WHAT IS A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMS)?

A Content Management System (CMS) is a web-based program or application that allows you to create, edit and manage your website content.

WHAT IS IT REALLY?

It allows web people to get out of the way and for content creators to contribute to their sites

It free up content people up to create and disseminate great content and web people to focus on developing their sites not positing updates while ensuring the standards

A web designer can create a custom design for you and then integrate it as a “theme” or “template” for the CMS being used

HOW CAN A CMS HELP?

With a Content Management System, you as a client can make updates to your own website without the need to call a “web guy”

Usually we get clients who ask for a CMS because they have finally become tired of their web guy taking way too long to make simple text changes to their website

With the right CMS and the proper instruction from your web developer, your CMS should be very simple to use and make updates to content yourself

Are you planning on making updates more than once a month?

Do you ever have time sensitive updates that require immediate publishing?

Are you comfortable paying more upfront but saving money on hourly updates over time?

WHY YOU NEED A CMS - IDENTIFY THE NEED

Time since last update

Lack of support

Out of date / in accurate information

Webmaster bottleneck

Site wide changes are tedious

WHY YOU NEED A CMS Separation of presentation and content

Design can be changed without touching the content

Content is structured and managed Content is stored as structured data

Users are managed

Limited access and roles Content is dynamic

Allows you to have the site display content based on content data or user data (think: news or events listings)

WHY YOU NEED A CMS

CMS MYTHS

CMSs are not free

CMSs are not turn key

CMSs are not a replacement for web people

CMSs are not a silver bullet

CMSs don’t fix personnel / personal problems

CMSs don’t create content or magically update it

CMSs will not fix your flawed process

SOME STATS - HIGHER ED CMS USAGE SURVEY, 2011

HIGHER ED CMS USAGE SURVEY, 2011 – CMS CHOICE

HIGHER ED CMS USAGE SURVEY, 2011 – CMS SATISFACTION