You need a content management system for your business website. Which one should you choose?

A Content Management System (CMS) is a versatile communications tool that brings substantial benefits across different industries. In education, it streamlines course content updates, ensuring students access the latest information effortlessly. In financial services, a CMS simplifies compliance by centralising document control. Its real strength lies in scalability; as your business grows, a well-implemented CMS accommodates expanding content needs seamlessly. Whether in academia, finance, or any other sector, I believe a CMS empowers efficient content management, enhancing user experience and saving valuable time and resources.

Having a content management system is crucial if you plan on going big with your content strategy. If you're thinking about posting content on multiple different platforms, multiple times a day, and have multiple teams working on your content, you need a good CMS. It'll make things 10x easier for you.

Imagine a CMS as the backbone of your online presence, streamlining content creation, and enhancing user experience. While WordPress is user-friendly and versatile, consider platforms like HubSpot for integrated marketing. Your choice hinges on factors like scalability, customization, and your team's proficiency. Dive into the CMS realm by weighing features, community support, and long-term adaptability. Personal tip: assess your unique needs and future growth – the right CMS fuels your digital journey.

I will keep this simple. We are marketers and content creators, not developers or designers. We do not have the time or luxury to create things from scratch. This is where a CMS will help you focus on what you do best: create and manage content. A CMS provides you with a framework that you can use to create, manage, upload, edit and share your content. Many CMS also come with plugins, which are zero-code tools that can amplify your strategies with minimal effort. Bottom line - Use a CMS if you haven't already. It will massively improve your productivity.

Using a CMS, I can effortlessly create, edit, and organize website content thanks to its user-friendly interface, eliminating the need for deep technical knowledge. It simplifies my content management process, allowing me to store and retrieve various media efficiently. The collaborative features enable my team to work on content simultaneously, enhancing productivity. I can also set access levels, ensuring only authorized personnel can edit sensitive content. The CMS helps optimize my content for search engines, improving visibility. Plus, it's scalable, adapting to my increasing content and traffic needs without compromising performance.

Content Management Systems vary to meet your specific needs. Here are the main CMS types: 1. Open-Source CMS: Options like WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. They're free and highly customisable, making them a great choice for various projects. 2. Proprietary CMS: Adobe Experience Manager and Sitecore offer powerful features with paid licenses. 3. Headless CMS: Contentful and Strapi separate content from presentation, ideal for specific projects. 4. Cloud-based CMS: Contentstack and Kentico Cloud are cloud-hosted, perfect for scalability. 5. Enterprise CMS: Oracle Content and IBM Enterprise Content Management suit larger organisations with robust features. 6. Self-hosted CMS: Ghost and Grav are self-hosted, granting full content control.

The main types of CMS are: 1. Traditional CMS: Integrates content management and delivery, ideal for simple websites. 2. Headless CMS: Separates content management from delivery, enabling multi-platform distribution. 3. Decoupled CMS: Blends headless flexibility with traditional structure. 4. Enterprise CMS: Offers advanced features for large organizations. 5. Open-Source CMS: Provides community-supported, customizable code.

I have led a content team at a busy digital marketing agency for six years! There were quite a few aspects where I faced challenges when creating the in-house CMS. My experience allows me to tell you: 1. Make sure it is compatible with many operating systems - A CMS is used by your organisation along with your vendors, clients, and other stakeholders. 2. Prepare for the scale - As you work hard and diligently, the work is going to increase. Prepare for it instead of scrambling later. 3. Plan/Choose the CMS with care - It's the first requirement: what do you want it to do for you? Tracking content, yes. What about reports and data you want captured and analysed? Think! Be clear of what you want and only then will the CMS deliver.

When choosing a CMS, I consider: 1. Ease of Use: User-friendly interfaces for efficient content management. 2. Scalability: Adaptable to varying project sizes. 3. Customisation: Tailor to specific project needs. 4. SEO-Friendliness: Supports content visibility and ranking. 5. Security: Robust protection and updates. 6. Cost: Budget alignment. 7. Support & Community: Assistance when needed. 8. Integration: Compatibility with other tools. 9. Mobile Responsiveness: Crucial in a mobile-centric world. 10. Content Workflow: Clear creation, approval and publishing processes. 11. Analytics: Insights for content optimisation. 12. Hosting Options: Consider hosting solutions. 13. Updates & Maintenance: Essential for performance and security.

I think ease of use and add-ons are what you want to look for in a good CMS. CMSs can be pretty complicated and you don't want your brain to steam every time you're trying to make small edits to your content. Also, add-ons are crucial to tailor the CMS to your specific needs and company.

Choose a CMS that looks and feels easy to use. A CMS should act as an extension of your operations; it should work with you and not against you. Always choose a CMS: 1) that you and your team can quickly learn 2) that needs minimal maintenance 3) that has plenty of add-ons and plugins that can optimize your CMS experience. While pricing is important, do note that "expensive is not always better." Choose two CMS that you believe you can work with, try them both out for free (most CMS offer the first month for free), and choose the annual plan for the one that makes the most sense to you.

I have used multiple CMS while working n my own website, and in job too. I was first introduced to Wordpress through a friend nds,and then went on to use Wix, Magento, webflow, AEM, Joomla and Shopify. Some of the key factors that one should consider when choosing a CMS are: 1. Use friendliness: If you do not have any technical knowledge, it is important to have a CMS that is user friendly and has a good UI/ UX. It will help you better navigate through things and build a good website. 2. Scalability: It is important that your CMS grows with your content and user base. 3. Features: it is important to choose the right features based on your business need. 4. Security: Prioritise a CS with a robust security system.

It's worth rolling up instances of different CMS to test their functions, work habbits, processes, and ultimately - does it work for your intended use? For example WordPress is considered the main competitor, while others like Ghost or Jekyll are also popular in web3. It's worth actually running your process and content on each CMS platform to see if it actually suits your needs.

Once I've got a solid grasp on what I need from a CMS, I dive into the exciting phase of exploring and assessing different options. My journey begins with a deep dive into the features, advantages, and potential drawbacks of various CMS platforms, not forgetting to check out reviews and ratings. I also reach out to my network of colleagues and industry insiders for their trusted recommendations. To get a real feel of the CMS, I sign up for free trials or demos, which is like a test drive for each system. I find it super helpful to use a comparison tool or checklist to weigh up different CMS options.

Use 3rd party tools like Google Analytics, Page Speed, and Lighthouse (In Chrome) to understand where your website has bottlenecks in speed, optimization, content delivery and actual UX usage from real world stats found in Lighthouse.

If you have chosen the right CMS based on your business. To implement and optimise your CMS here are some things to do: 1. Content structure: Organise your content with a clear hierarchy, and is user friendly. This is helpful for your users, and also for you during optimisations. 2. Implement SEO practises : Implementing SEO practises and optimising content based on latest trend and competitor analysis. 3. Make a website that is responsive to both web and app. 4. Backup your data frequently to prevent data loss. 5. Implement security measures to ensure your website is running and is not virus prone. 6. Make it a habit to regularly test your website performance, user experience and functionality.

For many businesses, the first (and often best) Content Management System (CMS) platform comes with their chosen website builder, such as WordPress, Wix or Squarespace. I have worked with each of these CMS platforms, and while they each have their own idiosyncrasies, they offer a very cost-effective means of providing users with direct control of their website content.

You can try HUBSPOT as a content management system for your website, though it totally depends on your website needs and prefereces. HubSpot has built in SEO tools to optimize content. Plus, it is scalable for both small businesses and large enterprises. Being user friendly, it also allows personalized content suggestions based on user behaviour.

I personally prefer WordPress as my go-to CMS. It's also what most companies go for in the early stages as well. It's easy to use and has arguably the biggest library of add ons on the internet.

If you’re looking for a CMS that will help your team’s content strategy and organic traffic, you should consider the on-page SEO tools it offers. Almost every CMS will talk about being built for SEO, but that has become meaningless as they all should be technically-sound enough to do that. Rather, most teams struggle with ensuring that the on-page content is optimized for search engines. Wordpress is stellar, because it offers the Yoast plugin. This is the one of the very best on-page SEO assistants, and can make a world of difference in your content strategy.