A content management system (CMS) is software that helps businesses to keep track of every part of their web apps or websites. It also helps you to add, edit, and delete images and text on the website instantly without having any technical knowledge. In addition, CMS is a wonderful platform and offers numerous benefits to the business.
However, without deploying the best CMS web development platform, businesses won’t be able to extract the complete benefits. So, in that case, you need to deploy the best CMS web development platform. Furthermore, there are tons of CMS web development platforms available on the internet that might offer you good results, but hiring the best-in-class cms web development platform will help your business to offer scalable, reliable, and robust solutions.
Characteristics of a good CMS
- Ease of use – You want a CMS that makes it easy for you to create and edit content. This often means having a drag and drop interface, so you can add different elements to your pages. It should be quick and straightforward for you to make changes to the content on your site after publishing it.
- Design options – Your CMS software should offer you plenty of website design templates to choose from. It should also allow you to easily customize those designs to your requirements (ideally without writing code).
- Data portability – A great CMS platform should have tools for you to easily export your data and move it elsewhere. Data portability makes it easier for you to move around with complete freedom.
- Extensions & addons – Not all websites are the same. This is why no CMS platform can come with all the features that would fulfil requirements for every website. Extensions and addons fix that problem. These are separate software that you can just install on your CMS software to extend its features and add new ones when needed.
- Help & support options – Although CMS platforms aim to make building a website as straightforward as possible, you still might have some questions. Find out what help and support is available if you get stuck.
- How much does it cost? – Some CMS platforms are completely free. Others charge a monthly fee. Even with free CMS platforms, you’ll often need to pay for third-party extensions, designs, and/or web hosting services. Try to find out as much as you can about the pricing before you choose your CMS, so you don’t have any nasty surprises.
With these things in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best CMS platforms to choose from.
WordPress
If there’s one CMS most people have heard of, it is WordPress. The platform was launched in 2003 and has become a major part of the internet since. Based on PHP and MySQL, it provides you with tools to create a feature-packed website or blog using written content, videos, images and more. You also can install a mixture of pre-made and third-party themes to personalize your website. They cater for all sorts of industries, from retail to hospitality. You can download the software for free from WordPress.org and install it on your server. There’s also an option to get a domain and hosting with WordPress.
Joomla
Joomla is another popular free open source CMS platform that comes with lots of different templates and extensions. It’s free to use, but you’ll need hosting and a domain name. It was first released in 2005, so like WordPress, it’s been going for years. Joomla is packed with features, and many web hosts offer a 1 click installation. It’s an ideal CMS platform for developers and experienced website creators and not such a good option for beginners.
Drupal
Drupal is another open-source CMS platform that is behind some major websites. It is a good option for developers, or for people able to hire a developer. It’s especially good if you’re aiming to build a highly customized site that needs to handle a lot of data. You can host a Drupal site on SiteGround. They offer free installation and can even help you transfer an existing Drupal site.
Squarespace
Squarespace is another popular CMS platform and it started at around the same time as WordPress. The main difference is that it isn’t open-source – so you can’t download the software and install it on your server. Instead, it’s an integrated website builder, blogging platform and hosting service. The premise is that you sign up for a subscription and Squarespace makes it easy to build a website from scratch, which is handy if you don’t have any previous web development experience, or if you need to get a site up and running in a short space of time. Like WordPress, you can install different themes and build a website using text, images and videos.
Wix
Wix is a cloud-based web development platform that lets you create HTML5 and mobile-optimized websites easily. The platform offers a drag-and-drop system, and you can add more functionality by installing plugins. Wix caters for elements including email marketing, e-commerce, contact forms and community forums. As is normal for CMS platforms, you have the option to remove adverts, use your domain name and get increased bandwidth by going for a premium plan.
Magnolia
The java-based Magnolia CMS is targeted specifically at companies that need websites that can do pretty much everything. It sports a hub integrating areas such as e-commerce, analytics, marketing automation, social media, CRM and ERP. The beauty here is that you can add these functions as time goes on and your business develops. Security is at the heart of the system, too, as it employs an architecture that separates your website’s public and private elements to help combat attacks. You can even define what users and admins can do, so you’ll always know who can write, edit, view and publish certain content. Prices are tailored to business needs.
Weebly
Similar to WordPress, Weebly may well be a name that you’re familiar with. It’s an easy-to-use content management system that lets you set up a simple website within a matter of minutes. The platform uses a drag-and-drop format, so you can add features and media to your website easily and by the same token, you can swiftly remove anything whenever you want. There are a load of pricing options to choose from, all based on different business and personal needs.
