A CMS is an essential component of any website. It allows you to customize your website efficiently and easily. There are various CMS tools that you can use to design and edit your site. What is a CMS? Why is it important for your website? How can it help your site? Here is your guide to CMS and what it can do for you.
Why is a Good CMS Important?
First of all, what is a CMS? A content management system (CMS) is a tool that allows you to design, manage, edit, and publish your website. Though each system allows you to customize your website, the degree of customization and ease of use that you experience can depend on the specific CMS that you choose.
Some systems are more robust, while others are simple and straightforward. Some charge a monthly price, while others are free to use. Some utilize drag-and-drop features that are easy for anyone to use, while others focus on Custom Style Sheets (CSS) and require some coding ability. Still, others focus on ready-made templates.
This is all important because it gives you options for designing and managing your website. The CMS you choose can affect the amount of time you spend on your website. It’s best to make things easier on yourself, so you can focus on marketing, customer service, and other areas of your business that require your attention.
There are three basic types of content management systems:
- Open Source: This type of CMS allows you to download its software at no charge. There are no fees or contracts. Extras will come with an additional cost, though. These extras can include support services, technical help, customization, templates, plugins, training, and updates. The most popular open source CMS tools include WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.
- Proprietary: A proprietary CMS is owned by a single company. You pay a license fee for use of the software and recurring charges (usually monthly or annually) for updates and support. Customization, training, upgrades, and additional technical support will cost extra. Microsoft SharePoint, IBM Enterprise Content Management, and Shopify are examples of proprietary CMS tools.
- Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): This is a type of CMS solution that involves cloud hosting and is paid by subscription. It includes content management software, web hosting, and technical support services. It can be fully or partially hosted in the company’s cloud server.
What Can a CMS Do For You?
There are many benefits to using a CMS to launch and manage your website. Here are just a few:
- You can edit your website quickly. If you have a last-minute promotion to launch, would you rather spend time frantically updating your site or would you rather just launch already? For most businesses, the answer is clear – the sooner you can launch and announce your promotion, the sooner you can see revenue from it. This is especially true of websites that often reference current events and need to update the site often and on a short deadline.
- You can enhance search engine optimization (SEO). A versatile and flexible CMS will allow you to create a site that makes the most of SEO. You can optimize URLs, headers, and titles of pages. The CMS may also allow you to optimize metadata, such as descriptions and tags.
- You can build your website according to your own marketing strategy. Marketing strategies are not set in stone – they should evolve, change, and grow with your company. When strategies change, your website should change, too. Whether it’s a complete rebuild or a small redesign, your CMS will allow you to make changes. A really versatile CMS will even allow you to build a whole new site according to your vision. You can use existing analytics to determine the sources that provide your best traffic, leads, and sales, then use that data to build your new site that will focus on the best methods of lead generation and conversion.
Choose a Web Hosting Service That Will Allow You to Make the Most of Your CMS
WordPress is by far the most popular content management system, and for good reason. It is simple, user-friendly, highly customizable, and SEO-friendly.
With BionicWP, you get all the features of WordPress, plus top-notch support and hosting. Our secure WordPress hosting includes features that will keep your website secure and running smoothly, such as backups, daily scans, CDN integration, a free SSL certificate, a hack promise, and updates for core software, themes, and plugins. There is plenty of disk space and bandwidth for any site, and real-time uptime monitoring keeps your site speedy, which increases search engine rankings and keeps visitors on your site longer. We offer a WordPress migration, so you don’t need to build a brand new site – just transfer an existing one. Our superior WordPress support can help you with every stage of website management, including design, development, content writing, project management, and any questions about WordPress you might have. Contact BionicWP today to discuss your WordPress needs.