Content Management Systems (CMS) Overview
What is a Content Management System?
A content management system (CMS) is used to manage and deploy website content. With a content management system, users can create, edit, and delete content from a site. Typically CMS software offers an interface that does not require HTML skills or other technical knowledge. Content managers and authors can make changes without the help of a developer. However, customizing the layout and site experience may still require some coding.
Users can rely on CMS software to run any of these types of sites:
Blogs
News sites
Ecommerce sites
Corporate websites
Intranets
Blogging platforms are essentially very basic, simple content management systems. More complex tools allow users to manage more structured content across a larger number of pages. These content management systems also offer more integrations and allow users to configure rules for personalization based on visitor site activity or demographic information. The most advanced CMS software options are called digital experience management platforms.
CMS Features & Capabilities
The core purpose of CMS software is to simplify content processes for non-technical people. Users can focus on creating, organizing, and delivering content instead of wrestling with code.
The most common features and capabilities of a good content management system include:
WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editor
Page templates
Library of website themes
Content versioning and archiving
Mobile optimization & responsive design
Publishing workflow
Form generation
Content scheduling
Asset management (images, articles, etc.)
Page caching (or other features to speed delivery of content to the site)
SEO support
Tools to tag content and create a taxonomy
Browser compatibility
Bulk management
E-commerce functionality (i.e., catalog, shopping cart, payment processing)
Community management (i.e., commenting, profiles)
Localization / regionalization with multi-lingual content
Other personalization options
User roles and permissions
API
Analytics tools
Import/export content
Pricing Information
Content management systems are usually priced based on a few factors. These include the number of users, volume of content, range of features, and whether it’s a subscription service or a lifetime license.
There are some free content management systems that are open source. (However, these are usually less user-friendly for authors. Open source content management systems will likely require more HTML skills to format content and help from developers to deploy/update content.)
For lower-end options, prices can start as low as $5-$10 per month per user (
MS SharePoint, for example). Other options include
Wix ($5/mo.) and
SquareSpace ($12./mo.) Many of these content management system options include free versions either with limited features or for a limited time. Premium packages for enterprise level CMS are typically available by request.
