CMS
A content management system: software, such as WordPress, that lets you add and edit website pages, posts and images without writing code.
A content management system, or CMS, is the software behind a website that lets people manage its content through an admin area instead of editing code. You log in, edit a page, add a photo or publish a post, and the CMS handles the rest.
Common examples:
- WordPress: a widely used CMS, open source and very flexible, extended with plugins and themes.
- Shopify: a hosted platform focused on online stores.
- Squarespace and Wix: hosted site builders with an all-in-one approach.
Some sites don’t use a traditional CMS at all. Static sites are built ahead of time into plain files, which can be very fast and secure, with content edited in simple text files or a lightweight editor.
Why it matters to a small business
Your CMS decides:
- Who can edit the site, and how easily.
- What you can add later, like booking, ecommerce or a blog.
- What maintenance is needed. Self-hosted WordPress needs regular updates and backups. Hosted platforms handle more for you but give you less control.
- How easily you can move. Some platforms make it hard to take your site elsewhere.
Example
A tour company outgrew its hosted site builder because it needed custom booking features. It moved to WordPress on managed hosting, with a booking plugin. The trade-off is that updates and backups now need looking after, which they hand to a care plan.
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