Simple Web Business – Content Management Systems

One of the common misunderstandings stopping many from getting started with their own web business, is that you need to be technically minded to run a website. In fact with a good Content Management System (CMS), all you need to be able to know is how to use a word processor.

What is a Content Management System

A Content Management System is a program that simplifies website management for the non-technical, with the functionality to control large, dynamic content such as HTML documents, images and other forms of media.

The basic key features of a common CMS include:

• Automated Templates
• Easily Editable Content
• Plug-in features or modules
• User Group Delegation
• Interchangeable website blocks
• Media Embedment

A good complete Content Management System program is capable of running and managing almost every aspect of a web business from ecommerce to AutoResponders, the only pitfall of such CMS packages though is the cost. If your prepared to spend big up front for a complete CMS it definitely is worth it, however if that is not you there are some cheaper alternatives out there.

Content Management Systems Options

There are a number of Content Management Systems available, some good some bad. The following are a few free CMS options available that you can freely download and start using.

Wordpress – Wordpress was intentionally developed for blogging purposes, however it’s also essentially a CMS. With its extensive functionality and simple and easy to use features, Wordpress has evolved into a great platform that can be used to manage entire websites. There is also loads of help and support available so if you get stuck with anything there will most probably be a solution on the net.

CMS Made Simple – Specifically built as a CMS this free product offers quite a lot, from SEO friendly URLs to permission based user and group creation and management. It gives the ability to customise each page differently with different themes and modules to create everything from a picture album to a blog on your website. It’s also available in a range of different languages as well.

Joomla – Joomla is a popular free CMS with a great community of users, contributors and developers working with the program to make it better and easier for you to use. Similar to CMS Made Simple it comes with the ability to add a multitude of extensions to the platform to improve it even more.

Drupal – Drupal is an open source CMS with similar functionality to the ones mentioned above, comes with a handy list of different modules and themes to customise your site to how you want it and is also available in a variety of different languages.

I have to say though that if you’re completely non-technically minded and don’t understand the installation documentation for any of the CMS packages described above then I would recommend hiring someone to simply setup the CMS for you. However if you believe you can understand how to install the CMS then it will be helpful skill to have in case something goes wrong you may be able to fix it yourself without hiring anyone.