SetSeed CMS Review

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While SetSeed can be classified as a content management system (i.e., CMS), it blends in tools commonly found in consumer-focused website builders; the result is an advanced publishing platform, usable by both Web professionals and SMBs. Almost everything you'd want out of a solution of the like is included, with a few additional and very practical applications not normally present on other systems.

Email broadcasting, multilingual capabilities, video player, live chat function, booking engine, nested folders for creating multi-tiered pages going down 4 levels (with built-in breadcrumbs), a file manager, separation of content from design (reducing the chances of you or your clients "breaking" the site's look), etc - it's all accessible within the same interface.

Speaking of accessibility, SetSeed allows its users to launch ADA-compliant websites natively, optionally allowing their visitors to toggle on this feature through the live site. While it might not be of interest to every website publisher, offering the ability to display an accessible-friendly version of your site is considered an ethical choice, and may be a requirement for some companies. It's neat that this could be accomplished relatively easily with SetSeed, to say the least.

An increasingly requested element for new websites being launched is e-commerce. Luckily, with SetSeed, an online store function is included; both physical and digital products (not to mention services) can be sold through it, and payment processing can either be conducted via the Web shop itself (using one of the integrated payment gateways) or with a third-party processor (such as PayPal) taking care of associated transactions. Since either of the two will serve your audience well, determining which will work best (or whether you should enable both) depends heavily on your preferences along with industry-specific factors & standards.

SetSeed comes stock with basic audio capabilities, and also includes a modern and mobile-optimized HTML5 video player. This means that their customers can go well beyond a single, promotional video to host/display an entire library of ad-free video content if it's their prerogative. As mentioned previously, this is done through a single user interface.

Their editors are fantastically well-structured and easy-to-use (with everything being drag-and-drop simple), allowing robust customization selections for design (empowering you to create dynamic templates directly in the browser), layout, and content; think Webflow except more text/form-based. And if extending the functionality of this (already) all-in-one CMS is a must, SetSeed does have an API for enabling programmers to create their own plugins.

Taking into account all of the above, virtually any experienced freelancer or digital marketing agency would want to get on-board, or at a minimum sign up to a free trial, which SetSeed does offer. And while we would recommend taking that first step, it's important to note that the difficulty level in eventually setting up this powerful ecosystem for live publishing is approximately intermediate. This is mainly due to SetSeed not providing a turn-key way to get a website (or several websites) up and running quickly as of yet.

To elaborate, you'd need about 30 minutes to set up your server over at Linode[dot]com (which has SetSeed's script/software package pre-installed), with step-by-step instructions delivered to your email inbox for accomplishing this task. You can host your site(s) with another provider, but Linode is a viable option for businesses of any size given their history of supporting high-traffic sites with fast load-times. Plus, you get instant SetSeed updates this way. As a side-note, SMTP server information would also need to be manually added over at Linode.

A word on their support. Briefly stated, it's amazing. SetSeed consists of a small, dedicated team of hands-on developers, designers, and marketers - all of which being open to respond to questions and, of course, assist with completing the necessary steps for getting started. Forgive the cliché, but they truly are willing to go the extra mile for their customers.

In the end, we recommend SetSeed as a strong option worth considering for nearly any type of Web professional or SMB. Be prepared to spend a little more time getting things set up initially (relative to a fully-hosted alternative), but once you do, you'll be able to enjoy one of the most extricate, unique, and scalable CMSs to power your online presence. We see SetSeed as a solid, future-proof platform and are enthusiastically looking forward to upcoming iterations of their product; with SetSeed Version 9 being just around the corner, we fortunately won't need to wait very long.