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What is a CMS, and does a small business need one?
A content management system is software that lets somebody edit a website's text and images without touching code. A small business needs one only to the extent it genuinely publishes: a site whose content changes twice a year gains little from a CMS and inherits its maintenance and security burden.
The honest question to ask first
Who will edit this, and how often? A business posting weekly needs a CMS. A business that changes its hours once and adds a service every second year does not, and the plugin updates, backups, and login it brings are pure cost. The instinct to ask for one is usually about not wanting to depend on anyone, which is a fair goal reached other ways.
What the overhead actually is
A database, an admin login that gets attacked automatically, plugins with their own release schedules and their own vulnerabilities, and a version of the site that can be broken by somebody pasting formatted text out of a document. None of that is a reason to avoid a CMS. It is a reason to only take it on if it earns its place.
The middle option
Content held in editable files, with the site rebuilt automatically when they change. No login to attack, no database, no plugin updates, and an owner or writer can still change wording without a developer. It suits most small business sites better than either extreme, and it is rarely offered because it is less familiar.
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