Before you write one line of code, before you design one layer of design, and before you write one word of copy, there is a much larger question you need to answer:
Which Content Management System (CMS) should I use to build my website?
As with everything in life, there are pros and cons to each option. Here, we’ll give you the straight up truth about the top four most common CMSs:
After reviewing all the considerations below (listed in no particular order), it’s ultimately up to you to decide which CMS is best for your needs. We hope this helps make that decision a little easier.
Just as Lego pieces fit together perfectly, allowing you to build anything your mind can imagine, Drupal modules (aka plugins) and code act as the building blocks of an editable website.
Everything fits together. Everything plays well together.
The back end of Drupal isn’t much to look at, and there aren't many pre-made kits. Drupal is for the builder who wants full creative and functional control of their masterpiece.
Oh Shopify … I don’t want to paint my car, I want to pimp my ride!
With Shopify, you can change the design, the fields and the output of pages, but you can't change the logic. It’s baked in.
There are some functionality plugins that seem cool on the surface, but they’re hosted elsewhere. That means they push code to your site, which can cause major security breaches and performance issues.
Most CMSs are packaged into one comprehensive solution. If you find a solution that works for you, it will save you a ton of time.
However, if you want to alter the solution even slightly, it can become difficult to manage. WordPress is no exception. It’s a strong platform for content-heavy sites like blogs or news feeds and the GUI (graphical user interface) is simple and clean.
Beware of the plugins—unless specifically made to do so, they typically don’t play well together. Plugins are frequently to blame when WordPress sites break.
We liken Magento to a model airplane because once it’s built, it super cool. That said, it can also be complex to build and difficult to change once put together.
Magento was created for send user wanting to build and maintain their own websites. It has a strong backend for eCommerce—it can handle a massive inventory of products.
On the downside, it doesn’t have a lot of plugins, and is not ideal for content-heavy sites.
Need help deciding which CMS is best for your needs? Give us a call, we can help.
You’ve heard it a thousand times – content is king. It’s true. Content is everywhere. It’s online, in books, and on TV. It’s on benches, billboards, and buses. We listen to it, we watch it, we read it.
Sometimes we’re actively consuming content and other times it’s just seeping into our subconscious as we go about our day.
Content is all around us. It’s there to entertain, educate, inform, and keep us up to speed on the latest happenings around the world. It’s also there to sell us stuff we need … and stuff we don’t.
The question isn’t so much, “Should you be investing in content?” The question really is, “Can you afford not to invest in content?”
FACT: Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about 3x as many leads.
Your competitors are creating content. They’re advertising, broadcasting, and printing. They’re offering free information and they’re selling products to the masses. To your customers.
So, when Joe Blow is ready to buy what you’re selling, who will he call? That guy he’s heard on the radio, seen on TV, and read about online? That guy who keeps popping up on his Facebook feed with ads and appearing in his inbox with useful tips?
Or will he call you. That guy he’s never heard of. Probably won’t be you since he doesn’t have your number, email, or website address.
That’s the thing about content—if you’re not putting your brand out there for the world to see, how will anyone know you exist?
We get it, you’re about the bottom line. You need to know what the return on investment will be before opening your wallet. Totally understandable.
The first thing to know about the ROI of content is that it almost always starts out in the red.
There, I said it.
So why the heck are we even entertaining the idea of creating content? Because content is a long game. It takes time to create, design, write, record, develop and publish.
It may be slow starting, but that doesn’t matter because in the long run, it out performs by leaps and bounds. Here’s proof that content marketing crushes any other digital marketing strategy:
The numbers don’t lie. Content marketing gets results. Period.
Content marketing is by far the most powerful marketing strategy known to the digital world today.
So, let me ask you this … can you afford NOT to invest in content?
Ready to find out how much money you could be leaving on the table? Give us a buzz to see how affordable it truly is to implement a strong content marketing strategy.
