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The downfall of many websites
is that their content is allowed
to become out-of-date. This disappoints
visitors, who are looking for
more than the old information
they find. It is also frustrating
for the website owner, who may
not have the resources to enable
more regular updates. The facility
to update a website’s content
directly, without any reliance
on a web development partner,
is an essential tool for many
business owners. Good use of a
Content Management System (CMS)
brings clear business benefits
by improving a website’s effectiveness.
How would you benefit by using
a CMS to update your website?
What Is A Content Management System?
Unlike much IT terminology, the
definition of "content management
system" is fairly intuitive: it
is a system that enables you,
the website owner, to update your
website’s content. Most importantly,
a CMS makes it possible to change
the content on your website without
the involvement of your web designer.
How Could I Use A Content Management
System On My Website? The ability
to manage the content on your
website gives you the freedom
to publish a variety of information.
Typical uses for a CMS include
publishing: • News, announcements
and press releases • Articles
and newsletters • Product details
• Special offers • Testimonials
and case studies • Vacancies and
personnel profiles • Useful links
• Online resources and downloads
How Will I Know Whether A Content
Management System Will Benefit
Me? Various "symptoms" suggest
that you will benefit from using
a CMS: • Do you regularly ask
your web designer to update text
/ images on your website? • Are
you reliant on your web designer
to keep your website in sync with
activities elsewhere in your business,
such as new product launches,
price changes or marketing campaigns?
• Do you find that the cost of
paying your website designer to
maintain your website is getting
too high? • Are you frustrated
that some of the content on your
website is out-of-date or inaccurate?
• Do you ever miss business opportunities
by not being able to add timely
or topical content in response
to changes in your market? If
you answer "Yes" to one or more
of these questions, you should
use a CMS to update your website.
What Are The Business Benefits
Of A Content Management System?
You will benefit by implementing
a CMS for a number of reasons:
Lower website maintenance costs
The immediate benefit is financial.
Updating your own website, rather
than paying a website designer
to make changes on your behalf,
will save you money. Using a CMS
usually incurs a fixed charge
which does not vary with the number
of changes you make. Therefore,
the more you use your CMS, the
lower the "per change" cost. When
a website designer makes changes
on your behalf, they will charge
for each change and so the "per
change" cost is never reduced.
Using a Content Management System
can reduce on on-going website
costs. Timely and topical content
A CMS enables you to make immediate
changes to your website. Furthermore,
many CMS’s provide you with the
option of specifying a start and
an end date for content, which
means you can control exactly
when something appears on your
website. You might want to show
certain content at a particular
time of year, such as Christmas
or Valentine’s Day, or at a time
that coincides with a particular
event (the World Cup or a general
election, for instance). Perhaps
you have a series of events that
run regularly throughout the year:
a CMS could automatically remove
the details of each event from
your website as soon as it becomes
out-of-date. This means you would
not need to remember to update
your website a specific times
as the CMS would look after this
for you. Using a Content Management
System enables you to add timely
and topical content to your website.
Greater flexibility Once content
is added to your CMS, it can be
used in a number of places on
your website. This means you can
be more inventive with your website
and present relevant content to
your visitors in various ways.
For example, you may have a News
page, which includes all the news
stories you have published, but
also wish to show the three most
recent news stories in a side
panel on your Home page. Each
time you add a fresh story to
your website, the list of three
most recent stories and the full
list on the News page is updated
automatically. Using a Content
Management System means you can
display content on your website
more creatively, which will engage
visitors and make your website
more rewarding. Search engine
success Regularly adding fresh
content to your website will attract
search engines. New content, which
includes keywords and phrases
relevant to your market, you will
improve your chances of search
engine exposure and this will
produce a higher number of website
visitors. Using a Content Management
System to add topical content
to your website will raise your
site’s profile in search engines,
which will encourage a higher
number of visits to your website.
Ignorance is bliss A CMS removes
the need for you to understand
the technicalities of creating
web pages, while still enabling
you to add rich content to your
website such as formatted text,
tables, images and links. By hiding
this complexity, a CMS lets you
focus on the content without needing
to worry about its layout or appearance.
If you were to update your website
without using a CMS, you would
need to purchase some suitable
web editing software for your
computer and develop specific
web design skills. Using a Content
Management System means you can
update your website without needing
to install specialist software
on your computer or learn new
technical skills. How up-to-date
is your website? Are you missing
out on the benefits of using a
CMS to add fresh, innovative content
to your site? Are you paying your
website designer to make updates
on your behalf and you would prefer
to be self-sufficient? A Content
Management System is an essential
tool for many business owners
and it can improve a website’s
effectiveness by offering visitors
timely, engaging content. Perhaps
a Content Management System will
help you transform your website...
so your customers regard it as
a valuable and vibrant source
of information and you can depend
on it as a regular source of business
enquiries. Iceberg Internet provides
content management systems for
various clients. Contact us on
at http://www.iceberginternet.co.uk
for more information or to discuss
your content management requirements.
Jeremy Flight runs Iceberg Internet,
a web development business in
Derby, and he works with business
owners in the East Midlands who
want their website to contribute
effectively to their business.
Jeremy regularly writes articles
relevant to running a successful
business website and has undertaken
various speaking engagements about
website design and search engine
optimisation. He graduated from
Brunel University with a first-class
honours degree and is a qualified
Search Engine Marketer. |
