A content management system (CMS) is a great investment for companies of all sizes. CMSs provide a centralized platform for creating, publishing, managing, and optimizing digital content (such as web pages, blog posts, and direct emailers). All stakeholders involved in content creation, editing, and publishing can collaborate via a single interface.
In this article, we’ll consider some of the advantages and options for CMSs for businesses.
Why Do You Need a Content Management System?
If you run a business, a CMS is a great tool to help you organize and present information about your products and services in a professional, digital format. Your CMS will also provide you with a channel to communicate with your customers, prospects, and employees.
The best content management systems for businesses needn’t cost much, but they’ll offer you a range of templates, plugins, and other out-of-the-box functionalities. Most solutions also make it easy for you to get the latest updates and access technical support when needed.
How to Choose a Content Management System for Your Business
Larger enterprises with deep pockets can afford to invest in top-of-the-range CMS software. But not all businesses have the luxury of an unlimited budget. What’s more, you may not have unlimited internal resources and skills to manage it either.
The good news is that several content management systems on the market have been developed with all sizes of businesses in mind. They’re designed to be easy to use and can be purchased on a low monthly or annual subscription basis.
CMS vs. Website Builder
One of the first things you’ll need to be clear on when selecting your CMS is the technical specifications of the platform. Here, you need to answer the question: Should I go with CMS or a website builder?
Many people use these terms interchangeably, but there are notable differences between the two.
The primary role of a CMS is to manage your website’s content, such as blog posts. You can overlay themes on top of this system.
Website builders’ focus is on providing the tools you need to build your website, such as the front-end visual website building interface.
What’s best for you will depend on your specific needs, such as the type and volume of content you publish, as well as your skillset. It’s a good idea to do some research into your options or speak to a content management system consulting partner for advice.
What to Consider When Choosing a Content Management System
You should look for a content management system that works well for you. The best option will be one that’s responsive and allows you to complete your tasks quickly – from building your site to the day-to-day maintenance of your content.
With this in mind, here are some things to look out for when narrowing down your selection.
Ease of Use
Building and maintaining your website and the content you publish is a critical part of any business’s strategy. However, it shouldn’t take up a disproportionate amount of your time and energy.
Look for a content management system that doesn’t call for complex coding knowledge to perform tasks like creating, uploading, editing, and retiring pieces of content or drawing reports.
Customizability
While most content management systems come with great pre-built features and functions, some – particularly “freemium” options – are limited in their scope. This could cause problems down the line if your business grows and your content management system cannot scale with you.
Consider to what extent you can customize your dashboard views. What extensions and plugins are available? Can you modify pre-designed themes and templates to reflect your brand?
Integration
The best content management systems will easily sync with any other business software tools and platforms that you use to run your business. These might include your email exchange and your social media and CRM platforms.
Analytics
Many content management systems have built-in features that give you insights about which pieces of your content are most popular with your target audiences, who is interacting with it, and which devices they’re using. Knowing what’s working – and what isn’t – allows you to hone and refine your approach iteratively.
Support
When you’re on a deadline and encounter a technical problem with your content management system, it can lead to sleepless nights and, ultimately, lost revenue. Some content management system vendors have a dedicated customer service hotline to contact if you need support. Others have an extensive community of other users whose insights and experiences can help if you have a question.
Security
Not all business owners are familiar with the latest best practices around securing systems, data, and users. For this reason, seek out a platform that has robust, built-in security protocols.
Also, ask questions such as whether you’ll need to manually back up your site, buy SSL certificates, and perform software updates.
Cost
This is likely one of the most important considerations for business owners. The trick is to find a solution that meets your needs and your budget.
Fortunately, many CMS vendors offer different “tiers” of plans to choose from. With this approach, you can start with a basic option (at a lower price point) and upgrade to a more feature-rich plan as your business scales and your budget grows.
Brand Affinity
Word of mouth is a great way to cut through vendors’ marketing hype and find out which CMSs are most popular in the market.
Try speaking to your professional network to find out which CMSs other business owners are using.
The 5 Best CMS Solutions for Businesses
At WayPath, we’ve helped hundreds of business owners step through the process of selecting the right content management system for their enterprise.
Here are some of our top picks:
1. WordPress
WordPress is a popular, free, open-source content management system. Its most basic offer delivers an impressive range of features and functions that are easy to navigate -even if you’re a complete beginner. You can search and select from many pre-built templates to design and build your pages, edit content, and manage your media libraries.
One of WordPress’s drawcards is its app library: its 50,000 additional app options – many of which are free – allow you to scale at an attractive price point.
2. Squarespace
Squarespace is renowned for its sleek and sophisticated look and feel. Its extensive library of themes and templates can be searched and filtered by industry.
Squarespace is particularly useful if you enjoy featuring many eye-catching images in your content. It integrates with Getty Images, making finding and publishing images a breeze.
3. HubSpot CMS
HubSpot CMS is a fantastic content management tool; however, it’s a bit pricier than some other options. That being said, in return for your investment, you gain access to a rich suite of features and functionality, including an A/B testing tool for web pages. You also have access to a support team and a dedicated account manager.
4. Kentico
Kentico is one of the most adaptive content management systems on the market. Its popular features include multiple user management, Google integrations, and customer management tools. Kentico also supports multi-lingual sites and can automatically translate pages.
5. Wix
Ease of use and easy customization are the hallmarks of Wix. You have the option of either using a website built by Wix (after answering a few simple questions about your business and uploading your logo and color preferences) or building one yourself using their builder tool.
Wix also automatically mobile optimizes all sites, which helps you rank well in search engines.
Before Making Your Final Selection
There’s no shortage of great CMS systems out there. Take your time and do your research to find the one that matches the needs of your business, your level of technical proficiency, and your budget.
Most CMS vendors allow you to opt into a limited-period free trial, so take advantage of them before making your final selection.
Ultimately, your content management system should become a natural extension of the way you run your business and not feel like something that’s “bolted on.”
WayPath’s CMS Solutions
WayPath strategizes, designs, and customizes world-class CMS software that gives businesses of all sizes full control over their content lifecycle, from planning and creation to delivery and analytics.
With the right content management system, WayPath can empower you to deliver amazing content and see the results of your efforts in real-time. We can help you identify your content objectives and select a CMS platform that can meet those goals while delivering the highest ROI. Moreover, we can design a memorable digital experience across myriad channels and touchpoints and implement them on an easy-to-use CMS platform.
We’ve successfully implemented CMS projects for clients and we know what it takes to drive tangible results.
Learn more about how partnering with WayPath can set you on the path the CMS success, or get in touch with our team of experts to get started.
