What is a CMS website?

Well, CMS stands for Content Management System and refers to software that sits in the background of your website and 'powers' the content your visitors see. Having a website built with a CMS in mind allows you, your staff and your visitors to post content to the website easily and quickly. Generally a CMS will allow you to add pages, images and so forth. You can edit/add content in the same way that you create office documents in office programs, however online.

Are CMS's easy to use?
Yes. If a CMS is not easy to use, its a bad CMS. The idea of a CMS is that everyone and anyone, skills aside, can update their website content with ease.

Do I need a CMS Website?

If you already have an upto date website, and updating it's content is easy and not overly time consuming then you probably don't. If you are getting a new website built or making serious upgrades to your current site then it would be a good idea when keeping in mind future development. Even if you plan not to update your website yourself and pay a third party to update it, it will probably be cheaper for you if you can provide the third party a CMS as it saves them time thus saving you money.

Are CMS's worth the outlay?

This depends specifically on your needs, time and required frequency of updates.

How much does a professional CMS cost?

The cost of a CMS on your website will vary a great deal. If you are having a new website built from scratch and a CMS is in your specification from the start, you are going to save the most money. There are a few free CMS systems out there, and if you are skilled within web technologies you can put your own look and feel on top of these free CMS's relatively painlessly. Many web development companies offer their own bespoke CMS system (we do, price starts from £500). You can also request most web development companies to develop your website with one of the known free or commercial CMS systems if you have a preference. This may work out less expensive, however in some cases it may work more expensive as some developers will be so expierenced with their own bespoke software, less man-hours are envolved.

Can I move my CMS to another host?

The free CMS systems that are already out their will transfer to other hosts relatively easily, providing the new host meets the same requirements that the original did. If you have had a website/CMS developed by a web development company then you should check at the start of the project when you receive the original quote if it is transferable to another host. Some companies will prefer to host your website themselves and therefore charge a release fee (or just outright refuse to release your website at all) to protect their intellectual property.