In the digital age, marketing strategy now involves the development of Inboud marketing. This technique consists of attracting customers via the content of its website. In this field, competition is strong. To impose its brand within this jungle, the use of a CMS is a necessity. In this article, we will address this theme.
What is a CMS?
The CMS is a software that allows you to easily design and manage a website. It is the acronym for the English terms Content Management System. In French, it is a content management system.
This system focuses on both the display of the site and its content as well as its administration, reciprocally called Frontend and Backend. Handling a CMS is accessible even without knowing the programming. CMS are offered in open-source and proprietary mode.
In summary, a CMS helps you produce, publish quality content and reference it on search engines.
Principle of operation
Site construction is done from a very simplified management interface . This can be back-office or front-office depending on the CMS used. The pages are edited with WYSIWYG editors.
CMS offer a minimum of navigation, image and file menu management module. Web pages are generated from templates contained in themes, also called templates, and then stored as files.
Features of a CMS
The functionality of the CMS is not limited to simple site administration. It is a complete tool for a global vision of a marketing strategy. It helps structure the content of the site, manage and analyze marketing campaigns, optimize SEO, follow the customer journey and databases.
However, the basic versions of open-source CMS are a bit limited, and features vary from solution to solution. You will need to add plugins to lengthen them. The possibilities then become almost limitless.
How to choose a CMS?
There are more than 250 different programs on the market. The choice is therefore immense. The possibilities are multiple depending on the purpose, whether it is a blog or a major website. It all depends on the requirements that the CMS must meet to carry out a web project. Before choosing your CMS, it is advisable to have a planned project beforehand.
The choice must initially be guided by the field to be developed : web content, blog, social networks.
Requirements for content management
It requires a classic CMS. Writers have access to the Backend involving a complex sharing method. Multimedia elements must be highlighted to give the best presentation to Internet users. The CMS must have the capacity to effectively manage news and present texts and content in multiple languages.
Requirements for blog posts
It emphasizes interaction with Internet users and must have the functions of Web 2.0. It must thus give the possibility to write articles and to control the dates of publications. These features are designed to be managed via mobile devices.
Requirements for social networks
On social networks, communities are more active than on other platforms. The content is generated by both its administrator and its members. The architecture is generally modular for this type of format.
Some of the best known CMS
It is among the most important CMS with more than 15 million registered downloads. This represents nearly 5% of the market share. It offers more than 1800 templates and 15997 extension modules available.
The fact that it is offered as open-source helps to increase its rating with users. It is mainly used by large companies, which have in-house technical teams, for its high technicality.
Its main asset lies in its community features on Web 2.0 : blog, forum, etc.
- WordPress
It is the most used CMS, with more than 59% of the market share, or about 140 million downloads. It adapts to all types of sites and offers 34364 plugins and 2000 templates. This CMS is available in open-source with however some paid themes.
Due to its wide circulation, it has become the target of hackers. It is recommended that security features be updated regularly.
- HubSpot
This CMS has the necessary tools to conduct a marketing inboud strategy. It gives access to complete functionalities in this regard. In particular to create landing pages, emailings, forms, call-to-action, or also contact lists. It goes even further with SEO optimization tools.
- PrestaShop
This CMS is very popular with e-commerce sites. With its 3 million downloads, it is among the most influential on the market. It is easy to use, as its ergonomics are effective. The features are extensible by purchasing additional plugins especially to optimize SEO.
This French solution is easy to use with its intuitive interface. It is interesting for a first online store experience.
- Magento
It is the CMS leader for e-commerce sites. Thanks in particular to its multilingual shop and its many currencies that offer its users more amplitude. It allows you to manage several online stores on a single administration panel.
However, its handling remains less fluid than that of its congener.
Using CMS helps generate qualified leads when it is well exploited. There is no perfect CMS model, but there is a content manager that meets the needs of every business in the short, medium and long term.
