Why Would You Want a Content Management System (CMS) For Your Web Site?

Content management systems (CMS) are quite the rage in web site development circles these days and with good reason.   For web site owners, a good CMS puts control of the web site back into their hands.  Without needing to master the intricacies of HTML and CSS, anyone can add and edit pages on their site, upload photos, or even video clips.  Here are some of the advantages of a dynamic content managed website:

1. No software to install.  A CMS is installed on your web server.  On your computer all you need is a web browser and the admin password.
2. Immediate updates.  In the old model, you send a list of updates to your web developer and wait for them to squeeze you  into their schedule.  With content management you can make the changes instantly yourself.
3. Easy to maintain consistent look.  A CMS does you the considerable favor of separating the content areas of the site that will change on each page from the areas like the header and footer that need to stay the same.  Now updating your content never has to break your site layout.
4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  A good CMS does all the heavy-lifting of optimization for you.  Search engine friendly URLs and semantic HTML happen behind the scenes.  (And, yes, that’s 4 geeky acronyms in just 1 bullet point.)
5. Schedule content.  One of the coolest features of a CMS is you can write an article today and set it post at some point in the future.  Put together several new pages for the site in one sitting and schedule them to trickle out while you’re on vacation.
6. Make your site sticky.  This is a buzzword in the online world.  It just means you’re giving people a reason to come back to your site over and over again.  A CMS gives you the tools to update your site and keep the content fresh and relevant.