There are hundreds of content management systems out there and we need to make sure that we are choosing the best one. We should know that one that fits for our company website. A content management system should properly serve our company. It means we should be able to properly organize, update and improve the website. There are characteristics of effective content management systems. Here are factors that we should consider:
1) Ease of use:
At first, a content management system can be deceptively easy to use. However, the maintenance and repair tasks can be quite overwhelming. We should read reviews on whether a specific type of CMS is really easy to use. WordPress is often considered as a platform that’s very easy to use, but there are dozens of similar platforms that require minimal effort to learn.
2) Good control:
Once our website is up and running, we should make sure that we are able to control it. It means that we don’t need to call the web development team each time we encounter a problem. Asking for professional helps too frequently can be quite expensive in the long run. If we don’t have enough control, then we should choose other CMS platforms.
3) Flexible access:
Some content management systems could only be handled locally. It means that we are not able to update the website if we are not connected to the server or the local intranet. A good CMS platform should allow us to access the administration interface using the standard web browser, both on PC and mobile devices.
4) Good SEO performance:
Not all content management systems have proper SEO support. As an example, the URL structure could have near-random naming with many incomprehensible symbols, numbers and alphabets.
5) Flexibility:
Content management system should be complete and self-contained. There should also be proper plugin supports. When we choose less popular content management systems, we should make sure that they have enough plugins, extensions and add-ons to fulfil our requirements. This makes sure that our website is fully functional.
6) Good scalability:
The CMS should be scalable enough that it could help us to grow our company. As our company evolves, our website should also be able to respond to changes and growth. Within a few years, our website will have hundreds of webpages and dozens of plugins. At this stage, the website should still be scalable and perform well.
7) Automatic update:
Manually updating content management system can be technically challenging for website owners. This process should be performed automatically without causing interruptions or introducing new glitches. We should also have the option to get automatic updates for widgets, extensions and plugins.
8) Simple customer interaction:
When we are building a website, we naturally want people to read our information. Even better, we should encourage people to comment on our articles and respond to our blogs. Our website should be able to properly generate buzz and this can be achieved only if customers could interact well.