eCommerce Blog

The yen to maintain a website with ease requires an effective and efficient content management system. This requirement gives rise to a simple and basic question, “Which content management solution to choose?” This post is aimed at discussing CMS solutions and how to select the right CMS solution for your website.

Mentioned below are a few recommendations that would help users in choosing the right CMS solution, based on their requirements.

1. Select the right service provider:
   If you do not have in-house developers; you can source a content management system from third party vendors. However care must be taken while selecting a service provider. Besides this you could also opt for a ready made CMS solution. There are many CMS ecosystems around, some of them being open source solutions like Joomla, Drupal etc. I am not opposed to them but before making a selection it is always advisable to consult an expert in this industry. Also, you should review your requirement and analyze them to be able to make a sound decision. Once you have analyzed your specific needs, you can easily choose the right solution based on your requirement. ( I have already discussed this point in detail in my previous posts)
2. Don’t get mislead by marketing gimmicks:
   Companies will use attractive marketing techniques to portray that they are the best, but don’t get carried away. Make sure to verify the company’s credentials and check references if possible. Ask for demonstrations and ensure that the CMS solution is in sync with your requirements.
3. Hidden costs hound:
   Cost factor, you can say is the key deciding factor. At the time of negotiation, one must look into the hidden cost factor. Most companies would twist their pricing structure to hide additional costs. Such unaccounted costs could have an adverse effect on your overall budget.
4. First make simple.
   “Small is beautiful” more prosaically, measure your ambition and focus on your “core business”. Make your initial objectives as simple as possible and thus avoid getting confused in the course of running the technical project. Choosing a complicated CMS may lead to inefficient performance at your end.Such projects, with time become real bible of “looser web”.
5. And the final?
   An article on CMS which does not mention anything on CMS? I think “out of the box” is no miracle solutions, but solutions that stick to your expectations at a given time are. This would effectively mean that the content management system should be based on your requirements and objectives.

I did a few experiments with two solutions namely Joomla and Drupal, and they did pretty well. I urge you to do tests on your own before you draw any hasty conclusion.