Content Management Software (CMS) Website Design
from Letchworth Web Designers Epsilis - covering Hertfordshire (Herts)

Regular updates to your website are a good way of getting the best return on your investment. They keep it fresh and up to date for your visitors and tell the search engines that your site is worth checking on more regularly. However maintaining the content of a website does require a level of technical skill and knowledge.

Why have content management software (CMS) on my website?

A Content Management system is designed to make it easier for you to make updates to your website yourself.

The benefits include:

Instant updates - whenever you need them, creating competitive advantage
Control - you are in control, not an independent web designer or IT department
Cost Reduction - no paying out for all those regular maintenance changes to your website to keep it fresh and up to date
Ease of use (relatively) - expert internet or website programming skills are not required but some basic understanding is helpful (see below)
Consistancy - maintain the look and feel of your website with a variety of web site content authors
Accountability - your staff can be responsible for their own information

Easy to use?

A Content Management Software (CMS) is intended to make it easier to update a web site for non-technical people by hiding most of the programming side of websites. However it is fair to say some understanding of the basics of HTML and what makes a good web page is required so that the website is properly maintained (from the point of view of Search Engine Optimisation, Disability Accessibility and to keep the website healthy and efficient).

If you would like a demonstration of Website Content Management System in action please ask.

Copy and Paste: There can also be issues resulting from creating copy elsewhere and pasting it into the CMS as hidden formating code may also be copied (or created by the conversion process from, say Word, to HTML). So it is helpful to have a working understanding of basic HTML and often best to take unformatted copy and do the formatting within the Content Management System.

Graphics and Photos: Whilst the CMS will let you add images to your website they will not fully prepare the images for you. So you will need to understand how to prepare images in terms of resizing them and optimising them for use on the web. This will require access to specialist image manipulation software.

Can a CMS be added into an existing website?

Generally speaking rather than integrate a content management system (CMS) into an existing web sites it is easier to start again with a new web page template but it is normally possible to reuse the content. However it would seem to be a good opportunity to review and update your website content and give your site a fresh look.

Which content management system (CMS)?

There are many CMS systems available, some are specific to a particular web design company, some are generic and widely used by many web designers. We no longer develop our own content management system (epecentre) - we now use the widely available open source CMS system DRUPAL.

This gives customers the significant benefits of

not being tied into a CMS maintained by one company plus
a wealth of features and addons available provided by the community maintaining the CMS

Limitations of content management systems (CMS)

Content Management Systems are software and data base driven systems, the page content is extracted from the database and placed on the web pages according to parameters within the software. This tends to be:

limiting in terms of web designs and layouts that are practical
not very flexible in terms of what you can do on the web pages
not ideal for search engine optimisation
not very good with disability accessibility issues
can result in slower page loading

Summary

A Content Management System (CMS) can be a good solution for many people whose websites need regular updating and have new content added frequently (such as News Articles, Cases Studies, Announcements, Job Adverts ...).

However please do not imagine they are without their problems and limitations. To effectively maintain a website with a CMS you will need some understanding of the basics of HTML and Search Engine Optimisation. These skills can be relatively easily learnt for most people who have an aptitude for learning different computing skills but may be a problem for people who have no interest in understanding the basics of website maintenance.

A Content Management System does not remove the need to have some understanding of the workings of web sites and will not do search engine optimisation for you automatically.

If you want to update your website regularly (ie at least once a month) and you have the desire to learn some HTML basics then a CMS may work well for you. On the other hand, if you are unlikely to update your website regularly or feel apprehensive about learning some basic web design skills, you are likely to have difficulty using a CMS so I would suggest you do not go down this path but leave your website maintenance to a professional web designer.

If you are unsure and would like to see what it might be like to use a Content Management System to see if it is right for you I would be happy to give you a CMS demonstration.

Regards

Michael Spencer, Managing Director.
michael@epsilis.co.uk
Epsilis - Website Designers
47 Farthing Drive
Letchworth Garden City
Hertfordshire (Herts)
SG6 2TR
UK

"The Content Management System has proved a rapid and effective system for managing the site. It allows us to make our own day-to-day changes by editing text, changing and inserting tables and images, as required. Routine control of the site remains with us but at the same time, there is telephone support as and when needed."

David Gould,The Morrisby Organisation

Need help with a CMS based website?

Call Michael Spencer on 01462 674840 or email

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