Are you a manager of a CRM, a marketer, a product manager, or another non-technical person, and are you curious what a CMS is and what you need to know about it? Are you already a CMS user but you want to get more technical knowledge about the platform? Are you thinking about switching your CMS but are afraid to write an RFP since you have no idea what you’re doing? Do you have new responsibilities or a change in position that will require you to collaborate more closely with CMS developers?
Don’t worry; the technological underpinnings of CMS platforms are rather simple, and as a non-technical person, you typically won’t need to be too familiar with them. Understanding a few fundamental definitions, the platform your organisation employs, and picking up some fundamental jargon are the three most crucial things. There is no one who knows more about your CMS platform than your developers, therefore if you need to know more later, I strongly advise just asking them.
Table of contents:
A CMS is what?
CMS definition
CMS objectives
Why should CRM managers care about a CMS system?
In order to manage content in a CMS, what should you learn?
Markup syntax
How to write
ways to publish
Where is the information kept?
In charge of digital assets
Online tracking
ready-made modules, widgets, and templates
UX/UI Basic Design Principles
Features of CMS you should be aware of Editing simplicity
Restoring Versions (rollback)
Archiving
Compatibility
Integrations
Testing A/B
Management of translations of customised content
SEO improvement
Multi-platform publishing
Accesses
Collaborative working
Technical ideas that should be understood
Is your website static or dynamic?
Release Environments for Websites
Out-of-the-box or custom-built CMS?
Headless CMS
An API is what?
Describe webhooks.
What do SDKs do?
Describe CMS.
A software programme called a content management system (CMS) can be used to control the generation and update of digital information. You store your content in this “database,” which includes digital assets (such as images, videos, and podcasts), text, translations, and occasionally the page layout and other design elements (tables, buttons etc.). You can serve content from the CMS to your website, mobile app, and other digital platforms (sms, email, smartwatch etc.). Not every business uses the same CMS to store all of its information; several content “storage” solutions are frequently used instead (email content in email sending platform, mobile app content stored as code and updated only by developers etc.).
In order to manage content in a CMS, what should you learn?
Markup language:
Either a WYSIWYG editor or some sort of markup language is used by your CMS system, making it simple for content editors to edit the content (which you or the content editor would need to learn).
A markup language is what?
A language known as a markup language is used to annotate text so that a computer can manipulate it (make it bold, italic, centre it, colour it etc.). In essence, it’s a language you may use to tell the computer how to display the text or assets you’re editing.
How to draught:
What you should check in the manual or ask your developers:
How can I write a draught of the article (without accidentally publishing it)? Can you preview the draft’s appearance on the website in the CMS as a way to test it? Is there a test environment where you can check the newly generated material if a preview immediately in the CMS is not possible?
Publication methods:
What you should check in the handbook or ask your developers:
How can content be published to a live website? Can you use the CMS to do it yourself (or the content editor directly)? Are website releases required in order to update the content? Do you need to approach developers for help with publishing? Is the solution mixed, requiring developer support for some updates but allowing content editors to publish some items directly from the CMS? Which ones require developer assistance? What are the typical turnaround times if you wanted to publish something? Who should you get in touch with if the material breaks and neither you nor the content editor can fix it yourself? Who should you call if you require urgent support beyond business hours? Can you plan the publication of material in a future time? Can more than one content “bundle” be planned for the future? Can you still edit and publish other content if you schedule it for the future, or would the planned package prevent you from doing so between the time it is created and the scheduled time? Can you recall scheduled content yourself if for some reason you change your mind?
Where is the information kept?
It’s a crucial inquiry that you ought to put to your developers or architect.
Which content comes from where? What content is directly stored in FE, what content is stored in payment or booking engines/systems, and what content is stored in the CMS? You should be aware of which content the CMS allows for editing and which requires development (or where to find such information when you need it). It ought to be documented somewhere, or your content editors ought to be aware of it.
Taking care of digital assets
You should be aware of the types of digital assets that your CMS supports. Can I use mp3 files, photographs, or videos? What file formats are available for use? What specifications apply to the assets? Look over the weight and image size specifications. Will the software automatically resize the photographs, or must you always do so before uploading? Always strive for the least weight required to display the asset appropriately if you don’t want to slow down your website or other platform.
You should have a foundational understanding of CMS platforms as a CRM manager. In most circumstances, you will need to publish some material at some point. Even if you have content editors in place to handle it for you, you still need to know the bare minimum about the workflows and procedures at your organisation. If you need to edit and publish material on your own, you may wish to familiarise yourself with the platform’s fundamentals, including how to edit, draught, and publish content as well as the options for scheduling and testing revisions. If you require more in-depth information, you should learn more about your current platform’s A/B testing, personalisation, and SEO optimization capabilities.