The essential guide to understanding content management systems

A proper content management system (CMS) ensures a highly organized digital presence, consistent branding and smooth technical processes for managing content, all of which can attract and retain potential customers across the marketing funnel.

An effective CMS saves you time, creates new opportunities for content personalization and strengthens your online reputation – improving your bottom line.

In this guide, you’ll discover what a content management system is and why it’s crucial for managing different types of content for your small business. You’ll also learn the key features to look for when choosing the right CMS software for your needs.

What is a content management system (CMS)?

A content management system is software that allows you to create, manage and modify digital content such as websites, internal portals and knowledge bases without specialized technical knowledge.

A CMS platform provides intuitive interfaces for adding, authoring, editing and organizing digital content without writing code.

A CMS separates content from the frontend design. It lets you focus on creating and managing your digital content while the system handles technical aspects like version control. The separation makes updating your content’s look easier without affecting the content itself – and vice versa.

With a CMS, you can maintain a professional online presence without extensive web development knowledge or resources.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Modern CMS solutions often support omnichannel (multi-channel) strategies, allowing you to manage content across websites and mobile apps and build knowledge bases.

Why do you need a CMS?

A CMS streamlines your content creation, collaboration and platform management. Here’s why you should consider using one for your small business idea:

Examples of content management systems

Each industry and organization has unique digital content needs. Here, we’ll look at different web content management system examples and how they meet business needs like e-commerce integration, multi-site management and tight security.

Traditional web CMS platforms

Traditional web CMS platforms form the backbone of many websites and offer a user-friendly interface for creating and managing digital content. These systems enable you to build and maintain your online presence without extensive coding knowledge.

Popular examples include WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. For example, here’s a look at Joomla’s user-friendly dashboard:

Each platform offers unique features, but share common elements: a backend interface for content creation, built-in templates for web design and plugin systems or modules for extended functionality.

E-commerce-focused CMS platforms

E-commerce-focused CMS platforms are built for online retail and provide tools to manage product catalogs, process transactions and securely handle customer data. These systems offer features crucial for digital storefronts, like inventory management, shopping carts and payment gateway integrations.

Some examples include Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento (now part of Adobe Commerce).

Here’s what WooCommerce’s dashboard looks like:

Enterprise content management systems

Enterprise content management systems (ECMS) handle the content needs of large organizations. They go beyond website management with tools for document management, collaboration and automating workflows across departments.

Many organizations use their CMS to create a knowledge base – a central place for information about products, services or internal processes.

ECMS platforms excel at organizing large volumes of data to ensure smooth regulatory compliance management and information sharing across the organization.

Key players in this space include Microsoft SharePoint, IBM Enterprise Content Management and OpenText. Microsoft SharePoint integrates smoothly with Office 365, IBM ECM excels at AI-powered analytics and OpenText is known for its robust security features.

Microsoft SharePoint, for example, has interfaces for desktop and mobile apps.

ECMS handles the demands of regulated industries where security and compliance are non-negotiable, providing features like automated audit trails and granular access controls to protect sensitive data.

These systems typically require significant investment and specialized IT support but provide scalable, secure environments for managing complex organizational content requirements.

Digital asset management systems

Digital asset management (DAM) systems store, organize and distribute digital assets like images, videos and brand materials.

DAM systems are essential for media companies, e-commerce retailers and global marketing teams that need to manage vast digital content libraries and ensure brand consistency across various channels.

They’re also great for creative content marketing since they make it easy for teams to access and reuse assets.

4 essential features to look for in your DAM

The Adobe Experience Manager Assets DAM works best for Adobe-centric organizations and includes customizable dashboards. Here’s an example of its audience-focused dashboard:

Bynder is another DAM ideal for brand-focused companies, while Canto delivers scalable, cost-effective asset management for smaller teams.

DAM systems help maintain brand consistency, improve productivity and maximize the value of digital assets across your organization.

Headless CMS

A headless CMS is a backend-only content management system that acts primarily as a content repository. It makes content accessible via an API for display on any device without a built-in front end or presentation layer.

Contentful is a popular headless CMS example.

The CMS has seen an increase in usage from 2023. Its flexibility allows developers to use any programming language and framework for the front end, making it ideal for projects that require content distribution across multiple platforms.

Content distribution platforms

Content distribution platforms like Amazon CloudFront allow creators and businesses to manage, publish and monetize their digital content. These systems go beyond traditional content management to offer audience engagement and monetization tools.

Key features to look for in content distribution platforms

These platforms give you huge media libraries and provide content creators with new ways to distribute and monetize their work.

7 features to look for in a CMS

When choosing the best CMS for your needs, factors like pricing and available upgrades seem like no-brainers. Apart from that, here are seven non-negotiable features that should be a part of your CMS.

1. User-friendly interface and ease of use

A CMS interface can mean the difference between productive content management and a frustrating experience for your team. With the right CMS, even beginners can update content to improve the user experience.

Look for platforms that offer an intuitive user interface and straightforward content creation tools like:

• WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) content editors. Lets users create and edit content visually without HTML or coding knowledge.

• Drag-and-drop functionality. Allows easy page layout and design changes without technical expertise.

• Clear menu structures. Makes sure all tools and features are easy to find and logically organized.

• Customizable dashboards. Lets users tailor their workspace to their specific needs and preferences.

• In-line editing. Allows quick content updates directly on the live page view.

A user-friendly CMS lets your team contribute effectively, no matter their technical skills.

2. Customization and flexibility

Customizing a CMS with themes, plugins or custom development is key to building a unique and functional website. A flexible CMS adapts to your business requirements rather than forcing you to adapt to its limitations.

Consider a sales team using a customizable CMS to create a comprehensive sales enablement portal. They can use custom fields to organize product information, competitive analysis and sales scripts to make it easier for sales reps to access what they need.

Key aspects of customization and flexibility include:

• Extensive theme libraries. Provides a range of templates to quickly change your site’s look and feel.

• Plugin ecosystems. Adds functionality without needing custom coding.

• API access. Enables integration with other systems and custom development.

• Custom field creation. Lets you add specific content types and data structures tailored to your needs.

• Modular architecture. Enables you to modify components without impacting the whole system.

• Multi-site capabilities. Helps you manage multiple websites from one setup – perfect for businesses with different brands or locations.

A flexible, customizable CMS ensures your digital assets scale with your business.

It supports growing sales enablement portals for internal use as you add products or expand teams.

For external applications, it allows your website to evolve, whether you’re launching new products, expanding to international markets or integrating advanced e-commerce capabilities as demand grows.

3. SEO optimization capabilities

A CMS with solid search engine optimization (SEO) features can boost your site’s visibility, helping you make the right tweaks to attract qualified visitors and increase conversions from organic traffic.

For instance, a company focusing on inbound marketing can use its CMS’s SEO tools to optimize blog posts and landing pages for specific keywords.

SEO features include:

• Customizable meta tags. Allows easy editing of title tags and meta descriptions for each page. These are crucial for improving click-through rates from search results.

• URL structure control. Enables you to create SEO-friendly URLs that include relevant keywords and are easy for users and search engines to understand.

• XML sitemap generation. Lets you automatically create and update sitemaps to help search engines index your site better.

• Schema markup support. Facilitates adding structured data to your content to enhance how your web pages appear in search results with rich snippets.

• Mobile optimization. Ensures your site is responsive and mobile-friendly – a critical factor in search engine rankings.

• Page speed optimization. Offers tools or integrate with services that help improve your site’s loading speed, also a key ranking factor.

• Content analysis tools. Provides suggestions for improving content quality and relevance based on SEO best practices.

Using a CMS with strong SEO features like keyword optimization, meta tags and mobile-friendly design allows you to fine-tune your site to attract qualified visitors, boost engagement and drive more conversions from organic traffic.

4. Multi-language support

A CMS with robust multi-language support enables you to create and manage content for diverse linguistic audiences.

A global company could use multi-language support to create a centralized content hub where marketing materials, product information and customer support resources are available in multiple languages.

Look for these features:

• Content translation management. Allows easy creation and management of content in multiple languages.

• Language-specific URL structures. Enables you to create SEO-friendly URLs for each language version of your content.

• Automatic language detection. Detects a user’s preferred language based on browser settings or location and directs them to the appropriate language version of your site.

• Right-to-left (RTL) language support. Ensures proper display of content in languages that read from right to left, like Arabic or Hebrew.

A CMS with multi-language capabilities ensures that translated content aligns with your brand voice by offering centralized control over translations and cultural nuances, strengthening brand consistency across markets.

5. Security features and regular updates

As digitalization grows, the risk of a cyberattack with wide-reaching effects has increased. A secure platform protects your data, maintains your site’s integrity and safeguards your users’ information.

For example, a company using its CMS to host a comprehensive knowledge management system containing sensitive product information and customer data would benefit significantly from robust security features.

Consider features like:

• Regular security patches. Provides timely updates to address vulnerabilities.

• Two-factor authentication (2FA). Adds an extra layer of security and reduces the risk of unauthorized access.

• SSL/TLS support. Ensures encrypted connections between users and your website (crucial for protecting sensitive data and improving search engine rankings).

• User role management. Controls who can access, edit, publish and delete content on your site, preventing unauthorized changes.

• Backup and restore features. Enables quick recovery in case of data loss or security breaches.

• GDPR compliance tools. Helps ensure your website meets data protection regulations, crucial for businesses operating in or targeting European markets.

• Permission and access control. Allows granular control over user permissions to limit potential security risks.

A CMS with robust security features and regular updates protects your assets and maintains user trust.

6. Scalability and performance

A CMS that can grow with your business and maintain high performance under increasing demands is crucial for long-term success.

Scalability ensures your platform can handle increased traffic, content and functionality as your online presence expands. Choosing a scalable CMS today means you’re prepared for tomorrow’s growth without the risk of significant disruptions.

Key scalability and performance features to consider include:

• Cloud-based infrastructure. Offers flexible resource allocation and allows your site to handle traffic spikes without downtime.

• Caching mechanisms. Improves page load times by storing frequently accessed data.

• Content delivery network (CDN) integration. Distributes your content across multiple servers worldwide, reducing latency for global audiences.

• Database optimization. Ensures efficient data retrieval as your content grows.

• Modular architecture. Allows you to add or remove features without affecting overall system performance.

• Content marketing automation. Delivers content through trigger emails to help scale marketing without needing more staff.

• Load balancing capabilities. Distribute traffic across multiple servers to prevent overload.

Prioritizing scalability and performance ensures your CMS can support business growth, keeping speed and reliability as demands grow.

7. Integration capabilities

A CMS with rich integration features lets you connect it to other key business tools to build a seamless digital ecosystem. Interconnectedness improves workflow efficiency and data consistency across your organization.

Choose API support to allow your CMS to communicate with other software systems. API support enables custom integrations and gives you the flexibility to connect any tool that suits your unique business needs.

Pre-built connectors also offer ready-to-use integrations with popular tools. You connect quickly, saving time and reducing the need for custom development. For example, many CMS platforms offer e-commerce plugins that integrate online shopping features into your site.

Pipedrive’s app marketplace offers a range of pre-built integrations with different business tools and services.

You can quickly link Pipedrive to tools like marketing platforms or accounting software to smooth out your workflows. That’s especially handy since the most common pain point users experience with CMSs is when adding new technology.

A CMS with comprehensive integration features brings your business tools together, enhancing productivity and creating a more unified digital experience.

How to use Pipedrive as a CMS

Though Pipedrive is a CRM tool, you can use its features to build a basic CMS for sales and marketing materials for your small business. Here’s how you can use Pipedrive’s features to manage your content:

Create and manage content with Smart Docs

Smart Docs is a tool that centralizes your documents and lets you create, send and manage trackable quotes, proposals and contracts directly from Pipedrive.

Build a library of templates with SmartDocs to ensure brand-aligned messaging in all communications.

For instance, a software company could create a standard product spec sheet to help sales reps present features uniformly, strengthening brand perception and accelerating the sales cycle.

SmartDocs also auto-populates with CRM data from your database. This automation saves time and reduces errors in personalized content generation.

Lastly, SmartDocs provides real-time tracking so you can monitor when a client opens a proposal and how long they spend on each section. These insights enable your team to time follow-ups precisely and gauge interest levels, enhancing your ability to close deals.

Distribute content with email templates

Pipedrive’s Email Builder is a powerful tool for managing your content distribution, ensuring consistent messaging while saving time on repetitive email drafting.

Save templates for various content types like newsletters and follow-up emails so your team can quickly deploy tailored messages.

For a tech startup, this means effortlessly sending out product updates or onboarding sequences and maintaining a consistent brand voice across all customer interactions.

Personalization becomes effortless with the merge fields function. Automatically insert recipient information – like cart abandonment – into your e-commerce email marketing and tailor your mass communications to each individual.

To create a tailored experience, you can address each client by name or mention their specific product usage in updates.

Organize customer data with contact management

Pipedrive’s Contact Management features allow you to organize and categorize your customer data more efficiently.

Quickly access and update relevant contact info across different projects.

Use “Organizations” to create contact categories, ensuring a structured approach where each content type is easily accessible.

Then, use “People” to represent individuals within those categories, so you can easily find specific contacts.

Use the visual history feature to track each contact’s lifecycle. The timeline view allows you to monitor content creation, updates and deployment and give your team a clear overview of how content moves through each stage.

Attach files to deals or contacts so your team can quickly access background materials or earlier versions to maintain a seamless workflow.

For example, by attaching all versions of a product manual to a relevant deal, a product team ensures that sales have instant access to the latest information.

3 other content management software options

Depending on your operation’s specific requirements, industry or scale, you might benefit from exploring additional CMS options that complement or extend beyond sales-focused functionalities.

Here are three top alternative content management systems available. These types of CMS can potentially work alongside or integrate with your existing Pipedrive setup.

1. WordPress

WordPress is among the most popular CMS platforms, powering millions of websites worldwide. Its user-friendly interface allows for content management without requiring technical knowledge.

Key features:

• Intuitive dashboard for easy content creation and management

• Vast library of customizable themes to control site appearance

• Extensive plugin ecosystem to add functionality

• SEO-friendly structure to improve search engine visibility

• Regular updates to maintain security and performance

• Multi-user capabilities for team collaboration

Who should use WordPress?

WordPress is suitable for a wide range of users, from bloggers and small business owners to large corporations and e-commerce sites looking for a cost-effective, flexible platform that can scale with their needs.

2. Drupal

Drupal is a powerful, open-source CMS known for flexibility and scalability. It offers a strong framework for building complex, content-rich websites and apps.

Key features:

• Highly customizable architecture for creating unique web experiences

• Advanced user management and access control

• Robust taxonomy system for organizing and categorizing content

• Built-in caching for improved performance

• Multilingual capabilities out of the box

• Strong security features and regular updates

Who should use Drupal?

Drupal is for organizations requiring complex, large-scale websites with advanced features. It’s particularly well-suited to government agencies, educational institutions and enterprises that need to manage large volumes of content and users.

3. Shopify

Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform that enables businesses to create and manage online stores. It offers small boutiques to large retailers everything they need to sell their products and services online.

Key features:

• User-friendly store builder with customizable templates

• Secure payment processing with multiple gateway options

• Inventory management system for tracking products

• Built-in marketing tools for SEO, email campaigns and social media

• Analytics dashboard for monitoring sales and customer behavior

• Mobile-responsive designs for seamless shopping on any device

• App store with hundreds of integrations to extend functionality

Who should use Shopify?

Shopify serves e-commerce websites of any size looking to build or grow an online store. It’s useful for entrepreneurs, small to medium businesses and established brands that want to streamline e-commerce operations.

Final thoughts

Mastering content management helps businesses keep a strong online presence, streamline content workflows and engage customers. The right CMS providers can make or break a smooth digital strategy versus a scattered online presence.

See how Pipedrive’s CMS features, such as Smart Docs and robust contact management, can help streamline your content workflows and improve customer engagement.

Start a free 14-day Pipedrive trial to explore centralized control over your content and customer data, boost your digital marketing and prepare for scalable growth.