What You Should Know About Drupal Development
Chad Faith
Director of Content
There is something similar between the websites of the New York Government, The Economist, and Arizona University. The answer: they were built on Drupal! It is an open source software that is fast becoming popular. Drupal was designed as a content management system (CMS) framework. Drupal is written in PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor code. It is an open source script code that does not incur any licensing costs. It has been a major choice of developers from around the globe. Since the costs of these tools are low, Drupal development is affordable, if not, cheap.
Drupal Development: Opportunities Abound
Drupal has been used to create resource directories, online newsletters, social networking sites, e-commerce websites, personal websites, community web portals, and many more. Thanks to Drupal’s versatility, many organizations can better address the requirements for achieving a stronger online presence. When it comes to Drupal development, you have access to thousands of themes and nearly 30,000 modules to develop a custom website.
It is easy to see why Drupal continues to be a preferred choice of both web designers and developers. The CMS accounts for a back-end framework of over two percent of all the websites worldwide. If you are a web designer, you can even create custom templates through Drupal.
Drupal Development Advantages
- Mobile readiness: Drupal websites can be accessed via a wide range of smart devices. This increases the company’s (especially small businesses) marketing capabilities and help them generate more leads.
- SEO-friendliness: SEO is an important online marketing strategy for any business. Drupal is SEO-friendly and offers enormous flexibility when it comes to meeting search engine requirements for displaying content.
- Extensive API support: Developers can create their own custom modules by using well-documented API. In fact, YouTube, Google Analytics, Google Apps, Twitter, Facebook, etc. provide extensive API support for Drupal
- Enterprise-class software: Drupal is an enterprise-class CMS. You can integrate the system with other applications like phpBB or SAP. Drupal’s interoperability, manageability, scalability, etc. are second to none.
- Rapid deployment: You can deploy core functionality and features at lightning speed. Developers can even start customizing (as per business requirements and feedback) after deploying a Drupal site, in true ‘Web 2.0’ style. Yes, you heard that correctly. Customizations can be made even when the site is live on the web!
- Open source: A wide range of themes, contributed modules, and core software pertaining to Drupal is free. This helps business owners cut down costs when it comes to web development.
Drupal Vs. Joomla Vs. WordPress
WordPress CMS is a popular choice for beginner-level developers. This CMS works well for blogs and small to mid-sized websites. Developers require a certain level of technical knowledge (coding) if they were to develop their e-commerce websites via Joomla. While Drupal is the most challenging of all, it is powerful and can fit all types of websites. What’s more, it offers the easiest CMS for moderation.
If your goal is to develop a high-quality and feature-rich website, you can never go wrong with Drupal web development.