Guide
Do I need a CMS for my client's website?
Often not. If the content is for one website and lives in the site's own code, your client needs a way to change that site, not a separate content system. A CMS earns its place when the same content goes to several channels, or when there are hundreds of entries of one kind to manage.
Three questions
- Does the content go anywhere but this website? If it also feeds an app, a newsletter or a second site, a headless CMS such as Sanity or Storyblok keeps it in one place. That is what they’re built for.
- Is most of it one kind of entry, in large numbers? Hundreds of products, recipes or articles with the same fields are easier to manage in a CMS with lists, filters and forms.
- Otherwise: does your client mainly change what’s on the pages? Texts, photos, opening hours, a new section, a new page. Then a CMS adds work: you move the content out of your code, describe every field, and wire the pages to read it, before your client can change a single word.
What to use instead
Give your client an editor on the site itself. In Siteshare they open their own site with /edit at the end of the address, point at what should change or ask for it, and see the change in a draft on the real site. Before anything goes live it builds on a clean copy; then it’s one commit on main, and your host takes it from there.
When we’re not the answer
If your content goes to several channels, or the site is a large catalogue or shop with hundreds of products, use a CMS. Siteshare has no database for content on purpose: your code stays the content model.
Questions
Can a client edit a website without a CMS?
Yes. An editor on the site itself, such as Siteshare, changes the code where the content is, with drafts, a build check and limits per client.
When should I use a headless CMS like Sanity or Storyblok?
When the same content goes to more than one place, such as a website, an app and a newsletter, or when editors manage large amounts of structured content with workflows of their own.
What about a Git-based CMS like Pages CMS, Decap or TinaCMS?
A good fit when the content already sits in Markdown, JSON or YAML files, such as a blog or a list of events, and you're happy to describe each field.
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