It is next to impossible to create an awesome website without a functional program that manages the backend. Without a backend system or a CMS, you’ll be unable to wow your visitors. Your CMS is a critical aspect of your digital customer experience programs. So, any issue with your site’s CMS will directly affect your business success.
Do you feel your content management system has become a drag these days? Are your content editors and IT professionals complaining about its performance? Does your CMS have security issues?
If the answer to these questions is resounding yes, you need to consider moving to a CMS that can better achieve your business objectives.
1. Your Mailbox and Social Are Full of Customer Complaints
Listen to what people are saying about you on emails and social media. Do they complain about the user experience? If your visitors have to wade through multiple layers of the interface to reach a product or contact you, they will leave.
In this digitally advanced world, customers are accustomed to slick content delivery and awesome user experience. If they don’t find it, they will move to your competitor’s website. Period.
Check what type of complaints are coming in. If customers are constantly complaining or sound frustrated about being unable to find the information they are looking for, it’s time to switch to a new CMS.
2. Your Website Has Gone Slow
Loading time is a major ranking factor for search engines and a primary contributor to abandonment. Data shared by Kissmetrics reveals that the page abandonment rate increases with the increase in loading time. Hence, the faster the better.
Check your website analytics for parameters like bounce rate, low time on the website, and low average pages per visit. These are strong indicators of the fact that visitors aren’t enjoying the experience on your website.
Several factors contribute to website speed and poor UX, one of which is the content management system. If your website takes ages to load and your bounce rate is soaring, it’s time to upgrade to a powerful platform that’s better equipped for complex websites and the increase in traffic.
3. Your CMS is a Pain to Work with
If your CMS isn’t user-friendly, working with it is not just annoying but also damaging to your business. That’s because you are spending several business hours navigating it when you should be focusing on how to boost your growth.
Imagine working with a CMS that leaves old content live or doesn’t update or post new content. This could be fatal to your business reputation.
Similarly, a stubborn CMS with a fixed content publishing, auditing, and workflow, and little scope for personalization is not what anyone’s looking for. In today’s world, every business needs a website that’s innovative, interactive, and engaging. Hence, you need a CMS that lets you do that with ease.
For instance, WordPress is the most popular and leading CMS today because of its user-friendliness and innovative customization options. It is simple to set up and update and offers tons of themes that allow users to build a website as per their needs. WordPress website development is also easy for people who have little or no coding experience. The user-friendly platform allows anyone to build a unique website using its advanced design tools.
If you are struggling to edit or update content or frustrated because your existing CMS doesn’t have the necessary options that can lead you to your goals, it’s time to move to an advanced option.
4. It Feels Outdated
Website design and development trends are changing by the minute. Stock imagery and pop-up AI chatbots are things of the past. Your CMS should evolve with the upcoming tech trends, else your website will feel outdated.
When was the last time you updated your website design? An outdated business website will cost you more for keeping it updated or enhancing its functionalities.
Moreover, if you have a new feature request, your IT team will come back with bad news. Small businesses and startups often start with a basic system. But as they grow, they need a scalable CMS that better supports their needs.
If your CMS doesn’t allow you to pop in product videos, slider images, hamburger menus, and stunning CTAs, you need to look out for an option that allows you to do so with ease.
5. It Lacks Adequate Support
Website maintenance and security are incredibly important. For this reason, you need an efficient and reliable support team that can help you manage your website and safeguard sensitive customer data.
For instance, an outdated CMS can spell trouble when it comes to your site’s security as it fails to update the system automatically. Such security concerns can increase the risk of a cyberattack.
The CMS your choose should have a strong and dedicated security team or create a community website where the members can help you stay on top of the potential security issues.
6. It’s Making Your Team Unhappy
Does your CMS make your team unhappy? Most businesses focus so much on their site performance online that they miss out on checking whether or not it’s working for their employees. If you hear frequent complaints from your content editors, developers, and IT team that the UI is a nightmare, you should consider switching to another CMS.
Talk to your team and understand their biggest issues. A few may be resolved with basic training. However, if your most experienced team members are struggling with the processes, it’s something serious that needs to be resolved immediately.
An updated CMS means lesser tickets and manual tasks for your team. Make sure you switch to a CMS that schedules automatic updates and meets the needs of your IT team.
Wrapping Up
When your business website isn’t performing as expected, it’s important to understand the root cause of the problem. In most cases, an old and outdated CMS is the culprit.
In this virtual world, your website is the face of your business. If built on a strong and updated content management system, your website can act as a catalyst for attracting qualified leads and generating more conversions.
Use the warning signs shared in this post to check if you need to move to a new CMS.
Guest Article by Lucy Manole
Lucy is a creative content writer and strategist at Marketing Digest. She specializes in writing about digital marketing, technology, entrepreneurship, and education. When she is not writing or editing, she spends time reading books, cooking and traveling.