Choose a Content Management System (CMS)
A Content Management System (CMS) is software that delivers your content to the Web. If you have a small site, you don’t necessarily need one – you could make all your website pages by hand, but I don’t recommend you do this. Once your CMS is set up, it’s much easier to make new pages when you need to. And, if you plan on having a blog or other frequently updated content, the CMS is essential to your sanity and/or pocketbook.
Choose a CMS that will fit the requirements laid out in your sitemap and also allow for future development. If you have an ecommerce site, you’ll need a solid shopping cart platform (Magento is a good one, and a lot of small businesses like to use Yahoo! Merchant Solutions too). If you’re doing a service-oriented or informational site or plan on hosting a blog or articles, then I’d recommend WordPress. There are many other good open-source content management systems available, like Drupal and Joomla.
You can learn more about open-source content management systems and try demo versions at the opensourceCMS website. Ask around, check out ratings and make sure you get a CMS that fits your website content needs.
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