What Is a Content Management System (CMS)?

CMS or A content management system is software used to help users build websites and create content for the internet with little to no technical know-how.

Before, you needed some coding knowledge or to hire a web developer to create a website. That became a barrier for many users who wanted to establish their online presence. With CMS software, you can easily build a website using a visual, user-friendly interface.

The most popular CMS platform on the market is WordPress, with a market share of over 43%.

What is a Content Management System?

A content management system is the type of software that empowers you to create, modify, and publish website content — with technical knowledge or coding skills. Content management systems include features like rich text editors, version control, search functionality, media libraries, and user management. It is a user-friendly interface, it becomes significantly easier and faster to publish content, which reduces the time you spend managing your website.

Types of CMS software

If you do decide to add a CMS to your business, you’ll have three main categories of CMS software to choose from. Let’s discuss each one briefly so that you can make an informed decision.

1. Open source

This is named because you can find it available to download on a web server for free. Thanks, internet!

Open-source CMS bears no license or contracts, though you may need to invest in additional features like technical support, plugins or templates/themes. To create a website using an open-source CMS like WordPress, you’ll also need web hosting — the space on the internet where you place your website’s files.

But, because there’s no big financial investment up front, open source is an easy one to recommend for users just starting out with a CMS. In fact, some of the most popular systems out there — like Joomla! Drupal and the aforementioned WordPress — are prime examples of open-source CMS.

2. Proprietary

As its name implies, proprietary content management systems are created by one company, and then licensed out. In order to use one of these, you’ll need to purchase a license from the software’s owner and often pay an ongoing fee for future updates and customer support.

Like open-source CMS, you may opt for additional upgrades to the standard software package, though that all depends on how intuitive the CMS is, and how many of its features apply to your operation.

Be careful though, as these customizations can be costly and add up fast. Common proprietary content management systems include Microsoft SharePoint and Sitecore.

3. Software as a Service (SaaS)

These CMS platforms — which include most cloud-based systems — embrace a subscription model often presented as a consolidated package. Because of that, a key benefit is that you’re dealing with a single service provider.

Pricing is typically available per-user or per-site and includes data transfer, storage and support services as well as content management.

Some SaaS products are based entirely in the cloud, while others provide partial cloud systems allowing for customization. In either case, you’ll enjoy broad accessibility across your devices and real-time updates.

Benefits of using a CMS

There are several benefits of using a content management system, including the following:

• Ease of use. A graphical user interface makes it easy for even those with limited technical knowledge to use the software.
• Low cost of entry. Some CMS platforms are free while others charge a monthly fee, but all require little or no high-end IT skills to implement, lowering the cost of website deployment considerably.
• Easy to search for information. A built-in search function lets users enter what they’re searching for and returns a list of items — much like a Google search engine.
• Easy to manage content. Not only is creating content easy, but so is removing content. A CMS makes it easy to unpublish content to keep websites current.
• Accessible from anywhere. A CMS can be cloud-based or on-premises, but users can access content from anywhere with a device that’s connected to the internet.
• Allows multiple users. A CMS makes it easy to manage publishing permissions.
• Instant content updates. A CMS lets users manage and update content in real time — without having to wait for a developer.
• Easy to scale. A CMS makes it easy for organizations to add new web pages as their business grows without the need for a developer.
• Easy to update. Development teams can roll out updates with just a few clicks.
• No coding knowledge required. Just pick a hosting plan and domain name and install the software to get started right away.
• Flexible. You can install as many plugins or modules as needed to enable the features you need. For example, if you want to improve your WordPress search engine optimization (SEO), then you can install the All-in-One SEO plugin.
• Scalability. Whether you’re making a website for a big-name brand, or just starting a small business, you can use a CMS. If your website is outgrowing your hosting resources, you can just upgrade the hosting plan.
• Affordable. A lot of CMSs are open-source and don’t cost anything to download. You typically only need to pay for the hosting plan and domain name. This makes costs easier to control than using a website builder, whose starting prices are usually higher.

Examples of different CMS

There are several free and subscription-based CMSes available for personal and enterprise use. The following are some examples of content management system providers and their offerings:

• WordPress. This free open source WCMS is based on PHP and MySQL. Organizations can use WordPress in the cloud or deploy it on a local computer to act as its own web server. This software is highly customizable, with many paid and free themes and WordPress plugins available. It’s also a popular blogging platform.
• Drupal. Designed for large organizations — including government agencies — this CMS offers a large library of modules and themes, making it easy to customize and deploy. Drupal can handle large volumes of traffic and is easy to create new roles and permissions.
• Joomla. This free open-source web content management system is built on a model-view-controller framework. It’s written in PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) script language and offers features such as caching, RSS feeds, blog posts, search and support for language translation.
• Magento. Crafted for e-commerce sites, Magento offers high scalability and flexibility. Users can create and manage multiple stores in different languages, while coordinating shipping on a global level. Magento from Adobe offers both free and paid plans.