"What Is A Content Management System and Why Do I Need One?"
This article introduces content management systems and gives an overview of their
features and benefits. It should be read by anyone unsure of quite what a CMS
can do for them.
What is a CMS?
A content management system is a piece of software that allows you to edit the
content on your website without having any web design skills.
In the first instance, a web designer creates a series of CMS templates which
your pages are dropped into. You then use a simple interface to add, edit or
delete the content on your pages. You can also quickly and easily create new
pages yourself.
Why do I need one?
There are obvious benefits to installing a CMS. Your website need not change
in style at all: it can simply be re-created in the CMS. You can then update
it yourself as often as you like, without the need to call a web design company
and pay for the changes each time.
If you update your website on a regular basis, and do not currently use a CMS,
you could save a lot of time and money by implementing one. If you do not yet
have a website and are about to have one developed, you should think very carefully
about what you will be using it for. To stay competitive in this day and age,
websites need to be far more than a static brochure. If you think you will be
updating your content more than a couple of times each month, creating your
website using a CMS is highly recommended.
If you do not update your website at all, you should be asking yourself whether
you ought to start. If your customers see the same thing each time they visit
your website, they will quickly stop visiting. A CMS will allow you to quickly
and easily transform your website into an interesting and dynamic marketing
tool.
What features do they offer?
A huge variety. Most CMS' are available in a few different versions with differing
levels of functionality. Obviously the ability to update content is shared by
all systems, but some other features that CMS' can offer are: access rights
management and content approval; dual or multi-lingual functionality; dynamic
site maps; e-commerce; email alerts; form creation and management; image optimisation
and processing; meta-tag updating; search functionality; site security; standards
and accessibility compliance; statistical reports; versioning...
This is not an exhaustive list and not all CMS' will offer the above features.
However with such a wide variety of systems available, you should ensure you
take some time to find the one that is right for your business.
What about pricing?
This will largely depend on the size of your website, the number of users that
will be updating it through the CMS and the amount of functionality you require.
As a (very) rough pricing guide; CMS' suitable for SME's range from as little
as £350 per user to as much as £30,000. For larger businesses, enterprise
level CMS' start at around £30,000 and go right up to around £250,000.
With such a huge variety of systems and pricing; it is highly recommended that
you look around and get some advice before purchasing one.
Where can I get one?
You can get in touch with the CMS supplier if you know which is right for you.
Alternatively, you can get in touch with a software company or consultant such
as us - we'll be happy to advise you on the best way forward. Happy updating...
About the Author:
Polly is the research director for Fire Without Smoke Software Ltd (FWOSS).
|
