CMS Web Development
Short for Content Management System, a CMS is a software application that allows users to create and manage websites without writing code from scratch or knowing how to code at all.
With CMS, you can create, manage, edit and publish content in a user-friendly interface. Instead of coding, you can customize your website’s design and functionality by downloading or purchasing templates and extensions. You can manage multiple users on the backend of the same tool – and more.
You might be wondering how one software can do it all.
To answer this question, let’s take a closer look at how a CMS works.
How a CMS Works?
To understand how a CMS works, you must first understand what it’s like to build a website from scratch.
You will start with HTML and add text, images, navigation bars and other site building blocks. Next, you’ll add CSS to style these elements to match your brand’s unique look.
You’ll end up writing JavaScript to add more advanced features to your website, such as sliding CTAs. You must then upload this HTML file to your server to be archived in your database.
Anytime you want to make a change — even something as simple as updating content — you have to download the files from the server, open them, and manually edit the HTML code. Then, before uploading the file to the server, you need to make sure that you haven’t broken any links or anything.
sounds complicated, doesn’t it?
Building a website from scratch can be ideal for developers and other advanced users with experience in website development. But for those who don’t have the coding skills or the time and resources to build and maintain a website from scratch, they can use a CMS.
How to Use a CMS
A CMS consists of two main parts: a Content Management Application (CMA) and a Content Delivery Application (CDA). Combined, these apps basically handle all the code, database queries, and infrastructure on the back-end, so you can focus on the front-end of your site.
Instead of starting with a blank HTML page, you can open the content editor and add bold text, add links and CTAs, and insert images and table buttons by dragging and dropping or by clicking a few modules instead of writing HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Let’s see how easy it is to create blog posts with WordPress. To make other changes to your site, such as modifying the permalink structure or installing extensions, simply navigate to the relevant section in the admin panel.
Here’s the CMA in action: all of these changes are made in an intuitive interface that hides the code from you, the end user.
Once you have made your changes, the CDA compiles what you entered into the CMA, displays it to your visitors, and saves it. This means that when you want to publish a new blog post, you can just hit the publish button instead of manually uploading the page to your server.
Now that we understand what a CMS is, how it works, and how to use it, let’s explore the benefits of using a CMS over building a website from scratch or building a website from scratch. using another website builder.
Why Use a CMS?
We’ve already alluded to some benefits of using a CMS, but let’s look at some specific ways it can impact your set-up process, team’s productivity, and visibility online.
1. No Coding Knowledge Required
CMS systems have helped revolutionize web design by allowing non-developers and other users to create websites without coding. Gone are the days of relying on web developers and designers to create an online presence for your business.
You can create and manage content, customize your site design, and install extensions to add functionality to your site, all without coding. (Note that most platforms also allow you to add custom code for finer control of your site.)
So users with limited technical resources and time can still create a feature for their site Powerful website.
2. Easy Collaboration
Multiple users can simultaneously access and work on the CMS backend. This means that at any time, your marketers can produce content, your IT staff can enforce security protocols, and your developers can add custom code to your themes. In fact, they could all be working on the same landing page.
HubSpot also offers free CMS tools, perfect for entrepreneurs looking for a CMS that can grow with them as they grow their business.
In short, a CMS can help improve the workflow and productivity of an entire team.
3. User Roles and Permissions
With built-in (and often customizable) user roles and permissions, a CMS lets you collaborate in the most efficient and secure way possible. This means, for example, that content authors have all the permissions they need to write, publish, and manage content, but cannot remove plugins or significantly alter site functionality.
4. SEO Features and Extensions
CMS platforms offer built-in features as well as add-ons to help you optimize your site for search engines.
Using built-in or third party tools, you can:
- Customize page titles and meta descriptions
- Choose SEO-friendly URL structures
- Create XML sitemaps
- Add image alt text
- Create 301 Redirects
- Include breadcrumb navigation
- Optimize page load times
Implementing these best practices will help improve your chances of ranking on Google and other major search engines.
5. Security Features and Extensions
CMS platforms also offer built-in features and add-ons to help secure your website. Some even offer dedicated security teams. For example, CMS Hub offers a dedicated 24/7 security team, enterprise-grade web application firewall, SSL, custom CDN, SSO membership, and other out-of-the-box features. ‘job.
6. Predesigned Templates
Most CMS platforms offer a variety of pre-made templates that you can use to quickly customize the look of your website. It can also affect the behavior of your website.
For example, choosing a responsive template will ensure that your website displays well on any device without having to write a lot of code. Not only do templates save you design time before starting a website, but they also make redesigning your website faster and easier.
7. Simple Updates
As mentioned above, a CMS allows you to make changes to your site faster and easier – from major updates, such as a website redesign, to minor updates, such as changing the image on the home page. Instead of hiring a freelance developer or trying to edit the code yourself, you can access your CMS dashboard to update and edit your website content. This allows you to keep your content dynamic and relevant.
8. Blogging Functionality
Blogs offer a range of benefits, especially for businesses. It can help increase website traffic, convert traffic into leads, establish authority in a specific industry, generate backlinks, and achieve other long-term results. But creating a blog from scratch is difficult, even for experienced developers.
One of the great benefits of using a CMS is that most offer built-in blogging features (or extensions), so it’s easy to start creating, publishing, and reaping the benefits of blogging content.
9. Content Scheduling
Scheduling content is essential to any editorial strategy. When building a site from scratch, you can schedule content — but it will require a combination of coding and tools like GitHub.
With a CMS, scheduling content is as easy as clicking a button. Most platforms allow you to schedule more than just blog posts, too. With CMS Hub for example, you can schedule blog posts as well as website pages, landing pages, and emails.
10. Easy Access
With a CMS platform, you can access and edit your website on virtually any device with an internet connection. It’s much easier than the alternative of building a website from scratch, which requires you to use a server-connected device or a remote connection.
Also, most CMS systems have a dashboard or control panel where you can access your site’s content, themes, plugins, settings, etc., all at the same location.