So you are getting ready to launch a Website to promote your business and your Web developer is recommending that you use a content management system (CMS) to manage the Website – is this a good idea or just an additional expense? Here are five reasons you should use a CMS to manage – and take control of your Web presence:
1. There’s a CMS for every budget. Content management systems are great at managing data publication. Although there are many great expensive CMS platforms out there, some of the best platforms are free to use – even thought they might attract a modest fee for set-up and customization. Check out this review of a variety of CMS platforms.
2. Manage your Website’s ‘look and feel’. Whether your Website has 4 Web pages or 50, a decent CMS will make it easy for you to seamlessly apply your Website’s design to all content pages and provide a consistent user-experience for visitors. For example, if you decide to change your logo or information that appears on all pages of your Website, a CMS could make this process a breeze by removing the need to update each Web page individually.
3. Save time with a CMS. The CMS will reduce the amount of time (and cost) required to add content or make changes to your Website. If you’d like to update your Website and don’t know much about Web development and coding, a good CMS will also make it easy for you to make simple updates your Website.
4. Faster, uniformed deployment of helpful Web applications. If your Website is informational, you might think all you need to get your point across are a few Web pages – this might be true, but a CMS will also make it easy for you to engage in search engine optimization (SEO) or add Web applications to your Web pages that will help potential customers find your Website and share it with others.
5. Stay up-to-date with interactive marketing technology. Most developers of content management systems (CMS) review and update these Website management tools quarterly. The updates usually apply user feedback and the latest Web technology to the platforms – for example, a robust CMS will let you know when your Website is not secure or if your site’s code is outdated.
There are content management systems (CMS) for every budget – many reputable systems such as Drupal and WordPress are even free of licensing fees. If you care about consistency and maintaining a high quality Web presence, it’s well worth it to invest in a CMS.