CMS

Features to Look for In a CMS

You're already sold on the idea that CMS can deliver some significant benefits for your company's web management initiatives. Now it's time to take a look at the features business CMS offers and how you can use them in your small business.

The idea behind CMS is that it's supposed to make the job of web content management easier for you and your staff.

But that's not likely to happen unless you make sure your solution has the features you need for seamless web management.

A good CMS solution should strike a balance between allowing multiple users to update web content and giving administrators the ability to edit/manage uploaded content.

Additionally, you should pay careful attention to features that make it easy to use and maintain the ability for the content stored in your database to serve multiple functions:

• Convenient, web interface. The simplicity of your solution's user interface will play a big role in how quickly and thoroughly it is adopted in your workplace. Many solutions offer convenient dashboard and drag-and-drop technologies.
• Editing choices. For the sake of the average user, focus on solutions that offer WYSIWYG editing and management features. More advanced users will appreciate solutions that also offer the option of HTML editing.
• Multimedia support. Since CMS solutions are database driven, your solution's features should let you upload content in a variety of formats. Doc, PDF and other formats are standard, but also pay attention to any other file formats that are a regular part of your office routine.
• Approval workflows. One of the nice features of a robust CMS solution is that it gives supervisors the ability to review and approve content before it is uploaded to the company website. Again, look for solutions that offer this feature in an easy-to-use, dashboard context.
• E-mail notifications. Some CMS applications make it possible for content providers to be automatically notified when it's time to create, edit or upload new content. In a small business that depends on multiple staff members to keep content fresh, this can minimize the burden on your management team.
• Audit trail. Wondering how something managed to find its way onto your website? That's no problem if you have a CMS with audit trail features that let you track and monitor the trail for content and web pages.

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