What is a CMS?

20.08.21 | Tagged as: Layman's Terms

CMS stands for Content Management System

It is the means by which you are easily able to populate content on your website.

Without one, you would need to download a file from a server, change the content and then reupload it.

Even for a developer, the file would be cumbersome to update.

It would just be a load of code that is in no way user friendly.

Adding new content would be difficult, adding any new features to the page would be impossible.

CMS to the rescue

A CMS provides you with an intuitive interface to maintain your website.

It hides the complexity of what’s going on.

Well that’s the theory.

Ultimately, a CMS is as complicated as the developer makes it, and boy can they be complicated.

However, when integrated correctly, they empower you to create content and genuinely make you feel like a web wizard.

Which CMS should I use?

There are lots of different CMSs to choose from, but here at WeCreate we most commonly work with WordPress.

The reasons for this are because it’s:

Extremely powerful and versatile powering everything from simple portfolio sites to large scale ecommerce stores.
Easy for clients to use. No coding knowledge required.
Quick to develop with.
Has excellent community support.
Highly scalable.
Super SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) / Google friendly. Generally considered the most SEO friendly CMS.
Can be used on pretty much any device with an Internet connection.
Allows you to set up multiple users with different levels of access.
Can be extended via a vast library of plugins.

Here are a few examples of websites that we have built with the awesome WordPress CMS

LOCSU

See Project Detail

Berkshire Youth

See Project Detail

RBC Customs

See Project Detail

5 ways we ensure your website CMS is a great experience for you

1. Simple naming conventions

Believe it or not, simple naming conventions go a huge way to making a CMS easy to use. If you’re about to add a block of text, we call it ‘text’.

We don’t call it ‘content’ or ‘copy’.

Unless of course you want us to.

Ultimately you will be using it so your input at this stage is invaluable.

2. Drag and drop functionality

Reordering content is an important and useful feature in a CMS.

Let’s say you create an image gallery that sits at the top of your page but later down the line you want to move it to the bottom of the page.

Rather than having to delete the gallery, add and populate it again at the bottom of the page, you can simply drag the gallery to your desired position.

It couldn’t be simpler.

3. Cloning / Duplication

Clients always have their favourite page layouts within their website.

If for instance we have a website that displays a number of case studies, you may want to keep the consistency of layout across all of those case studies.

With the click of a button we allow you to clone an entire page, allowing you to focus on updating the content but keeping the layout exactly as you like it.

4. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) / Google rankings made easy

Having a stunning looking and functionally diverse website is a great first step.

However, we then need people to find it.

A solid SEO strategy will help your website climb the Google rankings generating organic / free traffic.

WordPress is incredibly strong when it comes to SEO, if not the best.

Not only is all of the necessary SEO data easy to update, but it can also automatically guide you in your strategy.

A simple traffic light system shows you how each page is faring in terms of being optimised for Google.

It goes even further by telling you exactly what you are doing well and providing suggestions of how to rectify the areas where you’re not faring so well.

This makes it incredibly easy to manage your SEO in-house should you choose to do so.

5. We keep everything DRY

DRY stands for Don’t Repeat Yourself.

We ensure that things like addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses are consistent throughout your site.

We do this by making sure you only add them once in your CMS and then output them throughout your site.

Take for instance the footer on your website which is generally at the bottom of each page.

You don’t need to add say a telephone number every time you create a page.

Not only would this be repetitive, but there is the chance that you accidentally enter an incorrect number on some pages.

Then consider that you might change the telephone number of your business.

You don’t want to have to trawl back through every page on your site to update it.

Instead, you simply go to a single place within your CMS, update your phone number, and this is updated across your entire site.

If you would like us to build you a website with a CMS that empowers you to create content for your business then get in touch today by calling us on 0118 957 6290 or filling in the form below.

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