From our experience in the realm of web development, we believe that an intuitive and tastefully designed website can do wonders for a brand. People search for everything on the internet, from things as little as a pair of socks to huge investments like houses.

If you are an entrepreneur, you are probably aware of the fact that your prospects have a high chance of sifting through the internet and finding you. This makes it imperative for your business to have a fully functional website that you can easily manage throughout your business journey.

A lot of entrepreneurs invest heaps of money in getting a website made but do not think of reoccurring costs associated with managing and maintaining it. This eventually ends up burning a hole in their pockets. That is why the new age technology poses to be a boon to anyone who wants to build a cutting-edge website.

Traditionally, you would need two aspects to create a website –A strong sense of creativity and some level of technical knowledge.

Content Management Systems (CMS) is one such technology that factors in both variables and helps you build an aesthetic yet functional website. If we go by the books, Content Management Systems are software that helps users create, manage, and modify content on a website without the need for any specialized technical knowledge.

In plain and simple words, Content Management Systems relieve you from the stress of managing and updating your website. It provides an interface to help you modify, edit, delete, and upload content directly to the website without the need for coding while simultaneously taking care of all the web infrastructure so you can concentrate on what matters the most – your customers!

In the entrepreneurial ecosystem, there is a lot of jargon that you may have been subjected to like CRM, DNS, SaaS, etc. CMS is one such eminent approach that is widely used in web development. A Content Management System is a tool used for organizing, producing as well as automating content.

Nowadays, Content Management Systems do so much more than just supplement the management. It also delivers real-time experiences to users across all parallels to satiate their content needs. There are a lot of Content Management Systems available in the market, you may have heard of the popular ones like Wix, and Joomla! , Shopify, Weebly, Drupal, etc which we will be talking about in-depth in our upcoming blog so stay tuned for it if you want to know which out of the lot resonates with your needs and requirements.

Components of CMS

There are two main components in a Content Management System – Content Management Application and Content Delivery Application. A Content Management Application is the front-end component of a Content Management System. It enables the users to design, create as well as manage the website’s content without coding. Content Delivery Application on the other hand is the back-end component of a Content Management System. It helps with the management and delivery of content after it is designed through the Content Management Application. These amalgamated can help take care of the code and infrastructure so your core focus can be on the user experience.

Types of Content Management Systems

As discussed above, Content Management Systems often consist of two components - Content Management Application and Content Delivery Application enabling you to publish content without the hassle of coding. Let us look at the kinds of Content Management Systems available in the market currently.

Traditional CMS

A traditional Content Management System offers a fully accessible back-end. It is a comprehensive end-to-end solution. Unlike SaaS Content Management System, Traditional Content Management System needs devoted web hosting to run. Despite the cost-effective approach with traditional CMS, one needs to make sure that they maintain and update the relevant technologies to keep the CMS up and running.

SaaS CMS

SaaS Content Management System, like traditional CMS, is an all-inclusive solution. The key difference is that it is nested in the cloud. This is best suited for companies that do not need server or web hosting overheads.

Decoupled CMS

Decoupled Content Management Systems that host website content has a different presentation layer from the administration layer. This means that the place where editors and admins manage content is an entirely separate application from the website or app the user is subjected.

Headless CMS

A Headless Content Management System is any type of back-end content management system that acts primarily as a content repository. It makes content accessible through an API without any particular front-end layer. The quirky name comes from removing the head that is the front end from the body which is the back end.

How does it work?

In order to build a website from scratch traditionally, one would typically begin with HTML to upload pictures, content, and other elements. After this, you would add CSS to place these elements to resonate with your branding. After this, add some JavaScript to put more functionality. This will then be uploaded to your database.

The problem with going the traditional route is that even if you want to make minuscule changes, you will have to change the code every time. This makes it very hard to maintain or update the website. This is where CMS can help. People who want to ease the development and maintenance of their websites can leverage CMS. Just open the editor and upload your media just by clicking on a few buttons as opposed to writing codes and Voila! You are done.

Interesting facts about CMS

• Projected growth of the CMS industry appears limitless and is expected to nearly double over five years. Experts predict that the web content management market will grow from $6.9 billion in 2021 to $14.3 billion by 2026. — Research and Markets

• Organizations turn to a wide variety of CMS options. Content Science’s recent study of content operations found organizations are turning to CMS options ranging from open source (e.g., Drupal, WordPress) to enterprise and traditional CMS to headless CMS and content marketing platforms. — What Makes Content Operations Successful?

• Web content management is the backbone of your digital experience. Web content management systems must deliver highly personal digital experiences on any device directly into a customer’s immediate context and moments of need. — Forrester

• Today’s CMS must go beyond supporting just your website. “The days of creating, managing, and delivering digital experiences in a single channel are dying. This paves the way for a new era of web content management (Web CMS) technologies and strategies built on agile, open foundations that support digital experiences beyond the website. — CMS Wire

• The headless CMS has introduced an entirely new way of publishing content. “By eliminating the front end, a headless CMS delivers content through the API, enabling it to do so in any format and on any device. This option provides greater flexibility, scalability, and security, and means you can write your sites or apps with the tools that suit you. The headless CMS…provides the foundations for Content as a Service, which allows content to be created and stored on a central hub before being published across numerous channels, thus streamlining workflows and increasing profitability.” — Top Content Management Trends, Kontent by Kentico

(Source - Click here)

Why should you use CMS?

Now that we have discussed what Content Management Systems are and how they work, let us deep-dive into the benefits.

No Coding Required

Content Management Systems do not require you to have any specialized knowledge about coding. In fact, it was developed for users who possessed little to no technical knowledge. Content Management Systems allow you to update and manage your website without any help from developers or third parties.

Collaboration

Content Management System enables multiple users to access and collaborate on projects. By providing access to the project, these people can log in through their respective accounts and update media according to their convenience. Content Management Systems also allow you to access and work at the back end simultaneously.

Security and Protection

In this day and age where people are so prone to security breaches, it is vital for systems to have top-tier protection. Content Management Systems go through periodic testing to ensure that any kind of security issue never surfaces. Content Management Systems also offers third-party integrations and add-ons to strengthen the website's protection.

Tools and Plugins

Content Management Systems encompass various tools and plugins for SEO. These tools can help your website get great traffic. Even though most of the tools and plugins available in the market go through recurring updates, your website will stay optimized regardless of any changes.

Economical

If you have ever gotten a website made or know anyone who has, you are probably aware of how much it costs. In order to update or maintain a website traditionally, you need to update the code every time which results in high maintenance costs even if you want to make slight changes. Not just money, a lot of time is invested in this process. In the business landscape where time is money, one has to be very mindful of their choices. By incorporating Content Management Systems into your strategy, you can save a lot of resources and get the work done instantly without reliance on anybody.

4 Pivotal Content Management System Features

Content Management Systems offer various useful tools and functionalities for your website. A lot of Content Management Systems exude different types of features. Some focus on publishing and creating content, while others focus more on Search Engine Optimization click here but how do you know which one to invest in? Look for 4 of these pivotal functions!

Multilingualism

The burgeoning diversity calls for systems to be multilingual. Nowadays, if you want to cater to a wide audience, you need to provide offerings in their native languages. Content Management Systems can either encompass a process in their database to offer different languages or offer language-based plugins. Either way, embracing diversity is a win-win situation.

Content Distribution

Content Management Systems offer different content distribution options in accordance with their API capabilities. This is an element that allows your records to distribute content to your end devices.

Responsive Designs

We have done a dedicated blog on Responsive Designs click here that entails everything you need to know about the topic so be sure to check it out. Basically, Responsive designs are practices and principles to create web pages that look great across all devices. In Content Management Systems, the content stays consistent, only the layout adapts to the screen size.

Open-Source Platforms

A lot of Content Management Systems are open source, meaning their base codes are available free of cost. Having an open source elucidates that there is a strong community backing up the Content Management Systems development.

Conclusion:

Content Management Systems can be a boon to your business’ success. Rapidly growing technologies have now transformed the way CMS interacts with businesses. Choosing the right kind of Content Management System can help you save a lot of resources and enhance your productivity. Not just that, it saves you the hassle of maintaining and updating your website without any external help.

Well, now that you are well-versed with the concept of Content Management Systems and how they can help you, shoot us an email at design@interactivedigitalmedia.in to let us know your thoughts on the same. In addition to that, if you have any questions about CMS, feel free to drop in a query on Instagram @designfuel. We love to interact with all of our followers.

Until then, stay tuned for our next blog as it is going to be a topic deeply loved in the design community. Ciao! ☺