10 Tips on Choosing the Right Content Management System (CMS) for Your Online Store

To choose the right CMS for your team – and to avoid making mistakes, follow these 10 tips below:

1. Don’t reinvent the wheel! Don't build custom/in-house content management software

So you have a smashing team, and you think they can build a custom CMS, including open source. They can't!

It never works, unless of course you are IBM or Microsoft and can afford the 150,000 per year programmers who think out of the box, and code is their life!

No matter how much you plan for it, your team will not have the years of experience to handle the many complexities that come with a CMS.

The amount of developer support required in the long-term outweighs the cost of purchasing a CMS; and not to mention, custom builds are prone-to-fail.

2. Don't plan to continually rely on your developer

That is a recipe for disaster. Your development speed should not dictate your business moves. Make sure your content management solution enables your teams to focus on implementing campaigns and strategies that increase web traffic instead of spending excessive amounts of time on managing the technology.

3. Make sure your CMS is can roll with the punches

Change is inevitable for any growing business, and changes impact your websites. Make sure you choose a CMS solution that can quickly grow and scale as-needed. Scalability should come as a no-brainer.

4. Choose a CMS that supports multiple channels

So right now you are thinking desktop or mobile sites, but it's important to consider other propertieson the horizon that you could benefit from, such as integration with email clients, databases, new technologies . . . how 'bout even Facebook.

Currently, content exists in the form of AR/VR, mobile, kiosks, digital assistants, jumbotrons, and so on, and there is no sign of this slowing down in the future.

Make sure you choose a CMS solution that is capable of supporting new channels when you’re ready.

5. Don’t limit your system to one code

If you don't really understand this one, then you really shouldn't be the one making the CMS decision.

Just like you woudn't want to limit your customer base to folks who only speak one language, you also don't want to limit your code to one specific, or obscure language.

No matter how great a content management system is, if there are no proper programmers available, it will fail. Many traditional CMS headaches stem from needing to hire resources that are highly specialized/skilled in a specific CMS infrastructure – this can be very limiting and create bottlenecks.

Go for a system that allows your developers to utilize his strength and code in his preferred programming language.

In other words, if you have a truly complex site in mind, find your programmer first and enlist their help with deciding what CMS structure you will need.

6. Make sure someone is holding the ladder

Ever climbed a ladder and have it sway so much you can't stay on it? That ladder was top of the line, but you could've gotten the job done with that 30 year old step ladder if you'd had a helper just holding it still.

A system could be everything you need, but if no support is available to help you when you need help the most, it spells disaster for everyone.

Finding a content management system that allows developers to work without disrupting the creation and management of content is sure to save your business time and money.

7. Be sure to test and get a proof-of-concept first

Don't go live without testing it with the folks who have to use it.

It's great to choose the CMS because you understand it, but if you aren't the one that will be tasked with using it on a daily basis, problems can arise.

Usually there is a "trial" period where you can test with your team, assigning necessary roles and allowing their input. This is highly recommended.

Make sure to test the CMS and get a proof-of-concept. Implement a section of the website first and get team members and end-users to check everything from creating and authoring pages to establishing a workflow process.

Testing mitigates many issues that may not have been apparent and saves you a lot of time and money.

8. Choose a UI that is intuitive

Having a user-friendly interface is especially important if you have a team that won’t be living in the system every day. It's extremely difficult to turn a top notch customer service person into a programmer overnight. If you system is so difficult to use that people are not even willing to try, you've got a problem.

They’ll need a solution that is easy-to-use, not require a lot of technical know-how or training, and can quickly pick it up when they log back in.

9. Make sure the CMS has APIs and supports integrations with other apps and microservices

Whether you want to incorporate personalization to your marketing strategy or want to get deep insights into your users' web interactions and behaviors, businesses, like Partners and Marketing, require very different apps and microservices to manage their day-to-day work on the website.

Marketing demands a solution that can easily integrate with marketing automation tool, business intelligence tool, Google Analytics, and RSS to deliver personalized content.

Partners need to connect with devices like partner management platform, such as NetSuite, to better manage partner alliances.

Pick a CMS solution, like a headless API-first CMS, that has robust APIs and lets you easily connect with third-party content management tools.

10. Visualize and organize your website correctly

One of the first things you should do when you’re implementing a new CMS or rolling out a redesign is to bring everyone together who will be using it and gather their input.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Half the battle is developing a well-thought-out content organization and naming conventions (taxonomy) that helps your business meet its goals to succeed.