The differences between content, content management, and a content management system.

Types of content management systems. Why we use CMS, what a CMS does, and what CMS
doesn’t do

Q. what is content

Q what is content management

Q what is content management system

Q Types of content management systems

Q Why we use CMS

How do you build a content management system?

Content

Content in a CMS is typically stored in a database and displayed in a presentation layer

based on a set of templates like a website. The following are common features of a CMS:
Content creation, allows users to easily create and format content. Content storage, stores
content in one place, in a consistent fashion.

What is meant by content management?

Content management refers to the end-to-end process of sourcing, creating, managing,
and delivering content.

A content management system (CMS) is an application that helps you create and manage a
website via a human-friendly interface rather than needing to work directly with code.
Content management system (CMS) noun: a digital application for managing content and
letting multiple users create, format, edit, and publish content, usually on the internet,
stored in a database, and presented in some form, like with a website.

A content management system is for creating, managing, and optimizing your customers’
digital experience.

More specifically, a CMS is a software application that allows users to collaborate in the
creation, editing, and production of digital content: web pages, blog posts, etc. The CMS (or
WCM—web content management system) is evolving from just helping you launch digital
content to a more robust system that is core to managing an overall digital experience across
many different channels, such as email, mobile apps, social media, web sites, and more.
 Any basic solution for web content management helps you upload or write content, format it,
add headlines and images, and do a number of backstage things like SEO. But in a multi-
device, user-centric world, that’s not enough. Digital marketing has evolved, focusing more
deeply on customer experience while incorporating mobile apps, the Internet of Things, and
more. All that depends on a web content management system that separates content
management from content presentation.

What does a content management specialist do?

The Content Management Specialist will focus on publishing specific content around
different themes for multiple products including the web and video. Services in this role
include publishing content around specific areas. Collaborate with colleagues at all levels and
across different websites.

How do you build a content management system?

How to Build a Website with a Content Management System

1. Purchase web hosting and a domain name.
2. Install your content management system of choice on your web server.
3. Configure the content management system to dictate how your site looks and functions.
4. Start writing content using the content management system's interface.

Important capabilities in a content management solution will include:

1. Content management: How, and how easily, can you create, edit, post, and manage web
content (including text, images, video, and audio)?
2. Presentation: Customers jump from device to device, and no marketing org can put human
effort into optimizing every blog post or catalog page for laptop, tablet, and top smart phone
formats. You want to create it once and have the CMS automate the presentation to suit the
device.
3. Integration: Is the solution holistic , like Sitecore’s Experience Platform, or does it rely on
APIs to connect your content to other applications, such as CRM and ERP tools, and to
crucial external platforms such as Facebook? Are the APIs you’re going to need available?
4. Commerce: A crucial integration is being able to connect a personalized marketing
presentation to your digital commerce systems. You can’t address the “customer journey” if
you leave this destination off your map.
5. Personalization: Can it target relevant content to unique visitors, by persona, location, or
even individually based on past interaction with your brand?
6. Analytics: You’re serving up content, but is anyone reading it? And what do they do next?
Demand visibility into performance so you can optimize your efforts and define ROI.
7. Governance: Can you find stuff after you post it? Can you strictly control who’s allowed to
approve it, change it, publish it, take it down? Can you tell when content has aged out of
usefulness?
8. Multilingual support: Are you translating into other languages and publishing globally? Can
the solution support that?
9. Scalability/Performance/Stability: Is the solution reliable from a fundamental technology
standpoint, and will it grow with your organization’s needs? You might want to look
into cloud content management.
10. Training/vendor support: WCM solutions are increasingly complex, with ever-greater
promises, but most teams need help to get up and running beyond a basic level.
 Examples of the most widely used open source CMS platforms include:
 WordPress.
 Joomla.
 Drupal.
 Magento (e-commerce)
 PrestaShop (e-commerce)

How does a content management system work?

From that CMS definition, all content management systems:

 Are digital. They’re applications used on computers, sometimes offline, but more

frequently online. This is true for open source CMS options and website builders
with CMS capabilities.
 Help users create, format, edit, and publish content. This may include support for
media, written content, or drop quotes based on the CMS, but the core idea is that
you can make and publish some sort of content. The best content management
system is the one that makes users comfortable when publishing.
 Store the content in a database. Again, the supported database and hosting types
vary from CMS to CMS, but the content always gets logged inside a database.
 Give access to multiple users. One CMS may have unique user permissions, while
another might allow for specific editor, author, and admin roles.
 Present the content. As mentioned, this usually happens on the frontend of a live
website, but some content management systems allow for private or even offline
publication, particularly some of the best headless CMS options we’ll explore further
in the article.

What to look for in a CMS

When conducting your research on content management systems, we recommend looking

for the following features:

 A powerful content editor with both visual and code-based editing options. It’s also
nice to see drag-and-drop builders.
 Core CMS functionality like the ability to add, format, and publish content, while
also incorporating user roles.
 Access to third-party themes, plugins, and integrations for improving your site.
 CMS marketing features or integrations for things like email marketing, social
media, and coupons.
 Ecommerce capabilities to potentially sell products.
  Flexibility with your design. This includes mobile responsiveness and custom code
control.

Best free CMS examples 

WordPress is by far the most popular content management system. As one of the best free
headless CMS tools, WordPress powers 43% of all the websites on the internet (including
the Themeisle blog).

There are a ton of reasons WordPress is so popular. It’s a free CMS to download and use.
It’s also easy to learn, flexible, and search engine friendly. Plus, thousands of themes and
plugins make it one of the most customizable platforms. That definitely aligns WordPress
with our core CMS definition and more!
2. Joomla

Joomla is one of the best free CMS options since it has an impressive set of features baked
in, and supports 70+ languages. It’s a good open source CMS for any website that needs
comprehensive content management, especially educational sites or complex websites like
social networks.

3. Drupal

After WordPress, Drupal is the second most popular free CMS . If you ask tech-savvy folks,
“what is a content management system?” they’ll most likely cite Drupal as an example.
That’s because it requires the most technical chops out of all the free CMS software we
recommend.
4. Adobe Commerce Powered by Magento

If your sole focus lies in eCommerce, Adobe Commerce (powered by Magento) offers a

complete CMS marketing, online store, and content publication solution. It comes in two
versions – a free open source CMS (also known as the community version), and
the premium service sold by Adobe. What makes it attractive to large businesses is its top-
notch speed, security, and scalability. Throw in multisite support, and it can be the best free
headless CMS for any business that needs distinct sections, such as chain stores.
5. Squarespace

Squarespace is a ready-to-use solution for building just about any kind of website. It’s so
simple, anyone can make a website – physical store owners, professionals, bloggers, artists.
Besides that, it comes with intuitive social media and CMS marketing integrations, as well
as a drag-and-drop builder, beautiful templates, and one of the cleanest dashboards you can
find.

6. Wix

Wix works the same way as Squarespace. However, it differs from Squarespace because it
includes a free CMS plan (even though you must use a Wix subdomain). It also offers a
greater number of templates to start with.
7. Ghost

If all that you’re looking for is a clean writing experience for both bloggers and readers,
try Ghost. It allows you to focus on writing your posts. It’s user-focused, with a minimal
interface, and uses Markdown in the Editor. You can choose from dozens of pre-made
themes, use the free built-in membership functionality, and manage email newsletters
directly from the dashboard.
8. Shopify

Content management systems don’t only focus on blogging and content creation. Many of
them (like Adobe/Magento listed earlier) offer a well-rounded ecommerce content
management environment for building an online store, designing product pages, and
including everything else you would want on a website, like a blog, FAQ page, shipping
information, and customer support portal. Shopify is just that, offering a complete CMS
marketing and ecommerce platform without the need to find your own hosting.
What Is a Content Management System (CMS)? 8 CMS You Need to Know (themeisle.com)

How does a content management system works?

A content management system (CMS) is an application that is used to manage content,
allowing multiple contributors to create, edit and publish. Content in a CMS is typically
stored in a database and displayed in a presentation layer based on a set of templates like a
website.
What is a content management system and why is it useful?

A content management system, most often referred to as a CMS, allows individuals and

businesses to edit, manage, and maintain existing website pages in a single interface
without needing specialized technical knowledge.

What is content management platforms?

A CMS platform (content management system platform) is a piece of software that allows
you to easily manage content and create a website. Normally, web pages are written in
HTML, JavaScript, and CSS programming languages.

What is Content Manager software?

A content management system is for creating, managing, and optimizing your customers'
digital experience. More specifically, a CMS is a software application that allows users to
collaborate in the creation, editing, and production of digital content: web pages, blog
posts, etc.

Why do we need CMS?

A CMS, short for content management system, is a software application that allows users to
build and manage a website without having to code it from scratch, or know how to
code at all. With a CMS, you can create, manage, modify, and publish content in a user-
friendly interface.
Types of Content Management Systems:

A content management system is a software that helps create, organize, and maintain digital
content. Generally, CMSs support multiple users. They provide ample benefits for large
businesses, including significant cost savings, increased collaboration among team technical
documentation team members (even the non-technically minded), and total control of
content.

Understanding the different types of content management systems is a key step in choosing
the best option for your business. Here are five popular content management solutions to help
you organize digital content:

1. Component Content Management System (CCMS)

A component content management system, or CCMS, differs from a standard CMS in that it
organizes content at a granular level. Instead of managing content page by page, it takes
words, phrases, paragraphs, or photos (also known as “components”) and stores them in a
central repository.

Designed for maximum content reuse, components are only stored once. The CCMS acts as a
consistent trusted source that publishes content across multiple platforms, including mobile,
PDF, and print.
Benefits of a CCMS

 Reusability: Content reuse within a CCMS saves time during the writing, editing, and
publishing phase, and significantly reduces translation costs.
 Traceability: A CCMS enables you to track content in detail. You can see who did
what, when, and where.
 Single Sourcing: With a CCMS you can push content to multiple channels, including
print, mobile, web, chatbots, embedded help, and more.
 Enhanced Team Collaboration: Improve workflow for your content development
team, especially those working remotely.

2. Document Management System (DMS)

Paper is almost extinct. Tracking business files on paper is a thing of the past. A document
management system (DMS) offers a paperless solution to manage, store, and track documents
in a cloud. It provides an automated solution for uploading, processing, and sharing business
documents without the hassle of printing, copying, or scanning.

Benefits of a DMS

 Eco-Friendly: Organize content digitally and save paper while you do it!
 Security: A DMS offers many levels of security to ensure confidential content stays in
the right hands.
 The Mobile Advantage: With a document management system, you can access and
edit documents remotely.

3. Enterprise Content Management System (ECM)

An enterprise content management system collects, organizes, and delivers an organization’s
documentation, ensuring critical information is delivered to the correct audience (employees,
customers, business stakeholders, etc.)

An ECM gives all members of an organization easy access to the content they need to
complete projects and make important decisions. In addition, an ECM deletes files after a
certain retention period, ensuring no unnecessary content takes up space.

Benefits of ECM

 Flexible: An ECM lets you capture any file type from any location, and have it
processed and stored automatically.
 Increases Efficiency: Now that documentation is taken care of, you can be more
productive in your day-to-day.
 Reduced Storage Costs: An ECM saves money by storing only necessary files and
deleting the rest.

4. Web Content Management System (WCMS)

A web content management system lets users manage digital components of a website
without prior knowledge of markup languages or web programming. A WCMS provides
collaboration, authoring, and administration tools to help manage digital content. Unlike
other CMSs, which deal with content destined for both the web and print, a WCMS handles
exclusively web content.
Benefits of a WCMS

 Personalization: A WCMS lets users customize a webpage with personalized design

and content.
 Automation: A WCMS saves time and improves workflow management by
publishing content automatically.
 Scalable: A scalable system like a WCMS allows companies to grow exponentially
without worrying about surpassing their website limits.

5. Digital Asset Management System (DAM)

With a digital asset management system, users can store, organize, and share digital content
with ease. A DAM offers a simple, centralized library where clients, employees, or
contractors can access digital content. These assets include audio, creative files, video,
documents, and presentations. A DAM is cloud-based, so users can access content from
anywhere.

Benefits of a DAM

 Centralized Repository: Content is safe and secure in one place.

 Effective Brand Management: A DAM allows you to manage a branded web portal
for users to access important files.
 Digital Publishing: With a DAM, you can push digital content to third-party
distribution services, social media channels, and more.

Before choosing a CMS, it’s crucial you explore all types of content management systems.
Some systems may be better suited for your business. For example, if you publish multiple
product versions in a year in several languages, your best bet is surely a CCMS. If you’re
looking for more flexibility for publishing on a website, a web content management system
might best fit the bill.

9 CMS features you need

1. Creating and editing content
As a minimum requirement, your CMS should let you easily create, edit, and publish content.
The easier it is to use, the more time you’ll have to concentrate on your strategy.

2. Workflows, reporting, and content organization

Are there a lot of people involved in producing your content? Make sure your CMS can track
the details of your content from start to finish, from authoring, editing, and approval to
publication, promotion, and reporting.

The ability to customize and control workflows within your CMS will help everyone work
together smoothly and stay on track with deadlines. And with features like intelligent
reporting tools and dashboards, you’ll be able to keep tabs on different categories of content,
like content that’s awaiting approval and content per topic.

If you often make urgent updates to your content, look for a CMS with strong organizational
functionality, like link management, so that your content is automatically accessible even as
it moves around or changes on your site.

3. User and role-based administration

Having control over who can access content and features will help you prevent mistakes.
Choose a CMS with customizable user administration, including room to expand as your
needs change.

Ensuring your chosen solution allows for role-based rights will help you scale as you grow,
as it enables you to manage access for groups of people instead of individuals.

4. Security
Imagine this: you’ve worked hard to refine your digital strategy and build personalized
relationships with your customers, only to wake up one day to discover there’s been a
security breach. Protecting your data and your customers’ data will help you retain trust in the
products and services you offer.

Some CMSs integrate with strong authentication mechanisms to beef up security and prevent
unauthorized access to sensitive information. Make sure your CMS integrates well with your
chosen enterprise security provider or third-party authentication systems.

5. Multichannel scalability
Delivering content to many different channels, devices, and interfaces can mean a lot of work
— unless you have a headless CMS that helps you do that efficiently.

A headless CMS separates content from its presentation. Content is created once, then
rendered on any device or channel.

Certain CMSs let you create your content once and deliver it anywhere. Others make it easy
to add new channels and simply load your existing content onto them. If your organization is
looking to reach customers across many digital channels, prioritizing multichannel scalability
features is a smart move.

6. Multilingual content capabilities

Before the digital revolution, marketers struggled to deliver their message far and wide.
Digital marketing allows you to skip across borders and expand your customer base with
ease. But no matter how great your message is or how easily you can deliver it, you won’t
reach your audience if you’re not speaking their language — literally.

If you currently serve an international audience or expect to in the near future, make sure you
choose a CMS that supports multilingual editing tools and intuitive translation workflows.
Laws surrounding digital information and privacy vary from country to country, so you’ll
want to look for a CMS with information governance controls that comply with local
regulations where your customers live.

7. Flexibility, scalability, and performance

Your CMS is a long-term investment. Make sure your CMS is scalable enough to grow with
your business. Some CMSs offer more flexibility than others, supporting an extensible range
of APIs so you can do more with your content across different channels and devices.

Generally, you can either run your CMS from your own servers or on the cloud. A cloud-
hosted CMS can speed up your time to market and also give you the agility you wouldn’t
otherwise have to handle traffic spikes and changing demand.

8. Personalization and analytics

The future of digital marketing lies in building personalized, relevant experiences for your
customers, no matter how they choose to interact with you. To do this, you need a CMS that
can collect and process interaction data in real time, and help you interpret that data to
understand where your customers are in their buying journey. With that information, you can
then show them content that’s personalized to their situation.

You’ll also need to make sure you’re capturing their entire experience across all your
channels, which is why it’s important to have a CMS that operates as part of a wider,
centralized digital experience platform.

9. Content and commerce integration

With customers expecting more from their online experiences, it’s almost impossible to do e-
commerce now without connecting it to appealing content. If you need a CMS for both e-
commerce and digital marketing, there’s a whole subset of specific features to look for.