Streamlining Your Startup: The Significance Of Good CMS

By Jessica Foreman

Any small and medium enterprise (SME) that wants to succeed needs a content management system (CMS). As such, knowledge of how a CMS works is a must for almost any employee since content is such a huge part of virtually any digital business. Few employees will not have encountered Wordpress or a similar system, or at least seen it referenced heavily, and you can ultimately save plenty of time and effort for any SME if you can implement that CMS early in the business life cycle.

Startups without any form of CMS will inevitably suffer in terms of efficiency and organization simply because they’re lacking an overall, unifying structure. Incorporating a CMS encourages healthy collaboration and will potentially reduce the chance of mistake being made and jobs being waylaid or lost without a logical workflow.

There’s rarely any need to use coding or intensive programming knowledge when using a mainstream CMS, simply because the system will most likely use a WYSIWYG operating system that’s easy to understand, straight out of the box. However, specialist platforms such as Drupal will require some level of web development/design knowledge.

Much of the battle incorporating a CMS is in the initial uptake of it, especially if you’re familiar with another system. There are a huge number of decisions to make: open source of closed source? What levels of access will be conferred to employees? What security levels or personalized support will be required?

For example, in its analysis of the best CMS software choices for 2017, Top Ten Reviews wrote, “If you have an online store, what you need from a CMS will differ from that of a standard website. Many CMS applications have plug-ins for eCommerce, but there are also those that are developed specifically for eCommerce sites.”

Having a good CMS culture in place early will help with the company’s SEO; inherently, a website/business that rapidly and regularly publishes fresh and interesting content is more likely to climb the search engine rankings than one without similar discipline.

Rich information; a wide array and examples of knowledge of products; commentaries on relevant industries as a whole; and anything symptomatic of an ordered CMS can only help a company in its SEO quest. That includes FAQ sections and contact pages, as well as regular external communication through emails, brochures, and interactivity.

Implementing a CMS is just one piece of the puzzle for the startup, allied to working out the correct hosting plan to complement IT (it pays to find out more information on VPS or similar solutions beforehand); having the correct people in place or in mind; and identifying your business strategy. That said, if there is no connection between these components the chances of success are lower, and that is why a strong CMS is vital.

Jessica Foreman is a Durham University graduate specializing in business and lifestyle based writing. She has developed her skills on projects surrounding The British Broadcasting Company and running a print and online based magazine whilst at university. She is currently looking towards starting her Masters in Mobile and Personal Communications as well as broadening her horizons through traveling.