Have you time to ‘content manage’?
Content Management Systems – the perfect option for a business?
On paper at least, probably! A Content Management System (or CMS) is in it’s most simplistic terms a web based system that allows an authorised user to log in and make changes to their own website without needing to pay a web designer to do so.
We like them for two reasons. The first being that we think it’s important that a business is empowered with control over their main marketing tool so they can react appropriately as business activity demands. The second is that from a business point of view we find that we are more productive if our energies are spent on business activities other than entering content to websites, something which can be easily achieved by our customers with a little training, saving them money in the long run.
At elmnet we don’t use a third party content management system. Each one is written specifically for the customer we are working with. We find that each customer has their own individual requirements in a CMS, and these vary considerably. We’ve had customers who have needed a full sales database system with automatic emailing of delivery notes and order tracking, right through to those who need one click multiple image uploads with automatic resize and thumbnail generation. No two are the same and we think that commercially available CMS systems, good as they are, are never really a substitute for a custom coded job.
Simplicity is always the key. We’ve actually tested our CMS systems on a variety of age ranges, from an eight year old to right up to the ‘Silver Surfer’. Our guinea pigs managed to create sections, add pages and upload images, and to be honest they did a pretty good job of the whole thing! It’s all very ‘point and click’ – if you want to add a new page you click the link titled ‘Add a New Page’. If you want to upload a gallery image you click the link titled ‘Upload a Gallery Image’. Get the idea? It’s all pretty intuitive stuff – I mean if an eight year old can do it surely you can?
So, often the question isn’t ‘how difficult is it?’, it’s more ‘how much time do I have?’. As web designers we have to always bear in mind that most of our customers don’t have the luxury of sitting at a desk in front of a computer all day working on websites. It’s tough to get the right balance, but the first thing to consider isn’t necessarily what you want your content management system to do, more how much time you have to update it. We’ve had customers come to us before asking for the full works, but in reality they simply can’t find the time in their business lives to give the attention they need to their website on a week to week basis.
It’s always a balance between what you want to say, and how much time you have to tell people about it. If you’re pushed for time we can build you a low maintenance site that you’ll be able to keep up to date with the minimum of effort. If you run an office with the staff available to update a site as often as you like then of course we can build a system that will give you this facility.
And if you’re the busiest person on the planet then of course we can maintain your site for you – but wouldn’t you rather be in control?
