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Alphatech5
Newsletter * *
ISSUE #186
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The
Benefits of a
Solid Content Management System
By
Mike Tekula (c) 2008
In
the early days of the web most sites consisted of a
handful of HTML pages. For smaller sites, it made sense
for webmasters to use programs like Microsoft Front Page
and Macromedia (now Adobe Dreamweaver) to edit their site
templates, which usually contained the navigation, header
and footer (the "shell" of the site), and
individual pages.
The
problems?
- Messy code
These so-called What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWIG)
editors didn't always get the code right. Webmasters
almost always had to get into the back-end and tweak
the HTML source code. This took time.
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- Tedious site
updates
Edits to a site template meant every page had to be
updated and reuploaded to the web server. This took
time and used resources - especially before the days
of broadband.
- Painstaking SEO
Optimizing for search engines meant going through
every page and manually making sure your H1 (header)
and Title tags were well optimized.
- Risk of data loss
Forgetting to download the most recent version of a
site when working with multiple site editors or from
multiple locations made it easy for editors to
overwrite site updates - sometimes losing hundreds of
hours of work with one ill-advised click of the
"upload" button.
While
Adobe Dreamweaver has certainly come a long way over the
years (messy code is no longer a major problem) and
uploading an entire site to your web server doesn't take
all day anymore thanks to broadband, the other problems
and annoyances still persist when working with a straight
HTML site.
Enter the Content Management System (CMS).
Content Management Systems do what they sound like - they
help you manage your content. Essentially, a CMS allows
you to create/edit/delete your site pages without getting
into the coding side of things. For larger sites, they
also make organization easier. The content is largely
stored in a site database, which lives on a web server,
alleviating the need to back up hundreds of HTML files (if
your site is that big).
Ecommerce websites, for example, use content management
systems 99% of the time.
Blogs use them too.
While they may sound expensive and complicated, there are
several full-featured content management systems available
for free. Among the most notable are WordPress
and Drupal.
Both systems are free to download/install at your web
server, and both have been developed by an open source
community with ease of installation and use in mind.
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If
you're considering moving your site to a CMS or building a
new site with one but aren't yet sure of the benefits,
here's a quick líst:
- No need to be a
code junky
While the setup process can get somewhat technical and
customizing templates involves coding, in the long
term working with a CMS means working with less HTML/CSS
and server side scripting code. That means an easier
time for content editors and authors. It means you
don't need to rip your hair out figuring out which
HTML tag wasn't closed properly. It means you don't
need to know what an HTML tag is at all, in most
cases. This saves you a ton of time and resources in
the long term.
- On-page SEO is
built right in
SEO is a concern for every webmaster, and most content
management systems include beneficial features in this
regard. There are many available SEO plugins for
WordPress, for example, that make for well-optimized
title tags, URLs, links, etc. Once your CMS is
producing search engine friendly pages there is little
need to go back and "tweak" on-page
optimization or play with file names. This allows you
to focus on creating great content without worrying
about your on-page SEO.
- There is little
risk of losing/overwriting important files
Since site content lives mostly in the database with a
CMS, there isn't much risk of someone accidentally
overwriting a recently-updated page or losing
important files. Most site authors and editors can
work from within the CMS and don't bother
saving/uploading a file at all. This will save you
many headaches. Just be sure to back up your database
on a regular basis and before upgrading your CMS.
- The site can be
accessed/edited from any location
Most content management systems are web-based -
meaning they live entirely on your web server. The
only thing required to access/edit your site in this
case is a username/password to log in. This means you
don't need to worry about being at your computer or
carrying your site files with you when traveling.
Adding/editing/deleting site pages is a simple as
logging in and using the web-based back end to get it
done - and site updates can be published live
instantly with no need for FTP.
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- Simple site
updates don't require you to call/pay your web
developer
This alone can save most companies thousands of
dollars a year. With a content management system you
no longer need to call your web developer every time
you need to correct a spelling error or add an event
to a calendar. You can handle updates yourself or have
someone in your office - maybe even an intern - make
the change directly. The point is: it's easy. You no
longer have to pay the developer's rate for simple
updates, and you don't need to waste time
communicating the changes via phone or email and
settling invoices.
- Development costs
are cheaper for open source content management systems
If you're looking to either migrate an existing site
to a content management system or use one for a new
site, you are likely to be looking at a cheaper
project overall (depending on the level of
customization). Most of the bells and whistles are
built right into the system - so development becomes
more a task of updating the look and feel of the CMS
template than building from scratch. Of course, design
is crucial - so if you're looking for a polished site
design you'll still want to hire a solid
designer/developer, but a simple and clean site design
with moderate customization shouldn't break the bank.
There are also some very nice "out of the
box" templates and themes available for most open
source content management systems, such as the
feature-rich and attractive Thesis
theme for WordPress.
Essentially,
there are few downsides to using content management
systems, and the open source options available are very
attractive (especially the price tag). If you're
considering either of the open source solutions mentioned
in this article, WordPress or Drupal, there are a few
considerations you'll want to have in mind. Namely, keep
in mind that WordPress was designed to be a blogging
platform and is therefor somewhat limited in flexibility
(although for most sites WordPress is a solid solution -
even when you don't need a blog). Drupal offers much more
flexibility and power, but it tends to require a more
extensive and costly set up phase.
Also keep in mind that not all content management systems
are created equal. Some lesser-known content management
systems have rampant issues in search engine visibility -
such as including session IDs in all URLs - that can
render your site entirely invisible to search engines or
at least sub-par when it comes to on-page SEO. The more
popular and widely-used systems are usually a safe bet
since they've been around for years, and any such issues
will have been well hashed out at this point.
For companies operating on something of a shoestring
budget for web development, an open source content
management solution is often not only an attractive
solution but perhaps the only viable one to stay within a
budget without sacrificing the quality of your site's
infrastructure.
And to those for whom the thought of working with HTML
code causes instant panic: rest assured - with the right
CMS setup, you'll rarely need to see an HTML tag again.
About
The Author
Mike Tekula is the president of Unstuck Digital, a Web
Design and Search Marketing agency located in Long
Island, NY. UnstuckDigital.com
runs on WordPress.
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