Winning Online

The other day, I was talking to a new client about a redesign for their website. We talked about her business objectives, her marketing strategy and the purpose of her site. As we started to talk about what she didn’t like about her existing site – she became exhausted just talking about how every edit had to be sent to her web company first. Then it takes over a week for a simple press release to be added to the site! In this case, the answer was very simple – It was critical that a new web site have a Content Management System.

CMS or Content Management System (CMS) is one of those buzz words that most people know they need for the site… but, does it really make sense to have one? How do you know? And then once you know, how do you know you are getting a “good” CMS?

Truthfully, if you are in the business of making money or pursuing social goals, your web site should have a Content Management System. In the “Content is King” online world, having ever-changing content is critical to bringing people back to site, becoming more searchable, and keeping users on the site when they get there. So, updating a website once a year is not acceptable. Whether its press releases, new events, blog entries or new videos we should all have at least a basic content strategy.

But I am not answering my own question! How do I know for sure that I need a CMS? I found this chart on a related post that I thought is a simple, basic guide to understanding your CMS needs:

So, start here but don’t use this as your only basis! Talk to others about their experiences, perhaps you need to revisit your web strategy… all of which will more than likely point you in the direction that you need one.

Now that you know you need a CMS for your website… where do you begin? What questions should you be asking your web company about the CMS they integrate? I’ll save the answers to this in my next post.

BM