Websites are the core of information as we know it. When you start up a website, you want to ask yourself, "What is my purpose in creating this site?" If you want to display handmade goods for sale then you will likely want to base your website on a selling platform and if you want a portfolio-style site, you might turn to SquareSpace. But, if you are looking to work with one platform to manage all your internal data and external client needs, you will want to design a CMS website.

CMS stands for "content management system." It's designed to help users create and manage content on a regular basis. It's a one-stop shop for not only creating and editing content like blog posts but also archiving, publishing, collaborating on and even distributing the type of information found on websites across the Internet.

CMS Website

As stated, CMS website software is typically used for the purposes of enterprise content management, or ECM. In a larger sense, it's designed to act as a single platform that supports multiple users in a way that creates the most collaborative environment possible. It uses document management, digital asset management, record retention and similar technologies to help with this goal.

CMS website design is also a critical part of any content management system. Every business needs a website in the modern era, but not necessarily everyone has the time to learn to code (or to hire a dedicated developer themselves). While a lot of the features present in a CMS website will obviously vary depending on the solution in question, some of the most popular involve tasks like:

• Indexing, search and retrieval features. This makes it easier to find and even make adjustments to content once it is published. Users can search for specific pieces of content by author, publication date and other factors.
  
• Format management. This is a great way to take scanned paper documents and turn them into HTML or PDF documents that are far more compatible with modern systems.
  
• Revision features. As previously mentioned, this is key in the event that someone needs to update a piece of content after it has already been published. Most CMS website software also includes revision control, which gives users the ability to track the changes made by individuals.
  
• Publishing. This lets people leverage a template (approved by their organization, of course) to create and modify content for distribution over the Internet.
  

But the most important thing about all of this to understand is that all of these features are accessible to anyone within an organization at the exact same time. This makes it easy for two people to collaborate on the same piece of content using the same resources, even if they're not in the same physical location. This has become especially important during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, when a majority of the workforce is working remotely for the foreseeable future.

One of the most prominent examples of a modern day CMS platform takes the form of Sitefinity - a solution aimed at making the process of creating, storing, managing and presenting content on a website easier than ever before. Content and pages in Sitefinity are multilingual by their very nature, and it's possible to use a single Sitefinity deployment to manage multiple sites - all of which can share content should you so desire.

Sitefinity includes a number of notable features like page templates (to get the process of creating content started as quickly as possible), build-in and dynamic modules, support for widgets and widget templates to expand functionality for end users and much, much more.

CMS Customization

One of the major reasons why CMS development tools have become so popular over the years has to do with the wide array of different CMS customization options that are available depending on your needs. The platform itself is so versatile that it can mean different things to different organizations depending on how they choose to use it - making it one of the major selling points for this type of technology to begin with.

To continue to use the example of Sitefinity, it's important to understand that you're talking about a solution that actually gets more effective the more you use it. Sitefinity itself is built to streamline content marketing and content management tasks, taking the workflows that your users are already comfortable with and optimizing them across the board. This is a great way to not only simplify common business and technological challenges, but to address the very specific challenges that are unique to your organization.

Not only that, but it also helps to support and empower a team's overall productivity by enabling them to deliver tailored messaging, brand consistency and more - all across different channels and even different geographies.

Likewise, Sitefinity has a solution called Sitefinity Insight that helps drive business growth in a more powerful way than ever before. It includes functionality like:

• Allowing you to utilize CMS data from multiple channels, all in the name of making the best possible marketing decisions based on insights that take the entire business into consideration.
  
• You can easily collect CMS data across all relevant systems, encompassing all touch points that users have in experiences with your brand.
  
• You can also get real-time analysis and recommendations to better understand the overall performance of your marketing programs. This is a great way to create more successful user interactions, reduce friction areas in the buyer's journey and utilize information about factors like time-to-market - all at the exact same time.
  
• Sitefinity Insight also supports automatic analysis and recommendations, which is again a great way to streamline the user experience as much as possible. The solution itself produces real-time, accurate performance dashboards and leverages machine learning to give you recommendations about what to do so that you can focus as much of your time as possible on those tasks that really need you.
  

CMS Developer

Even though CMS enables users to create a website without having to learn to code, navigating all the ins and outs of the set-up can be cumbersome. This is where CMS Developers come in handy. A big part of an CMS Developer job description involves helping their clients make all of the above possible — including empowering them with the tools to feel confident in making future changes where needed.

CMS Developers actually spend large portions of their days with tasks like:

• Analyzing and refining both the requirements of users and businesses that employ their particular CMS platform.
  
• Designing, developing, modifying, testing and supporting core components of the application like the database, the middle tier and all user interface components.
  
• Developing clear technical documentation so that users can get the most out of their experience.
  
• Monitoring CMS applications after they have been implemented to recommend enhancements for additional functionality moving forward.
  
• Working not only individually but also collaboratively as part of cross-functional teams within their employer.
  

In an examination of multiple postings for CMS developer jobs on sites like Indeed and Glassdoor, it's important to note that a significant amount of experience is usually required to obtain one of these positions. Many job postings include qualifications and experience requirements like:

• 8-10 years of experience designing and developing web-based applications using technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript.
  
• Experience with JSP templating engines like Thymeleaf.
  
• Experience developing applications as a part of development teams practicing the agile methodology.
  
• An intimate knowledge of Section 508 accessibility requirements.
  

Many of these positions also require at least a Bachelor's degree in computer science, or in some type of related field. Equivalent experience is also commonly acceptable.So with that in mind, maybe the biggest "con" to being a CMS developer is that it's not necessarily realistic for your career to start out in this position. You'll likely need to gain relevant experience elsewhere first, before making a pivot when you're finally ready and after your education has been completed. One of the major "pros" for most people comes by way of the CMS developer salary - often six figures depending on the position.

The position also comes with an incredible amount of freedom in terms of potential companies that a CMS developer can work for, as there are so many different content management system platforms out there in active development.

Ultimately, what you're talking about is an incredibly robust and versatile type of program that can be customized to support and empower the way a business likes to work. It's an opportunity for an organization to make sure that its technology is finally aligned with its own long-term goals, which is something that you're just not going to get through alternative means.

All of this is to say that CMS development services are incredibly important in terms of making all of the above possible.If you still have any additional questions about what the right CMS development tools can do for you, or if you'd just like to speak to someone about your own situation in a bit more detail, please don't delay - contact InGen today. Not only can we help with important tasks like CMS data and customization, but we're also ready to lend advice about all of the actionable steps you can take to make your CMS easier to utilize than ever.