Why CMS Matters to Web Promotion
October 1, 2008
I constantly harp on adding content to a website. You want your website to be the source of quality information on the topic you know about. However if it is either costly or time-consuming to add content, all the cajoling in the world isn’t going to make you want to change your website. Enter CMS or Content Management Systems. A content management system is software that keeps track of every piece of content on your Web site, much like your local public library keeps track of books and stores them. Content can be simple text, photos, music, video, documents, or just about anything you can think of. A major advantage of using a CMS is that it requires almost no technical skill or knowledge to manage. Since the CMS manages all your content, you don’t have to.
Recently many users and programmers on the web have developed great applications that are Open Source, that is, non-proprietary and free. The Firefox browser is an example of Open Source software. Fortunately there are quality open source CMS systems. The advantage of an open source CMS system is that they are free (!), many, many people developing niche applications, and often the core product is well tested. Two of my favorite Open Source CMS applications is Joomla and WordPress. I suggest going to their websites and taking their Demo. Other quality Open Source CMS applications include Drupal, Mambo, and Plone.
With a system like Joomla or WordPress, adding new content is as easy as using MS Word. Also the cost of maintaining your website will probably decrease. If you are interested, I know of developers who can quickly estimate how much it would cost to simply migrate your website to this new software, and how much it would cost to maintain your site. Currently businesses as large as the IHOP restaurant chain use Open Source CMS, but most of the users are smaller businesses. Their sites has a comprehensive list of who is using Joomla and WordPress.
