The Benefits of a Solid Content Management System

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.

  * 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 Joomla! and WordPress. 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.

If you're considering moving your own site to a CMS or building a new site with one but aren't yet sure of the benefits, here's a quick list:

  * 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 never
    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.

  * 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, Joomla! or WordPress, 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 therefore somewhat limited in flexibility (although for most sites WordPress is a solid solution - even when you don't need a blog). Joomla! 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.

Mike Tekula is the president of Unstuck Digital, a Web Design and Search Marketing agency located in Long Island, NY.
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com