CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

 So-called content management systems make it easier for non-programmers to maintain websites and manage the content without having to use a programming language. If you have made the decision to integrate a CMS on your website, you will soon be faced with an overwhelming number of CMS providers. In addition to the market leaders such as TYPO3 or WordPress, there are other smaller, well-known providers including Drupal, Joomla! Or ProcessWire. In addition, there are countless small but less well-known providers of CMS. Smaller doesn't mean worse. The CMS solution that best suits your problem could also be among the hidden players.

CMS evaluation checklist: Find a suitable CMS through requirements analysis

The integration of a CMS is a medium to long-term decision and the selection of the right system should therefore be carefully considered. In order to find the right CMS for your company and your website, you first have to set up and carry out a thorough requirements analysis.

The following checklists are intended to provide guidelines for selecting the right content management system.

Strategy: From the corporate strategy to the main requirements of the CMS

·         In principle, the main requirements for the CMS should be derived from the corporate strategy. The following points should be observed:

·         Which goal should be achieved with the implementation of CMS?

·         What kind of content do you want to manage?

·         In what time frames should content be added or edited?

·         Which menu items should be available?

·         Who are the end users of the website?

·         Functionality: Requirements for the functions of the CMS

Another point that should not be neglected is functionality. The optimal content management system should be perfectly tailored to the needs of the company and support everyday work. Here are some important selection criteria:

·         How many users can be created?

·         How many users can work at the same time?

·         Can users access one page at the same time?

·         Which media formats can be managed?

·         Can several clients be managed in one CMS?

·         How easy is it to create new clients?

·         What project size is the CMS suitable for?

·         Can functions be easily integrated into the system?

·         Can complex pages be clearly managed?

·         Which roles and rights can be assigned?

·         Does the CMS support personalization?

·         Is multi-channel management possible with the CMS?

·         Is content from the CMS transmitted responsively?

Stakeholder analysis: From the needs of the user to the optimal website

It is also important to determine who the website will be aimed at and who will work with it in order to be able to use the CMS to adapt the content and structure of the website perfectly to the various needs. The following questions have to be answered:

·         Who will use the website?

·         What is the goal of users who come to the website?

·         Which end devices are the main devices used to access the website? (supports the CMS responsive design)

·         What is the company's goal when users come to the website?

·         Who will work with the website?

Multilingualism: CMS language support for international web projects

Language plays an important role, especially in global companies, and should be taken into account when choosing the CMS. CMS also a part of the SEO Services in Lahore for the best services. On the one hand, the website should be accessible in different languages ​​and, on the other hand, it is important for employees from abroad that the system can also be used in several languages.

·         How can multilingual pages be maintained in the CMS?

·         Can the backend user view be used in different languages?

Profitability: From the cost of creating the CMS to the support and maintenance costs

A particularly important point, which is usually also decisive, is the cost. However, cost calculations should be carried out over longer periods of time so that support and maintenance costs can also be included. The license-free open source systems are not always the most economical.

·         How high are the license costs?

·         How high are maintenance and support costs?

·         How high are possible follow-up costs?

Implementation: From the CMS implementation to the provision of the content management system

In addition to the costs, the initial implementation effort must also be taken into account.      

·         How high is the initial implementation effort?

·         Are the human resources available?

·         Is the necessary know-how available?

Conclusion: selection of the suitable content management system

A good content management system enables easy administration and maintenance of the website content. From a future-oriented point of view, it is also important to ensure that the system can be updated over a longer period of time and that plug-ins can be installed.

In the end it has to be said that there are many good and not the only true content management system. It always depends on the type of company and the respective requirements which one is optimal.