Introduction to CMS
Your Content Management System (CMS) is the chassis of your content marketing campaign. A content management system (CMS) is an application that allows you to create and run your website. There is an interface, an admin panel where you can design and update pages, posts. You can also arrange the content the way you want. CMS provides a reliable, protected and user-friendly interface to handle the contents of the database. CMS plays a crucial role in communicating your content to the target market. There is no benefit in having exceptional content if your CMS is incapable of handling it well.
Factors to consider the choice of CMS platform
While choosing a CMS platform, one must keep in mind the various factors involved. A decision is taken after analysing all the elements in detail.
● Impact on business
The effect that a CMS platform will have on the market requires in-depth analysis. The requirements vary for every organisation. Some CMS platforms are better in funnelling the leads, while specific CMS platforms like WordPress are better at showcasing the products, and help in marketing the products. If massive operations are required for the growth of the business, Drupal is the best choice.
● Cost incurred
The cost involved in maintaining a CMS varies from one to the other. Some CMS platforms like WordPress and Drupal are open-source platforms and are free to use. However, there are costs involved in buying plugins to customise the website as per your requirements. Other
CMS platforms like Sitecore and Kentico have paid plans and have more features. The point is to decide on your budget and needs before choosing to invest money on a CMS platform.
● Requirements of the platform
Different platforms have different types of server requirements. Also, some platforms might not be compatible with your existing technology stack. Launching a website is only the start. The need for regularly maintaining it is a significant point for consideration.
● Blogging
With the boom in content marketing, blogging has become a significant part of an organization’s growth. The CMS must handle blog posts well. The main factors to look for, while looking at the blogging aspect are:
1. User-friendly interface for writers with low technical skills
2. Smooth workflow management, and post scheduling options
3. Social Media Integrations
4. Availability of automation options
● Customisation
The ability to customise the CMS platform is the main pain point. Some CMS platforms do not offer personalization. Some platforms provide limited customisation with access to the codes, while some are fully customisable. YSIWYG is a trending factor. It means ‘What You See Is What You Get.’ It helps the designers to make visually appealing customisations.
● SEO and Marketing
Some CMS platforms offer built-in SEO modules. Also, a clean, customizable code is necessary for SEO. It is a form of art that takes in constant practice. Choosing the right CMS, such as WordPress will go a long way in driving organic traffic for your website. The ease of integration of marketing tools into your CMS is a central point of consideration. Various marketing tools, like Hubspot and Mailchimp, integrate well with WordPress.
● Support and Scalability
A CMS platform that provides constant support and training is the best choice. It is necessary to have a platform that supports scaling whenever you feel the need to expand. While planning for the current requirements, it is wise to anticipate future demands and prepare accordingly to scale. CMS platforms like Sitecore and Kentico offer scalability options.
Pros and Cons of each CMS
● WordPress
Pros:
Drupal is a free and open-source platform.
The plugins for WordPress are simple to use and are useful for SEO.
Wordpress has an excellent blogging option.
Strong performance due to minimal code and PHP.
Cons:
Prone to hacking and malware.
It requires planning of the website.
Hard to use custom layouts.
● Drupal
Pros:
Drupal is a free and open-source platform.
Drupal has options for easy scalability. It can be scaled as per the fluctuations in the traffic.
Drupal has flexible taxonomies that offer vast flexibility.
Multilingual functionality is built into the core of Drupal.
Drupal has robust security features.
Cons:
Drupal requires you to have strong coding skills and is relatively complicated to use.
Drupal has performance issues. The user has to put a lot of effort to improve the configurations.
Compatibility issues between the modules arise sometimes.
● Joomla!
Pros:
Joomla! is a free and open-source platform.
Joomla! has limited compatibility issues because it is scripted entirely in PHP.
Joomla! has an easy user interface which makes it adaptable and flexible.
Cons:
Joomla! is complicated to customise without coding knowledge.
Joomla! has limited availability of modules due to the small user base.
● Sharepoint
Pros:
Sharepoint has a lot of options for customisation and is highly customisable.
Sharepoint is integrated with Microsoft Office and can save a lot of time during collaboration.
Sharepoint allows you to build multiple layers of sites and create enterprising solutions for large organisations.
Cons:
The licence of Sharepoint is expensive, and it costs a lot to set it up and maintain it.
Sharepoint requires training to use it and isn’t intuitive.
● Sitecore
Pros:
Sitecore is a powerful platform with a great deal of flexibility.
Sitecore features support Enterprise-level requirements.
It is easy to use for non-developers.
Cons:
Sitecore has performance issues at times and becomes slow.
Sitecore is expensive for basic CMS needs.
● Kentico
Pros:
Kentico is easy to use, versatile, and robust.
Kentico supports scalability.
Kentico has constant updates where the features increase consistently.
Cons:
Kentico is expensive for general users.
It generally takes time to implement features in Kentico.
Conclusion
It’s hard to find a perfect CMS, and it’s easy to get lost in the number of choices. There are about 250 to 350 different applications available in the market. From simple building tools to expansive enterprise systems, the possibilities are endless. The question is what CMS requirements you will need to support your planned online project optimally.