associated with establishing all the necessary API integrations).
Sites Essentials also includes:
- Website cloning services
- Includes free evaluations
- Blog migration
- Fully responsive sites
- Quick implementation- in as little as 30 days
- Custom sites services
- Professional design agency
- Full-cycle UX/UI collaboration
- Refresh & rebrand
- Information architecture
- Figma wireframes
- Full Implementation
- Setup, project management & deployment
- Database Integration Training & Support
- Platform Training & Support
- Editor
- Widgets
We're constantly developing new features and always looking for ways to make your website experience more delightful. So, if your considering a site clone, or your looking to create a brand new website, we're here to help. Reach out to us today!
