With so many CMS (Content Management Systems) out there, which ones do web developers use and which ones are the most popular?
What is a Content Management System?

Before we get into that, let’s clarify exactly what a CMS is; this is an application that allows you to create and manage the digital content of your website. For example, you can add, remove and edit content such as text, images, blogs or even prices and descriptions of products.

A good CMS will take care of your publishing via your website, providing tools that will deal with format management, editing, version control, indexing and even search and retrieval. Being able to create and edit content yourself, you are fully in control and can even decide which users are going to have access by tailoring their permissions to suit their level of security.

Why is a Content Management System so helpful?

Here are just a few of the reasons why a CMS system is so helpful:
• Because your content editing is kept separate from the website design, even novices can add, format and edit without having to get involved in complex coding.
• You decide who has access by selecting permissions of different levels for a mix of users; this helps maintain security.
• Updates are more or less instant and can be seen as soon as you publish.
• SEO friendly, you will be able to include page titles and metadata.

The 5 most popular CMS used by web developers

So now you know why having a CMS is a good thing, which one is your web developer likely to opt for? Will it be user friendly and allow you to easily manage the content of your website? This is guaranteed as it is up to your web developer to provide you with a CMS that you are happy with and that will empower you to take care of all website content management in-house.

Here we have listed our 5 most popular, likely to be chosen by your web developer because they tick so many boxes:

1. WORDPRESS – no longer just a platform for bloggers, this creates superbly functional websites as well as mobile apps. Easy to use, 22.5% of websites are created using WordPress, even some big names such as Facebook, LinkedIn and EBay. Even if you have an ecommerce site, this will work well with it. Open-source software, it is much liked by Google and a winner with most search engines, so your ranking preferences will be good. Great for SEO, it is best to let your web developer deal with the website optimisation so that you do nothing to upset Google. It also comes with loads of free plugins that can add new dyanmics to your website along with simple tips tricks and hacks.

2. JOOMLA – another open-source platform, this is PHP based and makes use of a MySQL database to manage content. It will not matter if you know little about website management as you will be able to look after your content using Joomla, without having to get anywhere near to that precious coding that makes up the design of your site. Used by MTV and Harvard, it is easy to see why this is a favourite when it comes to content management system development.

3. MAGENTO – open-source again, this is much favoured for ecommerce websites. Using both Zend PHP databases and MySQL it is extremely powerful and intuitive. Your web developer will use Magento to optimise your site as far as SEO rankings go and it works well for sites of all sizes, even huge ecommerce sites with a vast range of products. Very easy to use, it will also ensure that your site is mobile optimised, making it totally responsive; sophisticated enough to work on iPhones, if your website viewers have any type of apple device it will provide superb visuals which will keep them coming back for more. Used by big players such as Ford and Lenovo.

4. DRUPAL – open-source, Drupal is very flexible and can be tailored to suit your needs, no matter what type of business you have. Not quite as adaptable or user-friendly as Joomla or WordPress, it is a slightly heavier platform so does not quite compete with the top three. However, this does not stop it being used by big players such as Twitter and Intel.

5. DOTNETNUKE – our final choice, this is also open-source and is based on ASP.NET. Not quite as easy to use as many of the other CMSs that we have mentioned, if your developer picks this one in order to create your website, then you will benefit due to the simplicity of content editing and creation, great security, platform flexibility and super if you need to have an intranet. You will find this being used by brands such as Motorola and Samsung.

Using a CMS that you feel comfortable with

Whichever CMS platform your web developer opts for when building your website, the important thing is that he communicates with you before making the final choice; this way, you can be sure that you will feel comfortable with using the one chosen and equally confident that you will have the skills and knowledge required to edit, amend and manage your content.

This is a great boon as being able to manage content in-house saves time and money; you can change content when you want, uploading changes to the net within hours rather than days. Because you will not have to rely on your web developer to manage your content, you will always be in full control, uploading new blogs, text and images, removing old articles and updating prices and product descriptions if you have an ecommerce site.

Make sure that you choose a professional website development company to build your site and that the CMS that they use is one that you feel happy with. A good web designer will be able to take care of everything, developing and optimising your website and providing top quality service not only during the project but afterwards as well. He will also be able to lead you in the right direction when it comes to choosing the best CMS to suit you and your website.