A Designer’s Guide to Picking the Right CMS for Your Business
Listen. We use so many little acronyms in the ad biz. It’s ridiculous. I hope to demystify one of those phrases for you right now, because ultimately it directly impacts every brand’s digital presence.
A content management system (CMS) is computer software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content — in our case today, a CMS is specifically related to the content of a business website.
When the time comes to build a website, one of the earliest decisions you face is which CMS to use. I’m going to walk you through some questions that might shape the answer:
Will your website require any sort of special high-tech functionality? Such as: a customer relationship management (CRM) system, support ticketing, translator tool, automation, or any other flavor of fanciness?
Do you need to work within an institutional framework with rigid parameters — like a university or government agency?
Will you collect sensitive information from your visitors that requires extra layers of security or encryption?
Will you need eCommerce? In other words: Do you need to sell products or services? Collect payment/donations? Offer online ordering connected to a POS system?
If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, you probably need to establish a relationship with a trusted developer who is well-versed in multiple technologies and coding languages. A proper vetting process should occur if so. Depending on those conversations, either your problems could be solved with third-party integrations, or you might require something more proprietary and custom-built.
Next, I have a fifth, final, and really important question:
Do you have someone on your staff (...is it you?) who will maintain the website regularly, or are you willing and financially able to hire a developer partner to manage it on your behalf?
At Swash Labs, we can manage website projects of all sizes and levels of complexity, but our bread and butter is crafting beautiful, user-friendly marketing sites and training clients of all abilities how to use ‘em like a pro.
So that leads me to the listicle portion of the blog: if you’re looking for a simple business website that is easy to maintain, the following CMS providers are viable options.
WordPress
Swash Labs’ first website was hand-coded back in 2011. Then, we moved over to WordPress. WordPress is an almost 20-year-old pioneer in the modern CMS space; prior to its existence, you had to be relatively tech-savvy to get a business website online. So respect where it’s due!
While we still know and love WP, it does have a few pitfalls:
Someone needs to check on those plugins and updates regularly to ensure there’s not a security risk a-brewing in your Dashboard.
As an open-source platform, lots of random people develop sites, plugins, widgets, and integrations for WordPress — and not all of them are trustworthy.
Many “WordPress shops” build client sites using proprietary templates chock full of weirdness that either breaks down over time or can only be modified by someone on their team. So you better be in it for the long haul, or else you might need a new website in a few years’ time.
Oftentimes, it can be a cumbersome process to make even small updates to site content. Important steps might be skipped or forgotten.
Squarespace
Many of our clients’ websites are built using Squarespace. What I love about this CMS is that it has always been easy (in comparison to WordPress) to train clients how to use the drag-and-drop editor. I don’t need to provide a dozen pages of documentation — usually just one video walkthrough and an occasional supplemental how-to guide.
Squarespace has a great little list of pros:
Includes web-hosting
Stays up-to-date without having to micromanage plugins
Rolls out new features frequently
Has a great visual editor
Is fully responsive
Offers chat support, email support, forums, and written/video documentation
Is easily customizable through code injection/custom CSS
And although there are certainly a few downsides to Squarespace (and every other CMS), there’s a reason why we use this one so frequently — they’ve found a balance between stability, user experience, and functionality.
Wix
For every beautiful Wix site I’ve seen out there, I’ve seen three others that are total clownshoes. It’s possible to make something gorgeous with Wix’s drag-and-drop editor if you have a keen design sensibility. But if you are on the fence about that, Squarespace is far more idiot-proof (I say this with love; friends don’t let friends design ugly websites).
It’s been a few quarters since I last hopped into a Wix build, but the time spent in there made it clear that attention to detail is critical. Some of the baked-in features can bog down your site’s load speed. And the pricing is comparable to Squarespace now-a-days, so you’re not saving any money.
If you’re going the DIY route — spin up a trial of Wix and Squarespace and see which one feels better to you before you make your final decision.
Webflow
Webflow marries some positive attributes from the drag-and-drop builders mentioned above with a more advanced level of control over what is normally accomplished by writing code. Or in their words, you can “code visually.” There is a separate Designer mode vs. Editor mode, adding a barrier that could be helpful — so once your site is built by a dev, you don’t necessarily have to know everything about web design to maintain the copy, images, and other key components on the front-end of your site. You can also purchase designer templates for an additional cost to give yourself a head start.
Shopify
Shopify is THE platform for you if your first and biggest goal is eCommerce. While all of these other CMS options have eCommerce tools or integrations, Shopify is a perfect option if you want to build an online shop quickly and easily, right now, and you have your inventory ready to go.
The back-end is a breeze. You can sort your inventory into collections, offer gift cards or discounts, view your customer information, and manage your finances.
Worth noting: if you’re looking for a POS system that bridges the gap between your brick-and-mortar location and an online shop, there are other options that might be a better fit to help keep your inventory synced and tidy!
I’ve obsessed over the user experience, design, and flow of all of the sites we’ve built since 2013. The five CMS options listed above are only the tip of the iceberg — the five most viable paths (in my personal and professional opinion) for businesses just getting started with establishing their online presence.
For more complex projects, we collaborate with trusted developer partners. We pride ourselves on forging those valuable relationships so we can always point our clients in the right direction.
Need a website? Swash Labs would love to help get you started. Connect with us today if you’re ready to bring your business online.