A Website CMS …. What You Need to Know

By Bob West

Clients hire us to build them a new website for two primary reasons:

1. They need a website that offers a better mobile experience; or, more likely,
2. They need a website that is easier for them to update and maintain.

Let me be clear about it: If you (a marketer) can’t add, delete or update a page on your website in less than 2 minutes all by yourself, then your website is likely outdated and you need to investigate building a new one.

Websites are too critical to a company’s business today for the marketing department to have to call the IT department or some outside contractor to get a new page added to the site or change some copy. I don’t know the first thing about writing HTML code, but I posted this blog you’re reading right now by myself and in less than 60 seconds. How? The key is the simplicity of the content management system (CMS) powering this website.

(If the term “content management system” is new to you, then all you need to know is that a CMS is the interface that allows a website manager to add, edit or delete content from the website.)

WordPress is our preferred CMS, and it’s used on more than 60% of all websites that used a CMS at the end of 2018. (The second most popular CMS is called Joomla, and it’s used on slightly more than 6% of all CMS websites.) WordPress is used to power every website that Meister Media builds for a number of reasons – here are the ones that should matter to you as a marketer.

  1. It’s easy to use – WordPress is modeled after Microsoft Word, which everyone knows how to use. This makes its interface simple and intuitive for non-techy types (like trade magazine editors!).
  2. Search engines love it – Search engines have no trouble reading WordPress’ code, so they can quickly and easily index your website’s content. Plus, you can easily add key information such as meta tag keywords and page titles that boost your search engine ranking.
  3. WordPress sites are scaleable – You need a website that can grow with your business and your customers’ information needs. A WordPress website can be easily expanded when the time is right, which also helps you launch a new site today without destroying your budget.

Ultimately, any conversation you have about developing a new website should center around the CMS. What CMS do your developers want to use? Why do they want to use it? How much training is necessary for using it?

Bob West is the Director of Meister Custom. You can contact him at 440-602-9129 or [email protected] to further discuss your website needs.