If you’re thinking about hiring the services of a web design company, you might be told to look for a CMS, or Content Management System, as part of your solution. This is a smart idea.
Past websites were done using specialized software tools like Front Page and Dreamweaver. The firm did all the work, then the files were uploaded to your webserver through FTP, and then your site went live.
However, there was one big challenge to this method – making changes of any kind required either expertise in using this very specific software or hiring the designer again. This was true whether the change that needed to be made was just a word or two, or whether you needed to put in whole new pages.
It can be expensive to hire a design firm on a piecemeal basis for updates and changes. It’s also very uncommon for a business to have any staff members with the knowledge and skill to use software tools to make changes on their own.
The more popular solution for modern webpages is using a CMS as the base for building your site. However, not everyone knows what a CMS really is, or just why it’s so much better than the older method of putting together a website.
The shortest definition says that a CMS is web based software that offers full design functionality for anyone from novices to advanced users. You’ll find that different products offer different specific functions, but that all of them offer WYSIWYG development methods similar to using a word processor, and the ability to easily and quickly edit your page, even if you’re new to page design.
The most advanced CMS offerings can be integrated with online sales, CRM facilities, product and stock management, e-learning, membership management, credit card processing and shipping utilities. In fact, those are only a few of the options available!
The real beauty of a CMS is the way it integrates all functions into a single system, making them available to any staff member who has the right access. That means that anyone on your staff could help by contributing new content or changing current content on the site – it’s all done independently, and the web design company won’t be charging your for their time.
Another great advantage of CMS use is that uploading files through FTP is no longer necessary. Since training end users to use an FTP program properly can be complex, this’ll help you save money and time.
A CMS has the ability to be used by multiple people, and since it’s web based, they can be located just about anywhere in the world. All that they need is Internet access, a user login, and a web browser.
This can be a huge productivity booster, and it’ll help you save on the cost of buying programs like Dreamweaver for every member of your staff who might need to change or add to your site.
Since a CMS is built on a central database, it’ll give you quite a few more benefits, too. This kind of searchable system separates form from function, letting you change the look and feel of your site without risk of loss of valuable data.
That central database also allows you to generate a number of different queries, and to represent information differently without building separate charts or tables by hand. All the information is in the system, and the CMS formats it the way you ask it to.
Before you start making deals with your prospective web design company, make sure you take the time to talk about CMS products. Get a live demonstration to see what you’ve been missing and how this kind of system can help you.
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December 2nd, 2008 at 5:51 pm
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