How to Choose a CMS
Interested in creating a website for your business but not sure where to start? A CMS can make your life much easier. Yext tells you how to choose here.
Yext
Feb 11, 2022
Today, users are flocking to the internet for just about every need. Are you looking to buy a new kayak? Plan a trip for your family? Better check out what's available on the internet.
Apps, websites, and search engines are all popular resources for people, no matter what they're looking for. And with the amount of available content on the internet right now, users' expectations are high.
That's why it's so important for you and your company to have your content available online.
That's where the right CMS, or content management system, can help. By taking the weight of coding and back-end design off you and streamlining the website building process, a CMS can be a powerful tool.
But with a plethora of CMS options to choose from, it can be difficult to determine the best way to accomplish that goal.
There are plenty of things to keep in mind when assessing CMS options, and finding the right fit for your company and content will make a big difference for your user experience.
Here are a few tips for finding the right content management system for you.
What Is A CMS?
A content management system is a platform or web service that allows you to organize and present your content on a website without needing to know any code.
This can be extremely useful for a startup team that might not have the experience and knowledge required to write their own HTML code.
Even if you do have someone familiar with the language on your team, a CMS can significantly cut down on time and effort and deliver a product that's easy to navigate and manage.
Not to mention it would probably look better than doing it yourself.
A CMS allows your business to create a custom website with ease, bypassing all HTML and Javascript code. Not to mention providing easy access to content updates and even layout adjustments whenever you want to make them.
Under normal circumstances, you would have to rewrite code to update or change your page, but a CMS provides a convenient interface that handles the "behind-the-scenes" for you.
How The CMS Works
Within a content management system, two main features bring everything together.
The content management application, or CMA, is the interface that you interact with and enables you to add or delete content seamlessly. This function is what you design your website with.
The content delivery application, or CDA, is the behind-the-scenes protocol that does the work that you would otherwise be doing yourself—uploading and presenting your content, executing the changes you make through the CMA, and supporting the data held on your website.
Benefits of Using A CMS?
As we mentioned, a CMS is incredibly useful for companies who aren't particularly interested in writing their own HTML or Javascript. However, there are plenty of other benefits to using a CMS.
For instance, they allow for incredibly convenient, multi-access point collaboration. Your website and content can be adjusted and managed by multiple individuals at the same time.
This can be helpful when different teams need access simultaneously.
Perhaps your front-end developers are setting up a new code for the page while at the same time your marketers are removing and replacing content.
Not to mention the SEO tools that a CMS can supply to your team. While they may range depending on which service you choose, typically, you gain access to valuable user information as well as customization options.
Unique meta tags, optimized URL strings, and breadcrumb navigation are all specialized devices that a CMS might provide to optimize your online presence better.
Considerations For Choosing The Right CMS
When it comes to choosing the right content management system for your company, there are several things to keep in mind, and you'll want to take your time thinking about each. Here's what to think about when choosing the right CMS
Determine Your Business Needs
The first step when making any decision regarding your company is to assess your immediate and long-term goals. What is it that your business wants, and what will you require to achieve them?
Choosing a CMS is no different and can come with a set of unique questions as well. Some to consider would be:
What platforms is your business presented on?
What language should your content be available in, if not multiple?
How should your content be organized and presented? Will certain CMS services perform this better than others?
What are your team's experience levels, and how much assistance or convenience will you need from a CMS?
Internal Opinion
Even if you aren't paying much for the CMS you choose, you will be dedicating time to it, not to mention the value of having your content presented in an optimized way.
Make sure that this decision is shared with different departments within your company. Collaborate on ideas, goals, and opinions because the company will be affected by which CMS you choose.
Even opening the conversation with stakeholders could benefit your decision-making experience. The CMS you decide to utilize for your company will have long-term effects on your success.
External Expectations
Knowing your demographic and their wants is critical to a successful business, and it's no different when it comes to picking the right CMS. What is your target audience looking for in a website?
What content will they want access to? Is navigation more important than style? How often will they want your page to update its targeted content, if ever?
These questions can help determine which CMS will be right for you, your team, and your users. And keep in mind that while you may have a target demographic you're focusing on, don't alienate other smaller groups.
Creating a website that's accessible to as many groups as possible increases your traffic rates, which is always good for your business.
Design Templates
Besides being powerful and easy to navigate, your website should be unique and aesthetically interesting to users. You want a design that stands out, which would be hard to accomplish if the CMS only provides a small number of design templates.
Templates are only the starting position for your company's website. Make sure that you have room to customize and shape the way your content is presented.
Creating a user-friendly but interesting interface design can be a huge boost to attracting new users and retaining regular users.
Usability
Not all CMS are built the same, and some are easier to manage than others. Ensure reviews and explore the CMS as much as possible when researching to determine whether or not the service is the right level of convenience.
Cost
Determining how much a CMS is worth to your business relies on many factors that you should discuss with your team.
Some CMS options will be free, though you'll more than likely still pay for extension services from third-party options.
You certainly don't want to pay for more than you need; however since your website is your company's online representation, you do want to make sure you aren't skimping out.
In Conclusion
Content management systems are used by a majority of companies to build websites, and for good reasons.
Quickly and reliably building your content, whether it's information or a product, is extremely valuable in today's age. With so much online content, it's important to make sure that your business is represented as well as possible.
CMS platforms offer easy updates and management of your content and, depending on the service you choose, aesthetically pleasing design and layout templates to build your unique site from.
By doing the HTML and Javascript for you, the CMS allows you and your business to focus on your website's content, design, and layout. This frees up your time so that you can hone in on your content and boost your user experience.
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