I think sifting through website tools is somewhat like comparing apples to oranges and not really an easy job. Nonetheless, I wanted to try to give you a few tools I would recommend due to popularity, ease of use, support and customization.
Keep in mind that any tool you use will be more powerful if you have written compelling and audience centered content. Your design is important, but your content is KING.
I have grouped these into two categories, open source (host anywhere) and hosted (software as a service). The open source tools are available for download and can be installed on any server meeting the software requirements. Hosted tools are offered via subscription. Both have advantages and disadvantages but that’s another post. For now, here are some of my favorites.
Open Source CMS Tools
Wordpress. This makes the top of the list for me because it is very user friendly and feature rich. I recommend downloading the software from wordpress.org vs. using the free service at wordpress.com. If you are serious about your business, you need to move away from a free service (IMHO), and the downloaded version will give you many more customization options.
You can change theme designs with one click or use a totally custom theme. There are a ton of plugins (SEO, forum, social media, member management, ecommerce) to take it to the next level and make it a truly useful small business CMS. The support is great with video tutorials available at wordpress.tv.
Joomla. If wordpress is the Homecoming King of open source software, Joomla should be Student Body President. It offers a powerful component system to allow you to configure free and paid member areas, ecommerce (including downloads), blog posts, article management, etc. It can be customized to your design specificiations or skinned with a pre-designed template. Joomla is popular with schools, churches, governments and small businesses who want to create a portal site for their clients and prospects. It puts you in the driver’s seat to manage every aspect of your website content.
Modx. I have not personally used this tool but it has appeal because of the flexibility and custom templating it allows. It is a new kid on the block compared to other CMS tools, but because of that it brings great SEO, easy manageability, and lots of bells and whistles into the mix including total design customization and scalability.
Hosted CMS Tools
LightCMS. LightCMS is a website manager from Element Fusion for graphic designers and their clients. It has a beautiful set of pre-designed templates or you can use your own custom design. The tool allows a rich set of features including WYSIWYG editor, forms with payment options,audio, video, photo galleries, a calendar, blog posts, etc. Really nice.
GoodBarry. This is a powerful and full featured CMS tool with built in analytics, ecommerce, email, contact management, and much more. GoodBarry has predesigned templates and can accommodate your custom design,too. It is well supported by the good folks at Business Catalyst.
SquareSpace. This CMS has been one of my favorites since I came onto the web design scene a few years back, but I have yet to create a site for a client using this. If there are any fans of SquareSpace out there, please comment and tell us why you like it. I think the feature list is extraordinary and the pricing and customizations look really good. I have experimented with a trial account and I give it a hearty thumbs up.
Typeroom. This is a brand new CMS tool that allows you to convert your current website and design into their system with a simple click. This tool is great for people who don’t need advanced features (i.e. blogging or ecommerce) but just need to convert an existing static site to be easily managed. Again, I have not used this with clients, but it looks good and worthfurther investigation.
I know there are many, many great CMS tools, and my list is really short in comparison, but my goal here was to highlight those that are easy to use, have great customization, good support and good results for the user.
What is your favorite?
Photo Credit Flickr Mike Johnson – TheBusyBrain.com
It’s a very interesting subject I was looking around about more information but you got really what i was looking for in your article so thanks and keep it up you have a great blog .
I’m very interested in CMS and all its related subjects.
Good to hear this, Martin, glad the article was helpful. Thanks for the comments.