Postingan
People expect more from the Internet these days. Just 5 years ago, having a small, information-only website was enough to be 'good.' Now, the demands have changed, and to compete with industry leaders, you need to implement a lot of new features. Fortunately, today's content management systems make that task easier than ever.
There are many advantages to using a content management system (CMS) for your new site. A CMS is basically a piece of software and a database that runs on your web server. The software has a password-protected administration area where you can make modifications to the information on your website. This simplifies the content editing process. Also, the software has optional add-ons which are relatively easy to install, but provide powerful functionality, like spam prevention, e-commerce, Google Analytics, and more.
One way to visualize a CMS is to picture it as a foundation to build on. You build up your functionality with add-ons and dress it up with the appropriate design and styling. There are lots of reasons to use a CMS, but here are the best ones:
* Update your site's content without ever talking to your webmaster. A lot of the frustration in maintaining a website is the response time of the average web maintenance request. With a CMS, there's no reason to talk to your webmaster for routine updates - just log in to your administration area, click the page you want to change, make your changes, and click 'Save.' It's all done! If you'd like to add a new page, the process is similar in complexity (or should I say, simplicity). No more waiting on important updates to your content - now you can do it from any computer with Internet access.
* Add powerful applications and plug-ins with only a few clicks. Note the 'share' buttons at the bottom of this page. From the time I thought ?Hey, I should add those little social networking buttons to the bottom of my pages, to the time that they were there, was about 30 seconds. I just typed in 'social buttons' on the plug-in finder, clicked 'install' on the popular package, and it was automatically downloaded to my web server, installed, and activated, just like that. The same is true for analytics software, spam-blocking apps, and many other useful plug-ins. These add value by allowing your visitors to easily share your website with their network, and save you time by weeding out the spam comments. There are tons of different plug-ins, for just about everything you can think of, and the right combination can really make your website perform at its best.
* Google L-O-V-E-S a CMS. Typically, a site with a CMS is updated more frequently than a static site. Since search engines love to index fresh content, it will return more quickly to your site to see what new information you have to offer. To make sure that your pages are easily indexed, I recommend installing the SEO plug-in or module to clean up your URLs, among other things. The SEO plug-in will convert a typical dynamic URL like "http://www.examplesite.com/?=node_22?=story to something nice like http://www.examplesite.com/great-article-title.
* Blogging is a snap. All of the big CMSs have blogging capabilities built in that allow you to easily post new articles and entries. This is a necessity for companies big and small. By providing that fresh content, search engines will like you more, and you can position your company as an industry expert. Blogging is very good for business.
* E-Commerce is fully supported - and encouraged! Joomla's VirtueMart extension is one of the most widely used shopping carts because it's secure, efficient, and fully customizable. It plugs into your Joomla-based website, and provides a full-featured shopping cart and checkout system for your customers, as well as inventory and order management systems to help you manage your products more effectively.
In summary, a Web 2.0 CMS is an excellent foundation to build your next website on. Its expandability, reliability, and capabilities can really make life easier for your office, and demonstrates to your customers that you take your business seriously. If you have and questions or comments about anything in this article, please feel free to contact me - tony[at]vanivo[dot]com.
There are many advantages to using a content management system (CMS) for your new site. A CMS is basically a piece of software and a database that runs on your web server. The software has a password-protected administration area where you can make modifications to the information on your website. This simplifies the content editing process. Also, the software has optional add-ons which are relatively easy to install, but provide powerful functionality, like spam prevention, e-commerce, Google Analytics, and more.
One way to visualize a CMS is to picture it as a foundation to build on. You build up your functionality with add-ons and dress it up with the appropriate design and styling. There are lots of reasons to use a CMS, but here are the best ones:
* Update your site's content without ever talking to your webmaster. A lot of the frustration in maintaining a website is the response time of the average web maintenance request. With a CMS, there's no reason to talk to your webmaster for routine updates - just log in to your administration area, click the page you want to change, make your changes, and click 'Save.' It's all done! If you'd like to add a new page, the process is similar in complexity (or should I say, simplicity). No more waiting on important updates to your content - now you can do it from any computer with Internet access.
* Add powerful applications and plug-ins with only a few clicks. Note the 'share' buttons at the bottom of this page. From the time I thought ?Hey, I should add those little social networking buttons to the bottom of my pages, to the time that they were there, was about 30 seconds. I just typed in 'social buttons' on the plug-in finder, clicked 'install' on the popular package, and it was automatically downloaded to my web server, installed, and activated, just like that. The same is true for analytics software, spam-blocking apps, and many other useful plug-ins. These add value by allowing your visitors to easily share your website with their network, and save you time by weeding out the spam comments. There are tons of different plug-ins, for just about everything you can think of, and the right combination can really make your website perform at its best.
* Google L-O-V-E-S a CMS. Typically, a site with a CMS is updated more frequently than a static site. Since search engines love to index fresh content, it will return more quickly to your site to see what new information you have to offer. To make sure that your pages are easily indexed, I recommend installing the SEO plug-in or module to clean up your URLs, among other things. The SEO plug-in will convert a typical dynamic URL like "http://www.examplesite.com/?=node_22?=story to something nice like http://www.examplesite.com/great-article-title.
* Blogging is a snap. All of the big CMSs have blogging capabilities built in that allow you to easily post new articles and entries. This is a necessity for companies big and small. By providing that fresh content, search engines will like you more, and you can position your company as an industry expert. Blogging is very good for business.
* E-Commerce is fully supported - and encouraged! Joomla's VirtueMart extension is one of the most widely used shopping carts because it's secure, efficient, and fully customizable. It plugs into your Joomla-based website, and provides a full-featured shopping cart and checkout system for your customers, as well as inventory and order management systems to help you manage your products more effectively.
In summary, a Web 2.0 CMS is an excellent foundation to build your next website on. Its expandability, reliability, and capabilities can really make life easier for your office, and demonstrates to your customers that you take your business seriously. If you have and questions or comments about anything in this article, please feel free to contact me - tony[at]vanivo[dot]com.
About the Author:
Internet marketing expert Tony Kau founded Vanivo, a Portland web design firm, while he is also a Portland web designer.
