The Benefits of a Content Management System
July 16th, 2010A content management system, or CMS, is a web-based interface through which site administrators can control what appears on their site — without needing any technical experience. Rather than having to code and upload a new static page for every additional page on a site, creating new pages with a content management system requires just a few clicks. At Digital Peabody, we’re often asked by customers about the benefits of having a CMS on their site, and we’ll run through a few below.
- Ease of customization. With a CMS, quickly and efficiently changing content on your site is as easy as composing an e-mail. You don’t want your site to always look the same, nor do you want to have to call your developer every time you need to change a paragraph somewhere on your site.
- Consistency. Pages created with a CMS automatically have a consistent aesthetic feel — you won’t have to keep tweaking minute HTML tags to get your pages to look the same. In addition, CMS-generated pages have the same meta structures, making the site more search-engine friendly as well as more navigable for users.
- What you see is what you get. WordPress and ExpressionEngine, the two content management systems with which Digital Peabody works most often, both feature “what you see is what you get” (or WYSIWYG) editors, meaning what you see on the screen is what will appear on the page. Content creators don’t have to be HTML gurus to post through a CMS.
- Separation of design and content. If your CMS-based site needs a design upgrade, it won’t mean you’ll lose the content you spent so much time working on, or have to copy-paste it into new pages. Instead, it’ll appear in the newly-redesigned pages, saving you a lot of time and effort.
- Search engine optimization. Search engines value new content — easily posted through a CMS — as well as consistent site architecture, including metadata, URL structure, headings and more.
- Multiple content creators. Since a site’s CMS is accessible over the web, anyone with the proper credentials can log in and post from anywhere with an internet connection.
- Workflow management. WordPress and ExpressionEngine, as well as most other content management systems, can be configured so that users have different levels of access to the in order to ensure all posts go through adequate quality control before they are published to the web.
- Multimedia posts. WordPress and ExpressionEngine make sharing photos and videos easy. There’s no need to go through all sorts of trouble with external photo and video hosting — just select and upload.
- E-commerce. Digital Peabody also specializes in the industry-leading Magento e-commerce platform, which allows unprecedented flexibility for business owners looking to sell online. Magento has a variety of advanced features, including the ability to ship to multiple addresses for one transaction, create product bundles, offer coupons and more. Check out the business and e-commerce section of our portfolio here for some examples.
Want to learn more about content management systems and how they work? Contact Digital Peabody at 312-933-3430. Ready to begin? Get a free quote today, and take a look at our featured sites for examples of what a CMS can do for your website.
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Posted in Content Management System, Tips, Website Development, Website Tips
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