Content Management System: 10 Features Every CMS Absolutely Needs

Roughly, content management systems are as old as the internet! If you look at the statistics, the CMS market is valued at approximately $36 billion in 2018, and it is predicted that it will grow and reach $123.5 billion by 2026. While WordPress hit the top with 34% of all the websites on the internet, Joomla, Drupal, and other CMS are holding their position in the market with necessary updates and features.

But did you ever notice that the majority of the market today is made up of content management systems having a mere presence in the market? This means that there is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to CMS. Moreover, not all CMSs offer features that are suitable for your business.

So, what features do you need to consider when choosing a CMS for your business? Let’s take a look at 10 key features that every business should expect from the CMS development company.

Understanding Content Management Systems (CMS)

Content management systems are integral tools for anyone looking to maintain an online presence. They simplify the web development process and enable people with minimal technical expertise to manage content effectively. Let’s explore the distinct types of CMSs and how they cater to different user needs.

Traditional CMS

Traditional CMSs are all-inclusive platforms that handle the entire spectrum of website management tasks. They are the go-to solution for users who prefer a straightforward approach to website creation and maintenance.

Comprehensive Platform Approach

Traditional CMS platforms provide a one-stop-shop for website management, incorporating content creation, design, and functionality into a single, cohesive system. This integrated approach simplifies the process of building and maintaining a website, as all necessary tools and features are accessible from a unified interface.

User-Friendly Design

These systems are designed with the end-user in mind, offering an intuitive interface that doesn’t necessitate a background in coding or web development. Users can easily manage content, update their site, and add new features without needing to delve into complex technical details. This accessibility makes traditional CMS platforms popular among small businesses, bloggers, and non-technical users.

Pre-Designed Templates

With a range of pre-designed templates, traditional CMS enables users to swiftly customize their websites to reflect their brand identity and aesthetic preferences. These templates are often responsive and optimized for various devices, ensuring a consistent user experience across desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Additionally, templates can usually be further customized through simple drag-and-drop editors, allowing users to tailor the look and feel of their site without extensive design skills.

Built-in SEO Tools

Optimizing for search engines is a breeze with the SEO tools that come baked into traditional CMS platforms, helping businesses improve their online visibility. Features such as meta tag editing, XML sitemap generation, and URL structuring are typically included, making it easier for users to implement SEO best practices. These tools help ensure that content is easily discoverable by search engines, driving more organic traffic to the site.

Headless CMS

Headless CMS represents the evolution of content management, focusing on flexibility and the separation of content creation from content presentation. Unlike traditional CMS platforms, which are monolithic and handle both the back-end and front-end, headless CMS decouples these aspects, allowing for greater freedom and innovation in how content is displayed and interacted with.

Separation of Concerns

By decoupling the back-end content repository from the front-end presentation layer, headless CMS offers unparalleled control over how and where content is displayed. This separation allows developers to use any front-end technology to build user interfaces, providing more creative freedom and enabling the delivery of content across multiple platforms, including websites, mobile apps, and IoT devices.

Flexibility and Customization

These systems are a boon for businesses that demand a high degree of customization, such as those operating in the e-commerce or media sectors. Headless CMS supports a wide range of content types and allows for complex content relationships, making them suitable for creating personalized and dynamic user experiences. Additionally, because the front-end and back-end are independent, developers can implement updates and changes to one without affecting the other, enhancing the site’s agility and responsiveness to changing business needs.

Integration-Friendly Architecture

Headless CMSes are built to seamlessly integrate with various systems and platforms, facilitating the management of content across multiple channels and websites. Their API-first approach means that content can be delivered to any device or platform with an internet connection. This makes headless CMS ideal for businesses looking to provide a consistent experience across a variety of touchpoints, from traditional web pages to mobile apps and beyond.

Examples of Headless CMS Platforms

Prominent examples of headless CMS include Contentful, Kentico Cloud, and Prismic, each offering unique features tailored to specific business needs. Contentful is known for its robust API and flexibility, making it a favourite among developers. Kentico Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of tools for managing content across different channels, while Prismic emphasizes ease of use and a smooth editorial experience. These platforms demonstrate the potential of headless CMS solutions to meet the diverse requirements of modern digital businesses.

Delving into the Core Features of a Content Management System

Content Creation and Management

At the heart of any CMS is its ability to create and manage a wide array of content types, from text and images to videos and interactive media. A robust CMS allows users to easily upload, organize, and publish content, making it a central hub for all digital assets. This functionality ensures that your content remains organized and accessible, streamlining the entire content lifecycle from creation to publication.

Diverse Media Management

A versatile CMS can handle various media types, ensuring that users can enrich their content with multimedia elements to engage their audience. This includes the ability to upload, manage, and display images, videos, audio files, and documents, providing a richer user experience and keeping your content dynamic and engaging.

Real-Time Content Updates

Changes made through the CMS are reflected instantly on the live site, allowing for timely updates and content refreshes. This real-time updating capability is crucial for maintaining current and accurate information on your website, especially for news sites, blogs, and e-commerce platforms where timely updates can impact user engagement and sales.

Collaboration Tools

In today’s digital landscape, collaborative efforts are key, and CMS platforms are equipped with tools that facilitate teamwork and content co-creation. Features such as shared workspaces, commenting, and collaborative editing allow multiple team members to work on content simultaneously, enhancing productivity and ensuring that everyone stays on the same page.

Multi-User Environments

Many CMS supports multi-user access, enabling teams to work on content simultaneously, regardless of their physical location. This is particularly important for larger organizations with distributed teams, as it ensures that content creation and management can continue smoothly without geographical constraints.

Workflow Management

Built-in workflows help assign tasks, track progress, and manage content approvals, ensuring a smooth content creation process. Workflow management tools enable you to set up custom workflows for different types of content, track the status of each piece, and automate the approval process, reducing bottlenecks and improving efficiency.

Version Control

With version control features, CMS platforms maintain a history of content changes, allowing users to revert to previous versions if needed. This is an essential feature for content accuracy and accountability, as it provides a backup of the latest content versions and allows you to restore them if something goes wrong.

Customizable Templates

Templates are the building blocks of website design within a CMS, offering a balance between customization and ease of use. Customizable templates enable you to create a cohesive and professional design without needing extensive coding skills, ensuring that your website looks great and aligns with your brand identity.

Branding and Design Customization

CMS templates can be tailored to match a business’s branding guidelines, ensuring a consistent visual identity across the website. This customization includes adjusting colours, fonts, layouts, and other design elements to create a unique look that reflects your brand’s personality.

No-Code Customization Options

Users can modify templates using visual editing tools, eliminating the need for in-depth coding skills to achieve the desired look and feel. These no-code options empower non-technical users to make significant design changes, ensuring that your website remains up-to-date and visually appealing without requiring developer intervention.

Template Libraries

Most CMS offers a vast library of templates catering to a wide range of industries and website types. These pre-designed templates provide a quick and easy way to get started with your website, offering designs that are optimized for performance and usability.

Metadata Management

CMS users can easily add and edit metadata like titles, descriptions, and keywords to improve search engine rankings. Proper metadata management is crucial for SEO, as it helps search engines understand the content of your pages and rank them appropriately.

Sitemap Generation

Automatic sitemap generation helps search engines crawl and index website content more effectively. A sitemap provides a roadmap of your website’s structure, making it easier for search engines to find and index all of your content, improving your site’s visibility and search ranking.

Analytics Integration

CMS platforms often allow for integration with analytics tools, providing insights into SEO performance and visitor behaviour. By integrating with tools like Google Analytics, you can track key metrics such as page views, bounce rates, and conversion rates, helping you make data-driven decisions to improve your website’s performance.

User Management

A robust CMS will offer comprehensive user management capabilities, ensuring that access to the website’s backend is secure and appropriately allocated. User management features allow you to create and manage user accounts, assign roles and permissions, and monitor user activity to ensure that your site remains secure and well-organized.

Role-Based Access Control

Businesses can define roles and permissions within the CMS to control who can access and edit specific sections of the website. Role-based access control ensures that only authorized users can make changes to sensitive areas of your site, protecting your content and maintaining security.

User Authentication

Secure login mechanisms protect the website from unauthorized access, safeguarding content integrity. Features like two-factor authentication (2FA) and strong password policies help ensure that only legitimate users can access your CMS, reducing the risk of security breaches.

Custom User Roles

CMS platforms often allow the creation of custom user roles, tailoring access rights to the specific needs of the organization. Custom roles enable you to define particular permissions for different types of users, ensuring that each team member has the access they need without compromising security.

Responsive Templates/Themes to Achieve Cross-device Compatibility

While evaluating the CMS platforms, it is crucial to have a look at the themes or templates they offer. In today’s mobility world, your website must be responsive. If CMS is not offering responsive themes or templates, it is always important to check if the download or purchase of such themes or templates is available or not. Having such features will help you optimize your website for all devices.

Impactful Publishing Tool to Support their Marketing Efforts

One of the core features of any CMS is a content editor. When choosing CMS for your website, make sure it offers an intuitive and rock-solid content editor that allows you to create and publish content of different types on the go. Moreover, it should allow you to add various multimedia such as images, videos, calls to action, and more. In the case of Drupal CMS development, you can also leverage the WYSIWYG editor, where you can modify a page without any HTML code and validate the changes in real-time.

Support for Multilingual

It is rare to find a country or market without any language barriers. Thus, to reach customers speaking different languages, you need a CMS that provides multilingual support. At present, many CMSs do not offer multilingual support. To make sure your online business hits the right kind of audience without any language barrier, it is worth spending time finding CMS or investing in WordPress CMS development.

Detailed and Meaningful Insights

In today’s fast-paced world, it is crucial to know where your target audience is moving and how they are using your website to fulfil their needs. And nothing is better than detailed insights about it. A well-crafted CMS should offer detailed analytics to measure the performance of your website. Many CMSs support the integration of Google Analytics or other popular analytical tools. Try to check what type of analytical features your CMS provides.

Support for Multisite

To survive in today’s highly competitive web world, having a single company website is no longer useful. Apart from the conventional website, you need to set up or have other sites for blogs, intranet portals, and microsites to support your main website with additional links and traffic. Therefore, an ideal CMS should support and offer the multisite feature.

How Does a CMS Help to Build Websites?

Building a website can be an overwhelming task, but a CMS simplifies the process, making it accessible to users with varying levels of technical expertise.

Easy Content Management

A CMS streamlines content management, making it simple for users to add, modify, and organize website content with minimal technical know-how. This is particularly useful for businesses that need to update their websites frequently but lack in-house technical expertise. Users can quickly make changes to text, images, and videos without needing to know HTML or other programming languages, thereby keeping the website current and engaging.

Intuitive Dashboard

The CMS dashboard serves as the control centre for website management, offering easy navigation and quick access to all content-related tasks. This central hub allows users to manage all aspects of their site, from content creation to user management, in one place. With an intuitive interface, users can easily find the tools and features they need, reducing the learning curve and increasing efficiency.

WYSIWYG Editors

What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editors enable users to edit content in a format that closely resembles its appearance when published. This feature is essential for non-technical users who want to create and format content without having to write code. It allows for real-time editing and previewing, ensuring that the final product looks exactly as intended.

Drag-and-Drop Functionality

Many CMS platforms include drag-and-drop features, allowing users to arrange elements on their web pages without writing a single line of code. This functionality simplifies the design process, enabling users to create complex layouts with ease. Whether it’s adding images, videos, or widgets, drag-and-drop tools make it easy to build and customize pages quickly.

Design Customization

CMS templates provide a foundational design that users can customize to reflect their brand, removing the need to hire a professional web designer. Users can choose from a variety of templates and then tweak them to match their brand’s colours, fonts, and style. This flexibility ensures that even those without design skills can create a professional-looking website.

Visual Design Tools

With visual design tools integrated into the CMS, users can tweak the website’s appearance, adjusting colours, fonts, and layout to create a unique look. These tools often include point-and-click interfaces that make it easy to make visual changes without needing to touch the underlying code. This ensures that the website can be customized to reflect the brand’s identity and appeal to its target audience.

Design Consistency

Templates ensure design consistency throughout the website, presenting a professional and cohesive brand image to visitors. Consistent design elements, such as headers, footers, and navigation menus, create a unified look and feel, which enhances user experience and builds brand trust. Templates also make it easier to maintain this consistency as new pages and content are added.

Streamlined Workflows

CMS platforms are designed to streamline the content creation and publication process, enhancing efficiency and productivity. Workflow features allow for the assignment of roles and permissions, enabling team members to collaborate on content creation while ensuring that the right people review and approve changes. This leads to faster content production and fewer bottlenecks.

Content Scheduling

Users can schedule content to be published at future dates, enabling them to plan and manage content calendars effectively. This feature is particularly useful for businesses that need to coordinate content releases with marketing campaigns, product launches, or other events. By scheduling content in advance, users can ensure a steady stream of fresh content without having to publish each piece manually.

Approval Processes

Workflows can be set up to include approval steps, ensuring that content is reviewed and authorized before going live. This is important for maintaining quality control and ensuring that all content aligns with the brand’s standards and guidelines. Approval processes can be customized to fit the organization’s structure, with different levels of review and approval as needed.

Notifications and Alerts

CMS systems can notify users about pending tasks, updates, or comments, keeping everyone in the loop and ensuring timely actions. These notifications help team members stay on top of their responsibilities and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. Alerts can be sent via email, SMS, or within the CMS dashboard, providing flexibility in how users stay informed.

SEO-Friendly URLs

CMS allows for the creation of clean, descriptive URLs that are more likely to rank well in search results. SEO-friendly URLs are easy to read and include relevant keywords, which helps search engines understand the content of the page. This can lead to higher rankings and increased click-through rates from search engine results pages.

Image Optimization

Tools for optimizing images, such as setting alt tags and compressing file sizes, improve page load times and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) performance. Fast-loading pages are crucial for user experience and search engine rankings, as both users and search engines prefer sites that load quickly. Image optimization tools help ensure that images look great without slowing down the site.

Content Analysis

Some CMS platforms offer content analysis tools that provide recommendations for SEO improvements based on best practices. These tools can analyze content for keyword usage, readability, and overall SEO performance. By following these recommendations, users can create content that is more likely to rank well and engage readers.

Scalability

As businesses grow, their websites need to accommodate increasing amounts of content and traffic, which is where a CMS’s scalability becomes crucial. Scalable CMS platforms can handle large volumes of content and high levels of traffic without sacrificing performance. This ensures that the website can grow with the business and continue to meet its needs.

Easy Content Expansion

Adding new pages, blog posts, or product listings is straightforward with a CMS, supporting the growth of the website’s content over time. A CMS makes it easy to create and organize new content, ensuring that the site remains fresh and relevant. This is particularly important for businesses that need to update their offerings frequently.

Performance Optimization

CMSs are equipped to handle increased traffic, ensuring that websites remain fast and reliable as they scale. Performance optimization features, such as caching and content delivery networks (CDNs), help improve load times and reduce server strain. This leads to a better user experience and higher search engine rankings.

Reduced Maintenance

CMS platforms are generally easy to maintain, often including automatic updates and community support to address any issues. Regular updates ensure that the CMS remains secure and compatible with the latest technologies. This reduces the need for ongoing maintenance and support, freeing up resources for other tasks.

Independence from Developers

Businesses can manage their websites independently, reducing reliance on external web developers or agencies for content updates and minor changes. A CMS empowers non-technical users to make changes to their website, ensuring that it can be updated quickly and easily. This independence can lead to faster updates and lower costs.

The Benefits of Using a CMS

Employing a CMS offers numerous advantages, from improving operational efficiency to enhancing the online experience for both the business and its audience.

1. Ease of Use

CMS platforms are built with user-friendliness in mind, ensuring that managing a website’s content is straightforward and hassle-free.

User-Friendly Interfaces

The interfaces of most CMS platforms are designed for ease of navigation, allowing users to find and utilize the tools they need quickly. These platforms often feature drag-and-drop functionality, making it simple to add, edit, or remove content without any coding knowledge.

Minimal Learning Curve

With intuitive systems and comprehensive documentation, new users can become proficient in using a CMS with minimal training. This ease of use reduces the time and resources needed for onboarding and allows users to focus on creating quality content rather than learning complex software.

Accessibility for Non-Technical Users

CMS empowers individuals without technical backgrounds to take control of their website’s content, democratizing web management. This accessibility means that small business owners, marketers, and other non-technical personnel can manage their online presence effectively.

2. Cost-Effective

The cost-saving potential of a CMS is significant, making it an attractive option for businesses looking to optimize their budget.

Reduced Initial Investment

With no need for extensive custom development, the initial setup cost for a CMS-based website is typically lower than that of a custom-coded site. This cost reduction is especially beneficial for startups and small businesses that need to launch their websites quickly and affordably.

Long-Term Savings

Over time, the ability to manage a website internally without depending on external developers can result in substantial savings. Routine updates, content changes, and basic maintenance can be handled in-house, reducing the need for ongoing developer support.

Free and Open-Source Options

Many CMS platforms, particularly open-source ones, are available free of charge, further reducing the financial barrier to entry. Open-source CMS platforms like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal offer robust features and a large community of developers who contribute to plugins and extensions.

Time-Saving

A CMS streamlines the content management process, freeing up time for businesses to focus on other critical aspects of their operations.

Quick Content Updates

The ability to make quick and easy content updates means that businesses can keep their websites fresh and relevant without significant time investment. This agility is crucial for responding to market trends, seasonal changes, and customer feedback promptly.

Automated Features

Many routine tasks can be automated within a CMS, such as backups and updates, saving time and reducing the risk of human error. Automation tools ensure that the website runs smoothly with minimal manual intervention, allowing teams to focus on strategic tasks.

Efficient Team Collaboration

Collaboration tools within a CMS facilitate efficient teamwork, enabling faster content development and review cycles. Features such as user roles, permissions, and version control allow multiple team members to work on the website simultaneously without conflicts.

3. SEO Optimization

Optimizing for search engines is essential for driving traffic to a website, and a CMS provides the tools necessary to improve SEO performance.

Integrated SEO Features

From meta tag editors to link management, a CMS includes a suite of tools designed to enhance a website’s search engine visibility. These features help ensure that content is easily discoverable by search engines, improving the chances of higher rankings.

SEO Plugins and Extensions

Many CMS platforms support plugins and extensions that offer advanced SEO capabilities. Tools like Yoast SEO for WordPress provide in-depth analysis and recommendations for optimizing content, making it easier for users to follow best practices.

Mobile Optimization

A CMS often includes responsive design features that ensure websites are mobile-friendly. Since search engines prioritize mobile-friendly websites in their rankings, this built-in capability is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge.

4. Customization and Flexibility

A CMS offers a high degree of customization and flexibility, allowing businesses to create unique websites that meet their specific needs.

Themes and Templates

CMS platforms provide a wide variety of themes and templates that can be customized to match a brand’s identity. These pre-designed options simplify the design process while still allowing for significant customization.

Plugin and Module Integration

Extend the functionality of a CMS through plugins and modules that add new features and capabilities. Whether it’s e-commerce, social media integration, or advanced analytics, there are plugins available to enhance the website’s functionality.

Scalability

As businesses grow, a CMS can scale to accommodate increased traffic and additional content. This scalability ensures that the website remains functional and performant as demands evolve.

5. Security

Security is a top priority for any website, and a CMS provides robust security features to protect against threats.

Regular Updates

CMS platforms regularly release updates to address security vulnerabilities and improve performance. Keeping the CMS and its plugins up-to-date is crucial for maintaining a secure website.

User Roles and Permissions

Define user roles and permissions to control access to different parts of the website. This feature helps prevent unauthorized changes and ensures that only authorized personnel can modify critical settings.

Backup Solutions

Many CMS platforms offer built-in backup solutions or support third-party backup plugins. Regular backups ensure that data is not lost and can be restored in the event of a security breach or other issues.

6. Community and Support

A vibrant community and extensive support resources are essential for getting the most out of a CMS.

Extensive Documentation

Comprehensive documentation provides detailed information on how to use and customize the CMS. This resource is invaluable for troubleshooting issues and learning about new features.

Community Forums

Join community forums where users and developers share tips, solve problems, and discuss best practices. These forums are a great place to find answers to common questions and connect with other CMS users.

Professional Support

Many CMS platforms offer professional support services for businesses that need additional assistance. Whether it’s through a support contract or ad-hoc services, professional support ensures that expert help is available when needed.

Finding the Right CMS for Your Business…

Of course, every CMS is unique and brings a specific set of features considering its target audience. However, the features discussed here are the most basic ones that should be supported or provided by any kind of CMS you choose. Want to have customized features to fulfil your business needs? Get in touch with the best CMS development company to help you get the desired set of features available for your CMS investment.

Frequently Asked Questions