sharpenr

Starting up #3 - Picking a “CMS”

Posted by Jaan on February 4 2 comments

This is the third post in a different kind of series on being a web entrepreneur. My goal is to show why making decisions in context will make a web business more successful. No decision stands alone; everything you do in your business will affect every other aspect of it. The first post - Focus on one thing - was published on December 19, the second - Pick the right people hit the intertubes on January 6.

I promised to keep the “Starting up” posts chronological; from idea to launch, so to speak. And now I am already going to break that rule. Rats.

The reason is I was going through my jam packed Field Notes notebooks. In all of them (and on one of the covers) I had notes about CMS tools and blogging platforms. Seems I had been asked about them much more than I remembered.

So, why not post about it?

Ok, whatever business you are setting up, make sure you have an easy to use, flexible and up-to-date publishing platform that fits your business. This might sound obvious, but many entrepreneurs end up choosing the wrong platform. Either they trusted someone who did not have enough insight in to their business needs, or they went with whatever their buddies were running.

Do your research before you choose. Contact people that are using different platforms and ask about their experiences. Every platform has its pros and cons and only you will know which one fits your needs the best. A good CMS can free up your time, allow you to expand your biz and generally let you focus on running the business rather than running yourself ragged with an inadequate tool.

My favorite is Wordpress. Often referred to as “just” a blogging tool, it is in fact a very solid CMS well suited to managing everything from a blog like mine to huge corporate web properties, as well as tech guru media destinations. It is also the tool that has had most people go “wow” when they try it out. It is my all-round recommendation, with a special nod to text and image content heavy sites.

Other good options include…

Textpattern - Flexible, nimble. Darn good, especially for large blogs.
Moveable Type - The former “industry” #1, still good but a little lacking. Good choice for blogs or sites with a substantial number of contributors.
Drupal and Joomla - Two of the open source alternatives. Harder to master but very flexible.
PostCMS - Very easy to use. Created by ex Guardian people. Great for small businesses who just want to start getting the word out and don’t need to many proverbial bells and whistles.
ExpressionEngine - Solid as a rock. Not the most easy to learn, but will likely satisfy the needs of most web based businesses.
Saturnus CMS (Currently no site) - Ease of use, easily tweaked. A great SMB option.

Which ever one you choose, and there are at least half a dozen good ones that I didn’t even mention, make sure it fits your needs and that you also know its shortcomings. If you do that you can’t really go wrong.