Do you need a website content management system?

Clients sometimes ask me if there’s a way to update website content on their own. Obviously,  they’re trying to eliminate the cost of hiring a web designer to make the updates for them. Most of my clients who make this request have little or no knowledge of website design and maintenance and are unfamiliar with how to upload files to their web server.

A website content management system, or Web CMS, is a software application that allows people without knowledge of website programming to make changes to their website and upload the files. When clients ask if they should get a Web CMS, the answer I give is ‘maybe'.

Whether or not a Web CMS will work for a business depends on it’s cost, the learning curve associated with getting it up and running, and how large and complex the website is. 

The cost of a Web CMS ranges from free at the low end, a couple of thousand dollars midrange, to hundreds of thousands of dollars at the high end. I’ve read reviews of free Web CMS programs that are very good although somewhat limited in functionality compared to their paid counterparts. Simple changes can also be made with a text editor like Notepad if one knows how to recognize html tags and upload files to the server.

Although designed for non-technical people, there’s a learning curve associated with using any Web CMS. This learning curve can last anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes or longer. If a client doesn’t have technical expertise, I usually suggest they hire a webmaster to help with setup.

Before you purchase a Web CMS, ask the following:

• Do you have a large website, 10 or more pages?
• Are you changing content frequently? Example: e-commerce 
• Are you updating the website in collaboration with others?
• Do you have confidence to setup the software on your own?

If the answers to these questions are all ‘yes’, a Web CMS would be a good idea. If the answer to any one question is ‘no’, you might want to rethink the idea of a Web CMS. Paying a webmaster to make limited and infrequent updates may be more economical and time saving in the end.