What is a content management system?
In this guide:
- Content management systems
- What is a content management system?
- Different types of content management systems
- Important CMS features and functions
- Advantages of using a content management system
- Content management system requirements checklist
- Choose the best CMS for your business
- How to implement a content management system
What is a content management system?
An overview of the different categories of CMS, including web and enterprise content management systems.
A content management system (CMS) is a computer application specifically designed to help you manage your organisation's digital assets, including your web content.
You can use a CMS alone or integrate it with other business applications. You can set it up directly on your network, use a web-based solution or run the software locally on your computers.
Categories of content management systems
Different types of CMS exist to handle different types of content. Common categories of CMS include:
- web content management systems
- enterprise content management systems
- mobile content management systems
- digital asset management systems
- media asset management systems
- document and records management systems
- component content management systems
Each of these specific types of CMS has its own acronym. However, the generic 'CMS' term nowadays typically applies to web content management solutions.
What are web content management systems?
Web content management systems are applications that help you create, control and publish your online content, without having to understand the code behind them.
A web CMS generally consists of two elements:
- a content management application providing a simple interface for non-technical users to add, manage and remove web content
- a content delivery application providing back-end functionality for the delivery of content to the website
How does a web content management system work?
A web CMS works by allowing you to access your website's database via a simple, graphical user interface, usually through a web browser. Within this interface, you can access a range of content management tools to help you:
- create and publish new pages on your website
- update or remove existing content and pages
- use pre-set categories, themes or templates to organise the layout of your pages
- ensure consistent presentation of content across your whole website
- manage the structure and navigation of your website, including menus and sitemaps
- manage authoring permission levels and editorial workflows
- store and retrieve different types of content (eg text, images, podcasts, videos) in your database
Larger businesses may need additional CMS functionality, such as multi-site or multi-lingual support.
Your CMS should meet your specific business needs and cope with the different types of content you want to manage (eg text, audio, video, social media feeds, etc). See how to choose the best CMS for your business.
What are enterprise content management systems?
Enterprise content management systems typically store documents and other content that relate to the organisation's processes. They often combine different functions, including web content management, document and records management, workflow and collaboration tools, etc. Read more about enterprise content management.
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Different types of content management systems
An overview of the different types of CMS, including examples of the most popular open source and proprietary CMS software.
When choosing a content management system (CMS) for your business, it helps to understand the differences between the various types, their features and functions, and pricing models.
Types and examples of content management systems
There are three broad types of CMS software: open source, proprietary and Software-as-a-Service CMS, including cloud-based solutions.
Open source CMS
You can download open source CMS software at no initial cost. There are no licence or upgrade fees, or contracts. However, with open source CMS you may have to pay for:
- technical help during installation and set up
- customisation to extend the software beyond the core offering
- compatible templates, add-ons and plugins (although free versions may be available)
- staff training
- support, including regularly updating the software
Examples of the most widely used open source CMS platforms include:
- WordPress
- Joomla
- Drupal
- Magento (e-commerce)
- PrestaShop (e-commerce)
See a full list of open source CMS.
You can install and manage open source CMS on a web server. While most solutions work out of the box, countless customisations are available to meet the different business needs, such as plugins for e-commerce websites, tools to help you optimise content for search engines or customise your design themes and layouts.
Read more about open source business software.
Proprietary CMS
Proprietary or commercial CMS software is built and managed by a single company. Using such CMS generally involves:
- buying a licence fee to use the software
- paying monthly or annual charges for updates or support
You may also need to pay additional costs for customisation and upgrades, as well as for training and ongoing technical or user support.
Examples of popular CMS solutions include:
- Kentico
- Microsoft SharePoint
- IBM Enterprise Content Management
- Pulse CMS
- Sitecore
- Shopify
See a full list of proprietary CMS.
You can usually customise proprietary CMS with built-in functionalities, although this may come at an additional cost. If possible, look for a CMS solution that meets all of your requirements out of the box. If you are implementing a proprietary CMS with an existing website or back-end system, be aware that this may require extensive development work.
If you're looking for a CMS for a brand new website, it is best to choose a solution that has all the important features and functions to meet your current and future business needs.
Software as a Service (SaaS) CMS
SaaS CMS solutions commonly include web content management software, web hosting, and technical support with a single supplier. These are virtual solutions hosted in the cloud and based on a subscription model, usually on a per-user or per-site basis. The pricing usually includes:
- amount of data transfer (ie bandwidth to and from your site)
- storage for your content and data
- ongoing support
There are two types of cloud content management systems:
- 'Fully cloud' CMS often comes as part of a package or service. Typically, these are proprietary systems under the supplier's control, so it isn't always possible to customise or alter their functionality to suit your needs.
- 'Partial cloud' CMS is located on your own cloud web server. It provides for greater flexibility since you can modify the functionality, either with add-on modules or by altering the source code.
Cloud CMS offers some significant benefits to small and medium-sized businesses. For example:
- costs are generally low - a small set-up fee usually covers a basic implementation
- SaaS supplier deals with upgrades, maintenance and technical issues
- the software is accessible from any computer, laptop or mobile with an internet connection
- updates to software and features are available in real-time
- packages are easily scalable - you can add more sites or users as your needs change
See more on cloud computing and find tips to help you choose the best CMS for your business.
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Important CMS features and functions
An overview of the most common CMS features to help you manage your organisation's information or web content efficiently.
Most content management systems (CMS) share a core set of features and functions to enable the creation and modification of digital content, documents and data.
What does a content management system do?
A typical CMS aims to help users manage information efficiently. The key functions of most CMS applications include:
- storing
- indexing
- search and retrieval
- format management
- revision control
- access control
- publishing
- reporting
For a more basic introduction to CMS, see what is a content management system.
While some CMS are available as basic 'off the shelves' packages, other types of content management systems can be customised and enhanced with advanced add-ons, plug-ins and other features.
Popular web CMS features
A web content management system is typically capable of performing core CMS functions mentioned above. On top of this, however, web CMS may also include the following features:
- SEO-friendly URLs
- customisable templates to manage content presentation
- permission-based access control
- user and group functionality
- content organisation structures, eg hierarchy and taxonomy
- content virtualisation
- versioning and workflow management
- collaboration platform
- delegation between user groups
- language or user support
- integrated file managers
- integrated audit logs
- install and upgrade wizards
- compliance with website and accessibility standards
One of the most user-friendly CMS features is the WYSIWYG editor, or 'what you see is what you get' text-editing tool that works like Microsoft Word. This tool allows you to manipulate the webpage code without having to know the underlying programming language (HTML).
Beyond the creation and publishing of HTML content, you can also set up a CMS to:
- support your online marketing campaigns
- integrate with your customer relationship management system
A good CMS will also support your search marketing by helping to improve your search engine optimisation.
What is the best CMS for your website?
As with any software, the key to choosing a CMS is to thoroughly understand your requirements and limitations are before you decide on the solution. A good CMS will be SEO-friendly, help you meet accessibility and international web standards, and will have the features and the functionality to fit your specific business needs.
See our CMS requirements checklist and tips to help you choose the best CMS for your business.
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Advantages of using a content management system
Key benefits of using CMS to manage digital content in your business, and some challenges and problems that can come up.
There are many advantages to using content management systems (CMS). These are not limited to websites with dynamic, interactive or regularly changing content.
Advantages of CMS
Compared to static HTML websites, key benefits of CMS include:
- user-friendliness
- quick deployment
- ease of maintenance, including updates
- cost-efficiency, especially with out-the-box solutions, open source or freeware
- extendable functionality, through a large number of plugins and extensions
- SEO-friendly features
- developer and community support
One of the main advantages of CMS is that it enables non-technically minded users to create functional pages or upload and modify content themselves, without having to outsource the work to a web developer or understand programming languages such as HTML or PHP.
Disadvantages of content management systems
Despite their many benefits, there are a few common problems to consider before choosing a CMS. For example:
- there may be hidden costs (eg with implementation, customisation, support or training)
- you may need significant server resources for certain types of CMS
- you will need to apply regular upgrades and patches to ensure your software is secure
In addition, with some proprietary solutions it may be:
- difficult or expensive to customise
- tricky to export data or move away to another platform
- challenging to be locked in with only one supplier
Importance of CMS to your business
If you carefully source and implement the right CMS for your web project, it can help you:
- streamline your authoring process
- update your website remotely, as and when needed
- ensure consistency in appearance and 'look and feel' of the website
- customise your website to meet your precise business needs
- use non-technical staff to make updates, although they may need basic training
- reduce website maintenance costs
- eliminate the need for web developers or webmasters for simple content updates
- integrate your website with other business applications, such as customer relationship and asset management systems
- store archived content, either for future use or reference
- use dynamic marketing to improve sales or user satisfaction
- optimise your website and content for search engines or mobile use
To make the most of these benefits, you will need to define:
- your workflows and processes
- your technical requirements
This involves deciding who should have access to the CMS, and at what level. You should also establish the approval procedures for creating, publishing and managing your digital content.
For more information, see our CMS requirements checklist and tips to help you choose the best CMS for your business.
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Content management system requirements checklist
Tips to help you decide if you need a content management system for your website and how choose the right type of CMS.
Not all businesses will require a content management system (CMS) to manage their websites. Whether you need a CMS or not depends on several factors.
Do you need a content management system?
To determine if you need a CMS, ask yourself the following questions:
- How frequently will you be updating the site?
- Will you regularly post serialised content like blogs and press releases?
- Will you need real-time updates?
- Will you need version control for your content?
- Will you have a big editorial team with multiple user groups?
- Will you need an approval workflow?
- What other functionality do you need from your platform?
- What technical skills do you have in-house?
- Do you need reusable content and layout templates?
- Can you cover the up-front costs and ongoing maintenance?
If you have a small, brochure type website, with a small amount of content that you rarely need to change, it may be difficult to justify the additional cost, time and effort of setting up a CMS. You should weigh out the costs and the risks of implementing a new system against the possible improvements.
If you have a static HTML website that you need to update frequently, or you plan to build an entirely new site, you should consider CMS as an option for your project.
CMS requirements checklist
If you determine that you need a CMS, you should look at the business objectives you expect it to meet. Draw up a checklist of the requirements and list the important CMS features and functions you would like the tool to have.
For example, looking at your business requirements you may decide that you need a CMS with:
- an e-commerce facility to handle online payments and process orders
- an adaptable workflow
- access to specific add-ons, plugins and features
- a password-protected area for customers, suppliers or staff
- an internal search functionality in addition to the standard site navigation
- advance functionality such as online registration, display or affiliate marketing, product recommendations, user-generated content and other dynamic marketing content
- web analytics functionality to measure website performance
- integration with cache management tools, other business systems and applications
You should also consider the wider business impact, for example:
- the cost of CMS implementation (eg time, staffing, training and support)
- the choice between open-source or proprietary systems
- migrating your website to a cloud platform, partially or fully
Migrating content to a new CMS
It's worth noting that implementing a CMS on an existing website, especially one with a complex back-end system, may require a lot of development work. Occasionally, it may be more cost-effective to start over with a new website.
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Choose the best CMS for your business
Consider factors like suppliers, costs, specifications, product features and support to find the best content management system for your business.
Choosing a content management system (CMS) is a complex task. It requires careful consideration of features, costs, scalability, integration and, most of all, your business needs.
How to choose the right CMS platform?
Most businesses begin the selection process by making sure that they have a solid understanding of their business - its current and future needs and content management practices. Come up with a clear set of requirements that the CMS should meet and decide from the start what you can and can't do without.
It's a good idea to prioritise your CMS requirements using the MoSCoW method:
- must-have: critical features you can't work without
- should-have: features you consider equally important but not time-critical
- could-have: features you desire but aren't critical for performance
- would have: features that seem nice but are not required or appropriate at this time
Prioritising features in this way will give you a requirement matrix against which you can assess different solutions and their functionality.
Remember to speak to different teams in your business to take in their requirements and organisational needs too. For example:
- your IT team could need a CMS that fits with the existing infrastructure stack
- your sales team might want CRM or e-payment systems integration
- your marketing team might desire automation or digital marketing capabilities
If you're planning to sell products or services from your website, make sure the platform you choose is suitable for e-commerce. See examples of important CMS features and functions.
Key decision points to consider when choosing a CMS
Some of the common critical factors in choosing a new content management system are:
- ease of use
- level of technical knowledge needed to use the CMS effectively
- type of platform (eg open source, proprietary or cloud)
- core or 'out of the box' features and capabilities
- customisation (ie ease of adding new features and functionality)
- third-party integration (eg with CRM or e-commerce platform)
- scalability
- responsiveness
- ease of deployment
- design flexibility
- security
- level of support (communities, forums, user support, maintenance etc)
You must also consider budget and licensing when choosing a CMS. Some platforms are free while others will require a purchase. Be realistic about the initial costs as well as ongoing fees, for example for licence renewals, hosting or future development.
Every project will be different, but the factors covered above should help you narrow down possible choices to a select few that may fit your specific business requirements. If possible, watch a demo, speak to current users and try out the software first, before making the final choice.
How to find the right CMS supplier
The process of finding the right CMS supplier is similar to that of choosing any other IT supplier for your business. You need to deal with someone you can trust, and who will support you throughout the process. You'll also need a CMS supplier who can meet your requirements at a price you can afford.
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How to implement a content management system
Things to consider when implementing a CMS for your website, from planning to testing and maintenance.
Implementing a content management system (CMS) can be highly complex. The level of complexity will depend on your business needs and may involve considerable time and expense if you are deploying the system on an existing website.
A clear implementation plan - including, for example, key deliverables, timescales, review dates, user acceptance testing - will help to control costs and time.
CMS implementation plan
As well as creating the website and designing the systems, you also need to take into account staff training within your implementation plan. Although you may work with an agency or a supplier to handle the setup and basic implementation, you may want to update the site using internal resources in the future.
Even if you outsource updating and maintenance, it will be valuable if some people within the business are able to use the CMS. It will help with business continuity, particularly if you need to change suppliers. As part of the supplier selection process, you will have taken into account the levels and types of customer support, and your supplier should provide full documentation, including user manuals.
Read about website maintenance: options and requirements.
Testing and test sites
Migration to a new site is vitally important, and you should consider having a test site working in parallel for some time, with access limited to key stakeholders so that you can investigate any issues. You can also use this test site for user acceptance testing (UAT). This training can involve suppliers, professional advisers, key staff and - if appropriate - key customers. The new site should only go live once you successfully complete UAT.
See how to test and launch your website.
Set up a quality control system
After CMS implementation, you will need to put a quality control system into place, with a review process to ensure that updates are properly created and deployed. You can use key performance indicators for the site and the CMS to review and monitor performance.
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