What is a Content Management System?

11 June 2010

Running a successful business is as much about keeping your affairs in order as it is about marketing and getting customers to buy your product. With so much content coming at you from all directions, it's important that you learn how to manage it in order to operate an efficient business. Using a content management system (CMS) could be a great way to go.

Recent innovations have provided businesspeople with the means to manage their content through the use of software programs. The process of content management would be overwhelming without the use of these platforms, and many of the best available today are available for free and operate on an open source.

Businesspeople needing a CMS at their disposal have plenty of options available. Publishing platforms and content management systems vary in structure, performance, licensing and technologies used.

A few off-the-grid sources work well and provide everything needed in a solid CMS including a structure that enables easy search engine optimization, but the mainstream systems are the most popular for a reason.

Drupal, for example, is one of the foremost names in content management. This program is a free open-source system, distributed under the GNU General Public License and written in PHP. It's so easy to use that roughly 1% of all websites use it as a back-end CMS.

Because it's so easy to use, Drupal scores big points for a basic CMS. The ability to easily register accounts, manage menus and RRS-feeds, and customize the page layout is a preferred option by most bloggers and forum operators.

Wordpress is another program that has emerged as a leading content management system. The WP set-up isn't limited to a CMS structure, and that's part of the appeal. Users have the ability to write and edit posts and pages easily, as well as many plugins available that act as helpers. A little more coding skill is required to use WP efficiently as a CMS, but like Drupal, WP is a free open-source product.

Joomla is another top-flight content management system. This award-winning platform is preferred by individuals looking to create websites and other online applications quickly and easily. It also operates as a free open source and is preferred by many due to its ease of use. No real technical skills are required to manage Joomla.

Many quality corporations use Joomla and have helped to earn this platform a respected reputation. MTV Networks, IHOP, Harvard University's Education Department, and even Citibank use Joomla to manage their content.

There are many other open source CMS software programs out there. These three are certainly ahead of the curve in many aspects, but others are worth checking out if you'd prefer something different. Moveable Type, Textpattern, ExpressionEngine, Concrete5, Radiant CMS and Symphony are all among the big-name content management systems available.