One of the most important factors in building a website today is maintaining it. In the past, this meant hiring a professional web master to keep your website up to date and to add/edit any content on the website.
Technology has changed and it’s now easier than ever to manage the content of your website without a web master. A content management system will provide you with all the tools you will ever need to manage your website’s content, media, and search engine optimization strategies.
There are numerous platforms available for free, but some of these usually require a little technical knowledge to set up. Hiring a web programmer to install a free content management system is relatively inexpensive and often is the only expense involved.
These are the platforms we recommend:
- WordPress (the most popular CMS/blogging software available today)
- Joomla!
- Drupal
All three of the above mentioned are available for free and have a large community of developers and support groups. They are very easy to install, even for beginners, and they work right out of the box.
Key Benefits of a CMS:
- Password protected management section
- Ability to manage your site 24/7 as long as you have an internet connection
- Update, add, or delete any content on your site
- Media management
- Social network integration
- User management
- SEO integration
Another benefit of using any of the recommended CMS’s is the ability to expand your website by utilizing the community associated with the platform you choose. For example, Wordpress has over 11,000 available plug-ins that can make your site function and look completely different from the default installation. From simple form submissions to complex database queries, there is usually an existing plug-in that can do what you need.
If you are in the process of building a new website, you should absolutely consider building it on top of a CMS. It may take a little longer to build, but the management of the website after its completion will save you more time and money than you can afford to throw away.
