If you’re new to the website development scene or looking to build and launch a website for business or personal cause, you can use a content management system or CMS to build one. A content management system is a set of tools, apps, and software that enables anyone to create a website – it is basically a website creation software.
While each website CMS is a little different from the other, there are certain features that are necessary for building a website and hence, cannot be overlooked.
The following are some of these essential features that you should look for while choosing a website creation software.
1. A code-editor
- A website creation software that provides a code-editor, and allows you to add your own HTML (and CSS code) enables you to customize a site to your taste and preferences, and create a unique design; as opposed to builders providing drag-and-drop elements and ready-made templates.
- The drag-and-drop kind of CMS also restricts or limits search engine optimization (SEO) and Web Analytics, which are highly important for the performance of a website. The automation processes set up to enable the dragging and dropping etc in this censor Google Analytics, and other similar tools, which as a result cannot be integrated with them.
2. Media Management (adding audio, video, etc)
Some of your web pages might need videos or audios to support the content in them, and you might want to add these to your page; now that almost everyone has a bandwidth fast enough to stream audio and video.
A good option, again, would be to use a CMS that has the HTML code editor. The current version of HTML being used – HTML5, lets you add video and audio to your webpages, with the use of tags for each – <audio> and <video>.
3. SEO tool
In a website building process, SEO( or Search Engine Optimization) is crucial, to get maximum visibility and site-visitor traffic; because your website may have spectacular content, but without substantial visibility or visitor traffic, it is of little use to a business.
SEO ensures that the website is found and accessed easily through search engines online; It enables anyone to find the website easily when a keyword used in that website is entered in a search engine.
To do this, you need to choose a website creation software that is SEO-friendly, i.e, one that comes with an integrated SEO tool.
4. Web Analytics tool for Tracking
- Web Analytics is another important feature that your website needs – it is used to analyze behaviors of site visitors, to get an understanding of their preferences, and to know what makes them visit or go away from a web page. An example of this is Google Analytics. Using this, you can collect, measure and analyze each visitor’s data, and use this information to optimize your website, and increase its efficiency and revenue-generating capacity.
- You can also implement analytics to detect what percentage of visitors are using mobile phones and tablets, what percent are using desktops or laptops. With this information and numbers, you can perform a device breakdown, and then prioritize on whichever is most used.
So you need to make sure that the website creation software you choose has an integrated Analytics tool.
5. Device Compatibility
- The content management system software you go for needs to be flexible and devices are compatible too. Many of the available CMSs have apps for all kinds of devices like mobiles (Android, iOS), desktop, tablets, and laptops. Choose a website creation software application that you can use comfortably from all the devices you own, from a single account, and from any location. This saves a lot of time too.
- Also, you must make sure that the website creation software you choose has the ability to let you build a website that itself is “responsive” or compatible with different devices and screen sizes.
6. Dynamic management
Dynamic content management feature is very important for a website – this lets you build a dynamic website, and manage updates on a website created or built using your CMS anytime after your site has been launched online and people have started using or viewing it. A dynamic website is one that constantly needs updates, like – Forum, Image or video galleries, personal websites, e-commerce websites, and so on.
So you need to choose a website creation software that will enable you to make any updates offline and then upload it online and also allow you to include features like user interaction in your web pages, by enabling logging-in, submitting or uploading information and the likes. This can also make it cost-effective, for broadcasting and publishing information that interacts well with users or site-visitors.
7. Multiple Website management
If you plan to expand your business or brand and include more products or services, you may want to have an exclusive website for each, concentrating on the individual features and characteristics. If you want to keep the option open, it is good to go for a website creation software that will enable you to create and manage multiple websites from one single account, so you won’t have to create a new account for every website you create.
8. Easy publishing
You need to be able to easily publish your website online once you’ve completed building, designing and adding required content to it – once you’re sure that you’ve created what you want your users to see. The website creation software you choose also needs to enable easy publishing of websites in addition to helping you create a splendid website so that it doesn’t become an issue later on.
9. Social Media Integration
- You need to be able to integrate your (business’s) other social media accounts like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc on your web pages, with the website creation software. So, the website creation software you choose needs to enable the third party social media integration, by adding the API(Application Program Interface)s of these to your site’s code.
- You can also display buttons or links to these accounts of your brand or business to your web pages. Your website and social media accounts will then work together to spread information and promote your business or brand.
