Search engine optimisation and marketing | E-mail marketing with newsletters
Search & REGISTER YOUR DOMAIN NAMES for $35.00 Struggling to write your website content?
Write Me a Web Page, Elsie! Want to know how to use social media to market your business? Learn Marketing with Social Media in 7 Days: Master Twitter, Linkedin & Facebook for Business |
keeping your website up-to-date
This was such a good article we thought we would repeat it on our website. Author: Reuben Jackson
Is your website out of date? Do you have a "recent news page" more than a year old? Or pictures of deleted product lines? Worse still, are you advertising old prices? Most people seldom update their website because of the cost of getting a web designer to do it. There is a more cost effective and efficient way.
What is a content management system?
Until about 2 years ago, the only way you could keep your website up to date was to either call a web designer, or try and become one yourself. The later required you to install a complicated web design program, then go back to school and learn what the words HTML and FTP meant. It soon became obvious that the average person needed a way to keep parts of their website up to date regularly, without going back to school or requiring prohibitive expense.
Content management systems were the answer, and now there are plenty to choose from. A content management system (CMS) is the name for an application that lets you quickly and easily update information or data without effecting the general design of how the information is presented.
Choosing a content management system
How do you choose the right content management system? If you search on the internet you will find prices ranging from $100 to $10000 and even higher.
Online newspapers and universities are the kind of institutions who would pay over $10000 for a content management system, something that allows hundreds of people to simultaneously update different sections of large websites. But this is overkill for most small to medium sized businesses who only want one person to update a few web pages once a month.
There are lots of solutions for about US$300 available for real estate agents and car yards, who need to keep a product gallery up to date. And many ISP's and web designers now provide an inexpensive news publishing system to keep at least one news style page up to date.
Should I install software offline or choose an online solution?
There are 2 general types of CMS available. Some you install on your own computer and use them to manage something like an image gallery offline, then publish static pages to the web.
Alternatively, online solutions allow you to make changes instantly via a web page, and often allow more interactive features like search facilities and shopping carts.
Online solutions are better for shops or websites with a lot of content to manage, or those who find installing and configuring software difficult. However, there is often an additional hosting fee for the service. Offline solutions will generally require you to configure your FTP settings, but are a little cheaper to purchase and use as they are compatible with most cheaper hosting providers, and don't have any ongoing costs. Read about Contribute, offline content management software >>
Easy to use web design software can be a good offline CMS. Many people have heard about Dreamweaver, an excellent design program for professionals, but it can be daunting for the average person to get started. Common programs like MS FrontPage or even MS Word, can help you update some pages in your website.
FrontPage has facilities to keep the information content separated from the design, and ability to upload your changes to your website without understanding what FTP is. It also allows you to add a few interactive features to your web page, but only if your ISP supports it. The downside of FrontPage is that it doesn't always like working with pre-existing designs, and might reformat your page, inserting margins and gaps between images.
MS Word has a "save as HTML" feature, that allows you to create an HTML page. However, the design capabilities are limited, often the page can't be viewed by Netscape users, and you might need help learning how to upload the changed files. Word is not good for designing your home page, but it is good for a cost effective way of publishing content when the information is more important than your brand.
There are also lots of pre built applications for many common industries. Try searching google for "content management" and your industry, eg "cars" or "houses" or "gallery".
Online content management systems
Online CMS are a great way to update your website quickly via your web browser, with the added bonus of interactive features for your website. Interactive features might include a shopping basket, chat group, password security or a search facility. Online CMS can often be easier to use and don't require any installation or configuration, and those that do, will normally be done for you by your ISP or web designer. A good CMS will let you update content on your pages without affecting the design. Some online CMS also provide website building wizards and graphical templates to help you get create your first website, without having to pay a web designer.
Getting something special
If you have very specific needs, e.g. you want to get a database online, then you will need to contact a web developer to custom build a CMS for you. This can cost from $1000 - $10000 in most cases, depending on the complexity of your needs. A custom built system is normally easier to use, and more helpful to your business process, having been developed for your specific needs. A custom solution also delivers a more personalised and customer friendly experience via your website. A standard solution might involve a customer registration process, that allows them to login and search a database, perhaps contributing data and photos to the database or just placing orders.
You should contact an experienced web development company, and check their portfolio for similar database oriented projects as your own.
Home businesses can list their details online in the FREE home business directory, and sign up for a monthly update through "The Buzz" eLetter.
Put more fun and success into your home business by visiting www.homebizbuzz.co.nz
Subscribe to Webtrix's irregular
newsletters
- you will receive a report on 'Why Do Some Headlines Fail?'
...or follow us on Twitter here...
...or read our Web Tricks blog!
Full of tips and articles for your websites and email newsletters, books to read and much more.