A content management system (CMS) is software that enables users to create, edit and update web content without requiring in-depth coding knowledge. This type of software eliminates the need for users to build the website from the ground up, so anyone can create a website, even without programming experience.
With a CMS, you can quickly create, edit and publish content, saving time and money. CMS software helps you organize your content, making it easier to find, track and store information.
The ability to keep content up to date is also an advantage, as it ensures accuracy and consistency. Furthermore, CMS give you the power to create a secure, interactive website with features like user accounts and comment systems.
Below are some of the benefits of using a CMS to build a website:
1. Content centralization: A CMS allows you to store all your content in one place, creating a single source for all elements of your website.
2. Collaboration: CMS systems make it easy for multiple people to edit, update and review content in a single unified place.
3. Customization: Most CMSs have a wide range of customization options so you can tailor the system to suit your specific needs.
4. Improved security: A CMS should offer reliable protection from potential malicious cyber attacks and user mistakes.
5. Easy scalability: Once you have a CMS in place, you can easily scale up or down as needed.
6. Multi-platform compatibility: Most CMSs are designed to be compatible with various devices, such as desktops, tablets and smartphones.
7. Regular updates: Most CMSs come with regular updates and upgrades, allowing you to benefit from the latest security patches and feature updates.
The best CMS for higher ed websites should already include built-in tools designed specifically for marketing, communications and web professionals who work in the sector.
With Modern Campus CMS, you won’t have to worry about adapting a one-size-fits-all CMS to do your job because the tools and features you need are intuitively built into the system.
Building the best CMS for higher ed has always been Modern Campus' mission, which gives us a proven track record and expertise in the higher ed market.
Consider the following when trying to determine the most suitable CMS for your university:
Higher education is constantly changing as strategies, goals, regulations and trends evolve with the times. To keep up, your tools must adapt or risk becoming outdated fast. A higher ed CMS will have relevant tools built directly into the system. Changes to Modern Campus CMS are made in anticipation of and response to the trends, regulations and needs of colleges and universities.
It’s one thing for students to muddle through hundreds of academic programs in search of one that might be a good fit. It’s another to understand exactly what career path is associated with a specific degree. A 2024 Career Navigation Survey of young people found that 66% say they need more guidance to understand education and training pathways that lead to good jobs. This is one of the reasons students become frustrated in their academic journey and fail to finish.
A purpose-built CMS for higher ed prioritizes guided pathways software that uses real market information as the backbone for student support. Whether a student is concerned with getting a higher salary or learning a new skill, a robust higher education website lays out the path with courses and programs to take and labor market data that streamline their search.
Students want to feel like they fit at your college or university. They are also accustomed to a highly personalized user experience. As such, your website must model the expediency and choice of Amazon or Netflix to hold students’ attention and keep them on their pathway.
Because the future of the modern campus is personalization at every touchpoint, the best CMS is flexible, dynamic and ready to power a technologically advanced digital infrastructure that helps your institution stand out to a wide range of learners. It’s also key to integrating robust career pathways into flexible and market-responsive academic and program offerings.
4. Accommodates the Higher Ed Ecosystem
Higher ed has very specific nuances, technology parameters, government regulations and customer needs. The best higher ed CMS will accommodate for these special requirements.
For example, a retailer won’t be fined if its website doesn't meet ADA compliance standards, but a university will. If your CMS isn't designed with higher ed in mind, you'll find yourself constantly dealing with workarounds to address your school’s specific needs.
We listen and fine-tune Modern Campus CMS to help customers navigate these challenges. We have partnerships with a variety of design and technical experts who cater to higher ed. We even offer specialized products from third-party partners at special rates to our customers through a product-integrated marketplace for one-stop convenience.
Colleges and universities have multiple audiences to please, and each of these audiences requires different software systems to get work done. For example, the alumni relations department needs capabilities for collecting donations on their website, whereas the admissions department is interested in tracking contact information submitted by prospective students. When these systems don’t cooperate with each other, havoc ensues.
A quality CMS platform will provide seamless integration between these various systems. Modern Campus CMS integrates with leading SIS and offers a suite of modules, including a course catalog and faculty directory, designed specifically for our higher ed customers. Generic CMS products typically can’t meet the critical needs that a higher ed CMS can.
The best CMS for universities offers a suite of modules such Fresno State’s course catalog and integrates with leading student information systems.
A quality CMS is an investment that reaps savings in time, money and resources down the road. By allowing multiple contributors to control content, a good CMS spreads the workload so that your IT and marketing departments aren’t stretched thin.
Having all the tools you need built into one system prevents you from having to continually purchase add-ons. And the best CMS for university websites will come with customer support and automatic updates. You’ll always get support when you have a question, and you don’t have to worry about keeping your system secure with continual patches and software updates.
Furthermore, moving away from locally hosted servers and into cloud-based SaaS costs much less for initial setup—and there are also long-term savings in hard costs, maintenance and IT resources.
As a SaaS solution, Modern Campus CMS provides a significantly shorter implementation time, seamless hands-free upgrades that ensure you’re always on the latest version and rapid scaling when you need it most. Plus, it makes it easy to access other services and connection points in the cloud.
Modern Campus CMS is the best CMS for higher ed because it saves you money, keeps you up to date and eliminates the complexities of integration that come with self-hosting.
When someone needs to know something about your school, the first place they're going to look is your website. A simple click gets them to your home page, but then it gets complicated. Do they need donor information? Are they searching for course descriptions? Do they need to pay a tuition bill? How does the admissions process work?
Your website must be all things to all people. At Modern Campus, we understand your website is your institution’s most valuable marketing and communication asset. When you partner with us, you have access to the latest tools and techniques customized to meet the unique marketing and communication needs of higher ed.
Modern Campus CMS was built from the ground up to allow higher ed marketing professionals to maintain firm control over messaging that’s so critical to attracting and retaining students and addressing the needs of your multiple audiences.
Our customers tell us the #1 reason they select Modern Campus CMS as their academic system of choice is because of our specialization in higher ed.
There are dozens of CMS vendors competing in multiple markets with generic CMS products, but Modern Campus made a strategic decision years ago to focus exclusively on a CMS for universities and colleges—institutions just like yours. To learn more, Schedule a demo now.
Website Design & Personalization
Last updated: July 7, 2023