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Newsletter - Content Management
Welcome to the third installment of the monthly MWI email newsletter. There are currently 1,351 subscribers. Subscribing is as easy as a visit to MWI's website at www.mwi.com, and unsubscribing is as easy as replying to this email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
CONTENT MANAGEMENT
You may have heard about "content management" but don't know exactly what people mean when they use the words. There are indeed many different meanings, and we're going to help you understand it all, right here. But first of all, lets lay down some ground rules. When we say "content" we mostly mean text on a website. For example, if you look at an article on Connect Magazines's website you'll see some graphics at the top, the article text, an ad banner and other assorted graphics. The content is the article itself, not the other graphics. Now if there were a photo placed within the text of the article, we would refer to that photo as being part of the content as well. Ok, lets proceed.
WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN'T CONTENT MANAGEMENT?
The answer to that question is "it depends on who you ask." At the simplest level, content management is managing content. If you skipped the first paragraph of this topic then go back and read our definition of what "content" is.
Therefore, using software like Frontpage (don't do it!) could be referred to as content management, but most people would not recognize Frontpage as a content management tool. There is also Macromedia Contribute which is similar to Frontpage but much better. Still, it is on the same level as Frontpage, is definitely not a "content management system, and I'm not sure I would agree with their statement "There is no easier way to keep web content current and relevant" (see explanation below).
WHAT IS A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM?
A content management system (also referred to by the acronym CMS) is a database-driven system used to facilitate updating a website. Because a CMS is database-driven that means less work for you. For example, lets say your CMS has a calendar module. If you create an event then it will dissappear or be archived once the date for that event passes--automatically. Macromedia Contribute would require to you to keep track of the events on your website and go and delete them yourself. This is a simple example, but this automation, applied across your entire website, can save you or your employees lots of time.
A CMS is easy to use because it doesn't require any knowledge of HTML or anything else technical. If you know how to send an email, you can use a CMS just fine. One of MWI's CMS clients has non-technical high-school interns updating their site. It takes them just a few hours per week to perform what would otherwise be a full-time job.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Some CMS solutions are very cheap or free while others cost upwards of $150,000 for the system, and 3-4 times that to implement and customize. What accounts for the difference in price? Mostly features and quality. Basic features of a CMS might include the ability to add new sections and pages to a website, update calendars, products and services, send email newsletters as well as manage email subscribers, and control employee directories. When shopping, make sure you aren't buying more or less than you need. Small to medium-sized businesses generally don't need to spend more than $10,000 to $30,000 to implement a quality content management system.
DO I NEED A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM?
The comments we hear from our clients who come to us for a CMS commonly say things like "Every time one of our employees works on our website they mess up the design and we have to pay someone to fix it," "I'm tired of paying someone $80 an hour to update our website and waiting for three days or sometimes three weeks for them to do it," or "Our website is always out of date and no one knows how to update it." If you hear yourself or others in your company saying such things, a CMS may be a wise investment. Of course, it should provide more value than it costs. If you don't have a need to update your website more than a few times a year the cost of a CMS isn't worth it. Companies that truly benefit from a CMS generally have a need to update their website at least a few times a month.
WILL A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM RUIN MY SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS?
We get asked this question frequently enough that I wanted to put a note about it here. The answer is that it depends on how your system is built. A CMS can be built in such a way that it produces webpages that are search engine friendly and will get indexed just as well as a static page. At MWI we do this all the time, and any web developer worth their stuff can do it too. WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE?
CMS Watch is a great place to learn more about content management, or just do a search on Google. And of course if we at MWI can be of any service, just contact us at info@mwi.com.
-- Joshua Steimle, CEO
NEW TEAM MEMBERS
New employees hired since our August newsletter.
DAVE BENNION, WEB DESIGNER. In the last few years Dave has been working for Novell and then IDI Global as an HTML producer / web designer. Dave will work with MWI's creative team building out websites and assisting on Flash programming projects.
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