Editing your own website: the complete guide

The short answer

Want to change content quickly yourself, without needing a developer? Choose a system built specifically for non-technical users, where the design is protected from being broken by an accidental click. WordPress with a page builder, Webflow or a custom, simplified CMS are the common options. At Omelette du Fromage you can change content through a conversation, with a live preview, without access to the underlying code.

Table of contents

1. The short answer
2. Why a website you can edit yourself matters
3. What does it actually get you?
4. Which CMS options are there?
5. Step by step: making common changes yourself
6. What to look for in an agency
7. How Omelette du Fromage tackles it
8. Frequently asked questions

Why a website you can edit yourself matters

A website is never finished. Prices change, opening hours shift, new products are added, old content goes stale. If every change needs a developer, small changes pile up into a backlog: the site falls behind reality, and visitors see outdated information.

A website you can edit yourself prevents that. Not because a developer becomes unnecessary, bigger changes to structure or design are still a craft, but because the small, everyday changes no longer have to wait for a third party.

What does it actually get you?

Speed. A text, price or image is updated within minutes, instead of waiting days for a developer to make time.

Cost savings. Every small change through a developer takes time, and time costs money. Changing a paragraph yourself is free once the system is set up for it.

Timeliness. News, offers and current information can be updated right away, instead of only after a round of approvals with an outside party.

Independence. You don’t depend on the availability of one developer or agency for every small text change.

These benefits only apply if the system is actually built for non-technical users. A CMS with too many technical options backfires: small changes still feel like a technical project.

Which CMS options are there?

WordPress with a page builder (like Elementor) is the most widely used system in the Netherlands. With a visual editor you change text and images like in a word processor. The quality depends heavily on how the agency set up the back end: too many options in the dashboard makes it needlessly complicated.

Webflow works with an ‘Editor mode’: you click directly on text or images on the page itself and change them. Strong for brands that want a modern, fast site without working in the full design tool.

All-in-one builders like Wix or Squarespace are meant for building and managing everything yourself, including the design. Suitable if you don’t need a separate design from an agency.

A custom, simplified CMS from the agency strips away all technical options down to what you actually need: text, images and simple page changes. The advantage: the design can’t be broken by accident. Dex, the Conversational CMS by Omelette du Fromage, falls into this category, with the bonus that you make changes through a conversation instead of through fields and menus.

Step by step: making common changes yourself

The exact buttons differ per system, but the steps for the most common changes follow a similar pattern everywhere.

• Changing a text. Log in to the CMS, go to the page you want to change, click the text block you want to edit, change the text, and save or publish the change. With a visual editor this often works directly on the page itself; with a Conversational CMS like Dex you simply describe what you want to change.
• Replacing an image. Select the existing image, upload the new one, and check that it looks good on mobile and desktop before you publish.
• Adding a new page. Not every system allows this out of the box: some CMSs only give access to existing content, others also allow new pages. Where it is possible, you usually pick an existing page as a template, change the content, and publish the new page under its own name or link.
• Updating a price or opening hours. Usually the simplest kind of change: find the specific text block or field, change the number or time, and publish.
• Checking a change before it goes live. A good system shows a preview before a change is actually published, so mistakes are caught before visitors see them.

With Dex this process works a little differently: instead of clicking through menus, you say in plain language what you want to change. The system changes the content, shows the result in a live preview, and you publish yourself once you’re happy.

What to look for in an agency

Ask explicitly whether you can change content yourself after delivery, and how far that goes: only existing texts, or new pages and structure too. Also ask whether the design is protected from accidental changes, and whether training or instructions come with the delivery.

A third point that’s often forgotten: who owns the system and the content if the partnership with the agency ever ends? It’s not always relevant, but it’s a question worth asking up front.

Finally, ask what happens when a change falls outside what the system can do, for example a new section that doesn’t fit the existing templates. A good agency explains up front which changes you can make yourself and which still go through the agency, so there’s no confusion about it afterwards.

How Omelette du Fromage tackles it

Website at Omelette du Fromage consists of four parts: Web Design, Web Development, an SLA for hosting, maintenance and support, and Conversational CMS. That last part, Dex, is where editing it yourself takes concrete shape.

Instead of a dashboard with fields and menus, with Dex you have a conversation: you say what you want to change, see the result straight away in a live preview, and publish yourself when you’re happy. Dex has access to the content, but not to the code, layouts and templates that keep the site running technically. That means the design can’t break by accident, not even when someone without a technical background works on the content.

Frequently asked questions

• Why does a website you can edit yourself matter? Because a website is never finished. Prices, opening hours and content change all the time. If you can’t make changes yourself, small changes pile up into a backlog, and the site falls behind reality.
• Which system makes it easiest to edit a website yourself? That depends on what you need. WordPress with a page builder is the most common and flexible, Webflow is strong for a modern visual editor, and a custom, simplified CMS from the agency is often the easiest because it’s built specifically for non-technical users.
• Can I always add new pages myself, or only change existing texts? That differs per agency and system. Some CMSs only give access to existing content, others also allow new pages and structure. Ask about this explicitly before a website is delivered.
• Can I accidentally break the design when I change content myself? Not with a well-built system. Content and design are kept separate: you change texts and images, but you have no access to the code or templates that control the layout. Dex is explicitly set up this way.
• What is a Conversational CMS? A system where you change content through a conversation instead of through fields and menus. With Dex, the Conversational CMS by Omelette du Fromage, you say what you want to change, see the result in a live preview, and publish yourself.
• Do I get training when the system is delivered? That’s part of a good delivery, but not a given with every agency. Ask about it explicitly up front, along with a manual or instruction videos for later.