Updating your website – what is the best solution for you?
To help you decide whether you would prefer to have your website running off a Content Management System (CMS) which allows you to edit pages, add forms, and adjust the content yourself (with limitations!) or whether you would prefer to have your website built and updated by a designer, we have outlined some of the pros and cons of each system below.
But first, some definitions:
Content Management System (CMS): A CMS allows you to adjust pages, text, photos, forms and other information on your website yourself, by logging into a control panel. A CMS is a program which stores all the data for your website in a database. When you bring up a page, it searches through the database for the correct information for that spot.
Designer Website: A custom-built website is built for you by a web designer. When you need changes made to the website, you just email the support desk.
|
|
CMS (Content Management System)
|
Designer Website
|
|
PROS
|
Update the website yourself from your office
Update costs are usually cheaper
|
Pages load faster as the website is not searching through a database for the information
Usually less expensive to build than a website with a full CMS
Supports a wide variety of designs
Can add any unusual or custom features available
Updated by a professional for a more streamlined look
|
|
CONS
|
Pages can load substantially slower as the website has to request the information from a database
Limited in the things you can update (sometimes you can’t update templates)
More expensive to construct initially
Usually limited in the designs that can be used
Difficult to implement unusual or custom features
Consistency of design is difficult to maintain if not updated by a design professional
|
Can be more expensive to update if major updates are happening every few days
Have to wait for the web designer to update your site (unless you mark your changes as urgent – more expensive)
|
If you would like the best of both worlds, it may be possible to implement a partial content management system which can allow you to update things like news articles, but have the rest of the site custom-built by a designer.