Why a modern CMS is essential for your business's growth

Upgrade, optimize, and elevate your digital presence

Here's a preview of why a modern CMS is essential for your business's growth:

• Efficient content management
• Streamlined collaboration and teamwork
• Scalability and flexibility for business expansion
• Improved SEO optimization for increased visibility
• Personalized user experiences for higher engagement
• Experience efficient content management, streamlined collaboration, and personalized user experiences for accelerated business growth.

Keep reading to learn more.

Did you know that before CMS, people managed web pages by editing HTML?

A Content management system or CMS has evolved from a traditional webpage to open source CMS and to what we have today – a headless CMS. Most of the CMS you know started as website builders or platforms for blogging.

The modern CMS is one step ahead. These systems underpin online strategy, safeguard the web/mobile, propel SEO standings, provide integration, and are scalable to other digital platforms.

With more than 77.8 million active websites using content management systems, choosing the right CMS based on your business requirements helps you stand out. 

This article outlines the implementation of a modern CMS and migration to other CMS.

But let’s understand what a CMS is.

What is a modern CMS?

Unlike a traditional CMS that focuses only on content management or website building, a modern CMS is scalable and intuitive and helps meet the changing requirements of a business. 

The modern CMS is a powerful marketing device with inbuilt SEO tools that follow SEO best practices. These systems have predefined presentation layers. When using a CMS, you concentrate only on the structure, as the CMS deals with the design and other front-end activities.

But what’s so special about a modern CMS?

What makes a CMS 'modern'?

Modern CMS follows a headless commerce architecture, which separates the back and front end, whereas a traditional CMS uses monolithic architecture. These intuitive CMS platforms focus on responsive website design, agile development, and added security. This ensures you keep up with changing business needs.

Modern CMS provides built-in functionalities, empowering you to build websites with little or no coding experience. 

You no longer have to depend on developers to change a website. With these features, you can spend time enhancing the website experience rather than designing the look and feel of each one. To learn more, download 'The Ultimate Guide to CMS'.

Advantages of modern CMS

Modern CMS offers numerous advantages over traditional CMS, including:

Ensures content delivery control

Modern CMS uses a headless architecture to provide more control over your digital content delivery. 

With a headless content management system, you use a single source to push your content through different channels, such as web pages, the Internet of Things (IoT), and mobile apps.

Case study: Contentstack provided content delivery control for ICE and reduced developer tickets by 40%

ICE Mortgage faced numerous content management challenges with Kirby CMS. The CMS required developer-dependent updates and high ticket volume. ICE shifted to Contentstack’s application programming interface or API-based CMS, which reduced the content delivery duration to 28 seconds from 30 minutes. It enabled stakeholders to perform autonomous content updates and reduced developer tickets by 40%.

What do our customers say?

"We cut out 40% of our tickets by having a CMS where other users update the website. That 40% is so valuable for us, so we can focus on revenue-driving initiatives and find new ways to get users to engage with our web properties to get more leads in the pipeline for sales. It is a huge advantage for us!" 

Kevin Yang, Senior Manager, Digital Experience, ICE Mortgage.

Flexibility

The new CMS systems are more flexible than the traditional ones. You can design custom front-end features and modify the presentation layer without changing the content.

Reduced cost

While installing a CMS requires technical expertise, these systems are cost-effective in the long run. The system’s ability to adapt to changing business requirements reduces the chances of costly and time-consuming overhauls.

Enhanced performance

The modern CMS separates content from the presentation layer, resulting in faster load time. As page load time increases from one to three seconds, the probability of bounce increases by 32%, making CMS a must-have for every website.

Case study: Contentstack improves Lessa’s performance by 50%

Lessa, an e-commerce platform, faced problems with organic traffic and content publishing. This encouraged the company to go for Contentstack’s headless CMS. Through Contentstack, their organic traffic grew up to 30 times while they continued to provide a superior customer experience. Surprisingly, this shift reduced development time by 50% and increased webpage loading to no more than a second.

What do customers say?

"Headless has brought us into the future. A content editor can update content in a few seconds if there is a typo or an issue. We can release features in two weeks instead of a month, with half the number of developers. When we started working together, I originally asked Contentstack to reduce our onload time from six seconds to two. Today, it’s less than one." 

Richard Bilton, Director of Technology at Lessa.

Consistent experience across devices

With over 310 million smartphone users in the US alone, modern CMS works seamlessly on phones and tablets. As a result, users easily navigate through websites on any device and enjoy a consistent experience.

Choosing a modern CMS: Factors to consider

With hundreds of CMS available on the market, each promising to revolutionize your website development and content management, choosing one for your tech stack is tricky. 

The best CMS for your business is compatible with your requirements. It’s essential to search for scalable, flexible, secure CMS. Consider these factors when choosing a modern system:

Know your business needs and website goals

The journey of selecting a modern system entails defining the needs of your business and knowing what you need to achieve with your website. Before making any decision, find answers to the following:

• What content do you plan to manage (blogpost, e-commerce features, videos, or images)?
• Who are the potential users of the CMS (marketers, business owners, and executive directors with/without coding knowledge)?
• Do you require a flexible and customized website?
• What level of security do you desire for your CMS?

Answering these questions will assist you in selecting a platform that satisfies all your business requirements.

Ease of use

Choose a user-friendly platform because its ease of use affects how marketers and developers adopt and operate it. You can choose an easy-to-learn CMS.

Security

CMS protects your website from cyberattacks because it has built-in features like a web application firewall, SSL, and Global Content Delivery Network (CDN). 

Therefore, find a CMS with different security features.

Support

A quality CMS offers support, especially to non-technical people. CMS supports through a live chat, community form, and video tutorials. Nevertheless, avoid using a CMS with a dead community, as you may not receive any help. 

Integration capabilities with other digital tools

Look for a CMS with integration capabilities with analytics, e-commerce, and marketing tools. Most leading CMSs allow integration with numerous other tools, which helps marketers and business owners automate processes, enhance user experience, and manage marketing strategies.

For instance, CMS integration with customer relationship management (CRM) platforms helps you personalize your content. 

Modern CMS features that empower SEO

Did you know your CMS is a powerful tool for increasing search engine result page (SERP) ranking? Modern CMS comes with built-in tools for increased search engine visibility. 

Some key features of a CMS empowering SEO include:

• Keyword optimization: These platforms empower you to optimize your content using relevant keywords. This ensures your content aligns with the user’s search intent, increasing its chances of ranking higher on the SERPs.

• Image optimization: Optimize your images for search using alt tags. Modern systems come equipped with fields to enter alt tags, ensuring your images lend a helping hand in boosting your SEO performance. 

• URL structure: Modern systems allow you to customize URL structures. Clean and straightforward URLs containing the keyword help search engines understand and rank your web pages.

• Meta description and title: Meta descriptions and title tags are integral to SEO. A good CMS allows editing in these fields, helping you create descriptions and tags and encouraging readers to click on your content. 

• Schema markup: Advanced CMS helps you add schema markup to your site. This empowers rich snippets to accompany your web pages on the search results.

• Content optimization: Modern platforms empower businesses and ensure content is structured and presented so that it’s discoverable and indexable by search engines. Some content optimization features include XML sitemaps, canonical tags, rich snippets, and social media integration. 

Modern CMS comparisons

Some of the CMS platforms on the market include:

WordPress

WordPress is one of the most popular CMS for businesses, helping them build every type of website. Although it initially started as a blogging platform, today, WordPress helps various businesses with content and website management. 

WordPress is an open-source software renowned for its flexibility and scalability. What differentiates WordPress from others is its customization capabilities that go beyond the website’s visual appeal. 

WordPress plugins, can add functionalities like social media sharing, integration with different third-party platforms, and contact forms. 

WordPress pros and cons

Pros:

• Flexible cost based on individual requirements and budget
• Numerous free WordPress themes and plugins

Cons:

• Many plugins are unreliable
• Lack of personal and technical customer support

Acquia Drupal

Drupal is an open-source, highly flexible, and popular CMS platform that allows you to build a complex website with various built-in functionalities. It’s ideal for enterprise-level companies with extensive and varied digital asset libraries. However, managing content and digital assets has a steeper learning curve than most CMS. 

Acquai Drupal pros and cons

Pros:

• Free to use
• Highly customizable

Cons:

• Steeper learning curve
• No live support

Contentful

Contentful CMS is a flexible and scalable content management system that supports the headless CMS approach. It provides developers and content creators with a user-friendly interface and allows easy integration with other tools and platforms. However, it may lack certain out-of-the-box features that some users may require, necessitating additional development efforts to meet specific needs.

Contentful pros and cons

Pros: 

• flexible and scalable, 
• supports headless CMS approach, 
• easy integration with other tools

Cons: 

• limited out-of-the-box features may require additional development
• Lack of built-in functionalities for specific advanced capabilities, potentially requiring more customization.

Source: cmswire.com

Sitecore

Sitecore CMS is a robust content management system that empowers organizations to innovate and grow rapidly. It offers content management capabilities, allowing businesses to create, manage, and personalize digital experiences. However, it should be noted that Sitecore CMS comes with a high cost and requires a significant learning curve for implementation and customization.

Sitecore pros and cons

Pros: 

• powerful enterprise CMS, 
• enables rapid innovation and growth, 
• content management capabilities

Source: 42interactive.com

Cons: 

• High costs are associated with licensing and implementation, making it less accessible for smaller organizations.
• The steep learning curve requires time and resources to fully understand and utilize its features effectively.
• Complex customization and integration processes demanding technical expertise for seamless implementation.

Source: sam-solutions.us

Adobe Experience Manager

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is a comprehensive digital experience platform that offers robust content management and personalization capabilities. However, implementing AEM can be complex and resource-intensive, requiring expertise and investment. The higher cost compared to other CMS options is another factor to consider when evaluating its suitability for an organization's needs and budget.

Adobe Experience Manager pros and cons

Pros: 

• comprehensive digital experience platform, 
• robust content management and personalization capabilities 

Cons: 

• Complex implementation process requiring specialized knowledge and skilled resources.
• Higher cost than other CMS options makes it less suitable for organizations with limited budgets.
• Extensive system requirements and infrastructure needs potentially add to the overall investment.

 Source: trustradius.com

Contentstack

The last on our list is a powerful headless CMS, helping businesses build the best digital experience for mobile, web, IoT, virtual, and augmented reality. As Contentstack uses microservice architecture, it improves performance and reduces the risk of unnecessary feature bloating.

Contentstack provides seamless content management and digital experience, from desktops to laptops to wearables. The RESTful APIs help you with content management, image manipulation, and publishing. Additionally, Contentstack offers excellent security features like secure APIs, SSO, and two-factor authentication.

It’s one of the best composable headless CMS platforms because it powers enterprise websites across various digital channels, industries and devices. 

Contentstack's headless CMS helped Elastic overhaul its WordPress CMS and merge two disparate websites into one. The implementation was completed in three months, it helped managers develop content with minimal technical dependency. 

With Contentstack, the CMS is flexible, integrative, and scalable and helped Elastic doubled its page views at a fraction of the cost. Interestingly, the company successfully reduced its monthly server cost by 87%. 

Contentstack pros and cons

Pros:

• Contentstack is a composable digital experience platform (DXP) empowering marketers and developers to deliver composable digital experiences.
• It offers industry-leading technology from front to back, providing features such as Modular Content, Branches, advanced rich-text editing, Modular Blocks, Live Preview, JSON Rich Text Editor, Environments, and more.
• Contentstack has a fully integrated, fully automated, MACH-compliant front-end hosting service, simplifying the development and deployment processes.
• Through its Care Without Compromise program, the platform offers dedicated expertise and care, ensuring users receive timely support and guidance.
• A commissioned TEI study demonstrated the potential ROI and economic benefits of using Contentstack, showing a net present value (NPV) of $4.08M and an ROI of 295% over three years.
• Contentstack has a marketplace for ready-made extensions and one-click integrations with third-party tools, streamlining workflows and reducing the risk of errors.
• Automation tools like Contentstack Automation Hub and Contentstack Launch simplify workflow processes and enhance interoperability in a user-friendly environment.
• Contentstack boasts a high customer satisfaction rating and is a founding member of the MACH Alliance, showcasing its reliability and commitment to industry standards.

Cons:

• Limited access control features may hinder the ability to meet complex user permissions effectively.
• Contentstack's pricing may be a deterrent for smaller organizations or those with limited budgets.
• Contentstack offers limited built-in customer data management or personalization features, which might require additional integrations or customizations.

How to implement a modern CMS

To implement a CMS, you require technical knowledge. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to implement a CMS:

1. Choose a CMS

   Ensure you assess your business needs and choose a CMS supporting your online store. It’s always a great option to choose a scalable, flexible, and secure platform, depending on your requirements.

   Knowing your website purpose helps you choose a CMS that revolutionizes your content publishing and website maintenance. For instance, WordPress might be a suitable option if you have an online store. On the other hand, Contentstack CMS is a flexible and powerful option for enterprise-level companies.

2. Set up hosting

   Next, select appropriate web hosting services for your website. Make certain to select a CMS compatible with your hosting environment. You can then get a custom domain name aligning with your brand’s personality.

3. Install the CMS

   Install the CMS according to the CMS provider installation guide. Meanwhile, prepare a database and modify your website’s settings to build the foundation for the website.

4. Customize your CMS

   Customize the theme to match your brand’s guidelines when creating an eye-catching website. You can encompass popular SEO, security, and performance optimization plugins to boost your site’s function.

   During the customization process, develop content, create and organize web pages, and determine the layout of your website. Use the content organization feature of the CMS to categorize and tag content for easy navigation.

5. Test your site

   Once you have selected the website’s theme, color, and layout, test your website to identify issues and areas to improve. Check for load time, mobile responsiveness, and SEO optimization during testing.

6. Regularly monitor and update

   Track your website performance and user behavior through Google Analytics. Some other metrics to monitor are conversion rate, bounce rate, and traffic volume.

   Establish monitoring systems to receive alerts during downtime, assuring quick response to problems. Lastly, update your content and make changes based on website analytics and user feedback.

   Also, check for and fix broken links and conduct periodic performance audits to determine areas for improvement.

CMS security best practices 

To ensure your website stays up-to-date, secure, and efficient, follow these best practices:

Create a backup for your data

A good backup solution is one of the best ways to keep the system secure and functional. When a security breach occurs, these backups will come to your rescue. They save businesses from collapsing by providing solutions to recover destroyed files.

Another excellent option is cloud backup. With a cloud backup, businesses can store and access data from anywhere.

Install HTTPS

HTTPS is the predominant website security protocol. Using HTTPS on all your web pages means no one can imitate your users’ requests. It prevents hackers from hacking through the system.

Interestingly, moving your website to HTTPS improves your SEO score and sends more organic traffic to the site.

Use unique and complex passwords

With the number of websites hacked per minute growing, the importance of strong passwords is ever-increasing. It’s recommended to use strong and unique passwords. Create your passwords using alphanumeric credentials, which make it difficult for attackers and bots to decode. 

Keep the CMS and plug-ins updated

CMS security is a complex field that entails constant monitoring and updating. Outdated CMS and plugins are a few reasons many websites fall victim to cyberattacks. Typically, outdated systems are more prone to hacking than updated software.

How to migrate a modern CMS

Migrating to a modern CMS is challenging, but with careful planning and adherence to best practices, businesses ensure a smooth transition with minimal downtime.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to migrate to a new CMS:

1. Select the right CMS

   If your current CMS is not serving your business requirements, pick a new one. But, with so many options in the market, choosing one CMS is challenging. Before selecting the CMS, examine how comfortable the new CMS is for your team.

   For instance, not all headless CMSs offer rich-text editors for blocks. Such a CMS limits the usability for marketers and non-technical users.

   So, consider your specific requirements, such as personalization, localization, and integration with different tools when exploring different CMS.

2. Set clear migration objectives

   The decision to migrate to another CMS depends on your specific business objectives and aspirations. Though the migration process may feel like replacing a printer’s ink cartridge, it’s equivalent to installing a printing system.

   CMS success hinges on clear and specific migration objectives. Your objectives can be:

   • Enhance website performance
   • Improve user engagement
   • Optimize the website for higher search engine rankings

3. The next step is to prepare your data for the new CMS.

   As a precaution, backup your data and prevent data loss from data corruption and potential migration problems.

   If your business works on a monolith-type CMS, you probably work with siloed content.

   Therefore, de-clutter your website by removing outdated, irrelevant, or duplicate information.

4. Prepare a staging website

   It’s critical to test your new CMS before transferring your complete website. 

   Create a test site to assess the functionalities and capabilities of the new CMS. With this step, you overcome potential issues before the website enters the public domain.

5. Test your website

   Conduct an initial migration that involves only a limited portion of your content. This increases the chances of successful site migration. Once you are comfortable with the process and testing result, perform a complete site migration. 

   After completing the website migration, review your content and tag your videos, images, and documents.

6. Post-migration testing and launch

   Conduct a comprehensive testing of your website upon successful migration. The more data you transfer, the higher the number of issues. You may encounter issues such as broken or missing links, missing images, and formatting alignments. 

   To launch an error-free website, check all pages, links, forms, and multimedia content to ensure everything functions as expected.

   Additionally, you might need to revise your metadata to optimize content in search engines.

FAQs

How is a modern CMS different from a traditional CMS?

Most modern CMS features incorporate e-commerce tools, ensure mobile optimization, and offer customization. Compared to the traditional CMS, these CMSs are both scalable and secure.

Can a modern CMS handle a spike in website traffic?

Your modern CMS easily handles and manages fluctuating website traffic. This means you can scale your services without any problems.

How difficult is it to migrate to a modern CMS Solution?

The migration to a modern CMS is complex. However, when done right, you have zero or minimal downtime during the migration process.

Does a CMS improve user experience?

Yes. Modern CMS provides a straightforward and intuitive interface­, simplifying content management. Plus, it supports mobile optimization, which ensures a uniform experience on all devices. This helps you tailor your website experience for the audience.

What are the security features of a CMS?

CMS security features include a global CDN and web application firewall. These features safeguard customers' data and websites from potential threats.

Invest in a modern CMS

Investing in a modern CMS like Contentstack provides a strategic advantage to your business. Besides streamlining your website management, modern CMS empowers SEO and elevates user experience. 

As CMSes evolve, companies that stay current on the latest technological developments will avoid digital Darwinism.

If you want more information, schedule a free demo to learn how to improve your web strategy using a modern CMS.