Website Content Management Systems CMS

Ask ten people which is the best car to buy and you will get ten different answers, the same can be said about which Content Management System ( CMS ) is the best for each particular circumstance.

With thousands of CMS options available how do you know which to use? Lets break this down into small bite size issues and sort through them for your consideration. Ask these questions when choosing a CMS for your website;

• Is search engine optimisation important to you?
• Are you going to sell products from your website, if so you need a "e commerce enabled" CMS
• Is design or functionality your priority? Looking good, or ease of use
• Is accessibility a priority for you? Looking after all your customers
• Do the CMS pages pass validation tests?
• Does the system come with hosting?
• Do you have to keep paying for "updates"
• Are you able to change the code? Rent or Buy
• Will you need to pay extra for a card payment plug in

There are many advantages of using a content management system, ease of use, speed of use and convenience to name but a few. Website content management systems are designed so that "the man in the street" can quickly put up content on their website without having to learn HTML and all that techy stuff, however there is a price to be paid for using content management systems, and this is that you give up many aspects of control of your website to a third party ie the CMS designer.

Here are a few considerations when choosing a CMS

Is search engine optimisation important to you? If so then always make sure that your CMS allows you to edit the three important meta tags for each and every page, you can read more about meta tags on our quick guide to meta tags. Most search engines now require unique meta information for each page and Google webmaster tools will point out any pages or web forms which contain the same meta data.

So if your CMS doesn't allow you to edit the title, description and keywords for every page or web form, then you are at a disadvantage right away in terms of SEO. Also some CMS restrict the length of the meta data un necessarily, which can be very frustrating when you cannot finish a sentence, make sure you have the ability to edit meta data as you see fit, after all its your website and you are paying for it.

Are you going to sell products from your website, if so you need a "e commerce enabled" CMS there are many great CM systems available but not all allow you to sell products so always try out the system to make sure you are happy before purchasing your CMS. It should be easy to upload photos and descriptions of your products and keep track of sales from within the admin area of your website.

Is design or functionality your priority? Looking good, or ease of use, finding a website content management system which ticks all your boxes can be hard going, you may find a CMS that looks absolutely fantastic but the admin area is a nightmare of disjointed un professional ad hock counter intuitive links. On the other hand you might find a system with a well thought out intuitive easy to use admin area but the front end web pages look like a dog's dinner.

It's a matter of trial and error and finding a system that suits your particular needs. Be patient and try out at least half a dozen systems before deciding on which to choose for your website project.

Is accessibility a priority for you? Looking after all your customers, accessibility is where your web pages are easily read by people with disabilities, for instance people with poor eyesight can change the settings on their browsers so that the text becomes bigger and easier for them to read, if your website is not validated correctly for accessibility then you may deny the ability to read your website to certain people with disabilities so always try to ensure your website is accessible to as many people as possible.

Do the CMS pages pass validation tests? When considering a CMS system for your website always use the W3C validation service to check to see if the system uses valid HTML code, if the code is not valid it may not display properly in different browsers and therefore you may be loosing valuble customers or visitors.

Does the CM system come with hosting? Find out if the CMS company offers hosting and back up services and always ascertain the costs involved for this service.

Do you have to keep paying for "updates" check this out as some CMS systems have a low initial price, but then charge you every few months for "updates" which you don't necessarily need. Always make sure any extra costs are clearly defined before making your choice.

Are you able to change the code? Rent or Buy. Many CMS systems are a "purchase" so that is that you buy the system and can use or modify it at will as long as you don't try to re-sell it as your own work.

Some CMS systems remain the property of the CMS company and only sell a licence to use the system, you may be  not allowed to make even the smallest modification to the CSM, this may not be an issue to many people but always find out exactly what you are paying for, if it is not made clear before the purchase don't be afraid to ask.

Will you need to pay extra for a card payment plug in? Most ecommerce enabled CMS systems or "shopping cart" systems as they are sometimes known come with a payment systems or multiple payment systems already built in, however always check as some systems may require you to lease expensive card payment processing software as an expensive plug in. Please be  sure to understand which payment processing options are available and what will be the cost of each.