What is a Content Management System (CMS)?

A Content Management System (CMS) does exactly what it says on the tin. It manages the content of a website. If your site has content that needs regularly updating then a CMS could be for you.

One of the main uses for a CMS is to take away the day-to-day control of the site from the developer and put it back in the hands of the site owner or site users.

This allows for site updates to take place as soon as possible. This could be crucial for an eCommerce site in need of price updates or recruitment site needing job or applicant updates.

Naturally this also reduces the site owners outgoings as the developer isn't involved.

Now you might be sitting there rubbing your hands together at the thought, careful Mr McTavish you might start a fire! (Apologies to my Scottish relatives :)

Before you go out and buy or get a CMS site developed why not read this article Choosing the Right CMS Platform for Your Website. It has a neat flow chart to help you decide if a CMS is better suited than a static site before going on to talk about SEO aspects of the software.

Further Advantages of Using a CMS

A lot of CMS are not machine dependent meaning you can update your site using a web browser from anywhere with an internet connection.

Added features of a CMS include the ability to create roles. Different roles can have varying access privileges which is great if you want to restrict certain users from accessing critical information. Alternately certain users can have access to particular areas of the site dedicated to them.

Client specific areas are a good way to offer them highly saught after content or possibly to let them keep track of a project.

Digital Asset Management

A CMS is great for storing, cataloging and displaying digital files such as photography, video or music.

The system can be utilised to automate certain aspects of the work flow. Such as the backing up of files, automatic formatting of images or video and automatic categorisation.

You can read about my CMS of choice or how Open Source software could effect your choice.