Content management systems

Not every business needs a content management system (CMS). Use these questions to check if it suits your website and team. 

Do you need a CMS?

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?

For simple brochure websites with infrequent updates, a basic static site may work better as it may be difficult to justify the additional cost, time and effort of setting up a CMS. For sites that need frequent updates or extensions, a CMS saves time and money.

CMS requirements checklist

If you determine that you need a CMS, consider the business objectives you expect it to meet. List the important CMS features and functions you would like the tool to have, such as:

• an e-commerce facility for online sales and payments
• workflow approvals and user permissions
• plugins for SEO, analytics or marketing
• password-protected area for customers, suppliers or staff
• site search, navigation and mobile responsiveness
• integration with CRM, email tools or payment systems
• dynamic content like product recommendations and user-generated content
• web analytics to track performance
• integration with cache management tools, other business systems and applications

You should also consider the wider business impact, for example:

• the total cost of CMS implementation (eg time, staffing, training and support)
• the choice between open-source, proprietary systems or cloud options
• migration effort if moving from an existing site

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.