When it comes to designing and maintaining your corporate website, you may be considering using a Content Management System (CMS) or other online platform such as a web editor or online site builder for your corporate website. Depending on the structure of your company, what you want to get out of your website and how you want to maintain it, there are different pros and cons of using CMS versus not using CMS.
Pros of using a Content Management System
The overall pro of using a CMS is the ability to have more control over your business’ website than otherwise possible. A CMS website can do the following:
- Help your business save content and other data in one location
- Easily search for content on the website with a full-site search engine
- Ability to schedule content to be published
- Unlimited number of pages
- Allows multiple users with different logins to update the system
- Coordinate content to be simultaneously shared with e-newsletters and social media websites
CMS does not require a lot of knowledge of how to use HTML and CSS coding to manage the website. This way, you can focus more on content that you wish to publish and leave the web development to the system tools from the CMS.
Cons of using a Content Management System
Even though there are several great pros to selecting a CMS to help publish content and control your website, there are couple of cons to keep in mind as well. One major area of concern is whether or not it is flexible enough for your business. First of all, a business will have to take the time to train someone to use the CMS. Even though the system can be simple to understand, there is still training that needs to take place so an employee can efficiently manage it.
Therefore you need to be committed to using a CMS system and be sure to continuously train the webmaster on the latest CMS techniques and updating the system for security purposes. Second, even if a CMS is easy to use, from a developer’s standpoint, it’s not flexible at all and not that user-friendly for developers. Third, it will still cost quite a bit of money and it takes time to publish when it’s finally ready to be launched online.
Finalizing the Decision
Before you decide on a Content Management System or website design, take a look at your budget and what sources you already have; whether or not you have someone who can take on managing the CMS or building a website. A CMS strategy is good for those who are new to understanding CMS, but if you have an employee or group of employees who know about web design, they can begin a new project by creating or updating the website for the company.
After examining the several different pros and cons of using a CMS to manage your website and online content presence, you may find that a different website design is best for the future of your business. Many businesses consider building a cheap web design from hand because it gives them much more flexibility to create and more control over the management of the website. Creating your own website for your business allows you to create your own domain name and the ability to use that as a part of your overall marketing strategy. If you want to expand your business, look for web design skills in an applicant’s resume and include the web design as part of their job description.
With a better understanding of how web design and a Content Management System could be beneficial or not beneficial for your business, you can take the next steps to growing your marketing presence online. A CMS can be easy to use for those with no training in HTML and CSS, but it still takes time to understand and build the site as well as a good budget before you can launch your business’ website.
