The idea of bringing a new website to life is exciting. Whether you’re upgrading on your current site or building your digital presence from the ground up, a new website is likely to create buzz amongst your existing clients and attract new customers to your company.
If you’ve started to do a bit of research on the process of web development, you’ve probably realised that there are a couple of ways to approach the task of building a new site. One is to do it completely from scratch, coding with HTML. The other is to use a software known as a CMS, or content management system.
Each of these approaches comes with pros and cons. However, these days, most web developers will tell you that using a CMS is definitely the way to go, particularly if many people within your business will be wanting to upload, edit, and delete content from your website.
As a leading web development company in Melbourne, Newpath Web has experience working with a wide variety of CMS platforms. Our experienced team of developers understand the specifics of each CMS, and can advise you as to which platform is right for your business. Don’t worry if you can’t tell WordPress from Kentico — our team can take care of everything for you.
Suffice to say, here at Newpath Web, we are firm favourites of using a CMS platform to build your next website. Read on to find out why!
What is HTML?
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is the code (or language) that developers use to create a website.
HTML is what gives a website structure. Without it, your content would simply appear as one block of content, without headings, dot points, or paragraphs. HTML consists of a series of elements that can be thought of as commands. These elements tell a browser how to display content. For example, the <p> element tells a website that a new paragraph has commenced.
In addition to HTML, developers usually use two other coding languages to create a website. CSS (cascading style sheets) code for visual elements, including colour, format, and layout. Javascript can be used to make your website interactive, engaging your visitors.
Building a website from scratch using HTML is quite a complex process. What’s more, every time you want to make a change to your website — even uploading a new blog post — you will need someone with in-depth technical expertise to make changes to the code. This approach does not suit most businesses, who need their marketing and administrative teams to have confidence making site alterations.
What is a CMS?
At this point, it’s a good idea to note that all websites — regardless of whether they have been built from scratch or via a CMS platform — use coding languages including HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
The difference between the two is that a CMS platform can be thought of as a template, one that helps you build secure, functional, and engaging websites in a far more efficient manner.
You have likely heard of popular CMS platforms before, even if you weren’t sure how they worked. WordPress is one of the most commonly used content management systems, accounting for approximately 39.6 percent of all websites on the internet. Newpath Web are experts in building WordPress sites, as well as Drupal, Kentico, and many other popular CMS options.
A CMS platform is made up of two separate components — the back end (or the content management application) and the front end (or the content delivery application). These work hand in hand to enable users to create, upload, edit, and delete web content in an efficient manner.
Why should I use a CMS platform over HTML?
There are many reasons why the team at Newpath Web suggest using a CMS platform over coding a website using HTML from scratch.
To start with, a CMS makes website management easy. Keep in mind that your web development company in Melbourne won’t be around forever. It’s important that your employees can upload, edit, and remove content with ease. The most popular CMS platforms, including WordPress, Drupal, and Kentico, offer an easy-to-use interface for website management purposes.
CMS platforms also come with the ability to easily customise design, layout, and style. Create a unique website that reflects your brand without the pain and stress of having to make intricate changes to your code on each individual page of your site.
Many CMS platforms offer unique SEO features that make optimising your website easy. Technical and on-page SEO strategies are a vital part of improving your digital presence. WordPress, Drupal, and Kentico enable you to boost your search visibility and traffic with the click of only a few buttons.
As far as Newpath Web is concerned, the choice is clear. A CMS platform enables you to build a unique, functional, and secure website that can scale as your business grows. Contact our team today to discuss your digital needs and how we can help you establish yourself in the online world.