Why a CMS?

Why should you consider using a CMS for your next web project? Why go through all the trouble to deploy and learn to use a completely new system? These are valid concerns, but I believe that the many advantages of a CMS make the extra effort to set one up well worth it. Lets break this down into sections…

A CMS is Easy to Update

This is perhaps the most obvious, well known advantage of using a CMS. To stay afloat in today’s internet, you always need to be adding new, exciting content for users. Since a CMS is all about making it easy to add new content, you or your writers can simply focus on writing rather than worrying about the technical details of updating the site. Many CMSs use a simple, form based paged with what you see is what you get editing tools to help you write your content. If you have a large staff of writers or others who need to update the website, it easy easy enough for them to all have their own accounts for the back end, where they can update the site without ever having to deal with a technical person.

A CMS Separates Your Content from Your Presentation

Separating content from presentation is a sound design principle. In the days of static pages, if you wanted to upgrade your sites look and feel, you would have to change every single content page to update your look. With a CMS, since the content and relations are all stored neatly in a database, changing the look and feel of your site is simply a matter of changing a template, a task which many web designers are capable of doing. Once the new template is in place, your site will retain the same content as before, just with a fresh new presentation. This can be a huge advantage for growing and changing sites.

A CMS Enables User Interaction

It is no secret that user generated content is going to play a huge role in the future of the internet.  With a CMS, incorporating user content into your website becomes much easier.  Whether is it something as simple as allowing comments on blog posts, to something as advanced as a full blown user driven community site, a CMS can make this possible.

A CMS is Expandable 

Often times, a website will expand beyond its original scope.  A successful blog site might want to add a small online store for apparel, for example.  Many CMSs allow you to add modules or plugins that give you additional functionality.  For example, the blogger above might be able to simply add a shopping plugin to give his readers access to his merchandise.  The options are limitless, and the benefits are very real.

Conclusions

So, as you can see, there are many reasons to choose a CMS solution for your website.  Please read on to find out what to look for in a CMS, where to host it, and how to set it up.