Is WordPress the right content management system for you?

What does your website need?

The right place to start when it comes to choosing a content management system for your website is by assessing the needs of that website.

By identifying measurable goals for your website, you are also starting down the path to identify the features and functionality that your website will need in order to achieve those goals. To start, make a list with your website developer of those features and functionality. Once you have them all written down, prioritize your list items based on which directly help you achieve your goal(s). Ultimately, this prioritized list becomes your roadmap for your website.

Example

Your website’s goal is to increase your email marketing list. Having a newsletter signup will directly grow your list. Maintaining a blog will indirectly grow your list by giving your visitors a taste of the content they will receive by signing up for your newsletter. For this reason, newsletter content, an integrated sign-up, and an active blog all become part of your website roadmap.

You are now starting to form a list of requirements for your website’s content management system—both that you will use immediately and features your website will grow into down the road.

This is critical to know when choosing your content management system. Even if you are open to moving your website to a new host, it is important to know what that means up front. In other words, there will be additional costs. Plus changing hosts is not an automatic process, meaning your website will likely experience (usually temporary) down time.

If you already own a website that you are updating/replacing, then the answer to this question is ‘Yes.’

tart by having your website developer take a look at your current hosting package. Next, add the following details to your growing list of requirements for your content management system:

• Database and version. Content management systems will have a minimum requirement for the database in order to be installed. WordPress for example, requires a MySQL database with a version of 5.6 or higher.
• Available disk space. Additionally, content management systems will take up space before you even enter your content. More importantly, not all hosting packages allow you unlimited hard drive space for your website. For this reason, you will want to make sure the content management system you choose does not take up too much of your hosting space.
• Programming languages available. Next you will want to make sure you are limiting your search to content management systems that are built using a language your website’s server supports.
• Host recommendations. Finally, it is important to consider content management systems that your hosting environment is optimized for. This is especially true if you are not willing or able to move hosts.

Note

Conversely, if you do not have a website with a hosting plan, I recommend selecting your content management system first. This gives you the advantage of purchasing a hosting package that is optimized for your website as it will be built.

Typically, website owners fall into one of two categories when it comes to their current content management system:

1. You feel locked in to your content management system because it would be difficult to start again with something new.
2. Your website is not meeting your goals because it is missing functionality your content management system currently does not have.

In either case, you are not necessarily doomed to stick with or abandon a failing content management system. Here’s how you can work through either scenario:

You feel locked in to your content management system. In other words, it’s difficult to start again with something new.

To begin with, keep your goals in mind. Is it even possible to achieve them with the content management system you already have?

If not, then it is worth the extra cost at the start of the project to truly solve the problem and move your website forward. In the long run, you will save your business from a second (or third) costly redo moving to a new content management system later.

Your website is not able to meet your goals. In other words, it’s missing the features visitors need to complete actions.

Before you throw the system out with the bath water, do some research. You may find that the features exist for your current content management system in the form of a plugin.

If not, and the issue could still be solved with one added feature, it could be worth the investment to create a custom plugin. Often adding one feature is less work than moving the entire website. This would be worth pursuing if you are missing out on one or two fringe functionality options. Not so much if the platform itself is a roadblock in managing your website.

On the other hand, if you need to invest in a lot of extras for this content management system to meet your needs it may be time to switch. Especially if another platform has these features right out of the box.

Once you determine your website’s needs, it’s important to understand the various costs that come with running different content management systems. These can be determined by considering the following:

Does the content management system itself cost money to install?

While there are many content management systems that are free to install and use (apart from paying your website developer to install it), some come with a price tag. Either way, you will need to factor in installation cost. Talk with your developer, as the price to install should be included in the overall design and development project price.

What about additional features/plugins?

If you require any additional blocks or plugins to be installed in order to have your content management system truly meet your needs, factor in how much those cost when you are weighing your options. Again, talk with your developer. Many (myself included) have already purchased developer licenses to a selection of premium plugins for a particular content management system. This means you will not need to pay for an additional license to install those on your website.

Are you moving from one system to another?

Migrating content management systems is sometimes a simple process, and sometimes not. You should know which yours falls into before pulling the trigger so you can plan for the additional cost.

How easy is the backend to use?

Keep in mind that the purpose of using a content management system is so that you do not need a developer as part of your ongoing publishing workflow. If the learning curve of one system is too steep to actually remove your developer from that workflow, you will need to be prepared to pay them for ongoing additional services.

How will the platform be maintained?

All content management systems and their plugins experience code updates. In addition, your hosting servers will also experience periodical operating system, database, and supported language updates. In order to keep all these moving parts working in harmony together, you should factor in the cost of hiring your website developer to perform routine maintenance. Packages and prices will vary, usually based on the average number of hours your website requires per month. Plan for a couple hundred dollars monthly as a starting point.

You now have compiled a comprehensive list of requirements for your website’s content management system. This list includes the following:

• Features and functionality your website needs in order to achieve its goals.
• Your current hosting package’s specifications and recommendations. 
• Whether or not your current content management system can include the features and functionality needed to achieve your website goals.
• The cost of installing, running and maintaining the content management system after your website launches.

You are ready to use this list to start comparing the options available to you on the market. Best of all, you have done the groundwork to make a solid decision based on what your website needs and what you business can afford.