What Is a Content Management System (CMS)? Beginner’s Guide

A content management system (CMS) is software that helps you create, edit, organize, and publish content online. CMS platforms like WordPress and Drupal provide an interface to manage your website content without needing to code everything from scratch.

In this beginner’s guide, you’ll learn:

• What a CMS is and how it works
• Types of CMS platforms available
• Benefits of using a CMS 
• How to choose the right CMS for your needs
• CMS features to look for
• Popular CMS options to consider
• FAQs about getting started with a CMS

What Exactly is a CMS and How Does it Work?

A content management system is a software application that serves as a central hub for creating, editing, approving, distributing, and optimizing content. 

CMS software has a backend interface that lets you securely access and edit all the content on your website in one place. Rather than editing code or files directly on the server, a CMS provides an admin panel dashboard to control your content.

For example, WordPress offers a WP Admin area with options to:

• Create new posts and pages
• Add images and media 
• Manage comments
• View site analytics 
• Install plugins
• Adjust site settings
• And more…

So a CMS removes the need to edit code or work with web developers any time you want to update your site content.

Most CMS platforms will have these core content management features:

• WYSIWYG editor – Format text easily without knowing HTML
• Media library – Upload and organize images, documents, videos 
• Templates and themes – For consistent branding and styling
• Search engine optimization – Tools to optimize content  
• Workflows – Review, edit, schedule, and collaborate on content
• Multi-channel publishing – Reuse content across devices, apps, etc.
• Reporting – Track performance and gain insights 
• API integration – Connect other apps and services
• Multilingual – Support multiple languages  

Now let’s explore the main types of content management systems available…

Types of Content Management Systems

There are a few different types and categories of CMS platforms:

1. Web Content Management Systems (WCMS)

Web content management systems like WordPress and Drupal are the most common type of CMS. 

They allow you to manage content for public-facing websites while offering options for membership sites, intranets, online stores, and more.

These traditional CMS options balance content management with some site building tools.

2. Component Content Management Systems (CCMS)  

Component content management systems focus solely on content creation and distribution. 

They act as centralized content hubs that let you create content once and reuse it across multiple channels. This includes websites, mobile apps, smart devices, and more.

Examples of CCMS platforms include Contentful and Storyblok.  

3. Digital Asset Management Systems (DAM)

Digital asset management platforms specifically help organize rich media. This includes images, documents, videos, fonts, logos, and other digital files used in marketing and branding.

Top digital asset management systems include Bynder, Brandfolder, and Photoshelter.

4. Enterprise Content Management (ECM)

Enterprise content management systems are full-featured solutions designed for large organizations with lots of complex content. This includes documents, intranets, workflows, compliance policies, access controls, and more.

Examples here include Microsoft Sharepoint, OpenText, and Oracle UCM.

Now that you know the main CMS types, let’s look at…

5 Key Benefits of Using a CMS

Here are some of the top reasons businesses invest in a content management system:

1. Faster Content Creation

A CMS allows you to create professional web content without knowing how to code.

With templates, easy editing, reusable components, and collaborative workflows – you can produce more content, faster.

2. Consistent Branding 

Content management systems ensure brand consistency across channels.

Features like templates, controlled editing areas, and digital asset management maintain on-brand content.

3. Improved Search Engine Optimization   

CMS platforms provide SEO tools and best practices out-of-the-box. This includes developer-optimized code, metadata fields, SEO plugins, integrated analytics, and sitemaps.

4. Omnichannel Content Delivery

Publish and distribute content to any channel – websites, mobile, email, apps, etc. CMSs give content portability to improve experience across devices.

5. Security and Compliance

Robust CMS platforms provide enterprise-grade security, backups, access controls, audit logs, and workflow guardrails. This is critical for regulated industries.

Deciding what CMS is right for your specific needs depends on your budget, tech skills, content volume, and business requirements.  

How to Choose the Right CMS Platform  

With all the CMS options out there, it can get overwhelming finding the one that’s right for your goals and level of expertise.

Here is a 5 step process for choosing the ideal content management system:

1. Define your goals

Start by clearly defining what you want to achieve by implementing a CMS – whether it’s launching a blog, managing documents, powering ecommerce sites, etc. This helps match platforms to your objectives.  

2. Determine your budget

CMS solutions have wildly varying costs depending on the size, support, hosting requirements, extensions needed, and editing capabilities. Figure out what you can realistically afford before comparing options.

Some questions to think about:

• What’s your available budget for software, migration, maintenance, hosting?  
• Do you need an open-source platform with lower license costs but higher integration expenses?   
• Or an enterprise system with expensive licensing but inclusive support/hosting?

3. Assess your technology environment

Factor in your current tech stack, hosting scenarios, integrations needed (CRM, marketing automation, ERP), developer resources, and IT capabilities. 

This helps filter CMS options that seamlessly fit within your existing infrastructure.

4. Prioritize your CMS must-haves 

Make a list of absolutely essential CMS features and functionality based on your content, users, outputs, and workflows. 

These should be crafted into mandatory requirements so unsuitable systems automatically fall off your list during evaluations. 

Some sample requirements:

• Cloud or on-prem hosting?  
• Open source vs proprietary?
• Multi-site management 
• Content approval workflows    
• Translation/localization capabilities  
• Content auditing 
• API connections
• Digital asset management 
• Form building
• Access permissions
• Intranet functionality
• Ecommerce enablement

5. Create a shortlist and review demos

With your goals, budget, environment, and requirements clear – you can now compile a shortlist of appropriate CMS contenders that tick all the boxes.

But don’t decide yet! Take your top 2-3 options for a test drive before choosing. Work through demo accounts, free trials, or custom proofs-of-concept for hands-on validation.

Seeing the systems in action instead of just reviewing spec sheets often makes the best fit obvious. And you get to clarify any outstanding questions.

5 Leading CMS Platforms to Consider

While there are literally hundreds of content management systems to evaluate – these enterprise-level platforms consistently rise to the top across multiple analyst reports:

1. WordPress

The world’s most popular CMS, WordPress powers over 40% of all websites. The open source software has a thriving community of developers and extensions. IDEAL FOR blogs, websites, ecommerce stores.

2. Drupal  

Another open source CMS focused on large complex sites. SUPERIOR FOR advanced functionality, multisite management, complex workflows.

3. Adobe Experience Manager  

A cloud-based CMS focused on digital experience management. ROBUST FEATURES for omnichannel content, personalization, analytics.  

4. Sitecore 

A complete CMS, marketing automation, and analytics solution. GREAT FOR big brands optimizing full customer lifecycle engagement.

5. Joomla

An open source CMS similar to WordPress. GOOD FOR community sites, intranets, membership portals. Lots of 3rd party extensions.

Frequently Asked Questions About CMS

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions around implementing and managing CMS platforms:

Wrap Up

A content management system centralizes and simplifies your website management – allowing you to work smarter and deliver better customer experiences across channels.

Selecting the right CMS does require upfront strategic planning around your goals, budget, capabilities, and requirements. But the long term efficiencies and flexibility quickly pay back that investment.

Now you know exactly what a CMS is, how it works, top providers, and what to consider when evaluating options.

Hopefully this guide gave you a strong starting point for discovering the best CMS solution to meet your specific business needs!

Neil Beckett

Neil is an accomplished web, designer and developer with over 15 years of experience in creating and optimizing websites for small businesses and online entrepreneurs. Read full bio

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