What is content management software?

Content management software (CMS) helps businesses manage digital content on websites without the need for extensive HTML experience. The software helps establish a categorized repository of content and enables the creation, modification, storage, and deletion of all forms of digital assets, including documents, images, videos, etc.

The benefits of content management software

• Streamlined processes through workflow management: Content managers need to oversee a number of processes such as ideation, content creation, approvals, editing, publishing, and promotion, each involving a different set of people. A content management system provides a collaborative platform where managers can implement content processes and track the status of all content in a dashboard. The platform also encourages collaboration by allowing users to comment on documents and easily route documents.
• Website content management system: Traditionally, changing content on a webpage requires an understanding of HTML coding and web design. With modern content management software, which typically has a graphic interface, users can manage the content of their website from a single dashboard without getting involved in any coding. Users can easily change webpage content, replicate changes across all pages, publish fresh content, or delete old content.

Typical features of content management software

• Collaboration tools: Share files, communicate, and work with team members on content.
• Document management: Create, upload, store, and share documents in a searchable, centralized location.
• Web content publishing: Publish content for public distribution across multiple channels such as websites and social media sites.
• Full-text search: Search for documents and media assets in an online repository.
• Text editor: Create and edit content in an online text editor.
• Access controls and permissions: Define levels of authorization for users to access specific files or folders with privileges to read, write, or edit.

Considerations when purchasing content management software

• Third-party integrations and plugins: Third-party integrations and plugins extend the functionality of a content management system beyond what is offered natively in the software. Users can integrate their content management system with other business solutions to minimize data import/export efforts and improve productivity. For example, Google Analytics integration with a content management system allows users to track key performance metrics within the dashboard of content management tools. This allows content marketers to better respond to web traffic changes and update search engine optimization strategies accordingly. Buyers need to evaluate their cross-application collaboration needs and then shortlist products that support integration with their business applications.
• Deployment options: There are different ways to deploy CMS software: cloud-based, on-premise, or a hybrid deployment. A cloud-based content management systems can be easily accessed online and typically has a low recurring subscription cost. An on-premise version comes at a higher upfront cost and requires a heavy IT investment on the user's end, but offers better control of the software by the user. Users need to analyze their IT resource and investment capabilities before choosing a content management system for their business.

Relevant content management software trends

• Artificial intelligence (AI) will drive automation in the content management software space: As AI is increasingly being adopted by businesses, it's not surprising that vendors of content management tools have started exploring use cases of AI technology. AI is currently helping businesses personalize content and optimize visitor engagement by performing analytics of visitor behavior. AI also helps users organize content by providing better content tags using "text clustering" algorithms. We expect to see more such use cases of AI over the next three to five years.
• Image recognition will power search functionality in content management software: The demand for visual content and images is growing faster than ever. In fact, content with images results in a 650% higher engagement rate compared to content without images. Image recognition and meta-tagging, powered by machine learning and deep learning, make image search more exhaustive. Using this technology, businesses can search their repository for images without typing the exact keyword. As the demand for visual content keeps increasing, we expect to see an increase in the adoption of this technology over the next three to five years.