Content Management System Overview

What is a Content Management System?

A content management system (CMS) is a system that allows non-technical people within the client organisation to update parts of their website. These systems can either be fully web based, accessed from any computer via a web browser, or they can include some software that needs installing on your PC allowing you to connect to your website and make changes.

 

Many content management systems allow varying levels of access, or can restrict users to editing selected parts of the website only.

 

The benefits of a CMS or content management system

Content management systems allow the client to make their own changes to the website as frequently as they want. This should keep costs of maintenance down and gives the client control over update frequency.

 

The disadvantages of most content management systems

Many content management systems produce poor code. The website may have the correct appearance, but it may be written with poorly marked-up HTML. If your content management system allows you to change font size and font colour for any text, then it is most likely that it is producing incorrectly marked up HTML.

 

Badly marked up code makes your website makes less easy for blind or partially sighted people to use. The most important web user, Google, is blind. This makes your website less important within the search engines, and will have a major impact on your website's visibility in the search engines. This can add significantly to the cost of marketing your website.

 

Good content management systems

A good content management system can be created for websites with an integrated fully browser based content management system that has minimal impact on search engine optimization.