A well-deployed content management solution makes publishing content simple and ensures appropriate approvals take place. But it will not generate effective content – for that, you rely on your content contributors. Use the new CMS project as an opportunity to lift the bar for website success.
The Usual Definition of “Successful” CMS Deployment
After months of work, the new website goes live, driven by a brand new content management solution. Well thought through business rules ensure content passes through the right hands before going live and search engine optimization best practices have been baked into the system. “Content contributors” are being trained en mass to use the new CMS and are quickly gaining insight into what buttons to push when. The CMS project is a success.
The Problem with this Definition
The CMS delivers on the central promise of more efficient online publication, but:
- The content being published is often repurposed from content written for off-line consumption; even when it is being created for online distribution, the writers follow the rhythms and patterns that are successful in print publications. Visitors to the site refuse to wade through the mass of information.
- Traffic from search engines spikes in the first couple of months following launch of the site then slowly deteriorates. Recently added pages get little traffic at all.
- Content authors struggle to decide what content to publish or where it should be located on the site. No one seems to have a sense of how visitors use the site.
Worst of all, the executive team questions requests for more budget for online activities because no one can show them how the cheques they wrote last year are benefiting the company.
A Different Approach to CMS Success
The conclusion of every CMS project involves content contributor training. We strongly suggest that organizations view this as an opportunity for instruction in online tactics broadly. Think of the introduction of a CMS as an opportunity for an inflection point in the business value delivered by your site.
At NLC, we provide a training package that:
- Ensures authors know how to use the CMS
- Discusses the rules for writing for online consumption
- Describes the principles of search engine optimization and provides basic guidelines for optimizing new content
- Informs authors of the power of web analytics and introduces them to the interface and basic reports of their web analytic system
- Discusses the increasing importance of social media and how best to take it into account when creating content
The end result is not just a better infrastructure for online publication – it is a leap in our clients’ capacity to achieve demonstrable online success.