templatedata

One of the biggest misconceptions within organisations seems to be that the purchase and implementation of a CMS will solve content problems. CMSs solve only half the problem. They make the management of content easier but they don't ease the pain of content creation.

Let's look a few of the common complaints expressed about web content:

• Out of date
• Inaccurate
• Sparse
• Lacking in an owner
• Difficult to read
• Difficult to manage

Of these few complaints only the last can be solved by a CMS. A fully automated system that makes the entering of content easier does not make it easier to produce interesting, well-written and timely content. Someone has to take responsibility for the content, to research and write it. Only then can the CMS come into play.

"Offline" strategies need to considered in conjunction with a CMS. Some of these are:

• Ultimate responsibility assumed by someone high-up in the organisation for the production and quality of content.
• A well defined online strategy developed that addresses the needs of the organisation and the needs of the audience. If an organisation can not commit to a large-scale, content-rich website there is no point in designing one. A scaled down but accurate and interesting site is a far better solution.
• Individual job descriptions should be appraised constantly in line with the ever-changing demands of a website. Content always seems to be omitted in such appraisals. Someone's job has to officially include the production of quality web content.
• A passion for content has to be identified and nurtured. Plenty of people have a passion for cutting-edge technology but those with passion for good content are few and far between. Resources need to be assigned to the development of content development skills, not only programming skills.

There are many more that could be added to this list but you no doubt get the picture by now. Buying a CMS may solve the problem of having only a handful of individuals who can work on the content of a website. It doesn't solve the problem of actually getting the content ready to go into the CMS.