Time to pat ourselves on the back for a minute.
We’re really proud of our new website. Take a look around. Its modular design is more than gorgeous, it’s dynamic, allowing us to do much more with our current website than ever before. That’s why we’re proud to endorse Craft CMS as our Content Management System of choice.
For some digital marketers today, the search for a content management system (CMS) never goes further than WordPress, if there is even a search at all. In most cases, that’s going to be more reliable for most of your website needs. WordPress didn’t become an industry standard for no reason.
However, our team of talented developers here at MilesHerndon have another go-to CMS. If you haven’t been introduced yet, meet Craft. After venturing across the office into the developer’s domain, I put together this list of reasons why our developers love Craft.
Craft CMS is Leaner
In today’s world where content is king, Craft is built to handle every shape and size that you can imagine. Craft’s own website describes this functionality as “a laser-focused” platform to manage diverse content, and our developers agree. Craft is as lean as it gets. The more experienced your developer, the more nuanced the website’s framework can be. Craft takes the training wheels off and allows your website to be tuned exactly how you need it.
Other content management systems are built to facilitate development for these users who don’t necessarily want to make that deep dive within the sea of HTML, CSS and other programming acronyms. Plugins can be added for extra functionality, but these only latch onto the existing framework, adding more bulk. Those lines of code, processes and structures can add up. Even if it’s not being used with your website, this unnecessary fluff can make the difference between raising visitor’s eyebrows or furrowing them.
Craft CMS is Faster
Of course everyone wants a fast website. But is it really necessary? Craft allows lean, fast performance that keeps your website from getting bogged down under heavy strain. Developing for speed has its returns further than just the user experience. When Google-and those other search engines-index websites for search results, their algorithms rate websites with fast load times higher than slower domains. This keeps your website at the top of the Search Engine Optimization, a key factor in any internet marketing these days.
Pepsi may be for the young generation, but Craft is made for the developers. Craft is built to be forward-thinking and progressive. Believe it or not, by keeping code to a minimum, your website can reach more people. Developers and designers are thinking mobile-first these days, but not everyone has powerful smartphones. Craft allows developers to build mobile-friendly websites that load quicker through less internet bandwidth. More phones that can work with your site means more eyes on your content, and more potential clients in your inbox.
Craft’s Backend is Easy to Use
At some point, your developers are going to have a tearful goodbye as they handoff their baby to its new owner (your client). After the tears have dried and the website is in the client’s hands, you don’t want something that they can’t update. Struggling to curate content on their new website will only build frustration, result in less-than-desirable content, and eventually reflects poorly upon the developers (and your agency).
Craft’s backend was built with the end-user in mind. Content is easy to upload and place after a few training sessions. Clients may be hesitant at first to try something that isn’t called “WordPress,” but I guarantee it will only take you showing them Craft’s Live Preview function one time before they change their mind. The ability to type content in a side panel while watching it update in real-time is the feature that our client’s love the most about Craft. It’s not even a close race after that.
If you are curious how we implement Craft here at MilesHerndon, drop us a line and we’ll have one of our talented developers contact you shortly.