For the third part of my “What is CMS” blog series, we will look into helping you answer the question “Do I need CMS”

 In case you missed my previous posts in the “What is CMS” Series, a CMS is the industry acronym for a “content management system.” We also talked about the benefits of CMS, but have yet to help you determine if this type of system is something you need.

So, back to helping you answer the question “Do I need CMS?”

To understand if you need one of these systems, you have to have a solid understanding of what your needs are. Let’s walk through this questionnaire to help you answer the question:

Do I Need CMS?

Question 1:

 

How often will my website need to be updated?  

If your website will need to be updated more than once a month, you probably need to consider implementing a CMS. Updating a website without a CMS can be a daunting and time consuming task, especially if there are only one or two people within an organization capable of handling the technical side.

 

Who will be doing the updating?

If a non-technical person will be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of your site, your answer to the question “Do I Need CMS” should absolutely be “yes”. In addition to making the process much easier for your non-technical operator, a CMS, when implemented correctly, can give users control over areas of the site that only control frequently changing content. This ensures that the integrity of the site’s design and layout will not be disturbed.

 

Do you plan to integrate a blog or other outward facing platform with your repository?

If you do, then hands down you need to seriously think about answering yes to our “Do I Need CMS” questionnaire. You want to have ready access within your blog to better control meta-tags, RSS feeds, multiple images per post, and of course, the archive. All of these things are crucial elements of a good blog and must be managed appropriately.

 

Do you need the ability to update remotely?

Absolutely one of the biggest values of CMS is the ability to update from any Internet browser. This freedom allows updates to be made from any device with Internet access, and, best of all, doesn’t require the purchasing and downloading of additional software. This opens up whole new possibilities as you gain the ability to access your CMS from anywhere. This should absolutely be something you keep in mind when asking yourself “Do I Need CMS.”

 

How much control do your regular users need?

One of the benefits of CMS is that different roles and abilities can be assigned to different users, allowing one to have the ability to install a “plug in” of some sort that may add an added feature to the site, while another can only be responsible for editing and adding content. Another benefit of a CMS — in terms of control — is that templates, font, and color choices can be programmed so that individual content authors needn’t worry about them, ensuring that your site stays consistent, cannot alter them.

 

 

While reading through this “Do I Need CMS?” questionnaire, if you answered yes to any question I strongly recommend considering a CMS platform for your project.