I have been using Joomla about 6 years and WordPress about 1 year. The differences among them are:
1. Joomla can do everything what WP can do, but WP can't do the same things what Joomla do.
2. Joomla has a complex structure and slower than Wordpress. WP is more faster.
3. Both of them flexible.
4. Joomla is harder to learn compared to WP, but more powerfull (my opinion).
5. Wp has fewer components but will be better.
bla bla bla..
If you are new at coding or don't have any exp. and are planning to built a article based site like a blog, use Wordpress.
- Use All in One
SEO
But if you want to use Joomla you don't need much component, modules or plugin.
- Use Multi Ads plugin to show Adsense in contents.
- Use HTML module to show Adsense anywhere in Joomla expect articles.
- Apply common
SEO settings and set all metas manual.