Is a CMS Website Appropriate for You?

You have a really great idea for a new website and you have a good idea of what it should do and what it should look like. You have four basic options:

1. Design your own website from scratch using HTML code.
2. Design your own CMS website.
3. Hire a professional website designer to create a unique site from scratch.
4. Hire a professional designer to modify a template for your CMS website.

If you know a lot about HTML you could save some time and money by using that knowledge to design a website from code on your own. The problem here is it takes a lot more time than setting up a CMS website on your own. You are better off to use your knowledge of coding to modify a template or theme for your chosen content management system. If you know how to pick out and add extensions you can get a fully functional website that looks just as you want it to but you won't spend as much time as you would designing it all from scratch.

If you don't know enough about HTML to set up your own website, then you basically have to choose between hiring a designer to create a CMS website and hiring a designer to create a website completely from scratch using nothing but a website host and their HTML skills.

Most web designers will suggest you go with the CMS website because they are so much easier to use if you don't know coding. If you have a site designed without the CMS you will need to either learn enough code to make changes and updates on the site over the years or pay your designer over and over to make every small change that needs made.

The problems are all solved when you use a content management system. These systems make it incredibly easy to make changes to your content and add new content. Most people can even figure out how to add extensions and add different features without hiring a designer to make those changes for them.

You basically save time and money when you go with a CMS website. You start with a basic theme or template then have modifications made to come out with a unique site that is completely functional for all of your needs. That is the only part that you may need to hire a professional web designer for, since the daily administrative duties of operating a website are simplified by the content management system.

Many relate working with a CMS website to working with Microsoft Word. This is because the way content is put into the site and edited is very similar to using a basic word processor. Virtually anyone can learn to use a word processor and most people already have those basic skills. That means most people already have the skill set needed to work a content management system.

If you already have a solid grasp of HTML, then your fastest option is to set up a CMS website using a good template and modifying as needed. If you don't have the knowledge of HTML needed to set up your own site, then it is best to hire a professional service to create a CMS website for you. You will be able to operate the system without their further help, unless you want to go with a new look sometime in the future.