Do I need a CMS (Content Management System)
First off, what is a CMS (Content Management System). Basically, it is when you want a website that you can edit certain elements of it yourself. So there may be editable text areas or galleries.
I build your website layout and design and incorporate this layout into CMS that then lets you access a ‘log in’ to change certain aspects on the site.
Does Having a CMS change how a website is built?
The website layout, the design and the way your branding is portrayed, is the design element that can exist with or without the CMS bit. Building your design in to a ‘CMS’ means the layout accommodates the elements of code that let the CMS work to alter content.
In practice, certain CMS’s work in certain ways and a certain level of design freedom is sometimes lost when using a CMS, as a designer needs to accommodate the possibilities of clients uploading images and text that may effect the page layouts or how certain elements of the page may interact.
Should I get a CMS website
Ask yourself :
How much time do I have to add my own web content?
Can I do some basic image editing/graphic editing if needed?
Do I enjoy a little bit of techy stuff?
What will actually change on my website that I want to do myself?
Pro’s
If you wake up in the middle of the night with an inspired blog article, you can add it there and then!
If your website is mega huge, and certain page elements are very similar, then these pages can soon be replicated.
Con’s
You may never use it
You just haven’t got the time
Maintenance of the CMS (due to updates) means that inevitably they generate a bit of work (and some platforms change the way the admin operated every now and again)
Cost will usually be a bit higher as building a layout within a CMS is not as straight forward as building a layout in isolation.
They are slower at loading online due to all the extra code they create due to the more complex code structure.
Conclusion
I have found that most customers who request CMS’s actually ask me to update page content anyway and it leads me to believe that whilst many like the idea, in practice most small businesses have other things to be doing, so inevitably when I redesign the clients site a few years later we end up stripping away the CMS to allow more design freedom.
A good hybrid is for the main home page and service pages to be built outside of a CMS, whilst adding a blog system that then runs off a CMS – meaning a client can add news and regular stuff without fear of hitting delete on any of the main service pages. This also allows complete freedom of design to build numerous layouts freely. My website is doing just this, my home page and service pages change less often so these just get adjusted every few months (it takes no more time than if they where in a CMS), and this blog is running via a blogging CMS just styled up to match the other pages. This way I get mega quick loading service pages and a blog system that once styled I can just add to when I want.