» Content Management Systems

I’m a big fan of content management systems (CMS). I define a content management system as a tool you can use to create, manage, and publish your information easily without having to hand code all the different pages. So according to my definition, I consider many of the blogging platforms to be content management systems. Really, it just depends on your definition as to whether you agree with me or not (Wikipedia.org defines it this way to so I’m sticking with it).

I regularly use Mambo & Joomla and of course, Wordpress to help publish my content (this site uses Wordpress if you didn’t already realize it). There are a ton of others out there as well. I suggest you start with just one and once you have mastered it, move on to another if you need to. Each CMS will have its own learning curve, so you don’t want to waste your time figuring out the details of each.

For the purposes of most internet marketers, Wordpress will do the trick. If you want to do something a little more fancy, then Mambo or Joomla might suit you. Drupal is another CMS that is commonly used. Each of these four content management systems are open source, meaning they are free. There is also a ton of support for each of these. Watch out for other open source CMS’s that might not be as actively supported.

The main factors you want to consider when choosing a content management system are; is there support, will it produce a site that is search engine friendly, and are you going to be able to use it quickly and easily. I’ve found that Mambo/Joomla, Wordpress, and Drupal meet this criteria.

Someone else may prefer another CMS over what I’ve listed here. It’s really just personal preference. But I’d suggest if you’re planning to make money from the internet, unless you want to make it as a CMS expert, just pick a couple to use … there’s no need to try them all.

Technorati Tags: blog, search engine, content management systems, Mambo, Joomla, Wordpress