CMS Myths

A new blog has been launched by a CMS development company about the failings of Content Management Systems. My experiences with CMS programs so far (3 of them) have not been positive, and neither have those of anyone else I've spoken to.

The following entry had some good advice.

Nov 26 2007, 02:42 AM
Pragmatic CMS Advice to Build On
Posted by David

On the eve of the CM Pros Summit and the Gilbane Conference on Content Management (both in Boston this week) here are a few bits of foundational advice from The CMS Myth. If you find yourself right now within 100 miles of a web CMS implementation project, consider this a quick reality check for you and your team.

“Content management” is a business process and a discipline; CMS is a software tool. You need both. But don’t equate one with the other.

If you haven’t established a clear and coherent web strategy, get one. If you don’t have a strategy, don’t get a CMS. A CMS is not a web strategy.

A CMS doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s a central part of a diverse website ecosystem. It’s frequently the glue that holds together website/marketing/analytics/other software and applications (e.g. ExactTarget, Google Analytics, CRM systems, etc.) So, think beyond the CMS.
Plan ahead and document your plans for your web CMS. And when you’re done, plan some more. There’s no such thing as too much planning before you tackle a CMS project.

All vendors say their CMS is easy to use. If you buy that, then also be prepared to invest in user training and mentoring – and potentially lots of it.

You’ve probably spent way too many hours (months?) researching CMS features, price, and other criteria. Sick of sifting through RFP responses and feature matrix comparisons? Turn instead to trusted market observers (e.g. CMSWatch, Forrester, Gartner, Gilbane) who’ve done the heavy lifting and can deliver a valid short list of CMS systems that would meet your needs.

Free the domain names!

I don't know what percentage of domain names are taken up by placeholder advertising sites, but it seems to be a pretty huge portion of them. If you've tried to register any domain names lately, you'll have discovered this. Sites like http://www.webmanagers.com/ . Can someone explain to me what "model" and "taxidermy" have to do with web management?

Personally, I think this needs to be made illegal. They are hoarding names and doing nothing of value with them. I don't know how one could implement such a rule: it would need to be phased in, but there should be something to the effect that if you don't have any non-advertising content for a certain number of months, your site can be delisted.

Another way that could make this happen without legislation is if the people who are advertising on such sites stop doing so. Seems hard to imagine that anyone buys from them. I suspect people are placing ads there via Google, etc., without realizing where their ads are going. Advertisers need to start looking more closely at where their advertising is being placed.

Associations for Webmasters

I recently started a group where Edmonton-based folks in charge of corporate/government/non-profit websites can meet to share information and strategies. One of the members asked me what associations were out there for this sort of thing on a broader scale. I wasn't able to come up with much.

Does anyone have any particular groups to suggest? Here were my initial reactions:

• I am a member of the Usability Professionals’ Association.
• For a while I was a member of the Web Analytics Association.
• There’s a Web Marketing Association, but the main thing they do is put on an annual awards event. (I’ve judged for it a couple of times).
• There is an e-Marketing Association. I had investigated it several years ago and it wasn’t much then. Not sure how much it has changed (http://www.emarketingassociation.com/ ).

I also found these links on the net. My initial reactions are noted.

• International Webmasters Association
  Looks like it is all about selling courses. They claim to have 160,000 members and over 100 chapters, but their site only lists two chapters! So something doesn’t add up.
• Webmasters Association
  Doesn’t look like much. Their site has minimal content and a very outdated style.
• American Association Of Webmasters
  An awards site only.

So what else is out there? Would anyone be interested in a genuine association to help webmasters/web managers?

TMTBOX MEDIA » Ten Rules for Web Startups

Ten Rules for Web Startups

Sound business advice from TMTBox Media. I particularly liked the comments on usability:

#5: Be User-CentricUser experience is everything. It always has been, but it’s still undervalued and under-invested in. If you don’t know user-centered design, study it. Hire people who know it. Obsess over it. Live and breathe it. Get your whole company on board. Better to iterate a hundred times to get the right feature right than to add a hundred more. The point of Ajax is that it can make a site more responsive, not that it’s sexy. Tags can make things easier to find and classify, but maybe not in your application. The point of an API is so developers can add value for users, not to impress the geeks. Don’t get sidetracked by technologies or the blog-worthiness of your next feature. Always focus on the user and all will be well.

Narrow down your target audience

Anyone with a marketing background knows that to sell effectively you need to hone in on a niche market and pitch directly to their needs. But there's always a tension between that and the desire to appeal to everybody you think could benefit from your services.

Website http://www.skootchie.com/ has found a great compromise between making their home page nothing more than a place to choose what audience you fit into while still providing that option. They do have a general overview of their service, but provide drop-down lists to make it possible to choose where you fit in, and be taken to a tightly focused marketing page.