Deciding on a content manager is a complex task. Once you go with one, it will be a big deal if you decide to change it later, so you want to take your time and make sure you choose the right one from the start. The whole purpose of having a content management program is to make your life easier, and probably a way to get your site on the internet without having to know much HTML or other programming languages. Keeping that in mind, your main objective, and what you need the most help with will be key factors in which content management system you will go with.

Content management systems taken to the next level. A CMS used to just be an avenue to publish content to the WWW as a simple alternative to HTML editors, and having a bit more organizational structure. Now they can help you do all kinds of things! There are CMS which focus on search engine optimization, video blogging, galleries for artists, ease of use and an intuitive control panel, plug-ins which add more functionality to your site, membership areas, eCommerce, and so much more.

Here are my top 3:

  • WordPress
  • MemberGate
  • SBI (from sitesell.com)

WordPress is an extremely popular CMS. It is very versatile, has an intuitive control panel, and you can add a ton of functionality through the plug-ins. This is my personal favorite CMS. There are easy ways to monetize, add a membership area, and keep up with search engine optimization all through great plug-ins. The added benefit of having a blog page built right in means you can add articles which are full of great key words that will draw traffic right to your site.

The only cons (which you can easily get around) are some concerns about security, and search engine rankings. To keep a WordPress site secure make sure your password and *user name* are something unique – don’t use the “admin” password that is generated when you install WordPress on your site. You will want to either go into the database manually and change that admin user name to something else or create a different user who has admin privileges and get rid of that admin user. (Don’t forget to get rid of that admin user!) As far as SEO goes, there are a few great plug-ins that help with your rankings. I have never experienced any issues with WordPress getting low rankings myself, but I have read that it can be an issue. Just make sure you get a plug-in to help you SEO each page, and write a lot of articles with *good content* because that is going to be your main avenue of pulling people from the search engines into your site.

MemberGate is a great CMS if you are going to be completely focused on membership as your site’s main function. The organizational structure is very good, the control panel is fairly easy to navigate, and this CMS creates actual HTML pages which are easy to add SEO tags to. MemberGate offers many modules to add nice things to your site like a calendar and a scheduler. It doesn’t have near as many plug-ins as WordPress, but it is very good.

There are times with this CMS that you will need to know a bit of HTML, and you will need a graphic design program if you want to really make it look nice when you personalize it to your theme, colors, and logo. If membership is what you are thinking this is a great CMS.

SBI! Is completely focused on driving traffic to your site. It is great for building a good audience, and the control panel guides you step by step through every possible process to get you the highest search engine rankings. You can reach your Google AdWords account as well as a keyword research tool right from the control panel. It creates actual HTML pages, and it has an import function, so you can have a regular HTML site and import it into SBI at any time. The control panel is easy to navigate and actually leads you through the process of building and optimizing your site step by step. There is no guess work at all.

The only draw back is the cost. It’s about $300 per year to host your site there and have an SBI site. This is substantially higher than if you were to buy traditional hosting. Also, this does not include money that you will spend on marketing with Google AdWords and other programs once you are in the control panel building your site.

I would suggest saving membership areas and other more complex site functions for an additional site where you take people once they register or sign up at your SBI site. Your SBI site would predominantly be your landing pages and your opt-in offers because it will get the most traffic.

There are many many site builders and content management systems out there. Each one is unique in what it has to offer and how easy it is to use. Take your time, and get the right one from the start and you will be very happy!

If you’d like more information on content managers or any other program for online business owners check out membership at this site. There are hours and hours of video tutorials, and several manuals and books in the member area. There is also a forum and a job board. Members can also request a video if they are stuck with anything on their site, and submit a comment and get coaching from my immediately. All included in one low monthly price! Click Here To Check It Out! Join a community of entrepreneurs and learn the actual programs it takes to run a successful online business!