Does my website need a CMS?

What is a CMS?
A CMS is a Content Management System, an online system that allows you to be able to login from any computer that has an Internet connection, and make changes and updates to your website quickly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system

Do you need one?
If you have an informational website that you will be updating daily or weekly then yes a cms would be in your best interest so that you don’t need to worry about downloading and uploading files or paying someone to maintain your website which could be quite costly.

Most informational websites only change their information on a monthly basis or even bi-annually and it’s usually a minor change. If you hired a professional this would only be a small fee as most of these types of updates only take about an hour maybe 2 to have completed.
If you aren’t making changes to your website on a weekly basis then there is no reason to pay $40 - $75 per month just to have a content management system that you aren’t using… When you could have a static website, have it hosted for as little as $6 per month and have it updated for less than $200 per year.

Also if your looking to get news out to people on your website this doesn’t require a cms to run your entire website, you can setup a blog that fits in with your website for your news/press releases for a few hundred dollars as your hosting already has the capability to have the system installed again staying in the $10 per month range.

So before you sign on to a huge monthly fee maybe you only need to spend a few hundered dollars on a solution ( www.ipixelcreative.com )that gets a great looking website up with the information your customers need, with only a $10 a month hosting fee instead of $60 per month.
Another thing to consider if you need a full content management system is the the wordpress system you can get a great theme with lots of customization options for as little as $400 and it provides a full content management system (Sample Wordpress Theme) that can be installed into a $20 per month 1and1 hosting package.This way you have all of the same benefits as what cms hosted solutions offer but at a far more affordable cost.

Now for some businesses this won’t be enough if you are selling products you will need a full E-commerce system to process orders, receive payments, track inventory etc. etc. If you are thinking about selling your products online I usually recommend looking for a hosted solution through a company like 1and1, yahoo stores, and many others. These are the best way to get an online store running as most provide a way to process payments, as you can’t just put a website and accept all major credit cards you need to have a payment gateway, a way to track inventory etc. There is a lot of work involved with setting up an online store but using a hosted solution they are able to simplify it as they already have the backend for payment processing and shipping modules already setup for you to use.