What Is Umbraco, and Is It Really Worth Trying in 2024?

If the question “What is Umbraco?” evokes your interest, and you dream of a new website with rich functionality, you're hitting the right path. Being a truly flexible and user-friendly content management platform, Umbraco offers everything an ambitious site owner may desire (and even more). However, like any other solution, it has its peculiarities to consider.

How It All Started

The era of static single-page HTML-focused websites came to an end not that long ago, as it may seem at first blush. In the early 1990s, when the world saw a website boom, unsophisticated users still had to content themselves with simplistic text pages lacking high-resolution images.

With the evolution and global spread of videography, the digital field faced buoyant demand for graphic websites. Since their manual creation, uploading, and management in multiple environments had been time-consuming and labor-intensive, soon it became clear that automation was inevitable. 

In 1995, the first server-side script engines built with PHP, JSP, and ASP joined the game. But the true revolution started with the emergence of the Document Object Model (DOM) — a breakthrough programming API that allowed users to divide HTML and XML document types into constituents and treat them separately. This triggered the development of feature-rich content management systems (CMS).

CMSs have turned website development into a fun Lego game, enabling website owners to create content blocks with ready-made templates and built-in tools in double-click time.

What Is Umbraco CMS?

Umbraco is a popular content management system, written in C# and deployed on a Microsoft IIS server or in a cloud (Azure, AWS). It is created with a .NET Core framework and stores data in a relational database (like MySQL/Microsoft SQL server).

Niels Hartvig, the father of Umbraco, rolled out this friendly CMS in the early 2000s as a free solution. Since then, the platform has won the hearts and minds of architecture astronauts and weekend tech fans and gathered an extensive support community. By the way, although the platform is open-source, a fully-fledged team of in-house professionals headquartered in Denmark (Umbraco HQ) keeps a sharp eye on its performance.

And here is another amazing fact: thanks to the well-structured documentation, users can quickly find the required information (e.g., how to launch it with the Microsoft web platform installer, what Umbraco backoffice is, how to create your first document type, etc.) and get started with Umbraco in a breeze.

5 Reasons to Pick Umbraco for Your Project

At least 5k US websites are built with Umbraco. Among its active users, you may find Warner Brothers, Vogue, Mercedes-Benz, and the University of Oxford. But why exactly do Umbraco-based pages mushroom all across the internet space?

Great Flexibility Potential

It doesn't matter whether you want to create a corporate website, online store, personal blog, or corporate portal with multiple pages, as Umbraco is the unquestioned master of it all. Enriched with seamless integration options, it allows users to extend a web solution with web analytics tools (Google Analytics), CRM & ERP systems, payment gateways, and social networks.

Vast Personalization Options

Umbraco supports various languages and provides over 1.2k free packages, which gives you a large space for creativity and customization. Just choose ready-made templates built on .NET MVC (or create your own) and launch a solution aligned with your project vision. And the great news is that such functionality is available for Umbraco CMS, Umbraco Cloud, and Umbraco Heartcore.

Marketing Automation

If you need to launch a marketing campaign across several digital channels, Umbraco is there to facilitate the process. Thanks to its open nature and back-end capabilities, you can easily connect it with third-party platforms (HubSpot, Maileon) and enjoy repetitive task automation, A/B testing, 360-degree profiling, and web analytics.

Custom Tree Search

When you publish content, Umbraco provides you with versatile features to simplify the process. The most prominent are infinite editing (simultaneous management of two content pieces via a WYSIWYG editor) and searchable trees (that enable users to get search results from all accessible spaces).

Boosted Performance

High performance is Umbraco's drawcard. Content editors and developers value the platform's ability to host multiple pages on a single backend. Besides, it ensures a quick loading process even for high-traffic websites.

Peculiarities to Keep in Mind

Although Umbraco CMS has found favor with millions of users, it is still not a one-size-fits-all solution. Since its certain characteristics can turn into drawbacks for some projects, it is essential to know them by sight.

First of all, the platform may seem intricate to some users with no development experience. Particularly, they face some challenges with the installation process. Secondly, although Umbraco is powered with robust security mechanisms, timely updates and safety audits from your side are still required. And lastly, some Umbraco adopters note the insufficiency of third-party plugins to suit their projects (e.g., SEO extensions).

Alternative Content Management Systems

As you might have guessed, Umbraco is not the only player in the content management field. Scrutinize this table to learn the capabilities of other platforms.

*The “Umbraco or WordPress?” question haunts a lot of undertakers, as both platforms prove to be highly customizable and user-oriented. If you are also in two minds, check our article to make a better-informed strategic decision.

Expert Tip

Umbraco is a robust platform that is ripe with opportunities for mid-size marketing agencies and small businesses. Whether it is the from-scratch development of a new site or the enhancement of the existing internet application, Umbraco CMS proves to be an excellent option. 

To select the best-fit strategic path for your business, resort to our Umbraco development company. Our team will align the website with your current business needs, build lacking modules, and easily integrate it with advanced services.