What is the best CMS for existing HTML site to transfer to?

Hi,
I have an existing HTML based site with more than 600 visitors a day.
It contains about 100 static pages whish is hard for management.
The pages contain articles on hand crafting subjects with one or more pictures.

What do you think, what CMS is the best for me to transfer my site?

I need an ability to categorize topics into different categories
I also need to be able to edit Meta Tags for every page
I need a good speed of page download
And I do not really want to become a programmer
I need some easy and user-friendly CMS with attainable variety of free plugins
And I need it safe

To much requirements?

 

My personal favorite is Wordpress (I know I know, it's blogging software, but i can be transferred to a CMS really easy), but lots of people prefer Joomla.

 

wordpress is an excellent CMS ,u can easily create categories , posts and pages. there are lot of video tutorials on youtube to get started .

for metatags plugin:

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/

Code (markup):

u can easily find lot of free themes

Recommended plugins:
WP Super Cache
WP-DBManager
WP-Contact Form
Google XML Sitemaps Generator
wp125
Global Translator
Advertising Manager
--lot more

 

I use wordpress for other projects but it's very slow comparing to HTML I have now at this site, and I've heard if you're close to 1000 visitors (which I'm heading to), wordpress slows down notably.

 

use wp-super-cache plugin

This plugin generates static html files from your dynamic WordPress blog. After a html file is generated your webserver will serve that file instead of processing the comparatively heavier and more expensive WordPress PHP scripts.... read more in this page http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-super-cache/

Code (markup):

 

Yeah with super cache or quick cache you'll be prepared for sudden surges of visitors.

Any CMS is going to be slightly slower than plain HTML, but WP is definitely your best option for the structure you want and the ability to extend via plugins.

 

Thank you all!
I think you convinced me
I also checked a possibility to name new pages exactly like the existing ones, in order not to lose their PR-s.
And I checked the wp-super-cache plugin you recommended.
So i'll transfer my site to wordpress as soon as possible.

 

If it are just basic pages with text and pictures and nothing complicated then Wordpress should be the best otherwise I would say Drupal.

And make sure when you move it to Wordpress you keep the paths (urls) intact, can be with 301 redirects or just using the old paths. Otherwise the spiders from the search engines will get a 404 error and you will be wiped out the search engine results.