Do you need a CMS?
Most 'first site' clients say they want content management facilities once they learn its possible to personally update a site using an online content management 'backend'.
That's fine by us - we specialise in designing customised content management systems - but maybe its not always the best choice for our clients. Why not?
You need to weigh the obvious benefits of being able to update your site as and when you want (without incurring extra fees from greedy web designers!) against some potential downsides:
- Having content management integrated with your site will cost you more (in cases considerably more) than a straightforward static' site design
- A CMS requires a database, which at a minimum will cost you a recurring charge of £25 per annum
- Depending on the scope of your content management requirements (e.g. do you just want to update part of your site such as a blog or have control over every page?), learning to use a CMS can sometimes be quite challenging, especially if you are not technically-minded
- Many smaller web sites only need very little and very occasional updating - for such sites, a CMS is overkill, and the occasional small update fee from your greedy web designer is likely to work out considerably cheaper than the costs and demands of having full content management capabilities
So, having a CMS-driven site might be a nice idea, but isn't always the best answer.
On the other hand, having a means of regularly updating site content can be absolutely fundamental to the achievement of a site's objectives. Think:
- Blogs (online journals)
- News websites
- Events sites
- Ecommerce sites (not much use if you can't add new products and delete old/out-of-stock items)
- Forums
- Social networking sites
For all such types of site and many others, some type of content management is essential.
All we are saying is - decide whether you need or just want a Content management System for your new site - it isn't always the best answer.
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