Very often when we see a request for proposal or are working with a new client to assess their needs they state that they want a content management system so that they can make their own updates. Content Management Systems work for some applications better than others so when considering if you need this here are the pros and cons of such systems:
Pro - Users can be assigned to make updates on their own via a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get, sort of) editor. This allows users to make changes to your website without having to know any HTML or coding knowledge. This very blog is an example of a content management system, which is a must because the public needs to be able to utilize this site and not have the coding knowledge in order to be successful.
Con - Have you hired your employees, or do you wish to be, a website designer or maintainer? The amount of time and expense associated with having employees learn, master and make updates is often far greater than expected. How many updates are being made? How often do these updates happen? Is there a way to automate these updates? How much is a maintenance contract to have these updates done on our behalf? All very good questions to ask when considering a CMS backend.
Pro - We don't need to rely on, or pay, some flaky web company to make our updates.
Con - Any partner that your company works with should be as reliable as any employee you could hope to hire so do the homework and get referrals to insure that your website partner can make updates within 24 hours or less or will communicate exactly what the situation is and why.
Pro - The search engines are doing a better job at indexing these sites so it doesn't matter.
Con - While this was more true, the new Google algorithm discounts sites against the "quality of experience" so template sites that rely on a generic and often duplicated style will not rank as highly as a site that is specifically designed for your business and your customer's needs and expectations.
Pro - I'm done, if you have something else to add please do so in the comments area below.
Cons - 1) Employees can make changes as they wish; good, bad, ugly, destructive or just not done correctly and subsequently not good for business. This can also include ex-employees getting into the site to do their worst.
2) There are a lot of factors in user-satisfaction, image postings, search engine optimization techniques and overall website design and interface that is knowledge your employees and your CMS provider will not be able to provide.
3) The expense of employees (the days off, the sick days, worker's comp claims and so on) is often far greater than a reputable website partner will ever be so work out a maintenance contract that allows for all the updates your business needs at a rate that makes the ROI justifiable. Monitor this contract to be sure that you are using what is needed or adjust as you need.
4) As these systems are set against templates the flexability to update the site to change with your business and your site's user preferences is limited and may require an entire site re-design instead of a simple addition to the existing layout.
5) Site security against both mal-postings and actual loss of data is far greater via these sites than it is against an individually built and hosted website due to the interface required to accommodate updates.
We do provide CMS systems at Over The Net because in some applications it is appropriate and is the best solution for the application presented. There is no prejudice in our assessments of your need and will always strive to provide the best and most effective solution to your business.
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