Functions of CMS system

Why do you need a CMS? /Role and functions of a CMS/

A content management system (CMS) is a software application that enables users to create, edit, collaborate on, publish and store digital content. CMSes are typically used for enterprise content management (ECM) and web content management (WCM).

How does a CMS work and how is it used?

A CMS provides a graphical user interface with tools to create, edit and publish web content without the need to write code from scratch.

A CMS has two components: a content management application (CMA) and a content delivery application (CDA).

• The CMA is a graphical user interface that enables users to design, create, modify and remove content from a website without HTML knowledge.  
• The CDA component provides the back-end services that support management and delivery of the content once a user creates it in the CMA.

Role and functions of a CMS

A relevant website that looks professional, reflects your brand, and gains customer trust is essential in our digital world, regardless of your business type or size. And with the right CMS, websites are more affordable because you don’t need to hire a software developer to create and maintain your website. Below are some of the main functions a CMS offers.

Making changes to copy

There are many reasons to add or change website copy, not just when new products or services are introduced. For example, regularly adding blog posts helps you market your products or services, answer customer questions, and boost your SEO (search engine optimization) ranking. Likewise, monitoring keyword trends and updating content to reflect them helps ensure you’re delivering the most relevant messages and information to your viewers. Also, keep in mind that customers need to shift over time. Your website should offer solutions relevant to current customer pain points.

Adding and organizing new images

Modern culture values high-quality visual experiences and images. Even basic websites benefit from images and graphics that capture the viewer’s attention, improve the user experience, and present information differently. Images and their captions can also improve indexing on search engines.

Suppose you visit two websites for local healthcare providers with similar credentials and services. Which would you be drawn to? One with a series of crisp, clean images highlighting the welcome area, various patient rooms, a friendly, smiling staff, and modern technologies used? Or one with a couple of poor-quality pictures that don’t tell a clear visual story?

Adding and organizing new landing pages

The use of multiple website landing pages is common these days. Customized landing pages help generate leads and track where they come from, boost conversion rates, and improve SEO, among other things. Common uses of unique landing pages include free trials, ebooks, newsletter sign-ups, and how-to guides. Let’s say you’re offering a free trial via social media. Instead of sending a potential customer to your main, catch-all landing page, create a link with a unique UTM parameter that’s directed to a landing page specially designed to promote the free trial and convey related marketing messages.

Developing templated pages

Most CMS platforms include built-in page templates that are free or available for a fee. But what if you can’t find anything that suits your specific requirements? Or, suppose you choose an off-the-shelf template that worked for you at the time, but you need something else as your business grows. One option is to code pages to get a website that meets your needs. Another, which is more efficient and affordable, is choosing a CMS that gives you the flexibility to modify ready-made templates simply and efficiently without coding.

Making global changes to sites

The benefits of making one change across all or selected pages on your website versus updating page by page are significant. Global changes that apply throughout your website can include modifications to menus, links, and copy layout. For instance, let’s say you’re a furniture company that has decided to offer white glove delivery, and you want to mention your new service on certain pages, including unique landing pages you’ve created. A global change easily made via a CMS is smooth, efficient, and helps you avoid making mistakes.

Creating additional website functions

The modern marketplace can shift at a lightning-fast speed. CMS applications enable you to be nimble and responsive, whether it’s updating product copy to make it solution-focused or adding new website functions, such as parallax scrolling to create an illusion of depth on a two-dimensional site. Suppose you have a pet sitting business and want to boost revenue and help pet owners by adding a basic online store offering pet products you’ve personally curated. Many CMS platforms have a built-in e-commerce function or offer plug-ins that enable you to create an online store using a point and click drop-down menu with drag and drop tools and features.

Improving SEO

When someone searches online for a service or product you offer, you want them to find your website on the first search page, ranking as highly as possible. Most CMS platforms include marketing and SEO tools and analytics reports that help you manage SEO and improve your rankings. Some CMS platforms have powerful SEO plug-ins, such as Yoast SEO for WordPress, that help your website get more traffic from Google and Bing, attract more visitors from social media, and increase reader engagement. You can boost the relevance of your content by optimizing it for related keywords and improve internal linking. Other Yoast tools include a readability check, internal linking suggestions, and much more.

Making site speed optimizations

Slow, sluggish websites are frustrating and don’t project quality, which may result in lower conversion rates, resulting in lost revenue. Fortunately, most CMS platforms include site speed data in their built-in reports that provide valuable insights into speeding up your website. These tips include simple things like limiting the use of custom fonts and minimizing animated text. You can also boost the speed of your website via a CMS that supports site speed and optimization plug-ins, caching plug-ins, and other tools, such as JS (JavaScript), HTML, and image optimization.

Creating pop-ups

Pop-ups—small windows that appear over the top of web pages in your internet browser—are used for various purposes, from email sign-ups and surveys for lead generation to product announcements, promotions, and special discounts. In the past, you needed coding skills to create them. Now, many CMS platforms offer pop-up design templates and/or support code-free pop-up plug-ins, making them a breeze to design and implement. You can even test new pop-up designs to determine which one performs best.

 

Managing comments and forums

Adding a comment or forum feature on your website demonstrates your company is transparent and customer-focused. They’ll help you grow your audience, boost website traffic, increase viewer engagement, and build customer loyalty. You can also boost sales and improve SEO ranking with user-generated content (UGC) from comments. If your CMS doesn’t include built-in comment and forum functionality, chances are it offers plug-ins for this, such as the Disqus Comment System. A WordPress plug-in, Disqus installs quickly and imports your existing comments without a single bit of coding. Plus, it loads asynchronously, which means it won’t affect your website performance. It includes a real-time comments system along with a robust set of engagement and moderation features.

Creating image galleries

Image galleries are required for websites featuring artwork, photographs, and other image-intensive content, such as online stores with multiple images per product. CMS image gallery features typically include batch uploads, sub-galleries, automatic thumbnailing, automated image tagging, and more. Let’s say you have a large photo gallery of classic cars with different features. By image tagging each photo—labeling keywords to make your images more searchable—your visitors can search on classic car terms that apply to cars in different libraries. The trouble is, manually assigning tags to each image is tedious work. Image-tagging software provided via a CMS plug-in that automates the tagging process across image libraries is a huge timesaver.

Leveraging social media extensions

Social media marketing (SMM) is an essential component of a comprehensive digital marketing plan. Look for CMS platforms that make social media integration simple and easy to manage. Does the CMS provide built-in tools and plug-ins that help increase your reach, drive traffic to your website, obtain followers, and optimize content for multiple social media platforms? Does it allow you to create a branded social media feed and embed it on your website? For example, you can display a social wall with a live social media feed where potential customers can discover how other people use your products or services.

Benefits of using a CMS

There are a number of benefits to using a content management system, including:

• Ease of use. Due to a graphical user interface, even those with limited technical knowledge can use the software.
• Easy to search for information. A built-in search function enables users to enter what they are searching for and have a list of items returned to them — much like a Google search engine.
• Easy to manage content. Not only is creating content easy, but so is removing content. A CMS makes it easy to unpublish content to keep websites up to date.
• Accessible from anywhere. A CMS can be cloud-based or on premises, but users can access content from anywhere with a device that’s connected to the internet.
• Allows multiple users. A CMS makes it easy to manage publishing permissions.
• Instant content updates. A CMS enables users to manage and update content in real time — without needing to wait for a developer.
• Easy to scale. A CMS makes it easy for businesses to add new web pages as their business grows without the need for a developer.
• Easy to update. Development teams can roll out updates with just a few clicks.

What you need to know about Content Management Systems