CMS
Content Management System – software to create and manage website content without programming. From WordPress and TYPO3 to headless CMS like Strapi.
A CMS lets companies maintain their website content themselves – without hiring a developer for every text change. From simple blogs to complex corporate sites, the right CMS saves time, cuts cost and gives content teams the autonomy they need. Choosing the CMS is one of the most important decisions in a web project.
What is CMS?
A CMS (Content Management System) is a software platform that lets users create, edit, organise and publish digital content without programming. Traditional CMS (WordPress, TYPO3, Drupal) deliver frontend and backend together – content is rendered directly on the site. Headless CMS (Strapi, Contentful, Sanity) separate content management from presentation: content is delivered via APIs and can be used on websites, apps, digital signage or IoT.
How does CMS work?
A traditional CMS has: an editor (WYSIWYG or block editor), a database (MySQL/PostgreSQL), a template engine (PHP/Twig) and an admin (users, roles, settings). Authors create content, set metadata (SEO title, description) and publish with one click. A headless CMS has no frontend layer: content is exposed as JSON via REST or GraphQL. The frontend is built separately (React, Next.js, Vue) – maximum flexibility and performance.
Practical Examples
WordPress corporate site: WordPress powers a large share of CMS sites worldwide – from blog to complex portal with WooCommerce.
TYPO3 enterprise: Large companies and government use TYPO3 for multilingual, multi-tenant sites with strict workflows and permissions.
Headless CMS with Next.js: Contentful as headless CMS feeds a Next.js frontend via API – very fast with static generation.
Strapi + mobile app: Strapi as open-source headless CMS feeds both the website and iOS/Android app with the same content via API.
Typical Use Cases
Corporate websites: Sites with blog, news and team pages
E-commerce: Content for product descriptions, category and landing pages
Multi-channel: Same content on web, app, newsletter and social
Multilingual: Manage and translate content in multiple languages
Intranet: Internal knowledge bases, handbooks and company news
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
- Autonomy: Marketing and editorial can update content without developers
- Fast updates: New pages and content can go live in minutes
- SEO: Meta tags, sitemaps, URLs and performance often built in
- Ecosystem: Many plugins, themes and integrations (especially WordPress)
- Cost: Open-source CMS (WordPress, TYPO3, Strapi) are free
Disadvantages
- Security: Popular CMS (e.g. WordPress) are frequent targets – updates are critical
- Performance: Too many plugins and inefficient themes can slow the site
- Vendor lock-in: Proprietary CMS (Contentful, Sitecore) tie you to the vendor
- Overhead: For simple sites a CMS can be overkill – static sites (Astro, Hugo) are faster
Frequently Asked Questions about CMS
WordPress or headless CMS?
What does a CMS project cost?
Is WordPress still relevant?
Related Terms
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