Leaders must create a matrix that establishes priorities for each department’s needs and interests before compiling a list of requests and business requirements from all departments.
COVID-19 has increased the digitalization of business operations while putting pressure on budgets globally, triggering the need for a Content Management System to accomplish more with less. This business digitalization includes lowering overhead and overall project costs by incorporating open-source CMS platforms free from vendor lock-in and an even greater need to maintain a competitive user experience (UX) for site administrators and end users. Below are some factors to consider before leveraging the CMS platform in 2023:
Team Capabilities
The right CMS platform is significant for businesses as it impacts multiple teams – from customer experience for marketers and the content team to technical aspects that developers must deal with. It also impacts workflows that cross-functional teams involve in or carry out, such as customer service, marketing, and sales.
In 2023, before choosing a CMS platform, it is crucial to consider teams’ requirements extensively. For marketing teams, businesses must check if the CMS platform allows easy customization for off-landing and on-page sites.
Another thing to consider is whether the selected CMS platform aligns with the digital experience platform letting teams personalize strategies based on user data and action and letting the integration go quickly with the third-party vendors enhancing customer experience. By developing a decision matrix, stakeholders can prioritize their requirements and generate measurable criteria that can be utilized to select the optimal CMS platform for everyone concerned.
CMS Hosting
As CMS can be hosted in 3 methods – self-hosted, cloud-hosted, and SaaS- companies must select the CMS platform wisely. In 2023, larger enterprises might look for a content management system hosted on-premise in case of integration with ERP. But if businesses select an open-source and free CMS, they will lose vendor lock-in and maintain complete control over the website and codebase.
With a SaaS-based CMS platform, companies might lose much decision power and control over numerous aspects of the content management process and infrastructure. This limited control will affect security, performance, and hosting to be delegated to the SaaS or cloud platform. Therefore, it is essential for the entire team, including the management and decision-makers, to be involved in the process.
Traditional CMS vs. Headless CMS
As headless CMS separates the front-end visual display from the back-end content management functionality and logic, it will help businesses with their content to connect to IoT devices and digital displays. The given CMS platform must consider these technical details before leveraging it.
Open Source
The CMS platform will continue to function even if the firm that developed it goes out of business because of the network of outside assistance it can rely on. This means the product will probably continue to improve. The ultimate decision will be based on the needs matrix; however, care must be taken because of the impact on the overall operations, and there should be no rush.
Support & Maintenance
Whatever CMS platform a company decides to use in 2023 to run its website must maintain constant vigilance and be prepared to handle any potential problems that may develop. As the first line of defense for the company, if something goes wrong, it is crucial to ensure developers have the flexibility they need to accomplish their work.
Businesses can also consider engaging third-party professionals who can offer 24/7 support for much less money than hiring a team of developers.
Changing Technology
The adoption of digital transformation has disrupted the marketing ecosystem constantly; therefore, companies need to integrate it into their CMS system at the broadest possible levels in 2023.
These technology integrations must be CMS flexible, extensible & scalable enough to withstand changes.
Pre-Existing Tech Stack & Languages
Before choosing a CMS platform, companies must check the current technologies their teams are using or familiar with. They must ensure that the team is working on a similar tech stack to be implemented on new web features. Another thing that companies must consider is pre-existing datasets guaranteeing that the new CMS will work on Windows utilizing existing databases that have been stored already.
SEO
The companies must ensure that their CMS is compatible with SEO because of its changing algorithms regularly & the chances of having extra or restructured metadata requirement metadata managing their content. Page URL, title tag & meta description, image alt tags, and headers must be optimized correctly for a website ranking.
CMS platform should be capable of generating SEO-friendly URLs as it helps search engines & users identify brands. ALT tags are also helpful in promoting brands in image searches. Companies need to design & allocate hierarchy in their content & allocate categories in CMS.
Plugins
A good CMS platform also allows companies to add more beneficial features to their website by enabling them to expand the basic configuration with the aid of plugins. Companies can also boost a website’s potential, which can improve its website functionalities.
If the CMS platform that businesses are considering already has many plugins. Even though they might not need plugins upright, they must be available to companies in the future.
API
Open APIs are a very profitable software application because they can significantly increase earnings without hiring more developers. It’s essential to remember that opening back-end data to the public could provide several administrative and security challenges. Despite its shortcomings, using an open API is still a good choice.
A software firm may use the public publication of many application programming interfaces (API) to inspire third-party developers in vertical sectors to be innovative in developing new methods to use the startup’s software product. The justification holds that both people involved will benefit from the circumstance.
Also Read: Web 3.0 and B2B Marketing
CMS Speed
The development cost is impacted by the fact that some CMS platforms require two times as much time to implement as others. Additionally, companies must remember that a team of designers and engineers will install content more expertly on a known CMS if they switch to a different CMS.
Learning a new CMS’s ins and outs takes time and money, and some CMS systems have a steeper learning curve. Companies must ensure that the advantages of a new CMS outweigh the time required to establish a new system.
These solutions are equally valuable if the organization has plans to overcome barriers, challenges, or even significant blunders.
