In this article, we are going to talk about what is CMS, what does content management system do, its importance, examples, and much more.
There are several abbreviations used in the world. Some of them are CDN, SERP, CRM, CMS, and SEO. Among these, CMS is highly crucial because more than half of the websites around the world are made with it. Thus, what is CMS? Let me explain.
CMS, also known as Content Management System, is the solution you are searching for to make your website quickly with limited resources and technical maintenance.
CMS
A Content Management System (CMS) is a software app that lets you create and manage your website without coding knowledge. With the help of a CMS, you can build, modify, manage, and make your content live in an accessible interface. Instead of coding, you can purchase or download extensions and templates and thus customize the functionality and design. You may have many users who work in the back end of the same software—and a lot more.
You may be curious how CMS does all these things. To answer this question, let’s discuss how it works.
What Does Content Management System Do?
To understand how it works, you need to know what it is to create a website from scratch.
You need to begin with HTML to add building blocks, navigation bars, and images and test a website. After that, you can add CSS to style the items to link the feel and unique look of your company. Then, you can finish by writing JavaScript to provide advanced features to your website, such as slide-in Call To Action. You must upload the HTML folder to its server to file in the database.
When you need to make alterations – even the simple ones such as content updating – you need to take files from the server and click each file to open and modify the HTML code. After that, you must ensure you did not disrupt any link or something before updating the files.
Doesn’t it sound complicated? For advanced operators with experience in web development, building a website from scratch can be perfect. However, people who do not have the resources, time, or skills to make a website from zero and handle it can easily use a Content Management System. Let’s discuss it.
How to Use it?
A CMS comprises two major components: a content delivery application (CDA) and a content management application (CMA). Both these applications can manage all the coding, infrastructure, and database queries in the back end, allowing you to concentrate on the website’s front end.
Instead of starting with an empty page of HTML, for instance, you will open the content editor and can insert tables and images, add CTAs and links, bold text through drag and drop modules, or click some buttons instead of writing out JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.
To make other significant alterations on your website, such as installing extensions or changing the structure of the permalink, just go to the related section in the admin panel. Here, you will see the CMA in action: the changes are created in a user-friendly interface that hides the coding from you.
After making all the changes, CDA can take the content you added to the CMA, gather the code, show it to the front-end audience, and save it. This means that when you wish to publish your new blog, you need to click on the “Publish” icon rather than update the server’s page manually.
Why is CMS Essential?
Some of the advantages of a CMS are listed above, but let us talk about how it affects your team’s productivity, online visibility, and setup process.
1.    No Knowledge of Coding Needed
The CMS has helped transform web design by enabling users and non-developers to build a site without the knowledge of coding. Gone are the days when people rely on web designers and developers to make their company’s online existence.
You can easily create and handle the content, go for extensions to add more features to your website, and customize your site’s design – all without any coding. (It is essential to notice that most of the platforms let you add custom codes for more control on your website, too.)
This means that users with limited time and technical resources can still create an excellent site for their company.
2.    Quick Collaboration
Numerous users can work and access the CMS back-end simultaneously. It means on a particular day, the marketers will produce content, the IT experts will implement the security rules, and the developers add customized code to the theme. Together, they all work on the same page.
Thus, a CMS helps improve your crew’s productivity and workflow.
3.    Extensions and SEO Features
The CMS platform offers integral features and add-ons to optimize your website for many search engines, mainly Google.
With the help of third-party or built-in items, you can:
- Optimize the page loading time
- Include breadcrumb navigation
- Create 301 redirects
- Add ALT image text
- Make XML sitemaps
- Choose SEO-friendly URL structures
- Customize meta descriptions and page titles
Implementing these practices will increase the probability of ranking your site on search engines, especially Google.
4.    Pre-designed Templates
Different CMS platforms, such as CMS Hub, offer a choice of pre-designed templates that you can use to change your website’s appearance and influence its behavior.
For example, selecting a responsive template will ensure that your website looks perfect on any gadget without requiring you to inscribe code.
In addition to saving your time for designing before initiating your website, they can also redesign your website much simpler and faster.
5.    Easy Updates
As we discussed above, the CMS helps you make different fluctuations on your website more accessible and faster, from significant updates such as website redesigning to little updates such as changing the image on the homepage. Instead of signing up for a developer or attempting to edit the coding, you can visit your CMS dashboard to edit and update your site content. It permits you to keep the content relevant and dynamic.
If your website works, you must update the CMS to fulfill your requirements. You can initiate the search by checking out some of the top CMS systems mentioned below:
Examples of CMS Platforms
- WordPress
- CMS Hub
- Drupal
- Joomla
- Webflow
- Magento
- Ghost
Let’s examine these seven famous examples of CMS platforms to determine which best suits your site’s needs.
1.    WordPress
It is a self-hosted place powering millions of websites. You can quickly and easily create a WordPress website with the help of an editor, Gutenberg, and then modify it using thousands of themes and plugins accessible in WordPress or numerous third-party websites.
Would you like to add live chat and forms to your website? Do you need a theme with split testing and an integral visual builder? Using WordPress themes and plugins, you can have an excellent experience that meets your business requirements.
2.    CMS Hub
With this CMS, you can create powerful, secure, and optimized websites for different search engines.
This platform allows you to create customized content for visitors, create custom styles and templates, run A/B tests on multi-language content, view performance analytics, and much more.
This CMS hub combines flexibility and ease of use, making it perfect for companies with diverse teams of IT professionals, developers, and marketers who want to progress over time.
3.    Drupal
It is a flexible CMS preferred by large government agencies and corporations like NASA. Though you will require web development experience to influence this platform’s authority, there is no need to start from zero.
Besides the out-of-the-box functionality, you can select among 44,000 modules accessible in the directory and many themes to create a complicated website that manages heavy traffic and significant volumes of data.
4.    Joomla
Website owners looking for more functionality built right into the platform can try an alternative to WordPress, such as Joomla.
Similar to WordPress, Joomla is also an open-source CMS. What makes Joomla different is its advanced user and content management options, and built-in multilingual support, which makes it perfect for social networking sites, community, and membership.
5.    Webflow
It is the visual CRM intended to fill the market fap for website designers who need to concentrate on making and customizing websites without upsetting about performance, security, or hosting.
With the help of this tool, you can begin with one among the thousands of pre-built templates or initiate from scratch with the help of the Webflow Designer.
Besides, you can increase the functions of your website by adding HTML code or third-party integrations. Though it needs knowledge of web design, CSS, and HTML, Webflow is perfect for agencies or freelance designers.
6.    Magento
Magento’s self-hosted version also called Magento OpenSource, is similar to Drupal. It is secure and highly flexible but demanding to learn and take benefit of all its built-in extensions and functionality.
With the help of Magento, you can manage more than one store easily, use different global shipping providers, and transact in other currencies, languages, and countries – all within one dashboard.
Thus, if you have the resources and time to spend on setup and maintenance, you can build an online store with a global reach and a vast product inventory.
7.    Ghost
This is a perfect choice if you are searching for a lightweight and more uncomplicated CMS intended for blogging. It is known as headless CMS, meaning that its body section is detached from the head.
Usually, it lets you make and manage the content and deliver it through the Node.js APIs to any channel and platform, from virtual reality headsets to smartwatches.
With integral SEO tools and a user-friendly editor, Ghost is perfect for learners and bloggers who need a basic website that is easy to build and manage.
Build Your Website Using a CMS
Using a CMS to create and handle your website can help you progress over time. The CMS will not only store all the website content in a place but also help teamwork across groups, allow for easy and quick updates, and provide extensions and templates to tailor your website.
What does content management system do? I hope this content helps you in answering this question!