Content Management System
A content management system, also called CMS, enables users to create, modify, and manage the website’s content without being technically inclined.
In other words, a content management system is a tool that helps you create websites without worrying about writing the entire code from scratch (or even knowing how to code).
The content management system handles the basic infrastructure stuff for people instead of individuals building it by themselves, which allows them to focus on more forward-facing aspects of their website.
Types of Content Management System
A crucial step in choosing the best content management system for business is understanding the different options available. Here are five popular options for organizing digital content:
- Digital Asset Management System: Digital asset management programs make it easy for users to organize, store and share digital content. A DAM acts as a simple, centralized repository for clients, employees, and contractors to access digital content. It includes audio, creative files, videos, documents, and presentations. DAMs are cloud-based, which allows users to access content remotely.
- Web Content Management System: A web content management system allows users to manage web content without knowing HTML or web programming. A WCMS helps manage digital content by providing collaboration, authoring, and administration tools. In contrast to other CMSs that handle web and print content, WCMSs deal exclusively with web content.
- Document Management System: As of today, paper is almost extinct. Paper-based business records have long become obsolete. The document management system (DMS) provides an online solution for managing, storing, and tracking documents. This software automates the process of uploading, processing, and sharing business documents without the hassle of printing, copying, or scanning.
- Enterprise Content Management System: Enterprise content management systems collect, organize, and deliver an organization’s documentation, ensuring that essential information reaches the right audience (employees, customers, business stakeholders, etc.). ECMs provide all members of an organization with easy access to the content they need to complete projects and make important decisions. ECMs also delete files after a certain amount of time, preventing space from being taken up with irrelevant content.
- Component Content Management System: Component content management systems, or CCMS, differ from standard content management systems in that they organize content at the granular level. This tool manages content rather than individual pages by storing words, phrases, paragraphs, or photos (also known as “components”) in a centralized database. Components are stored only once, which maximizes content reuse. The CCMS publishes content consistently and transparently across various platforms, including mobile, PDF, and print. Astute Analytica indicates the global market for component content management systems is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of more than 11% from 2021-2027. CCMS demand is increasing due to digital content growth, improved user experiences, and collaborative scenarios to monitor and manage documents.
Pros of Content Management System
- Customization Options: There are many customization options in content management systems. Installation of a new theme allows people to easily change the theme’s overall look, layout, and design. Users can customize everything on the site, from colours to menu positions to composition style. Content management software can integrate plugins and extensions to expand its range of capabilities.
- Content Scheduling: Every company must develop an editorial calendar as its content strategy involves multiple contributors. The calendar helps them plan content and ensures that they get the right balance of content types. The problem with organizing these articles and images can be messy, especially if another party creates them. Draft the content in a content management system and schedule it for publication later. In addition to scheduling content in advance, one can also get rid of losing it for a few days, weeks, or even months.
- Security: During the COVID-19 pandemic, data breaches are a constant threat to businesses of all sizes. Therefore, if the business has a website, online security should be a top priority. The company should choose a CMS that is both encrypted and secure. Some CMS come with security features built right into the software, but sometimes they are not sufficient.
- Easy Access: Choose a CMS system that allows people to access it remotely via the internet, from any location at any time. The availability of this service permits organization and their team to work anywhere in the world.
Cons of Content Management System
- Design is expensive: Using a CMS costs much more money to design than static sites since a designer must install and configure the database, design the template, and then customize it, including the menu, polls, banners, forms, etc. The website will also have to undergo extensive testing to ensure that it works with browsers and screens.
- Slow loading: CMS sites are database-driven, so you must wait for the server to process the pages. It can take time due to the many pages they contain. Internet users have a short attention span, so this will cause you to lose visitors. CMS sites on a slow server or a server hosting many other sites will also take a long time to load.
- Limited flexibility in design: CMS sites use templates primarily for design. These are easily recognizable since they have a standard format (e.g., 2 or 3 columns with boxes positioned in various places to accommodate the content). To stay within the confines of this type of template, the designer is limited in the flexibility and uniqueness of the design.
- Hidden costs: Despite its many benefits, CMS also has hidden costs. The most common types of paid content are plugins, themes, and premium updates. At a first, glance, having an affordable website appears to be a good thing. However, a website that has expansion capabilities and adds functionality can be expensive.
- Training Required: Programming languages are not the same for every theme. Incorporating changes requires expertise. The person they hire to take care of the website needs will need training if the business is just getting started. From understanding the user interface to learning the correct coding style, training will encompass everything.
Working with a content management system is highly beneficial if an organization needs to update or change the website content, for example, by posting press releases regularly and adding news stories about upcoming events.
In most cases, hiring a developer would be more cost-effective than using a CMS. The static website is ideal for small businesses that only require a few pages on their website.
However, if it is a large company or multinational with hundreds of web pages that need to be updated and changed frequently, moving to a CMS website is a better option.
