Web Design Discussion

If you need a large site that can be easily updated from any location, has internet access and needs more than one author, choose one of the many web content management systems (CMS). In my previous article I discussed 7 major benefits of a CMS and what to look for when considering building one.

Your options will depend on the purpose of your site and how complex it needs to be.

Here are the pros and cons for different web content management systems:

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If you just need a small web site with few interactive features and don’t need to make regular updates then a static html web site may be sufficient. If you intend to build a large web site with lots on content that needs to be changed constantly then consider a web content management system (CMS).

CMS Benefits

There are many different types of CMS so your decision will depend on what you want to achieve with your web site.
Here are some features to consider when looking for the most suitable CMS for your business.

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Since “content is king” on the web you need to manage it well so it can keep producing profits.

4 steps to correct web content management

1. Simple navigation

Create a navigation system that will easily allow the visitor to find relevant information. A visitor should never be more than 3 clicks away otherwise you will lose their attention and they will click away to competing web sites.

If using image rollovers make sure the image changes when you roll over it with your mouse. This shows the visitor that the link is a live one. Some sites contain image links that don’t change. This is not good practice because you don’t immediately see that it’s live and will confuse your visitors.

2. Create a site map

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If you were planning to build a site about the town or city you live in you may include pages such as:

town history
current events
business directory
town leaders
personal stories from residents
town organizations and churches

Web Site Content Guide

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Read Part 1 of Web Content Planning - Purpose

Part 2.

2. Decide on the type of web site

Informational web site

This could be a static site (not database driven) in which you occasionally update the site. The site will be kept rather small i.e.
under 100 pages so it is easy to maintain.

Content management web site

If you are planning a large site of 100s or 1000s of pages consider building a content management site.

There are 2 types of content management sites

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Web site content is even more important than web design. This is because people search the web for information and search engines spider the content on your web pages not the images.

Your content will depend on the type of web site you are designing.

Let’s say for example you are planning to build a site about the town you are living in. You would then orient your content around the topics you create for the site.

Here’s a brief breakdown on how I would begin the web site content planning process for my town:

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Ecommerce sites usually contain a number of products per page with the name of the product, its SKU number and price. This is ok for the visitor who knows what he is looking for but does not do much for the search engines or those customers that want their needs addressed before they buy.

The solution is to build a keyword focused content web page for each of your products.

Benefits of building a content web page

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