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Domain Content Management Systems

What is a Content Management Systems?​

A content management system (CMS) is a computer application specifically designed to help you manage your organisation's digital assets, including your web content.

You can use a CMS alone or integrate it with other business applications. You can set it up directly on your network, use a web-based solution or run the software locally on your computers.

Categories of content management systemsc​

Different types of CMS exist to handle different types of content. Common categories of CMS include:

  • web content management systems
  • enterprise content management systems
  • mobile content management systems
  • digital asset management systems
  • media asset management systems
  • document and records management systems
  • component content management systems

Each of these specific types of CMS has its own acronym. However, the generic 'CMS' term nowadays typically applies to web content management solutions.

What are web content management systems?​

Web content management systems are applications that contain tools to help you create, control and publish your online content, without having to understand the code behind it.

A web CMS generally consists of two elements:

  • a content management application providing a simple interface for non-technical users to add, manage and remove web content
  • a content delivery application providing back-end functionality for the delivery of content to the website

How does a web content management system work?​

A web CMS works by allowing you to access your website's database via a simple, graphical user interface, usually through a web browser. Within this interface, you can access a range of content management tools to help you:

  • create and publish new pages on your website
  • update or remove existing content and pages
  • use pre-set categories, themes or templates to organise the layout of your pages
  • ensure consistent presentation of content across your whole website
  • manage the structure and navigation of your website, including menus and sitemaps
  • manage authoring permission levels and editorial workflows
  • store and retrieve different types of content (eg text, images, podcasts, videos) in your database

Larger businesses may need additional CMS functionality, such as multi-site or multi-lingual support. Your CMS should meet your specific business needs and cope with the different types of content you want to manage (eg. text, audio, video, social media feeds, etc).

Advantages of using a content management system​

There are many advantages to using content management systems (CMS). These are not limited to websites with dynamic, interactive or regularly changing content.

Pros:​

Compared to static HTML websites, key benefits of CMS include:

  • user-friendliness
  • quick deployment
  • ease of maintenance, including updates
  • cost-efficiency, especially with out-the-box solutions, open source or freeware
  • extendable functionality, through a large number of plugins and extensions
  • SEO-friendly features
  • developer and community support One of the main advantages of CMS is that it enables non-technically minded users to create functional pages or upload and modify content themselves, without having to outsource the work to a web developer or understand programming languages such as HTML or PHP.

Cons:​

Despite their many benefits, there are a few common problems to consider before choosing a CMS. For example:

  • there may be hidden costs (eg. with implementation, customisation, support or training)
  • you may need significant server resources for certain types of CMS
  • you will need to apply regular upgrades and patches to ensure your software is secure In addition, with some proprietary solutions it may be:
  • difficult or expensive to customise
  • tricky to export data or move away to another platform
  • challenging to be locked in with only one supplier

Importance of CMS to your business​

If you carefully source and implement the right CMS for your web project, it can help you:

  • streamline your authoring process
  • update your website remotely, as and when needed
  • ensure consistency in appearance and 'look and feel' of the website
  • customise your website to meet your precise business needs
  • use non-technical staff to make updates, although they may need basic training
  • reduce website maintenance costs
  • eliminate the need for web developers or webmasters for simple content updates
  • integrate your website with other business applications, such as customer relationship and asset management systems
  • store archived content, either for future use or reference
  • use dynamic marketing to improve sales or user satisfaction
  • optimise your website and content for search engines or mobile use To make the most of these benefits, you will need to define:
  • your workflows and processes
  • your technical requirements

This involves deciding who should have access to the CMS, and at what level. You should also establish the approval procedures for creating, publishing and managing your digital content.

Industry Standards for CMS (examples)​

  • Adobe Management Systems
  • WordPress
  • Joomla
  • Drupal