In today’s digital landscape, Content Management Systems (CMS) are fundamental tools for companies looking to strengthen their online presence. While many CMS platforms are similar at their core, there are also significant differences. Choosing an editor-friendly system that fits your company or organisation can be the difference between seamless productivity and unnecessary complications. With the right CMS, businesses can easily update, manage and optimise their websites to better meet customer needs.
Editor-friendly CMS platforms can boost efficiency by reducing technical barriers for those responsible for content management. Tools like Optimizely, Sanity and Webflow have become popular for their flexibility and customisation options. Each offers unique strengths suitable for different organisations. In this article, we focus on how we work to create editor-friendly CMS experiences and why different platforms suit different needs.
The Importance of an Editor-Friendly CMS
An editor-friendly CMS is essential for meeting the fast-changing demands of both users and businesses. Editors must be able to smoothly manage content for websites and other channels. However, this aspect isn’t always prioritised when organisations choose a CMS. A well-functioning and easy-to-use CMS saves time, increases content control, and makes work more enjoyable. These are all good reasons to consider editor-friendliness when choosing and building a CMS. Most likely, customers will appreciate content more when editors can focus on the message rather than wrestling with the system.
We know many web editors wear many hats at work, which often means handling a wide range of tasks and tools. That’s why at ted&gustaf, we put a strong emphasis on editor-friendliness.
Focus on the Editor
When building and maintaining a website, UX, design and development usually get most of the attention. But for us, the editor perspective is just as important. A CMS that is hard to navigate and work with will eventually lead to issues. In the short term, editors may waste time searching for functions and trying to understand the system. They may need extra support, leading to delays and frustration. In the long run, motivation to work with content may drop if the CMS feels messy and difficult. When we at ted&gustaf build and manage websites, we always keep editors in mind – after all, they are the ones who bring content to life for the end user.
How We Create a Great Editor Experience
Depending on your organisation, there are different conditions for improving the editor experience. We often talk about the "editor experience" in the same way we discuss customer UX. Larger organisations usually have more resources to invest in good editorial workflows, while smaller teams may have limited capacity. Organisation size, number of editors, and markets all influence how we simplify things for editors. At ted&gustaf, we focus on five key areas to ensure a great editor experience:
-
Helpful Texts in the Interface This is often underrated when building an editor-friendly CMS. Developers may write technically correct tooltips, but they don’t always help. Well-written helper texts from an editorial perspective can dramatically improve workflows.
-
Logical Order of Properties From a technical perspective, the order of fields doesn’t matter. But for editors, a logical content structure in the CMS makes everyday tasks faster and easier.
-
Editor Testing All Content and Features Whether it’s a brand-new website or a new module, having a non-developer test as much as possible is extremely valuable. We often provide minimal instructions to testers to ensure we capture real user reactions to the editorial experience.
-
Editor Guides Guides are especially helpful over time. Having documentation on page types, content blocks and features can save time and reduce frustration. It also helps both editors and developers when troubleshooting.
-
Support with Editorial Backgrounds We’ve taken the editor experience to a new level. Our dedicated support team includes people with editorial experience. Via our support portal, editors get answers from people who speak their language and understand their needs.
Why Our Method Works
Simply put: in the five steps above, we always involve someone who isn’t a developer or designer. Involving an actual editor helps uncover issues others might miss. Catching and correcting these things is key to a smooth and enjoyable editorial experience.
Using one or more of these methods will save time and money in the long run. With 15 years of experience building and managing websites, we’re confident in that.
Editor-Favourite Features
We asked our support team which features editors love the most. Here are a few highlights:
-
Reusable blocks – Create content blocks that can easily be reused across multiple pages.
-
On-page editing mode – See exactly how the content will look (also known as WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get).
-
Simple redirect tool – Avoid needing developer help for basic redirects.
-
Internal review features – Easily send unpublished pages to stakeholders without editor access – great for reports or sensitive content.
-
Content traceability – For instance, if a policy is updated, it should be easy to locate all instances of that policy across the site.
-
Simple language handling – Especially useful for multilingual sites.
-
Project publishing – Publish multiple blocks and pages at once instead of one-by-one.
-
A/B testing – Ideal for content creators optimising user experience and performance.
Benefits of User-Friendly Interfaces
User-friendly CMS interfaces are designed to support content creation and management without requiring technical skills in HTML or CSS. These interfaces are often browser-based, allowing editors to work from anywhere. Drag-and-drop editors make content organisation intuitive, encouraging creativity and simplifying workflows. These systems also support collaboration by allowing multiple editors to work simultaneously. Thanks to WYSIWYG tools, even users with limited technical experience can build professional and functional pages.
A Long-Term Strategy for Digital Presence
With a user-friendly CMS, it becomes easier to produce high-quality, relevant content. And the higher the content quality, the longer your site will remain valuable. A longer-lasting, relevant site is our definition of sustainability in web development. A positive editor experience leads to longer website life.
Increased Productivity and Efficiency
An editor-friendly CMS significantly boosts productivity. Automating publication and content editing processes frees up time for more creative and valuable work. A headless CMS that allows content to be used across channels increases efficiency even further.
An Editor-Friendly CMS Drives Business
A great CMS improves visibility and traffic through better SEO and streamlines the content management process. Reducing manual work and simplifying the editorial workflow ultimately impacts the bottom line. Editors who understand how to work efficiently with content help drive long-term value.
Less Friction = More Joy
A well-designed CMS makes content work more enjoyable, which inevitably improves the end result. Less friction leads to better output.
Four CMS We Know Well
As a digital agency, we’ve built and maintained websites using many CMS platforms. While we can work with most, we have deep experience with four in particular:
- Optimizely A versatile and powerful CMS that blends traditional content management with e-commerce capabilities. Designed for omnichannel distribution, it delivers consistent, personalised experiences across devices and platforms. Optimizely excels at content traceability, language handling and reusable blocks. It has a slightly steeper learning curve but becomes highly efficient once mastered.
- Sanity Sanity is a headless CMS that separates content from presentation. This allows for centralised content management across multiple channels, reducing duplication and ensuring consistency. It saves time and supports editorial confidence by keeping messaging aligned across platforms.
- Webflow Webflow combines design freedom with CMS functionality, making it a favourite among designers and content creators. Non-developers can build pages using intuitive drag-and-drop tools. It reduces reliance on developers, ideal for small teams or companies with limited technical resources. At ted&gustaf, we sometimes use Webflow to quickly prototype or pressure-test new brand or concept ideas.
- Umbraco An award-winning open-source CMS known for its flexibility and clean interface. Umbraco lets editors manage content easily without templates limiting creativity. It integrates well with various systems and offers powerful tools for structuring content. A large and active community supports its growth and functionality.
What to Consider When Choosing a CMS
Editor usability and efficient content management are crucial when selecting a CMS. The ideal system should also support digital asset management and reuse. Things to consider include:
-
How many editors will be working with the content?
-
How many countries and languages will the site serve?
-
Should the CMS support multiple permission levels?
-
How flexible should the design be for content blocks and page types?
-
Should the same content be published across several channels?
Summary
To create engaging content, editors need time and focus. The CMS should simply work. At ted&gustaf, we see the editor experience as central to both maintenance and development. Our approach includes involving people who are neither designers nor developers – just editors – to uncover and address real pain points in everyday use.