Content Management System (CMS)

What is a Content Management System (CMS) and Why Should I Care?

By Editorial Staff

So you’re looking to build a website and you’re doing some research on how to get started. You may have come across the term “Content Management System” but what exactly does this mean? In short, a content management system (CMS) is a powerful software tool that helps you build, manage and update content on a website with little to no technical expertise!

In this blog post, we will detail what a CMS does and when you should use a CMS. Then we will explore the pros and cons of using a CMS and conclude by touching upon some of the popular CMS options out there.

Sound like a plan? Great, let’s get started!

To truly appreciate what a CMS does, let’s explore what web developers must do to create a website without a CMS.

Creating a Website Without a CMS

Companies and teams that have the technical resources and knowledge may often opt to create their website from scratch. This allows them more control over every aspect of the design and functionality of the website. However, it also requires building things from the ground up.

Let’s look at the steps to building a simple web page from scratch:

Designing your page – you would start with an HTML file to add text, images and other components to your page. Next, you would add CSS to style those HTML components to make the page match your brand/vision.
Adding functionality – now that your webpage is looking good, you would go on to add the functionality to the page using JavaScript. For example, if you have a contact form to collect user information such as email you would have to write some JavaScript to save and store this information in a database.
Uploading files to your Server – finally, you must upload the HTML, CSS and JavaScript files to your server.
Making changes – if any changes are required, you must download the files from your server, make changes and re-upload the files. Once the files are uploaded, you must check to make sure everything is working as you intended. If more changes are required, you must repeat this process of downloading and uploading.

Phew, that sounds pretty cumbersome for a simple webpage or landing page for your business, right? Well, worry not, a content management system takes this whole process detailed above and simplifies it in one easy-to-use platform. Let’s explore how.

What does a content management system do?

Within a CMS, the process described in the previous section is broken down into two key components. First is what is called the content management application (CMA) – this is the part of the CMS which allows you to design, create and edit your web pages. The CMA takes the code out of the website design, creating an intuitive graphical experience where you are making changes directly onto your webpage. The second component of the CMS is the content delivery application (CDA) – this piece is responsible for actually assembling your webpage into the appropriate code and uploading it to your server for visitors to see.

Features of a CMS

Besides the obvious ease of use that comes with a CMS, a traditional CMS has many features that can make it a better choice than creating a site from scratch.

1. Team Roles and Permissions

Even if you are managing a small team or if you bring on contractors, you definitely need a way to control what actions each person can take on the website. For example, you wouldn’t want a contract copywriter to be able to delete your website’s homepage! Within every CMS platform, you can define team members’ roles and the permissions that come with those roles. Without a CMS, you would have to manually create roles, permissions and rules in the code.

2. Collaboration

Another very powerful feature that comes with most CMS platforms is the ability to collaborate on content creation. This means that multiple members of your team can work on creating and updating the content of your website at the same time without any issues! Managing this sort of collaboration without a CMS is quite tedious and requires a high level of coordination and organization from the development team.

3. Built-in SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an essential part of having a website online. It is THE way to get more traffic to your website and, ultimately, more interest in your business! The good news is that CMS platforms often provide easy-to-use tools that can improve your website’s visibility on search engines. Some examples are customizable URLs, metadata and sitemaps. For more advanced SEO features, most CMS platforms will have compatible plugins that will enable you to take your site’s SEO to the next level!

4. Plugins

Speaking of plugins, one of the best features of CMS platforms is the ability to use plugins. Every CMS will have a large catalogue of plugins that enable you to do some amazing things that would be quite complex or tedious to achieve from scratch. Some things that plugins can do include, but are not limited to, SEO, form generation, eCommerce features, website performance optimization and website backups. For a guide on must-have plugins, see ____.

5. Graphical User Interface

This one seems quite obvious, but really can’t be understated! The ability to make visual changes to your website and have them immediately reflected is immensely powerful and a huge time saver. In contrast, making changes to a website that you built from scratch is a multi-step process and would likely require editing, saving and uploading multiple files before you can see what the changes look like. As you can imagine, having to repeat this process multiple times to get the exact look or function you wanted can be quite time-consuming and frustrating.

6. Easy Integration to Third-Party Applications

If you have ever worked on software or know anyone that does, you know that integrations can be some of the most problematic processes. With the wide popularity of CMS platforms, many big players such as Google Analytics, Facebook (or is it Meta now?) and Hubspot have seamless 1-click integrations to their services. The best part is that they usually work with no headache or debugging required!

7. Backups and Version Control

Finally, the ability to easily access backups and see previous versions of your website is an incredible feature offered in most CMS platforms. This way, if anything should go wrong with the website version you are working on, you always have access to a backup or previous versions of the site that you can revert to. Phew! Crisis averted!

Pros and Cons of CMS platforms

So far, we have talked a lot about all the amazing things that CMS platforms can do, but it would be unfair and unethical to not give you an objective view of the pros and cons of going with a CMS platform for your website. So here it is, the pros and the cons of using a CMS:

Pros:

Ease of use: Most CMSs are designed to be user-friendly, even for people with little or no technical experience. This means that non-technical users can easily create and manage their own digital content without the need for specialized training or expertise.
Flexibility: Many CMSs are highly customizable, and come with a wide range of built-in features and plugins that allow users to easily add new functionality to their website or application. This means that a CMS can be tailored to meet the specific needs of a given project or organization.
Collaboration: Many CMSs include tools for managing users and permissions, which makes it easy for teams of people to work together on a single website or application. This can help to improve efficiency and reduce the risk of errors.
Search engine optimization: Many CMSs include built-in tools and features that can help to improve the visibility of a website in search engine results. This can help to drive traffic to a website and increase its popularity.

Cons:

Cost: Some CMSs can be expensive, especially if you need to purchase additional plugins or modules to add new functionality to your website.
Dependence on third-party tools: In order to use a CMS, you may need to rely on other third-party tools or services, such as hosting platforms or content delivery networks. This can increase the complexity of your website or application, and may introduce additional costs or dependencies.
Security: Because CMSs are popular and widely used, they can be attractive targets for hackers and other malicious actors. This means that it is important to keep your CMS software and plugins up to date, and to take steps to secure your website or application.
Limited customization: While many CMSs are highly customizable, there may be limits to what you can do with a given platform. If you have very specific requirements or needs, you may find that a CMS is not the best solution for your project.

Is a CMS the right choice for your team?

So all that being said, let’s touch upon a question that you are probably itching to have answered!

‘Is a CMS the right choice for my team?’

This is a question we get asked a lot by our hosting clients, so we feel equipped to answer it.

Let’s keep it simple and break it down into three deciding factors:

Does your site need to be updated often?
Does your website require very specific functionality? (e.g.
Do you have in-house expertise & can they be dedicated to the website full-time?

1. Does your website need to be updated often?

As we have mentioned previously, a CMS platform makes it very easy to make changes to your site. After all, platforms like WordPress did start as blog creation tools! So if the answer to this question is yes, a CMS can be a great option for your team. Anyone on your team can easily make changes to pages, and create landing pages or blog posts.

2. Does your website require very specific functionality?

Regardless of the number of plugins you can find for a CMS platform, at the end of the day, if you need something very specific on your website a CMS is just not going to cut it. Unfortunately, you will need to hire professional web developers to create and manage your site for you.

3. Do you have in-house expertise & can they be dedicated to the website full-time?

A CMS is a huge time-saver and can go a long way for teams that don’t have in-house expertise in web development. However, if your team does have the technical knowledge, building the site without a CMS can be a good option. A web developer will be able to easily add functionality and keep your site up to date without a CMS.

What is the best CMS platform?

If you made it this far, you are now a bonafide expert on what a CMS is, what it can and can’t do, and if it is the right fit for you and your team!

Now let’s take a look at some of the best CMS platforms out there.

WordPress, Joomla, Wix, Squarespace, and HubSpot are all content management systems (CMS), which are software platforms that allow users to create, manage, and publish web content without the need for advanced technical skills. Each of these CMS platforms has its own unique features and capabilities, and the best choice for a given user or organization will depend on their specific needs and requirements.

WordPress is an open source CMS that is widely used for creating websites, blogs, and other types of web content. It is known for its flexibility and customization options, and there are thousands of plugins and themes available that can be used to extend its functionality.
Joomla is another open source CMS that is similar to WordPress in many ways. It also offers a wide range of features and plugins, and is a popular choice for creating websites and online communities.
Wix is a cloud-based CMS that is known for its user-friendly interface and drag-and-drop website builder. It is a popular choice for small businesses and individuals who want to create a professional-looking website without needing to have advanced technical skills.
Squarespace is another cloud-based CMS that offers a range of templates and design tools to help users create professional-looking websites. It is known for its focus on design and aesthetics, and is often used by artists, photographers, and other creatives.
HubSpot is a CMS that is focused on helping businesses create and manage their online presence, including their website, blog, and social media accounts. It offers a range of marketing and sales tools, and is designed to help businesses attract and convert website visitors into customers.

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