Small businesses are shifting the way their websites are managed and taking more tasks on internally. For years large businesses have benefited from internal web developers and the ability to make rapid website changes. Small businesses have been tied to outside web designers making changes more costly and less frequent. This problem has created a new market aimed at providing small businesses with the ability to make frequent website updates on their own.
This recent change has been brought about by a strong demand for self managed website software. Packages known as content management systems (CMS) and blogging software have led the charge. These web based software packages allow users to access an administrative section of a website and update site content in an environment similar to a word processor. Changing text, styling and images are made easy, the best part of these online editors is that the changes happen immediately after being saved; no complicated transferring of files required. The hard part might be picking the software package that’s right for you.
Content management systems (CMS) were originally built to…you guessed it, manage lots of web site content. Allowing for websites to handle lots of new articles (web pages) and archive old website information. For most companies, a content management system is overkill, but for sites with fifty or more pages it may be the best solution. Editors for CMS systems are often slightly more complicated than blogging software but provide a richer feature set.
Blogging software has become very popular with simple editing features that will make your web changes a breeze. Designed with simplicity in mind, blogging software is not as feature rich as most CMS systems. Consider all of the CEOs blogging - most have minimal technical expertise. Blogging is no longer a hobby for the tech savvy, but an avenue even low tech folks can use to post their knowledge or commentary online. If you have a simple website with just a dozen or so web pages, blogging software might be the best way of managing your own content, even though your primary purpose isn’t to blog. You don’t even need to know what a blog is for the software to be useful.
It’s obvious that website content is changing more frequently nowadays, so why all the changes? Search engines consider sites that update content frequently to contain more relevant information than sites that remained unchanged for long periods. By updating page content you provide visitors with valuable new information and in the process aid in boosting your search engines rankings. Being able to update content frequently and easily is essential for good search engine placement. CMS systems and blogging software can help you make it happen.
So, what are web designers doing these days? Most software is becoming “web enabled” or “web driven” and web designers have shifted to becoming web application developers. A web application developer provides custom web based software or suggests pre-made software solutions such as blogging, CMS or online ordering packages for customers. These software solutions often require customization to reflect the company’s image. Upgrading your website with a CMS or blogging software package is less expensive than you might think. Ask a web designer for an open source solution, the software is free; you just pay for modifying the graphical look or for adding custom features. The updated content and potential increases in site traffic will be well worth the investment.
