When designing a new website, there are a million factors to consider. One of the most crucial, however, tends to get overlooked or oversimplified by decision makers every day. What Content Management System is best for you?
If you’re reading this, we’re going to assume that you already know the basics. You should definitely know what a Content Management System is and why it is necessary. You should also have a solid understanding of how to craft a digital marketing strategy around your content.
With that being said, let’s get down to brass tacks. How can you find the best CMS for your website? Is one CMS always best, or are there use cases that cause the answer to vary? If you follow these four steps, you’ll be on your way to choosing the best CMS for your site.
The 4 Steps to Choosing the Best CMS For Your Website
There are four simple steps to finding the CMS of your website’s dreams…
Step 1: Assess Who Will Be Using Your CMS
Content Management Systems vary in size, scope, and complexity. Some are built for tech novices while others need a tech wizard to unlock their potential.
Some people suggest that you should never get a CMS that’s too complicated. I believe that’s an oversimplification. The first step you need to take when deciding which CMS you should use is getting a solid understanding of who’s going to be using your CMS. All you need to know is who will be using it, what they’ll be using it for, and how adept they are at using sophisticated technology. Personally, I create a table with three columns:
- Name
- Use
- Technical Prowess (1-5)
Once you have a solid understanding of who will be using your CMS, you can move on to step number two.
Step 2: List all the Functionality You Want Your CMS to Have
You don’t want to get something too robust, but you also don’t want to leave any functionality on the table. Ensure you get everything you need by listing out all of the functionality you’re looking for. This should include things like:
- What kind of content the CMS will let you create.
- What kind of user settings the CMS has for you to grant or restrict access to other users.
- How the CMS allows you to organize pages.
- How the CMS allows you to manage various assets, including imagery, PDFs, and videos.
- How robust the CMS’ search functionality is.
- How customizable the CMS’ interface is.
- If the CMS gives you the ability to return to previous versions of a post.
If you’ve created a robust list of functionality, it’s time to start weighing the pros and cons of your options.
Step 3: Choose From The Main Players
There are literally thousands of options on the market, but we have three Content Management Systems that we prefer:
- WordPress – WordPress is one of the most widely-used Content Management Systems in the world, and there are plenty of good reasons to use it. It’s an open-source platform, allowing you to easily modify code. It’s also low cost and extremely easy to use. Unfortunately, it has limited permissions setup and has several limitations on the e-commerce side. It’s best for informational sites that don’t have a high focus on performance or speed.
- Drupal – Drupal is a great CMS for heavy lifting. It can do almost anything and is built for big sites, especially in the e-commerce space. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to use if you’re not a developer. It’s best for big sites that need a powerful CMS.
- Craft CMS – Craft is our team’s favorite CMS and it’s by far the best CMS in the marketplace for performance. Craft makes it easy to build gorgeous sites that perform extraordinarily well. We recommend Craft for all websites, but if you don’t have a development team committed to performance, Craft may not be a great fit for you.
Step 4: Try Before You Buy
Any reputable CMS should give you the ability to check it out before you buy it. Get a demo and possibly a free trial to make sure the CMS you choose is a good fit for your team before you commit.
Is it time for me to change my Content Management System?
If you’re currently running a site that may need an update, you may be tempted to change your CMS in the process. If you need to improve your site’s performance or architecture, a CMS change could make a world of difference, but don’t rush this decision. There’s a steep learning curve for many systems and you don’t want to make your team learn a new system if you’re not totally sure it’s the right fit.
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