When looking at your website it’s a good idea to look at the process of how you go about adding or editing the content. These days most websites are built around a Content Management System or CMS for short, which let users log in to the website and manage the content themselves. Previously the website would require the developer to come back and update the content as required, this would increase the costs and discourage regular updates to the site.
Modern CMS solutions give website owners incredible control over the website and its content, they allow existing content to be updated, new pages or posts to be added, as well as changing the structure of the menus. All of this can be done by the client without needing the developers time at all, this saves time and money. In reality, we see a middle ground for most clients with them editing content and asking us for support with some of the more complex sections of the CMS, this gives them the support they need but also gives them enough control over the content to freely update the site as needed.
As a web design agency we work extensively with WordPress to give our clients the control over their content that helps them to make their websites a success. Full training is given but we are also always on hand for support and training as needed.
Do you have one?
The first question then is do you have a CMS? If you do you should have had training on how to use it by your developer, for our clients all new websites include a training session covering how to log in and the basics of editing the content. We want to ensure they know how to work with it to improve the effectiveness of their new website and highlight we are always on hand for support if needed.
If you are unsure contact your developer as they will be able to tell you if you have one, which one it is and how to log in, if you don’t now is a good time to talk to them about the possibility of adding one in to give you more control over the site.
Is it working well?
Just because you have a CMS, does not mean that it’s working well for you, when reviewing the system it’s important to look at how the CMS works and integrates with your update process. We have seen it all too often, complex CMS processes that hinder rather than help when it comes to updating content on your site. The CMS should be easy to use with clear help guides to get you going, features such as an image library and draft posts can make a huge difference to how you plan in the content on your site and can take a lot of the hassle out of preparing content for blogs and news.
Some CMS setups can become stagnant by not getting updated and falling behind the times. This can make updates more cumbersome than they need to be but, more importantly, may cause your site to fall foul of Google and their SEO guidelines!
If your CMS is not working for you as well as it should talk to your developer and see if there is an update, or look at the possibility of switching to a newer system – this may be a daunting process but the time saved in maintaining the website will definitely pay back any time spent dealing with the switch.
Website Health Check Guide
This is part of our Website Health Check guide, the full version with all 10 sections is available to download for free now.
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