By: Scott Offord

A brief survey of today’s Web shows a wide range of complexity among websites in the small business and non-profit sector. These can include anything from a single page that acts essentially as an online business card, to complex, multi-layered sites with dozens or even hundreds of pages—and everything in between. The simplest websites may need to change only if the organization’s phone number, address, or basic message changes—in other words, seldom. More complex sites, however, may require updating on a monthly, weekly, daily, or even hourly basis. A real estate firm, for example, or a car dealership may want to update its pages every few days or even more often to provide visitors with the most timely, relevant information and to spur new sales.

The Old Way to Update: Outsource or Hire an Expert

For organizations that require frequent changes to their websites, there was a time not so long ago when the updating typically required the expertise and continuing efforts of the website development company that had first set up the site. Since the webmaster would normally charge on an hourly basis, this could become quite costly to the client if regular updates were required. Another disadvantage was that the webmaster might not be able to make a change as quickly as the client wanted.

In this old way of creating and maintaining websites, it was usual for the content and structure of webpages to be tightly intertwined. Making simple changes, like adding a paragraph of text to a page was hard for a non-technical person to accomplish. It meant finding the right file on the website, sifting through and tinkering with unfriendly HTML code, and then hoping that the changes made would not somehow break the website. Because of this, most companies did not elect to maintain their own website content.

An alternative was for the organization was to hire its own dedicated website expert, since updating was such a complex and touchy affair. Either way—hiring an expert or outsourcing the work—making frequent changes to the website was a continual drain on resources.

The trouble and expense required to make frequent or even occasional changes to websites led to some unfortunate results. For one thing, some organizations updated their sites less often than they actually wanted to. Furthermore, in many cases the development of the site itself was held back. If expanding the site seemed like a hot idea, but doing so would require frequent updating, the prospect of additional recurring expenses could throw water on the idea. Today, you can see the results of some of these decisions to delay development—unattractive websites that have little functionality by today’s standards and an “old” look because their organizations failed to keep the sites up-to-date due to the expense involved.

The New, Much Easier Way: Install a CMS System

Today, with the advent of content management systems (CMS), the problem of updating websites in a cost-effective way has been largely solved. With the installation of a CMS, virtually any employee in a firm, with relatively little training, can learn to update the site’s pages. This has several important advantages. First, most obviously, the business is no longer required to constantly allocate substantial funds simply to keep the website content fresh. Second, the site can be updated more often than previously because it is now so inexpensive to do so. Third, since updating requires little training, more than one employee can learn to perform the function, so that if one administrator is out on the road, in a business meeting, or out sick, someone else can be available to do the job. Fourth, with the work being done in-house, changes can be made more quickly than if the job were outsourced.

But there must be a catch, right? By bringing so many benefits, a CMS must surely incur a large initial and continuing cost to the firm. No, not if you engage the right web development company to install and customize your system.

It is important to understand that in this new way of creating websites, the content and structure of the website are, for the most part, separate entities. After installing the nuts and bolts of a CMS, the next step for the web developer is usually to create a custom design for the website. Because most content management systems are template-based, creating the look and feel of the website is usually easy for the web developer to do. There are many ways for the client to save money at this stage. Typically, the initial cost of the website depends heavily on how unique the client wants the site to look compared to others on the Web. At this stage of the website creation process, simple modifications to the default template can be quickly made in order to match the client’s current company brand or color scheme. If a great many changes are needed because the client desires a look and feel that requires a template to be created from the ground up, the customization process can be more involved.

One of the great advantages of a CMS is that if multiple users need access to edit the website, it does not require multiple copies of expensive propriety software to be installed on multiple computers. The system is installed on the website itself, and not on a local computer. Putting a website into a CMS does have an upfront cost, but if you shop around, it can be quite reasonable. Though some development companies charge thousands of dollars for the CMS license, other firms provide the license for free so that there is no recurring expense. In the course of just one year, you may save hundreds or thousands of dollars by using a CMS over what you would have to pay to outsource the updating of the site or to have it done by an in-house expert. The savings are most evident in the second or third year, but the CMS is likely to more than pay for itself within the first year.

The simplicity of updating a CMS website is truly remarkable. Content management systems do not require learning any new and complex software. Web pages are simply edited through any browser, which means they can be updated by anyone with the proper access level, from an office, home, or even a mobile phone! Changes to website content can be made almost instantly, and new pages can be added easily to the site. The actual editing process is similar to editing an MS Word document. If you know how to edit a Word document, you’re already halfway to where you need to be.

As a result, it is much easier to keep website content sharp and current. No matter how attractive a website may otherwise be, nothing looks more out-of-touch than a site with obviously outdated information. With a CMS system, that need never be the case. The site’s content can be kept as new and crisp as a hundred dollar bill minted five minutes ago. Furthermore—and very important—content management systems are organic. A CMS can grow and adapt to the organization’s needs. This is crucial because many websites don’t just change content. They evolve based on feedback from visitors and other indicators of effectiveness. Based on this feedback, the organization may decide to change the design of the site, for example, the way pages are organized and linked. With a CMS in place, this need not require going back to the web developer and asking for a major overhaul. Instead, deletions, additions, and other major changes can often be made in-house.

A CMS is built to be flexible for both the company it was built for, and for the web developer who installed it. Once a website is placed into a content management system, the job of the web developer is, for the most part, complete. Though there might be an occasional requirement for minor maintenance in the future, this is usually only the case if new, custom functionality needs to be added to the site. At this point, the web developer might need to step in. One great thing is that, even after the website has been launched to the public, extra modules can easily be added to increase the functionality of the basic CMS installation.

For Organizations and the Web Itself, the Advent of the CMS is a Big Step Forward

Content management systems are not for everyone. A CMS may not be necessary, for example, for a microsite or a website that will only exist for a short period of time. However, for most organizations, implementing a CMS is the right way to go. As you have learned, any firm whose website needs to be occasionally or frequently updated can benefit from a CMS. But it is especially beneficial to those who need blogging capabilities, or who have a calendar of events, a photo gallery, or some other type of regularly changing content.

Because of their efficiency and flexibility, content management systems are quickly becoming essential functions of the online marketplace. By making content management a much simpler process than ever before, these systems have greatly added to the ever-increasing value and sophistication of the uniquely powerful medium that is the World Wide Web. For most organizations vying for attention to their goods, services, and ideas, implementing a CMS in this increasingly high-octane online marketplace is a big step toward easy, flexible, and timely content management.

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About the Author: Scott Offord is the owner of Bytes and Sites, LLC, a small web development and IT consulting company in Brookfield, Wisconsin, that builds fully functional dynamic websites for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. Bytes and Sites is dedicated to delivering appealing, well-functioning, and cost-effective web solutions. To that end, the company uses a free, open-source CMS, which helps keep website development costs lower. While many development firms will charge thousands of dollars for a CMS license and hundreds of dollars per month to host a CMS, Bytes and Sites does not charge a license fee or an extra fee for hosting the system.