Choosing a Web Content Management System

Transcription

1 Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 1

2 WARNING: This ebook is for your personal use only. You may NOT give away, share or resell this intellectual property in any way. All Rights Reserved Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner. All rights are reserved. You may not distribute this report in any way. You may not sell it, or reprint any part of it without written consent from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 2

3 Table of Contents Introduction... 6 Chapter One: CMS Overview... 8 What is a Web Content Management System (CMS) Anyway?... 8 Why Do I Need a CMS?... 9 What Does a CMS Do? What Doesn't a CMS Do? Can t I Just Build a Site without a CMS? What Do I Need to Know about CMSs? Chapter Two: A Brief History of Web CMSs The Pre-CMS Stone Ages The CMS Pioneers Types of CMS Tools Enterprise-Level High-End Mid-Level Low-End Open Source Hosted Current Trends and Forecasts Chapter Three: Glossary of CMS Terminology Chapter Four: Defining a Content Strategy Why Content is So Important to Your Site s Success What are Your Goals for Your Content? What Kind of Content is Important Online? Who Will be Managing Your Content? Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 3

4 Time Management Tips and Tricks for Content Managers Estimating Content Costs Reassessing Your Strategy Chapter Five: Understanding Content Production What is Content Production? Questions to Ask Getting Under the Hood Chapter Six: Leveraging Content Workflow What is Content Workflow? The Content Players Why You Need Workflow Chapter Seven: Getting Support and Online Help Online Help System Online Knowledge Base/FAQs Development Community End User Community Phone Support Chat Support Social Support Online Learning Support Fees or Subscriptions Custom Development Fees Chapter Eight: CMS Demos, Videos and Presentations CMS Demos Sales Videos Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 4

5 CMS Sales Presentations A Word of Caution Chapter Nine: Creating Your Top 10 Requirements List The Traditional Approach CMS Comparison Spreadsheets A Better Approach How to Create Your Top 10 List Chapter Ten: Assessing Your Top 3-5 Vendors How to Dig Deep Meeting with the Sales Rep Chapter Eleven: Conducting a Proof of Concept (POC) Scenario A Technology-Driven Design Scenario B Requirements-Driven Design Where to Go From Here Chapter Twelve: Making the Final Selection Key Questions to Ask Communicating Your Decision Internal Communications External Communications How to Learn More Appendix A: Top 10 Myths about Content Management Systems Appendix B: Top 10 CMS Mistakes Appendix C: Key Questions Worksheet Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 5

6 Introduction I'll never forget one of the first large-scale content management projects that I worked on as a web consultant in the 1990s. The client a wellfunded startup with Ivy League team members and a seemingly infinite budget was spending over twenty million dollars on its web site and some related marketing activities. The client had selected a high-end content management system (CMS), which they planned to use for advanced functionality, robust workflows and complex access roles and user groups. The only problem was that the CMS product, which the vendor's salespeople had promised could get the job done, didn't exactly meet their business and technical requirements. After spending almost a year in the planning and design phases, the entire project came to a screeching halt during development. Ten internal employees and more than 30 consultants had spent months and months of blood, sweat and tears working on the project, only to find that the selected CMS couldn't do the job. So what went wrong? Dishonest CMS salespeople? Unrealistic expectations? Too many cooks in the kitchen? Or was it something else entirely? The problem with this particular project could be summed up in two words: poor planning. The people at this company wanted to run before they learned how to walk. Initial project requirements were hastily defined and a CMS was selected without any regard for key business needs or the actual capabilities of the product. There was no pilot or proof of concept created to test the waters or validate the product's capabilities before the team was thrown into a full-blown "iterative" design and development approach. If some of the terms and languages mentioned above don't make sense to you or if you're starting to break out in a cold sweat, never fear. This book is designed to provide a strong foundation and a clear understanding of CMS terminology and best practices, so you can avoid this type of scenario later. If this story sounds eerily familiar to you or you're already involved in Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 6

7 a CMS project, this guide will serve as a valuable reference so you can see where you've gone wrong in the past and how to avoid or correct these potentially catastrophic issues moving forward. Now that I've explained how this book can help, buckle up and let's get started Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 7

8 Chapter One: CMS Overview The CMS landscape can seem dizzying to someone who's not familiar with the industry. There are literally hundreds of web content management systems on the market today, and it's absolutely critical that you understand the different types of CMS tools and what they do. More importantly, you also need to understand exactly what you or your company wants to do, so you can narrow down your choices and determine which CMS is the best fit for you. As the old saying goes, you need to decide where you want to go before you figure out how to get there. What is a Web Content Management System (CMS) Anyway? So you might be asking, what is a Web CMS anyway? In the broadest sense, a Web CMS is software that helps web teams maintain, change, control, repurpose and publish content, including text, images, photos, videos, audio or any other piece of web content. Web CMSs are a subset of Enterprise Content Management Systems, which are more robust and involve the management of other types of data, content or processes (frequently ones that are used internally within an organization). Web content management systems just like businesses can take many forms with varying degrees of complexity. Some CMSs cost over $250,000 for the software alone (not including hundreds of thousands of dollars to be spent on design, development, customization, hardware or support costs), while others are free for the software with relatively small implementation costs. The CMS market is way too big for there to be a "one-size-fits-all" solution or a single "best" tool. In addition, different CMSs have unique strengths and weaknesses. Some CMS tools focus on making content production easier, while others excel at content syndication or distribution. However, CMS tools do share some common characteristics, features and benefits. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 8

9 Why Do I Need a CMS? Content management systems offer a wide variety of benefits, including: Faster and easier content creation and publishing, so even nontechnical people can quickly update some areas of a site without learning how to code Decentralized content production empowers multiple people within an organization to create content no more relying on one group or department for all web site updates Prebuilt functionality allows companies to include robust features without involving backend developers Complex content workflow capabilities enable different users to create, edit, approve and publish content Powerful, customizable templates allow for consistency and a professional look and feel Social media and collaboration features allow you and your users to share and interact with your content more easily User access control enables you to define who has access to your backend and front end, as well what specific permissions they have in each area Plugins, extensions and add-ons quickly add features, functionality and integration capabilities to your web site, often without extra coding or technical resources Multilingual support makes it easier to translate, publish and manage multilingual content Content syndication allows you to more easily share and distribute your content across multiple sites or platforms Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 9

10 One of the most important reasons for utilizing a content management system is that you or your in-house team can manage some of your site's content (including text and images) yourselves, without hiring an external web developer for simple changes. With a CMS, you can create or edit pages, upload images, manage online forms and add or tweak metadata. This can represent a significant cost savings to you over time although you should keep in mind that there are hidden costs if your employees are stretched too thin already, have other responsibilities or are paid more than an outside consultant. Another huge benefit of CMSs is that they usually offer a fair amount of prebuilt functionality out-of-the-box. This means that you can create basic or, in some cases, very advanced functionality and features on your website without custom-coding anything. Need a login screen or passwordprotected pages? Even the most basic content management systems will allow you to do this with a few mouse clicks. Some CMSs (particularly higher-end ones) allow content to be shared across multiple web properties. This will eliminate content redundancy, reduce duplicate efforts across departments, improve data integrity and save you time and money. What Does a CMS Do? To a certain extent, it depends upon whom you ask. If you pose this question to 10 different CMS vendors, you ll likely hear 10 different answers each one customized to highlight that particular vendor s core features and offerings. Remember that CMS tools at different levels offer drastically different features and functionality. Lower-end tools will usually focus on content production (especially the creation and editing of text), whereas higher-end and enterprise-level CMS tools offer more sophisticated features, functionality and integration capabilities. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 10

11 Read the chapters about the history of CMS tools and defining your top 10 requirements to learn more about how to assess these tools without getting overwhelmed. What Doesn't a CMS Do? Sometimes my customers will say that they re glad to be implementing a CMS, because it will make everything easier for them. This is a huge red flag to me, and I always encourage those folks to remember that a CMS is not a panacea or a magic pill. It s simply another tool in your technology arsenal, and you will likely need many other tools if you want to build, grow and sustain your business. While it s true that a content management system can improve your business in many ways, there are a few things that it cannot do: A CMS tool will not teach you HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP or any of the other development languages out there. Do not expect that you will never need to hire a web developer again particularly if you don't have these skills in-house. Most web sites, online stores, landing pages, campaigns and other online web properties will require custom coding at some point if you want to establish a firstrate web presence. Unless you plan to obtain a web development degree, take multiple web development classes or hire someone with those skills for your in-house team, you will need to outsource some work on a regular basis for most sites. A content management system will not drive traffic to your web site. After your site is built, you'll need to market your products and services both online and offline. Remember, your website is just another customer touchpoint and sales vehicle for your business. People won't magically find you just because you have a website, nor will they magically convert to become customers, members or purchasers because you're using a CMS. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 11

12 A CMS won't write better content or create better keywords and metadata. If you re not intimately familiar with search engine optimization, you will need to hire someone to do this optimization for you. A CMS will not plan your online marketing campaigns for you. Whether you re creating an blast, a banner or another online campaign, you ll most likely need to create landing pages, sales pages, confirmation pages, forms, autoresponder s and more for each campaign. While a CMS can make it easier to build all of these, you ll still need an experienced project manager, content manager or marketing manager to help you plan, develop and implement them all. Don t underestimate the amount of work needed for each campaign, and don t expect that work to go away when you use a CMS. In fact, if anything, your team may have even more work to do because the content creation process will likely be easier. A CMS will not necessarily shorten the web development lifecycle or simplify the process of building a website. You or your project manager will still need to plan realistic timeframes for strategy, design, development and deployment tasks. You ll also need to set aside time in your schedule for the many tasks associated with planning and launching a site. I highly recommend to my clients that they utilize a project manager who has experience selecting CMS tools (if you haven't selected one yet) or who has utilized your specific CMS if you've already chosen one. A CMS will not necessarily save you a ton of money initially-- particularly as it relates to content strategy, interface design, information architecture, usability, quality assurance and online marketing. However, if you choose a CMS that offers pre-built functionality and you don't have a lot of custom development requirements, you will almost always see significant cost savings for development before launch and ongoing maintenance tasks after launch. There are some exceptions to this rule, though. If you add on a lot of extensions, third-party tools or custom coding, your Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 12

13 development costs can increase again rather quickly. Simplify, simplify, simplify your requirements start small and build in more functionality once you know what you and your CMS can handle. This is the surest way to save money in your initial design and development phase and over the long run. Can t I Just Build a Site without a CMS? Sure, you could, but you d be reinventing the wheel. Why recreate functionality and features that are included in many of the most popular CMS tools out there? You ll also spend a lot more time maintaining and adding new functionality to a hard-coded site later. Trust me, there are very few reasons to build a web site 100 percent from scratch these days. (In fact, I cannot recall the last time we ve done that at my web agency.) What Do I Need to Know about CMSs? It s absolutely critical that you follow the best practices, tips and processes contained with this guide when analyzing and selecting a new CMS. You can read it cover to cover or just focus on the chapters that are relevant to your situation right now, but make sure you take the time to really absorb and understand the material. You ll avoid a lot of costly and timeconsuming mistakes, and you ll thank me for it later. Are you excited to get started? So am I! Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 13

14 Chapter Two: A Brief History of Web CMSs I m going to provide you with an understanding of how CMS tools have evolved over time before we dive into the types of content management systems on the market today. The Pre-CMS Stone Ages When I first started working in web development during the mid-1990s, we hard-coded everything using basic HTML, tables and frames. Each page had to be built individually and all of the content elements on each page were painstakingly formatted by hand using hard coding. It was an extremely tedious process and took a lot of time both to create and to update. There were numerous WYSIWYG coding tools on the market during that time, but for the most part, they created clunky code that did not render well in browsers. Standardization and best practices in web development were pretty much non-existent, and web developers spent a lot of time reinventing the wheel. As web projects grew bigger and more complex, developers and decision makers the people who controlled the budgets for web projects realized that there had to be a better way. The CMS Pioneers Luckily, industry visionaries responded to the very real challenges faced by web teams, and started laying the foundation for formal content management processes and systems. Some of the key players in the early days of Web content management systems were Interwoven, Vignette, Microsoft, RedDot and NCompass Labs. All of these companies offered WCMS tools in the mid- to late 1990s to address the significant challenges that web developers, authors, editors and publishers were experiencing. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 14

15 Although none of these early tools was as robust as the WCMSs in existence today, their popularity helped pave the way for Web content management as we know it today. Types of CMS Tools There are several kinds of CMS tools on the market, and each is geared towards businesses of a specific size and with common needs. Enterprise-Level Content management systems that fall into this category are designed for very large, multinational companies with extremely complex needs. They offer robust functionality and integration with sophisticated business processes and systems, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, large ecommerce sites and custom databases. Enterprise-level CMS tools are usually installed on a company s own server behind a secure firewall, and they normally require a significant amount of planning and customization. Examples of enterprise-level CMSs include IBM Enterprise CMS, OpenText, Microsoft SharePoint and EMC Documentum. It s not unusual for a large enterprise to spend millions of dollars on an enterprise-level CMS project, including software, hardware, design, development and implementation costs. This type of CMS typically costs hundreds of thousands of dollars or much more for the software alone, and enterprise-level CMS projects can easily take more than two years to plan and implement. High-End High-end web content management systems are geared towards larger organizations. Although their needs are not as complex as an enterprise, great care must still be taken to ensure that the CMS is capable of handling fairly complex business and technical requirements. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 15

16 High-end content management systems will often offer additional capabilities such as document management, multilingual capabilities, collaboration and integration with multiple systems and third-party tools (including social networking tools). Stellent (Oracle), Ektron and Adobe CQ (formerly Day Communique) are examples of high-end content management tools, and these projects usually involve at least 18 to 24 months of planning, development and implementation. Mid-Level Mid-sized businesses that have robust needs but a finite budget typically utilize mid-level CMS tools. While they don t offer a feature set as extensive as higher-end tools, mid-level CMSs still pack in a lot of power and are a big step up from hard coding or lower-end tools. Examples of mid-level content management systems include PaperThin CommonSpot, CrownPeak and ez Publish. Some mid-level CMSs offer both a licensed and an SAAS (web-based) version, and prices vary widely. Mid-level CMS tools typically require at least 12 months of planning, development and implementation if you want to do it correctly. Low-End Low-end CMSs are built for small companies and startups that have a limited budget. If you choose a low-end CMS, it won t include as many features or bells and whistles as higher-end tools. However, the trade-off is that low-end tools are more affordable than their pricier counterparts. There are dozens of low-end CMS tools on the market, including ExpressionEngine, eazycms, WebSite Director, Barebones CMS and Symphony. You ll usually pay a monthly fee or a low one-time fee for the software. Some low-end CMS tools use a web-based SAAS model. Plan to spend at least six to twelve months planning and implementing a low-end Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 16

17 content management system. Open Source Open-source CMS software is free and you ll have full access to the source code. You can customize it, enhance it and easily add on to the out-of-thebox features using third-party plugins, modules, components or extensions. Don t assume that open-source CMS tools are not robust. Many opensource tools can be fully customized to address sophisticated needs and complex requirements, and it s becoming more and more common for large organizations and even enterprises to utilize open-source CMSs. You ll typically find an extremely vibrant, engaged developer community for popular open-source CMS tools such as Joomla!, Drupal, Wordpress, Umbreco, OpenCMS and Alfresco. Hosted Hosted CMS tools are installed on the manufacturer s web site as a software-as-a-service (SAAS) offering. This means that you ll go to that company s web site or your own customized URL to log into the CMS via a web browser, and you can access it anywhere that you have an Internet connection. The drawback is that if you don t have a network connection, you will not be able to access or make changes to your site not good news in the case of an emergency or an urgent task. The SAAS vendor usually handles server monitoring, upgrades, patches and security issues for you. You ll pay a hefty price for this convenience, though usually in the form of a monthly fee. However, this may be a good choice for you if you need to get up and running quickly and you don t have a technical staff in-house. Examples include Agility, CrownPeak, Kintera and WebSideStory (Visual Sciences). Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 17

18 Current Trends and Forecasts As of 2012, most CMS vendors have integrated social networking and collaboration into their offerings. In addition, mobile capabilities (for both the administrative staff who will be managing content and end users who will be viewing it) have become the norm instead of the exception. Content management systems have also embraced the concept of integrated marketing, wherein content owners can tightly tie together all aspects of their marketing and sales efforts from initial search efforts to web and landing pages to online forms, marketing touchpoints, social networking, lead generation and tracking, sales and conversion. If you re not familiar with these terms and concepts, review the next chapter in this book. It contains a glossary of common CMS terminology. Another area of interest is that CMS tools at all levels are becoming more robust and are better able to compete for the business of larger organizations than was previously possible. It s not uncommon to hear about large organizations who are considering open-source CMS tools or mid-level CMS tools, and the big players in the enterprise space now have a lot more competition than they had just a few years ago. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 18

19 Chapter Three: Glossary of CMS Terminology If you plan to select, implement or utilize a web CMS, you should be familiar with some of the basic terminology and technical terms. The following list is not all-inclusive, but it will give you a good start to understanding some of the terms used in sales materials or by CMS vendors and agencies. Want to learn about more technical web development terms or online marketing terms? Subscribe to the JUMP START blog to be notified when our Web Development and Online Marketing Glossary is published in That document will contain additional definitions for a wider variety of terms, such as Flash, JavaScript, canonical URL, marketing, funnel, iframe, landing page, integrated marketing and more. 80/20 Rule The Pareto Principle commonly referred to as the 80/20 rule is a popular management principle stating that roughly 80% of the results comes from 20% of the effort. Keep this in mind when planning, developing and designing a web site or you will likely spend 80% of your time on tasks, projects or customers with little to no value. Focus on the 20% that matters and remember that you can and should measure results and refine your site on an ongoing basis after launch. Admin (Slang for Administrator) An administrator is someone who has super-powers in the back end a content management system. Typically referred to as an admin, he or she has full access to everything in the CMS. Admin Interface The back end of the CMS where you can configure your site and manage its content. You ll receive a username and password for your admin interface. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 19

20 Approver A person on the web team who is responsible for approving content within the CMS or via Author A person who writes content or creates a web page in a CMS. Back End The password-protected area or site where you log in to manage your site s content, design, functionality and other administrative functions. Back-End Development, Backend Development Do not confuse this with the back-end (admin) area of your site. The term back-end development is used to describe complex development and coding such as PHP or ASP. Beta Version A test version of a web site. It may be available to the general public or only internal reviewers, but it is made available so users can identify issues and problems before launching the real site. It s important to emphasize to users that they are part of a beta test. Beta Testers People who review a test web site in order to identify issues and problems Business Process, Business Workflow An offline or online process used by internal employees or team members within a business. Examples include requesting vacation time, sending qualified leads to a sales department and sharing documents with other team members. Some higher-end CMSs particularly enterprise-level CMS tools that are used for intranets automate or streamline these business processes through built-in or customized functionality. Not to be confused with content workflow (see separate entry within this glossary). Call to Action (CTA) The text, link, button or other content that directs users to your goal. Examples include Download this white paper now or Buy Now. Also see Conversion. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 20

21 Callouts Small ads, graphics or promotional items found on a web site (typically located in the right or left columns) Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) CSS files are used to describe the presentation (i.e. the look and feel or formatting) of an HTML document Content Anything that appears on a web page, including text, images, multimedia or functionality. A common myth is that web content only refers to text, but this is inaccurate. Content Production The act of creating or editing a page, article or other content in a CMS Content Management System (CMS) A web-based or standalone software tool that is used to store and manage content, templates, functionality, metadata and more for a web property. Content Manager A person who is responsible for ensuring that all content (including text, images, multimedia and all other content) is written, approved, loaded, reviewed and updated as needed. Content Migration Plan A document usually a spreadsheet that is used to plan and track the status of each individual page to be moved from one platform or CMS to another. Content Workflow The process by which content is created, edited, reviewed, approved and published. Most modern CMS tools allow for robust content workflow processes, including notifications that are automatically sent to authors, editors, approvers and publishers as appropriate. Not to be confused with business process or business workflow (see separate entry within this glossary). Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 21

22 Conversion A user converts when he or she reaches a goal that you have defined for a landing page, web page or online marketing campaign. Goals might include downloading a report or white paper, requesting more information, filling out a form, purchasing a product or signing up for your mailing list. Every campaign that you run should have a clear conversion goal and a clear call to action that directs people to that goal. Database An organized collection of data in digital form, typically stored within a Database Management System (DBMS) such as MySQL, SQL or Oracle. Content management systems utilize databases to store their data, such as content. Deliverable A document, file, code or other output produced during a web effort. Examples of deliverables include site maps, content migration plans, SEO reports or code. Development Refers to the act of coding a web site, but the term web development is also sometimes used as a general umbrella term to encompass all other aspects of creating and implementing a web site (i.e. design, content strategy, information architecture, business strategy, project management, etc.) Development Environment The specific hardware, software, technologies and languages being used for a site Device A PC, mobile phone, ipad or other hardware used to view or use a web site or application Domain name The URL for your web site, such as Note that a domain name consists of multiple parts, including the subdomain (www), Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 22

23 the domain name (companyabc) and the top-level domain or TLD (.com,.net,.org). Subscribe to the JUMP START blog and you ll be notified about my upcoming events about hosting and domains. Drupal A robust, open-source (free) CMS tool that is used most frequently by developers due to its power and sophistication Dynamic Content that is built on-the-fly when a user views a page, based upon certain query parameters or other backend coding. The content itself is not hard-coded into the page, but rather is assembled when the user views it. This is useful when content changes frequently or when complex, interactive functionality is desired. Editor A person who is responsible for editing pages or articles in a web site Marketing The act of targeting users via newsletters, s or announcements using an marketing tool such as Aweber, Constant Contact, Vertical Response or other marketing tools Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Web content management is a subset of enterprise content management. ECM is broader and includes all content within a large organization, including internal systems and applications. A web CMS is focused only on web sites and other web properties. Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) An ECMS is used to manage and store content for a large enterprise, including content used in internal tools and systems. Extension A plug-in or add-on for a content management system, which adds functionality to the CMS Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 23

24 Extranet A password-protected web site that is geared towards external users outside the organization, such as partners or independent sales reps Flat Site A site that does not have very many levels or deep pages. A flat site typically has first-level and second-level pages only, with very few pages at the third level and beyond (if any). Front End The public version of a site that users see in a web browser window Front-End Authoring The ability to edit pages, upload images and complete other administrative or backend functions directly from the front-end (public) version of the site without needing to go to a separate admin URL. Front-end authoring is available on many popular CMS tools. Front-End Development Front-end development is a more basic type of development than back-end development. Front-end development languages include HTML, CSS and Javascript. Not to be confused with front-end authoring. Front-End Editing See Front-End Authoring Functionality Elements of a web site that require backend coding, such as registration forms, login, checkout processes or other interactive content. Goal What you want a user to do within your site or on a specific page. Goals might include downloading a report or white paper, requesting more information, filling out a form, purchasing a product or signing up for your mailing list. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 24

25 Graphical User Interface (GUI) Pronounced gooey. Refers to a type of image-rich user interface with which a user can interact, rather than just using text commands. Hard-Coded A web site that is coded manually (sometimes referred to as from scratch or by hand ) instead of using a coding tool such as Dreamweaver or a CMS such as Joomla!, which automatically create the code for you Host The company that owns the servers where your web files live Hosting A service offered by companies that own web servers where web site files can live. Usually paid on a monthly or annual basis. HTML Hypertext Markup Language, the most popular language used to build web sites HTML Editor A type of software that a web developer or coder can use to create HTML, the code used for web sites. Examples include Textpad and Notepad, but there are many others. Images Photos, graphics, illustrations or other visual elements on a page Intranet Refers to an internal central web site or a group of internal sites that may use multiple domains. It is sometimes preceded by the term portal. Joomla! An open-source content management system that is extremely popular due to its ease of use, large number of extensions and design templates, and active developer community. JUMP START Flair s online community and blog for content managers and online Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 25

26 marketers. You ll find ebooks, webinars, audio CDs and reports in the JUMP START community. LAMP Stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP and refers to an environment that utilizes all of these technologies Landing Page A single page that is created about a specific topic, product or service. Typically does not include your site s branding or navigation, and almost always includes an opt-in form where users can download something, request more information or otherwise convert. Generally used as the destination for paid search and online marketing campaigns (including social networking and campaigns). Every product or service that you offer should have at least one landing page or often, more than one. Lead Generation The act of creating qualified leads or prospective buyers of your products and services. Various tactics can be used to generate high-quality leads, including the use of landing pages and targeted search. Maintenance The ongoing act of keeping a web site up and running after launch. There is no end date for maintenance, since all sites require some amount of monitoring, troubleshooting, fixes, enhancements or other changes after launch. Metadata Information entered into a web page s code that is used by search engines, directories and users. Includes the meta title, meta description and meta keywords. Meta Description One or two sentences that describe a page s purpose and what users can expect to learn or receive by viewing that page. Meta descriptions are coded into a page and are used by search engines and directories. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 26

27 Meta Keywords The words or phrases that users would use to search for or describe a page. Meta keywords are coded into a page and are used by search engines and directories. Meta Title The phrase or words that appear at the very top of a browser window and in organic search results. The meta title should describe the specific topic or purpose of a page, and it should include the keywords tied to that page. Meta titles are coded into a page and are used by search engines and directories. Migration Plan A spreadsheet or other document that is used to plan where content is moving as part of a migration effort (for example, when moving from one CMS to another). A good migration plan should show the page s old and new location in the site, URL, owner, approvers and status, among other things. Open Source A piece of software (including CMSs), an application, a language or another technology that can be used and modified freely by anyone. Out-of-the-Box A feature or functionality that is available as a core part of a CMS or software tool Pereto Principle A popular management principle. See 80/20 Rule. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) An Internet advertising model in which web site owners (advertisers) post an ad on a publisher s web site, then pay the publisher each time users click on that ad. Can be one of the most expensive forms of online marketing, so proceed with caution. We recommend that startups and online marketers with limited budget or experience utilize other online marketing and advertising tactics first before spending money on PPC. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 27

28 PDF A file that has been created by Adobe Acrobat or saved in Portable Document Format Permissions The capabilities that have been assigned to a user or administrator for a piece of software or a CMS, such as editing permissions, authoring permissions, viewing permissions or full administrative permissions. Permissions can typically be granted to individual users or to groups of users. Plugin An add-on or piece of software provided by a third-party company or developer to enable additional functionality or features to a CMS or other software Production Refers to the act of producing pages, images, functionality or other content. Also refers to the live version of a site. Production Environment The software, code, admin screens and other components tied to the live functioning version of a web site Production Server The computer being used for a live version of a web site Project A web site, online marketing or other initiative with a clear objective and a definitive start date and end date Project Management The act of planning, managing, controlling and monitoring a project Project Plan A document that describes a project s start and end dates, milestones, tasks, deliverables, dependencies and resources. Used by a project manager to track and monitor a project throughout its lifecycle. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 28

29 Quality Assurance (QA) The process of testing a web site s content and functionality (including links) via hands-on review and click-throughs of the site s pages and functionality Scope The features and functions required to successfully complete a web project or the work that needs to be done to deliver the desired product or result Scope Creep Creep occurs when a project s required features or functions change in the middle of a project that is, the end state or result to which stakeholders originally agreed shifts or changes after work has already begun. Avoid any kind of scope creep by carefully documenting a project s desired state, features and functions (scope) at the beginning of the effort, and handle scope creep by creating a change order to document the impact of the new request in terms of money, time and/or resources. Search-Engine Friendly URLs (SEF URLs) User-friendly versions of URLs, such as instead of SEF URLs increase page rankings for Google and other search engines or directories, and are generally preferred by users. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) The act of adjusting sites or pages to make them more attractive to search engines or directories. Can be done by adjusting a page s content, metadata, keywords and other elements; by revamping a site s overall structure, design or code; or by making other changes to conform to search algorithms or rules defined by Google and other engines/directories. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) The process of gaining traffic through free SEO efforts or paid search advertising Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 29

30 Separation of Design and Content An important concept that specifies that a site s design and content should be defined separately, via its CSS (design) and HTML (content) files Sharepoint A popular and robust CMS used by enterprises for large-scale web sites, intranets or portals Site Map A document that describes a site s high-level structure or architecture, including the first-level pages that typically appear in a main menu, secondand third-level pages within each category, utility items that normally appear in the top or upper-right section of a site and footer items that appear at the bottom of the page. Large sites may also have a full-blown site architecture document that shows all pages and functionality within the site. Social Networking Service, Social Media An online platform, site or service that allows individuals to interact and communicate with other users who share common interests, backgrounds, skills, professional connections or interpersonal social snetworks. Examples include Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Social Networking The act of interacting with other users on a social network Static Content Text, images and other content that is coded by hand and typically does not change very often. Does not involve any database calls or the creation of dynamic content on-the-fly as a user is viewing a page. Static Web Site A web site that is coded from scratch or by hand and typically contains content that does not change very frequently Syndication The act of sharing or distributing content to third-parties, as in a news feed Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 30

31 Template The file or code that defines a site s or a page s overall structure--i.e. the way that elements on the page will be presented to end users Theme Themes are used instead of templates for some CMS tools, such as Wordpress. Themes typically include multiples files (often saved as a zip archive) that define a page s or site s structure, layout and design. Third-Party An external developer or company that creates or provides code, software (such as plugins, add-ons, components, modules or extensions) or content (such as news feeds) Twitter An online social networking service and microblogging platform. Twitter users can view, send and receive text posts containing up to 140 characters ( tweets ) to other Twitter users. URL Acronym for Uniform Resource Locator. URLs allow users to find web sites on the Internet, and they most often use a format such as Use Cases A document that describes typical user processes on a web site or application, such as login, registration, creating an account or other functionality. Typically created by a business strategist or analyst, this deliverable is used by developers when building the specified functionality. Version Control The ability to view or revert to previous versions of a page Web Content Management (WCM) A web content management system allows users to create, manage, upload, edit, share and publish content for a web site. WCM also refers to the act of managing content for a web site or the field of content management as a whole. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 31

32 Web Content Management System (WCMS) A content management system that is specifically used for web content. Also see content management system. Web Property A site, application or tool owned by a company or individual. Examples include public web sites, intranet sites, password-protected extranets for partners or vendors, Facebook business pages, landing pages and custom tools or applications such as online calculators. Wordpress A popular open-source CMS and blogging tool Workflow See content workflow and business process/business workflow entries within this glossary WYSIWYG An acronym for What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get. Most modern content management systems include a WYSIWYG editor that allows non-technical users to create and edit content via a user-friendly interface that does not require any coding. Looks similar to a word processor such as Microsoft Word. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 32

33 Chapter Four: Defining a Content Strategy It s critical that you define your overall content strategy before you select a content management system for your web site or sites. You need to have a firm understanding of the scope, purpose, goals and impact of your content before you figure out how to manage it properly. In this chapter, we ll delve into why it s so critical for you to define your content strategy now, before rushing into a CMS analysis and selection effort. Why Content is So Important to Your Site s Success You ve undoubtedly heard the old adage, Content is King and for good reason. Content is the single most important element of your web site more important than design, more important than code and more important than whatever CMS you ve got running under the hood. If you don t offer engaging, informative and relevant content, users will not return to your site. Period. The Internet offers users a huge variety of options where they can find the information that they need, and most people don t have the patience to wade through cluttered, disorganized or sparse web sites that don t immediately offer real value to them. They ll come, they ll look and they ll leave if they don t find what they re seeking right away. Google recently introduced the Zero Moment of Truth concept, which describes the way that users typically shop for products and services these days. Gone are the days where people would do most of their research and education with a live person on the phone or in a bricks-and-mortar store. Instead, according to Google, the Internet has completely changed the buying process. Users now self-educate themselves by browsing the Web to learn as much as possible before interacting with a live person (if they even do so). This means that the more information that you can provide to a user about how your product or service can solve their problem, the better chance you have at making it into their short list of potential Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 33

34 solutions. Do as much as you can do teach, inform, engage and educate your users on their own time. This might include a blog, online events (such as webinars), free downloads such as ebooks or white papers, frequently asked questions or any other content that will set you apart from the competition as a trusted expert. If a user trusts that you will deliver what he or she needs in the form of valuable content, you re halfway to closing your sale. Another reason that high-value content is so critical is that it s a major consideration for search engines and directories. Your site will rank more highly if you offer relevant, engaging content that is valuable to users. This can be measured by the frequency that your content is shared (via social media or other methods) and the amount of traffic and links directed to your site. Think about what your users want and deliver it via your content. What are Your Goals for Your Content? What are you trying to accomplish with your content? In other words, what s the ultimate goal that you want to achieve with your site and related online marketing materials? Are you trying to get more traffic, generate leads or increase conversions? Make sure your content reflects those goals by focusing on the needs of your users at different stages of the buying cycle. Do you have different goals for specific user groups who visit your site? If so, that s okay in fact, it s good that you ve taken the time to identify those different user groups. Take advantage of that fact and tailor content specifically to their unique needs. They ll thank you for it by returning to your site more frequently. Keep these goals in mind when assessing different CMS tools. If your goal is to get more traffic, you ll want to look for a CMS that offers great SEO, blogging capabilities or integration with blogging tools, and social sharing. If you re trying to generate leads, you ll want a CMS that will help you create landing pages. If you re most focused on increasing conversions such as getting users to buy you ll find CMS tools that integrate with Customer Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 34

35 Relationship Management (CRM) tools and marketing tools most useful. What Kind of Content is Important Online? Online content is vastly different than print content for a few reasons. First of all, users who are viewing content online want to do it quickly and easily, without a lot of clicks or a lot of thought. Always offer content in easily digestible chunks, utilizing headings, subheadings, bulleted lists and lots of graphics. Remember, graphics are content too! When assessing CMS tools, pay particular attention to the editor that you ll be using for content creation and editing. Does it offer common formatting options and does it allow you to post different types of content, preferably from a wide range of devices? You want to make it as easy as possible for yourself or your team to post that timely article at any time whether that s from your phone, your ipad or your PC. The CMS should also allow you to easily upload, edit or manage your photos and other images via multiple devices using its digital asset manager. It s also important that you offer your content in multiple formats. While one user might like to read pages of text, others prefer more interactive formats such as videos, recorded events or webinars and social networking or blog posts. Break up your online articles or product pages with content in these other formats. Not only will your users appreciate it, but your pages will also rank much more highly with these high-value content elements. Look for a CMS that supports a wide range of content types, including multimedia, blogs and posting or sharing with social networking tools. Regardless of the format that your content takes, it s critical that it is tagged correctly for search purposes. All of your pages, images, multimedia files and other web content absolutely must be prepared and tagged with appropriate keywords and metadata in order to appear in search results so make sure that whatever CMS you choose allows this. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 35

36 The most critical requirement for your online content is that it MUST tell a story. Even the most mundane, technical or dry topic can be transformed into engaging content by making it real for your users. What s the unique value proposition that you or your company offers to them? How can you or your experience help them in real and tangible ways? Don t just spew out boring facts, figures or statistics reel them in with a story about your company, your product or your offerings. Engage them through videos, a blog, case studies, downloadable reports or other content that clearly and unequivocally demonstrates your unique voice. Don t turn your site into forgettable brochureware that looks exactly like thousands of other sites out there give them something to remember you and they ll return again and again. Who Will be Managing Your Content? Think carefully about who will be responsible for creating, editing, approving and managing your content. Depending upon the size of your team, you may or may not have a formal content workflow in place yet but in most cases, you ll want to include that on your CMS wish list so you have room to grow. Most companies handle content management, including content development or writing, in-house. However, if you don t have adequate resources to do that, make sure you choose a CMS that will allow thirdparty content managers or content developers to access it and upload content on a regular basis. In that case, you should also strive to find a CMS that supports all major browsers for both PC and Mac. Time Management Tips and Tricks for Content Managers The sheer volume of content required for most web sites even very small web sites can be overwhelming, even for the experienced web manager. This is where time management, discipline and a little bit of creativity can go a long way. If your time is limited, you ll want to search for a CMS that has robust content workflow capabilities including notifications so you and Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 36

37 other members of your team know when a piece of content is ready to be edited, approved or published. You ll also want to use an editorial calendar a planning document that lists out a schedule for your weekly, biweekly or monthly content to plan content topics in advance. Even more importantly, you ll want to make sure that your CMS allows for content scheduling in advance, so you can theoretically create all of your content for January before the late- December holiday rush. One final consideration for the time-challenged content manager is the ability to clone or duplicate pages. This is a must-have if you ll be creating a lot of web pages, forms or landing pages on a regular basis. Play around with the CMS tools on your short list to see if they ll allow you to easily duplicate pages. Estimating Content Costs Assume that it will take you or your content team at least one to two hours per page to plan, write, edit and distribute each page for approval. If you have a lot of lengthy or complicated pages of content, increase that estimate accordingly. It s easy to underestimate the effort required for content development and ongoing content management, but this is one area where you don t want to sell yourself short. Content is the most critical component of your web site, so give it the justice that it deserves and plan ample time to do it right the first time. You should also assume that it will take an experienced content manager a fair amount of time to tag and optimize your pages for SEO purposes. Usually, a good content manager or writer can do this within 10 to 15 minutes per page. If you don t have that expertise in house, you ll be wise to outsource your SEO efforts to an external agency, consulting firm or freelancer who s familiar with SEO best practices and search algorithms. Again, in that case, make sure that the CMSs that you re considering will allow you to grant those folks their own usernames and passwords for the CMS admin area. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 37

38 Finally, don t forget to plan adequate resources for ongoing content management, including web pages, landing pages, blogs and social networking accounts. Study potential CMSs to find out if your content team can update all of those via one administrative interface and via multiple devices (including mobile). Reassessing Your Strategy Even with the best planning a solid content strategy in place, most companies should revisit and reassess their overall content strategy every year or so. It can be helpful to have analytics data on hand when you re ready to reassess your content strategy, so look for a CMS that will show you how many users are coming to your site, how they re coming, how long they stay, when and where they exit, and what pages they re visiting. Many CMS tools that are currently available offer integration with Google Analytics and other popular analytics software. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 38

39 Chapter Five: Understanding Content Production When comparing CMS tools, you ll need to consider the tools that each CMS offers for content production. What is Content Production? Simply put, content production refers to creating, uploading and editing your content within your chosen content management system. Questions to Ask You should ask yourself a few questions about each tool: How and where will you create and edit pages in the CMS? Can you edit and create pages while viewing the front-end version of your site, using mobile devices or only by logging into the backend administrative site? Ideally, you should be able to do it in all three places. When you log into the backend tool, do you immediately see where you would go to create or edit pages and upload images? These are the most common nontechnical tasks that web site owners and content managers complete on a daily or weekly basis. Does the backend interface look appealing and welcoming or is it boring and flat? You ll be spending a lot of time in the backend of this CMS tool. A simple interface isn t necessarily a bad thing, but it shouldn t be ugly. What WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editor does each CMS use? Most CMS tools on the market these days use one of two editors: TinyMCE or FCKEditor. (No, that is not a typo or a profanity.) Both are sufficient and are similar to a word processing program s interface and controls. Can you customize the editor at all? For example, Joomla! offers multiple extensions or add-ons, including the very popular JCE editor that is far more robust than the out-of-the-box WYSIWYG editor. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 39

40 Can you access the source code if you don t want to work in a WYSIWYG editor and can different members of your team choose to work with different editors or directly in the code if they individually desire? Can you upload images directly within a page or article or do you need to log out of your content editor and open up a separate image manager (also known as a digital asset manager or DAM) just to upload a new image? Where and how can you load metadata? Can you define global metadata or metadata for parent and category pages? Do child pages always inherit metadata from their direct parent as the (editable) default? You want your CMS to be able to do all of these things. Getting Under the Hood You can find answers to all of the above questions by spending less than an hour under the hood of a CMS. This means that you ll log into a demo version of the administrative (backend) tool and actually use it to create or edit articles, upload images and complete other common tasks. Most CMS vendors offer a demo version on their site, along with a username and password so you can log in as an admin. Look for a Demo button on the vendor s site or call, tell them you re considering buying it and ask for access to a demo site. Note that if you create any pages or make any changes to this fake site, your changes will usually be deleted within a few hours or so. Some vendors also offer free access to a trial version for a limited time. You might not need a credit card to sign up but if you do, read the fine print and make sure that your card won t be automatically charged in 30 days or on a recurring basis. This is a great way to learn how you ll create and edit content in a particular CMS. It s also one of the best ways to determine whether a CMS will work Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 40

41 for you--but be careful to evaluate other factors as well, as described in this book. In the next chapter, I ll describe how you and others on your team can share pages using a formal content workflow process in many CMSs. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 41

42 Chapter Six: Leveraging Content Workflow Who will be writing, editing, reviewing and approving your content? How will they communicate with each other? In what format will they share files and how will they know if someone else is editing those files? A good content workflow can document answers to these questions and formalize this process, so everyone knows what they re supposed to do and when. You absolutely need a CMS with workflow capabilities, unless there is only one person on your team who manages content and you are 100% certain that you ll never add additional team members. What is Content Workflow? Each piece of content that appears on your site will need to be created, edited, approved, loaded into your CMS and published. In most cases, these tasks will be completed by more than one person, so it s important to have a formal process in place for all of the people involved. This process is called content workflow and most content management systems offer this capability. It s best to find a CMS that offers multiple roles for a content workflow (i.e. author, editor, reviewer, approver and/or publisher) AND one that includes automated notifications to each player as relevant to his or her role. It s also important that you can define and adjust these roles and the order in which they touch your content. Some people prefer to write content in Word or text files and get them approved offline before loading the content into the CMS, while others write, edit and approve within the CMS itself. Again, it s best to choose a CMS that offers notifications as part of its content workflow. For example, when John (an author) writes a piece of content and saves it into your CMS, the system should automatically send an notification to Susie (an editor) to let her know that the article needs to be edited. When Susie edits it, the CMS should automatically notify Mary (the approver) so she can give it her final blessing and hit Publish or tell another team member to publish it. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 42

43 The Content Players Authors: Content authors are responsible for writing content and (usually) loading it into a CMS. These might be writers or content managers on your team, freelancers, subject-matter experts within your organization or others. Editors: In some organizations, the original author is also responsible for editing his or her own work before it s loaded into the system. Other organizations have dedicated editors who are responsible for reviewing each content piece for spelling errors and grammatical issues or to ensure compliance with a company style guide. You can usually decide whether or not you want to include this as a dedicated role in your content workflow. Subject Matter Experts and Reviewers: Your organization may want subject-matter experts (such as product managers or division managers) to review some content before it goes live. In some CMS tools, you would set these folks up as editors or approvers. Others will allow you to create a custom role just for these types of reviewers. Approvers: A publisher or approver is ultimately responsible for completing a final review of each piece, but only after it has been reviewed and approved by other members of the content team. The system will usually provide a Publish or Approve option to people with this role. Approvers can typically author or edit content as well. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 43

44 Why You Need Workflow You may be hesitant to take the time to understand workflow capabilities of different CMS tools or implement workflow in your CMS, but make sure you do it and do it right from the outset. We don t need workflow, you might say. We re too small, We re too big or No one around here will use it anyway. Not true! In fact, most people who utilize workflow love it and can t imagine going back to their previous process. In my experience, I ve found that almost every organization can benefit from a formal workflow process that is documented and fully configured in their CMS tool. It s really not that difficult to set up in most CMSs and then it basically runs by itself. There are numerous benefits to implementing a good workflow. A good, robust workflow: Saves you time because it automates tasks that you previously had to do manually (such as calling someone and asking them to review a file or manually sending an and attachment to someone) Saves your organization money because resources (people) don t need to spend time on inefficient tasks Helps everyone on the team clearly understand his or her role Ensures that all key players are involved or informed as needed Can help you avoid future battles about page X being published without someone s consent or without proper authorization Is extremely helpful for resource and project planning purposes, so your team can better understand the people, time and effort required for each page. These translate directly into tangible costs per page. Can help to identify and alleviate bottlenecks or inefficiencies in your processes so you can quickly correct them Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 44

45 Makes your content production and approval process more efficient, particularly if the workflow includes notifications and approvals via Is quick and easy to set up set it up once and forget it (except when you re enjoying all of the time that it s saved you!) Take the time to understand and implement workflow immediately when launching your CMS. After you use it for a few days, you ll wonder how you ever survived without it! Next up: why support is a critical factor when considering content management systems. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 45

46 Chapter Seven: Getting Support and Online Help Support is one of the most important factors to consider when evaluating in a CMS. Be sure to thoroughly research various CMS companies to see if any (or preferably ALL) of the following are available to you after you purchase. Don t assume that just because there s phone support, you ll get outstanding service, documentation, instructions or assistance. Online Help System One of the definite must-haves is an area where you can go online to submit and track your support requests. This might include bug reports, feature requests, troubleshooting technical issues (including how do I? requests) or possibly enhancements needed for your site. Most commercial CMS tools have this available in your account area and have representatives monitoring incoming support tickets during regular business hours. If you choose an open-source CMS, you ll want to find an established agency that can help you implement, configure and customize the CMS or help with ongoing maintenance of your site. It s important to identify these partners before you choose a CMS you don t want to implement a CMS that does not have a readily available pool of development talent to help you with those kinds of ongoing needs. You should find a team that is familiar with that CMS and an easy way for you to contact them or track your online support requests. Online Knowledge Base/FAQs Another support option that you must have available for your chosen CMS is an online knowledge base or frequently-asked questions area where you can find solutions to support questions and issues yourself when needed. Again, this might be sponsored by the CMS vendor or a third-party (such as an agency or industry site), but it s absolutely imperative that you have this resource available to you. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 46

47 Check the following items in any knowledge bases that you find: Is the content updated frequently? By whom? Paid employees, unbiased third parties, developers, current users? All will have their own agendas when replying to questions. Consider the source when reading replies. If the content is mainly posted by employees, how many employees are posting? Just one? What if he or she gets fired? Look for a vibrant employee support community. Are the posts recent or old? Do the posts reference the current version of the CMS or an older version? If the FAQs reference multiple versions of the software, does each post clearly indicate to which version it refers? Does the knowledge base include videos, how-to instructions and screen shots that clearly show you how to resolve issues? Or just vague responses that instruct you to call someone? (Remember, that won t help you at 11:00 p.m. on a Friday night.) Is after-hours emergency contact information posted somewhere in the FAQs? Do the FAQs seem geared more towards prospects (i.e. sales questions) or current customers (how-tos, troubleshooting tips, etc.)? Steer clear of any CMS that only posts sales questions in their knowledge base. You will not get good support from them. Are instruction manuals, guides or checklists posted in the FAQs? How many different knowledge bases are out there for this particular CMS? Just the one sponsored by the vendor or other public knowledge bases? Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 47

48 Development Community Most CMSs that have been around for a while will have a vibrant development community (or 10 or 20 or 200!). Do a quick search for Sharepoint Developer Community online and you ll see hundreds (actually, thousands) of sites, blogs, organizations and online communities dedicated to educating, informing, training and exchanging knowledge with Sharepoint developers. Even if you re not a developer, the person who will be handling development and ongoing maintenance for your site will need this kind of interactive community to research best practices, get code samples or bounce ideas off of other experienced developers. You should ideally be able to find technical knowledge bases, technical documentation, technical forums and possibly online or offline events geared towards developers. Again, steer clear of a CMS that does not have at least a few dozen developer sites, blogs or online communities devoted to it. End User Community Is there a place that you ll be able to interact with other users of your chosen CMS? This might be an online community, a forum or online events or, for more popular CMSs, it could even be a real live event in your area or elsewhere. Look for an active, convenient local user group whose members can assist you and provide experienced tips and best practices about that CMS on a regular basis. Most major CMS tools will have at least one local CMS group in metropolitan areas--and sometimes many more. If you re considering a CMS, it can be extremely valuable to attend one of the meetings for that user group (usually you can attend for free or for a pretty low cost). You ll learn who is using that CMS in your area, what problems they ve experienced or are experiencing, how tech-savvy the typical business user is, if the tool is used by companies in a similar industry or market as yours, whether there are people at those meetings who would be valuable Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 48

49 mentors or peers for other members of your team and what s coming down the pipeline for that CMS. In addition to local or regional meetings or groups, you should also consider whether a CMS vendor offers an annual conference or whether there are third-party conferences about that particular tool. This will be particularly relevant if you have a complex project or environment or an inexperienced team that has never worked with a CMS in the past. Your team can learn a ton of practical, hands-on information at a three- or fourday conference that would take them weeks and weeks to learn on their own. If a CMS vendor s conference is in your immediate area or close to you, they get added points but be careful to equally consider other factors as well, such as features and technical capabilities of the tool. Phone Support While phone support is important, it s not necessarily the only customer support option you should consider. I ve worked on CMS projects where the CMS vendor had someone answering their support line during regular business hours--but nine times out of ten, that person didn t know the first thing about the CMS or wasn t able to answer technical questions because it wasn t the company s main product. It s not uncommon for CMS tools to be packaged as part of a suite or with other overlapping products offered by that same vendor, so you may not necessarily reach someone who can help you when you dial an 800 number. In that case, all of the other support methods mentioned here can prove invaluable. Ask your vendor how many support reps they have monitoring incoming calls at one time and whether they re all experts in that particular product line. Also, keep in mind that if you re considering an open-source CMS such as Joomla!, Wordpress or Drupal you will NOT find an 800 number or other phone support available from the manufacturer of that tool. This is because open-source tools are by nature created by a wide pool of volunteer talent and there are no commercial companies creating them. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 49

50 Instead, there s typically an organization (again made up of volunteers) who might offer a general contact address or phone number but this is NOT where you d go for technical support for that product. Instead, opensource CMSs offer huge, vibrant communities of developers and agencies that support them. Don t assume that you will get worse support or no phone support if you choose an open-source tool. I ve worked on large CMS projects where the commercial CMS vendor offered almost no support, while most open-source projects offer a huge, readily-available support community. Just be sure that whatever developer or agency you select for an open-source CMS effort offers great support and an experienced team who can assist you via various methods as needed. Despite the above caveats, you should still aim to have one or more phone support options available to you during business hours and after-hours for your chosen CMS. Chat Support More and more companies are offering online chat support these days, and I ve found that this can be a delightful option for CMS business users or the technical team. Have a quick question about how to do something in your chosen CMS? Or whether a feature is available? You can be chatting with someone in less than 30 seconds. It s important to recognize whether the CMS vendor or your agency offers support for sales questions or support questions. You ll need to confirm this without making any assumptions, because many companies only offer chat support about sales or billing questions, not technical support. This option can be particularly valuable to your team if you re using any offshore resources or people in different time zones, where you d otherwise rack up large phone bills. Chat support is typically available via a chat interface, link or callout on a CMS vendor s (or agency s) web site. Sometimes, they ll just provide a Skype ID and that s sufficient as well. Skype is a very popular and free instant messaging tool that works on most popular platforms, and it s the de Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 50

51 facto standard in free IM tools. It ll take you less than five minutes to set up a Skype account and you won t need to worry about anyone intruding on your day. (You can choose to ignore incoming chat requests.) Social Support Another support method that s becoming more and more popular is support via social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. If you prefer to go social, look for a CMS vendor or agency that offers online support on those social networks. Most of the time, you ll see a Twitter, Facebook or other social networking logo on their web site and you can browse recent posts to see if it s used as a support method. Online Learning Ideally, you want to have the option to view how-to and strategic videos, webinars and online classes--which should be available as on-demand, self-paced sessions and with live instruction at convenient times. These will be particularly helpful in the beginning as you re becoming familiar with the CMS. Support Fees or Subscriptions Don t be fooled by the low monthly costs touted on the CMS pricing page. In most cases, this doesn t include any support fees or support subscriptions. Browse the company s web site or support section as if you were an existing customer. Try to determine how you would request assistance or report a technical issue. If there s an online support desk, try to create a ticket to determine if the process is easy and quick. If there s an online chat function, open a new chat session during regular business hours to see if operators will be available to assist you. Don t worry about what the operators will think if you don t have a question or if you cancel the chat. If Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 51

52 you re prompted to input a credit card number or sign up for a support plan, then you probably won t get much free support from that vendor. If you do need to pay for support, find out if the vendor offers annual, monthly or pay-as-you go options. Find out if you can cancel at any time or if you need to provide advance notice. Custom Development Fees Carefully review the CMS vendor s web site to determine what they charge for custom development projects. In most cases, the rate will not be publicly listed on the site but you may luck out and find it in the FAQs or knowledge base if you re lucky. If you re working with a salesperson, ask them what the rate is, and don t be surprised if it s more than $100 or $200 per hour USD. You can also usually find this information by searching on Google or another search engine. Type in hourly rate for custom development and the name of your CMS to find this information. Keep in mind that rates change frequently and typically increase each year. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 52

53 Chapter Eight: CMS Demos, Videos and Presentations It s absolutely essential that you access a demo version of any potential CMSs so you can take a look under the hood of each tool. You or your team will probably be using the CMS very frequently to create or edit pages, so you want to make sure that the interface is intuitive and userfriendly. CMS Demos Most CMS vendors offer free video demonstrations or frequent sales demos where a representative from that company will walk you through these screens in a group or one-on-one session. Open-source CMS tools frequently provide demo versions of their administrative interface that you can access anytime. Log in, poke around and create or edit a few test pages. Does everything make sense to you and is the interface user-friendly? You most likely won t be able to attend a live demo provided by a real person if you re exploring open-source tools, but you can sometimes find videos on YouTube or the CMS web site that can serve as a demo if a real demo is not accessible. Sales Videos You ll most likely find short sales videos on a vendor s web site. These videos usually provide an overview of the product and sometimes include screen shots or high-level demonstrations of core functionality. Keep in mind that these are just intro videos, and you won t really be able to assess a tool based upon these brief walkthroughs. Some CMS vendors offer more detailed videos about each feature or function of the CMS, especially ones that are key selling points or differentiators. Again, these will usually be somewhat short and should not serve as a substitute for actually getting into a tool and exploring its feature set yourself. Still, it s a great way to become familiar with a CMS core features and differentiators. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 53

54 CMS Sales Presentations Once you narrow down your list of potential CMS tools to less than five, you ll want to schedule a live sales presentation with a sales rep from each of those companies. See chapter 10 for more information about questions to ask during those sales pitches. A Word of Caution Keep in mind that it s very easy to get sucked into a tool by all of the glitz and bells and whistles of these sales presentations, videos and demos. CMS salespeople are pros at making you believe that their CMS is the only and best tool for you, when in reality they really don t have a very deep understanding of your technical and business requirements or of other CMS tools, which constantly change and get updated. Under no circumstances should you purchase or subscribe to a CMS based solely upon these sales demos or videos! Let me repeat that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU PURCHASE OR SUBSCRIBE TO A CMS BASED SOLELY UPON THESE DEMOS, VIDEOS OR PRESENTATIONS. You still have a lot to learn about CMS tools and you need to make sure that you re thinking this decision through carefully. This ebook will help you to do just that. Instead of just going with your gut and selecting a tool after reviewing a few demos or videos, you need to think in more detail about your critical business requirements and goals, then select a CMS that aligns with those. The next few chapters will provide a step-by-step approach that you can follow. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 54

55 Chapter Nine: Creating Your Top 10 Requirements List As you research and compare content management systems, you ll quickly realize that there are a lot of factors to consider when selecting a CMS! It can seem dizzying and overwhelming at first, especially if you ve never worked with a CMS or if you re not technical. The Traditional Approach CMS Comparison Spreadsheets Often, when I start working with a new client on a CMS analysis or selection effort, he or she proudly hands me a detailed spreadsheet or pages and pages of documentation that compare every last feature and function of the CMSs being considered. Or, alternatively, the client might be completely overwhelmed after visiting one of the many online sites that allow users to compare a few different CMSs. In most cases, these sites will spit out an automated report that provides information about hundreds of specifications, features and functionality. The problem with these approaches is that they do not reflect fair or accurate assessments. In most cases, web sites with automated online CMS comparisons offer outdated or inaccurate information. Remember CMS tools change and get updated very frequently, so the data may be outdated within a matter of weeks. In addition, you ll be comparing apples to oranges in many cases if you build a comparison spreadsheet yourself. One CMS industry web site might say that CMS Tool A and CMS Tool B both offer phone support, but as we discussed in the Support chapter in this ebook that doesn t mean that the support operators at CMS Tool A s company are intimately familiar with the CMS tool if the company offers lots of other products as well. It also doesn t mean that CMS Tool B offers phone support during regular business hours in your time zone. If you re using those types of reports to create your own spreadsheet, assume that at least half of the data is outdated or inaccurate. As you re going through the process of painstakingly creating your own comparison spreadsheet, you ll quickly realize that it s a lot harder than it Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 55

56 seems! The most common issues I ve encountered in this scenario are that: a) most companies do not have sufficient technical staff to understand or analyze the technical specifications for various CMSs b) you ll eventually run into the apples-versus-oranges scenario described above, so you ll need to add lots of detailed notes to your spreadsheet to explain these variations c) creating this kind of spreadsheet is a full-time job that will take many weeks or months to do it right by which point, the CMS tools will have been updated and your information will no longer be accurate d) you will inevitably spend a ridiculous amount of time focusing on subtle differences between the various CMS tools that really won t have a measurable impact on your business. The Pareto Principle, which is explained below and in the glossary of technical terms included in this ebook, comes into play here big time. A Better Approach Trust me when I say that you ll save yourself a LOT of time and effort not to mention your sanity if you take a completely different approach. Focus only on the top 10 requirements that are critical for your organization. For example, if cost is a major factor and you don t have a big budget to dedicate to your CMS effort, this automatically eliminates most mid-level, large-scale and enterprise-level CMS tools out there. You ve just quickly and efficiently taken hundreds of CMS tools off of your list. Likewise, if you don t have technical resources in-house and support is a critical factor for you, you ll want to pay particular attention to whether each CMS tool offers multiple support methods. See the Support chapter in this ebook for more information about additional support considerations. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 56

57 Some of my clients utilize online CMS comparison tools or guides at first to get a quick and high-level understanding of the various tools available and to identify some potential contenders for further consideration. This approach is fine, but only if you understand that the information may not be accurate and you ll need to do additional research as described in this book. Just don t base any of your major decisions solely on those comparisons. Instead, identify your TOP requirements and then get the most up-to-date information possible about these for each CMS ideally through the product s web site, conversations with the sales rep, demos or trial versions, current users, developers and as we describe in the next section a brief proof of concept. How to Create Your Top 10 List You ll be tempted to quickly jot down the features, technical requirements and items on your wish list that should be part of your Top 10 list. However, be careful here and make sure that what you think is important is truly important to your organization. And make sure you think through why it is important. The best way to create this requirements list is to first think about any technical constraints or limitations that you have: Do you have certain technical skills in-house such as proficiency in LAMP technologies (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) that will require the use of those technologies? Will your CMS need to be installed behind a firewall or one your servers, so only users who are physically located in one of your offices can access it? Will you require a web-based CMS that can be accessed by employees, freelancers or others who are spread out around the globe? Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 57

58 Do you have other tools, such as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool or an marketing tool, with which your CMS needs to integrate? You ll also need to consider business requirements or constraints, such as: What is your budget for the CMS implementation effort, including analysis, software licenses, monthly support, upgrades, customization and ongoing maintenance? Do you have a web team in place that can assist with the initial implementation and ongoing maintenance of your site? Or will you need to outsource some of this to an agency or freelancer? If so, be sure to only consider CMS tools with vibrant developer communities. How much time do you have to implement your CMS? How much time will you have to maintain your site and CMS after launch? Do you have users (authors, editors, reviewers or approvers) who speak different languages? If so, you should look for a CMS that offers multilingual capabilities for the admin interface. Do you have end users (i.e. your customers, members or purchasers) who speak different languages? If so, you ll need a CMS that offers multilingual capabilities on the front end. Will you need a tool that does more than just content management? If so, look for an integrated suite that includes a CMS along with other tools such as marketing, landing pages, social networking or customer relationship management. Finally, you may want to consider intangible requirements and external factors, including: Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 58

59 Usability of the CMS General sense of community (online and offline) for each CMS Learning curve for all of the CMSs being considered Responsiveness of the CMS sales and support teams (remember to open a trial support ticket and chat session, if possible) General fit with your organization Carefully consider all of the above, as well as the other items listed in this ebook, to nail down your top 10 requirements list. You ll know when you ve created your final list. Spend some time getting it right and don t obsess over the hundreds of other small features and capabilities of each CMS. In general, all CMS tools within a certain price point will offer similar functionality and capabilities, so just focus on getting this Top 10 list right in order to identify your top three to five vendors. We ll talk more about what to do with that short list of vendors in the next chapter. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 59

60 Chapter Ten: Assessing Your Top 3-5 Vendors I highly recommend that you take the time to get to know your top vendors. How to Dig Deep There are dozens of ways that you can quickly get up-to-speed on each CMS features and capabilities, including all of the following: Browsing the company s or CMS web site Watching videos available at the company s web site Downloading or reading case studies Attending live or on-demand webinars about the CMS Viewing how-to or instructional videos at the company s web site Reading frequently asked questions or knowledge base articles about this CMS Reading the user guide, manual or other documentation on the company s support site Browsing the company s user forum for that product Browsing the company s developer forum for that product Viewing how-to and introductory videos on YouTube (search for the name of the CMS and how-to in the YouTube search box) Attending local events sponsored by the CMS vendor Attending local events that other CMS users will attend Reading books about the CMS Reading magazine articles about the CMS Reading third-party reviews of the CMS (make sure that they are recent reviews) Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 60

61 Exploring the demo versions of the CMS (both the front-end and backend or admin screens) Reviewing the company s recent news stories or press releases to assess the company s overall standing in the market Browsing the company s social networking accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, to assess their customer support capabilities and the overall stability and performance of the product. (Other users will let them know about technical or performance issues via those platforms.) Asking others within your company to assess the tools Meeting with the Sales Rep Learn as much as you can about each CMS, then set up a live demo, walkthrough or presentation with each company s sales rep if it s a commercial tool. During the meeting, ask them to explain or provide: The key benefits and features of this CMS The key drawbacks or shortcomings of this CMS Their target market small to mid-sized businesses, enterprises, companies in a specific industry, etc. Names of their clients who are most similar to you Any technical requirements for that CMS All costs associated with this CMS including licenses, monthly or annual fees, support, training, add-ons and custom development costs The main reason that your company should select them Names and contact information for references who are currently using their CMS Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 61

62 After you ve conducted your research and/or have met with sales reps for all of the CMS tools, you may be able to remove a few of the CMS tools that were previously on your top five list. This exercise should help you narrow that list down to less than three serious contenders. In the next chapter, I ll explain how you can utilize a proof of concept (POC) to really hone in on the best CMS for your particular needs. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 62

63 Chapter Eleven: Conducting a Proof of Concept (POC) As you create a short list of CMS potential vendors, you ll reach a sticking point where you need to validate that the CMS tools being considered will meet your business needs. You don t want to go on blind faith and purchase or subscribe to a CMS tool, begin development and then six months later realize that it really won t do what its sales reps promised that it could. At this point, the best way to determine whether a CMS tool will work for your particular situation is by using it. One of the best ways to do this is by conducting a brief proof of concept (POC). A POC is basically a hands-on validation period where you test the tool using content and functionality that exemplifies what you want to do in your final solution. I ll explain the two basic approaches to conducting a POC below, and you can decide what will work best for you. Remember, there is no right or wrong approach the point is to actually get your hands on the tool and start exploring in tangible ways that will open your eyes to the true capabilities and limitations of the tool. You ll also get a deeper understanding of its pros and cons, usability, scalability, and potential hidden costs to keep in mind. You can then compare all of these to your top 10 requirements list to more clearly identify any deal-breakers or potential issues. Scenario A Technology-Driven Design If you don t have a large team, don t have a lot of time or money, or don t have experience with planning web sites, you ll most likely use this approach. In this scenario, you ll research CMS tools, pick a few that look promising to you, obtain a trial version and start building out your POC site based mainly upon the tool s capabilities. You ll learn about the CMS s built-in features and functionality, gain a better understanding of what it can and cannot do out-of-the-box (i.e. without a lot of custom development), and create or Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 63

64 adjust your site s structure, content and functionality based upon those parameters. In other words, you ll react to the tool s capabilities and create or change your site s structure, design, content or functionality based upon them. Is this the right approach for you? It might be if you have a very limited budget or a very small team. In that case, you ll be making a trade-off: limited functionality and capabilities at a smaller cost (or some other factor that s most important to you). If you choose to utilize this approach, understand that you may not be able to do everything that you want to do, particularly if budget is an issue. It s also important to keep in mind that this may not be the most viable option if user experience (i.e. usability or whether the site is user-friendly ) are important to you but again, you may be forced to make that trade-off. Just make sure that you re doing it consciously and that you know what you re getting yourself into. Also, clearly communicate to project stakeholders exactly why you ve chosen a particular CMS if it doesn t meet the business or technical requirements that they had previously requested. Sometimes, good communication can make a world of difference at this stage. Scenario B Requirements-Driven Design In the ideal scenario, you have your business and technical requirements already defined and approved at this point and you have the freedom to search for a tool that meets those requirements as closely as possible, without putting as much weight on other factors such as time or money. In other words, you re putting your requirements first so it might be easier to filter out tools that don t make the cut. At this point, you may even have an approved site map, wireframes, use cases or other deliverables that you can utilize for your POC if you re in a large organization or if you have web experience. These documents make Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 64

65 it much easier to build out a true POC to validate that what you re envisioning can actually be done with your preferred tool(s). If you re using this approach, you will need to keep a close eye on your list of top 10 requirements and any other requirements or planning documentation that has been produced and approved including, but not limited to, your project charter, scope documents, requirements documentation or any other deliverables. Ideally, the person or team who was responsible for creating those documents has clearly set expectations with the project sponsor and other stakeholders that all of the previous deliverables would be validated during a POC. This simple but often missed stepped can make a huge difference in the success or perceived failure of your POC. If you re using this approach, you ll need to pay close attention to the scalability of your potential CMS tools. If you can t do something out of the box with a CMS, look for plugins, widgets, macros or third-party extensions and add-ons that can help you get closer to your original requirements. Chat with other customers or, if you re technical, chat with developers who are using the tool in similar industries or businesses to find out how they ve handled those requirements. Look at how-to videos, user guides, online forums and FAQs to identify workarounds or possible solutions to these challenges. Keep in mind that, even if you re using this approach for your POC, you re not likely to find a CMS tool that meets all of your requirements 100 percent. Also, remember that you can and should still consider factors other than business requirements, but you won t let them drive your project if you re using this approach. Where to Go From Here After you ve conducted a proof of concept, you ll have a much clearer understanding of what s possible with one or more potential CMS tools. You or your project team will be more familiar with each tool s limitations, Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 65

66 capabilities, ease of use and other critical considerations. You ve most likely weeded out some of the tools that looked promising initially. Most companies only conduct a proof of concept with one or two potential CMS tools. As you wrap up your POC, you should be ready to make a decision about the CMS and move forward. Remember, it may not be the perfect choice just the best at this point in time. If you re not comfortable with any of the tools being considered, you may need to start over and do a POC with a different tool. Some companies choose to increase their budget, add more people to the project team or utilize a third-party consultant or agency at this point if they still have a lot of unanswered questions after conducting a POC. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 66

67 Chapter Twelve: Making the Final Selection I ve probably answered a lot of your questions by now, but--if you re like most people--you may have some more. It can be tough to absorb so much information in a relatively short period of time. I encourage you to take your time and really understand the concepts presented within this guide, because a firm understanding of this information will save you a lot of time later. Likewise, a lack of understanding of basic content management concepts can cost you a lot of money, especially if you rush into your new project without thinking it through. Key Questions to Ask Here are a few key factors that you need to consider as you re reviewing and analyzing content management systems: Do we have an internal champion or sponsor for this CMS effort (if you re in a large organization)? What are our goals for a CMS? How much can we afford to spend on the following? Analysis of CMS tools Purchase of software Setup fees (either to the vendor or to an outside consultant) Recurring monthly subscription fees Monthly or annual support fees Custom development fees (either to the CMS vendor or to an outside consultant or agency) Hosting and domain names Extensions, add-ins, plugins or widgets Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 67

68 Custom design templates or themes Training Continuous learning (remember, your CMS will be updated regularly and your business needs will change in the future most likely requiring new functionality or changes to your CMS) Ongoing content development and content management Which of the following is most important to us? (Yes, you MUST pick one as most critical.) Time Quality Cost Who needs to be part of our content workflow? Authors Editors Subject Matter Experts Reviewers Publishers How do we want to work? Software installed on our local machines or servers Web-based admin interface Mobile devices Front-end editing All of the above Do we have a geographically dispersed team? Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 68

69 Do we want or need someone in-house to handle more complex changes to our site? If so, do we need to provide web development training to that person or group before or after launch? Who will handle those needs in the meantime? What are our Top 10 requirements? Who are the 3-5 vendors on our short list, based upon our Top 10 requirements? Have we conducted demos, interviews and/or a proof of concept for these vendors? Which one vendor is the best (not perfect) fit for us at this time? I ve included a helpful worksheet with these questions in the appendices at the end of this ebook. Print it out or fill it out online to help you think through the answers to all of the above questions. Communicating Your Decision When you re ready to announce the CMS tool that you ve selected or when you re ready to launch, it s important that you think carefully about the messaging that you want to use when communicating with stakeholders, team members or even customers. You may find it helpful to communicate the following points in your announcements, discussions, presentations, s or other messages: Internal Communications We ve selected XYZ CMS, since it s the best tool for us at this time not the perfect tool. We have chosen this specific CMS tool because it meets our top ten business requirements. (You may choose to convey those requirements to certain stakeholders, groups or all employees.) Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 69

70 Here is a list of other companies that are already using this tool. (This is particularly important if you re using an open-source tool or one that is not well-known.) There will be a learning curve for this or any CMS tool. (If there s a steep learning curve, plan to provide training to content managers or other team members and clearly communicate that it will take some time for them to become proficient and comfortable with the tool. They will be less frustrated if they expect some work upfront.) We are laying the groundwork for our business long-term goals and requirements. This is only the foundation and we re not trying to do everything for everyone (i.e. different departments or even different customers or users) right now. Here are 5-7 ways that this CMS tool will make your job easier. Here are some specific things that this CMS tool will not do for us or things that it won t do yet. This is a work-in-progress (or pilot) and you should expect to see some issues, errors or areas in need of improvement. You may wish to provide a form or address that stakeholders, employees or others can use to notify you if they notice these. This will not be our final redesign or our final CMS tool. Most companies choose to implement a new design for their web site or choose a new CMS tool every 3-5 years as their businesses or requirements change. External Communications (i.e. communication to end users or customers) We re excited to announce the launch of our new and improved web site. Keep in mind that we re still putting the finishing touches on its features and functionality. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 70

71 As a valued customer, we re giving you a sneak peek of our new web site before its official launch. You can say this after it s live but before you ve sent out your official announcement. Since you re a valued customer, we ll give you a coupon for $25 off your next order if you complete this online survey about our new web site. Since you re a valued customer, we ll give you a coupon for 10% off your next order if you visit our new site and follow us on Facebook. You can also reference Twitter, LinkedIn or any other social networking site that you reference on your new site. Subscribe to our site s new blog and you ll be entered into a contest to win an ipad. Visit our new site to download free white papers, reports, webinars, ebooks about XYZ. How to Learn More Still want to learn more about web content management systems, online marketing or web development? Check out my webinars, reports, teleseminars, CDs and ebooks about content and online marketing at the JUMP START blog and online communitys. Subscribe to the JUMP START blog, so you ll be notified about new products and materials as soon as they re available. I wish you good luck in your content management journey, and I hope that this ebook will help make it an easier and more successful one. Let me know if you ve found this ebook helpful and how it s helped you with your CMS selection and implementation. I d love to hear from you! Sincerely, Lisa Kirschner Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 71

72 Appendix A: Top 10 Myths about Content Management Systems Over the years, I ve heard a lot of misconceptions and inaccurate statements about CMS tools. I m sharing the ten most common myths below. 1) All content management systems are the same. Not at all. In fact, you should study each CMS closely to understand for whom it is designed, its strengths and its weaknesses. A good place to start is to understand the different types of CMS tools (see chapter two). After you understand that, you can follow the process outlined in the second half of this book to identify your top requirements, review demos and web sites for various CMS vendors, narrow the players down to a short list of three to five vendors and conduct a proof of concept. Only then will you truly understand the key features, advantages and disadvantages of each CMS being considered. 2) Open source CMS tools can t compete with commercial tools. This is no longer true. In fact, open-source CMSs are sometimes more powerful, easier to use, more scalable and better supported than their commercial counterparts. You need to realize that if you utilize a popular open-source tool, such as Joomla, Wordpress or Drupal, you will have access to a FAR bigger development and support community than some other CMS tools, including very large, well-known CMSs. When considering a CMS, do a quick search on Google and you ll find numerous experienced developers in your area who are available to support you in your efforts. In addition, developers for most open-source tools are active in online forums, conferences, webinars and other events within their community. Don t underestimate the power of open-source CMS tools. 3) We need to do a detailed comparison spreadsheet (matrix) when evaluating CMS tools. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 72

73 False. You can quickly find a detailed matrix at a number of industry web sites (see but you ll get a much better gauge on whether a CMS is a good fit for you by doing a pilot or proof of concept using your real-world requirements (see chapter 11). 4) There is a perfect CMS out there for me or my company. No, not really there is no such thing as a perfect CMS. Whether you choose a $500,000 CMS or open-source software, you will encounter issues, technical glitches, down time (although this is somewhat dependent upon your host or servers as well) and a learning curve. You will also eventually discover something that your CMS cannot do for you when your business needs change, your business grows or the powers-that-be at your company decide on a new strategic direction. 5) A CMS will make my life or job so much easier. Eventually, it might make some things a bit easier. In rare cases, it will make them a LOT easier. However, be forewarned that this will not happen immediately. In fact, you will likely encounter a learning curve when you first start using a new CMS, which may leave you feeling confused or frustrated especially if you re not trained properly or if you re new to content management. Take your time to learn the CMS and understand its capabilities in the beginning, and you ll ultimately reap bigger rewards while using it later. 6) We won t spend as much on development if we use a CMS. Not necessarily. As indicated in chapter 1, you can save money with a CMS (open source or not) if you need pre-built functionality that would otherwise cost a lot of money to custom code for example, login, registration, integration with third-party tools (such as your CRM or marketing tool), advanced search or other common features and you don t have development resources in-house. However, the more complex your requirements are, the higher your Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 73

74 costs will be with a CMS or without one. Start simple and build upon your success, and you ll save money in the long run. 7) We don t need a content management system because our business is different/simple/growing/too small. During more than 15 years of consulting, I have never, EVER come across a business that would not see a significant ROI, increased efficiencies, easier maintenance and content management, and overall advantages from a CMS. To be perfectly blunt, you re not as different as you think you are. 8) We can t launch until X, Y and Z happen. There s a well-known management principle called Pareto s Principle, which can be extremely valuable when managing a web project (or any other project, for that matter). In a nutshell, it means that only 20 percent of the items in your project are critical and you should focus your energy on them. The other 80 percent although they may seem really important are trivial and can wait. I ve seen many, many clients get so hung up on that 80 percent that they never make any progress at all, including launching on time. When you get stuck in this seemingly endless pattern, remind yourself of the 80/20 rule, turn your attention to the 20 percent that is critical and get it done. It s also helpful to familiarize yourself with the concept of a soft launch (the date that the 20 percent will be finished) and post-launch enhancements (when you can focus on the other 80 percent in order of importance). 9) We should use every feature in our CMS. This is not necessary and can actually slow you down. Walk before you run and focus on your critical requirements. Again, you can always add additional functionality or features later. 10) Open-source CMS tools aren t for me. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 74

75 Are you sure about that? Have you researched open-source tools at all? Did you know that McDonald s, Citibank, Ebay, Yahoo, Ford, Sony, People Magazine, CNN, Ben & Jerry and others utilize Joomla!, Wordpress and other open-source CMS tools? Before you discount open-source (free) software, do some research and familiarize yourself with the concept of open-source technology. You may already use a wide variety of tools and programming languages, including Linux, Apache, PHP and Mozilla Firefox, that are open source or based upon open-source technology. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 75

76 Appendix B: Top 10 CMS Mistakes Are you making any of the fatal mistakes listed below? If so, it s time to pause, take a deep breath and determine a new course of action. WARNING: Failure to follow these instructions can have devastating consequences for a CMS project. Learn from the mistakes of others and recognize when you re headed down the wrong path. Your business is not as different as you think it is and it s better to change direction rather than implement the wrong solution. 1) No clear business goal What are you trying to accomplish with your CMS implementation? What are the business reasons for beginning this effort and why do you need to get there? Your strategic goals and business requirements should be the driving force behind every aspect of your project, and they can help you maintain scope, plan your timeline, determine your budget and allocate appropriate resources. Don t even think about starting a CMS effort without this information documented and approved by all relevant stakeholders. 2) Assumptions about what users want Most of my clients say that they know exactly what their potential and existing customers, members or clients want. However, when we sit down and ask their users, we hear very different answers (sometimes drastically different). After defining your business goals and requirements, user research is undoubtedly THE #1 way to save yourself a lot of money and time on your project. I guarantee that you will be surprised and in some cases, shocked to hear what your users really want. Whether you utilize online surveys, focus groups, questionnaires, personal phone calls, low-cost webbased user testing or high-end lab testing, ASK YOUR USERS what they want. They ll tell you loud and clear. Keep in mind that user Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 76

77 research doesn t have to be expensive (you can do some for free or for less than $100), but it will pay for itself tenfold. 3) Too much too soon I ve seen dozens (probably hundreds) of clients get so starry-eyed over the capabilities of a new CMS or the latest-and-greatest web technology that they end up doing way too much for their initial launch or redesign. Instead, think carefully about what your team can realistically handle. You don t have to implement a particular feature RIGHT NOW just because your CMS offers it. Remember, when you add pages, features and functionality, you will need additional resources and money to support, maintain, enhance and upgrade them. Start small smaller than you THINK you can handle and do that successfully. After you see measurable success with that effort, then add on. 4) Continual search for the perfect tool When searching for a CMS, keep in mind that there is no such thing as a PERFECT tool. All content management systems regardless of price point, clientele or maturity are lacking in some features or functionality, have areas in need of improvement, and may crash or freeze occasionally (although ideally the latter is rare). Unless you have an unlimited budget, you will likely need to make some concessions or remove some items from your wish list for the time being. Your goal should be to find the one that is the best fit for your organization, not one that s a perfect fit. Your list of top 10 requirements (see chapter 8) comes in handy here, so you should focus on those needs first instead of getting hung up on the other minor details. Remember the Pareto Principle (see chapter 4). 5) No content resources Every web site no matter how large or small needs to have one or more dedicated content managers who are responsible for keeping content up-to-date. This should never be a part-time or one-person job, except in very rare cases when a site is extremely small. A content manager s role is varied and may include any or all Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 77

78 of the following: creating pages, modifying pages, uploading images, tagging pages and images with meta data, managing analytics, working with developers, designers and content developers (writers), and if the content manager has development skills coding. Don t underestimate the amount of work involved with keeping a site up and running or managing updates. Some large-scale sites have hundreds of content managers who handle content for a specific division, product line, country, region or department. You may find it useful to have separate roles for content analysts, content managers, content developers, subjectmatter experts and other content-related functions. 6) Fire drills and drive-bys Most web teams will encounter the inevitable fire drills and driveby scenarios during the process of choosing, building, implementing or supporting a CMS initiative. Even if you ve never worked on a CMS project, you ve probably experienced both of these at some point during your career. A fire drill occurs when someone (usually one of the project sponsors or someone with a fair amount of authority) orders everyone to STOP EVERYTHING and focus on something else. After everyone scrambles to find a solution to that new problem, they realize that they are now behind on their original project schedule. Likewise, a drive-by occurs when your boss or someone else casually stops at your desk and asks you to add another task to your plate. It s almost impossible to avoid fire drills and drive-bys in a corporate setting, but you and more importantly, the project manager or stakeholder who owns your CMS effort need to recognize that these will impact your project s schedule, timeline and quality if they become the norm. Push back or tell someone with the authority to do so. CALMLY (but firmly) raise red flags and explain the impact that those fire drills or drive bys will have on you, the team and the project. Expect resistance but if the person to whom you re speaking understands the concept of fire drills and drive-bys, you ve won half the battle. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 78

79 7) Our company/product/business model is different. I often hear my clients say that they don t need a CMS, don t need to define content workflow, shouldn t do user testing or that a formal CMS analysis process won t work for them, because their business is very specialized, too complex or really unique. Trust me when I say again that you re NOT as different as you think. Will you need to adjust some of the processes outlined in this book to your particular setting and needs? Sure! However, don t ignore the hard-won experience and advice that I and hundreds of my clients have gained over the years. 8) An unrealistic budget Have you ever gone through the process of building a house or having one built for you? When someone initially asked you what kinds of features you wanted in that house, I m guessing that you provided a list of wants and needs. Over time, you may have even added some things to the must-have list but you probably noticed that your budget increased dramatically as you did so. Building a web site is the same. Remember that every time you add a new feature, more pages or additional complexity, your budget will increase. It s absolutely critical that you understand whether you re getting a shack or a mansion in return for your investment, and don t expect the latter on a minimal budget. 9) Homepage turf battles One of the most highly prized areas of a web site is the homepage, and most CMS tools will allow you to add, remove and change homepage content frequently. Because of this, there will likely be a large number of stakeholders in your organization who feel that their content (or product or information) should be featured more prominently than everyone else s on the homepage. It s absolutely critical that everyone within your organization is crystal clear regarding who owns this prized piece of real estate and what processes they must go through in order to get their content featured there. You can most likely use a number of methods-- including rotating banners, lists of links, dropdowns, news feeds, Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 79

80 promos, callouts, modules or apps--to make maximum use of the real estate on this page and make everyone happy. Whatever you do, don t make it a free-for-all where anyone who asks can get their content added to the homepage on demand. 10) No success metrics How will you know that your CMS project has been successful? You won t if you don t have a list of success metrics by which to measure that success (or failure). Your project charter or planning documents should list out very specific, measurable success metrics that will show whether you accomplished what you set out to do when implementing a CMS. Examples include reducing technical support tickets by 40%, increasing conversions by 20%, reducing the number of resources needed to maintain content by two full-time employees (FTEs) or other very specific, measurable criteria. Use hard numbers, not vague references such as a few or will decrease significantly and you ll have specific quantities by which to measure. Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 80

81 Appendix C: Key Questions Worksheet 1. Do we have an internal champion or sponsor for this CMS effort (if you re in a large organization)? 2. What are our goals for a CMS? 3. How much can we afford to spend on the following? a. Analysis of CMS tools b. Purchase of software c. Setup fees (either to the vendor or to an outside consultant) d. Recurring monthly subscription fees e. Monthly or annual support fees f. Custom development fees (either to the CMS vendor or to an outside consultant or agency) g. Hosting and domain names h. Extensions, add-ins, plugins or widgets i. Custom design templates or themes j. Training k. Continuous learning (remember, your CMS will be updated regularly and your business needs will change in the future most likely requiring new functionality or changes to your CMS) l. Ongoing content development and content management Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 81

82 4. Which of the following is most important to us? (Yes, you MUST pick one as most critical.) a. Time b. Quality c. Cost 5. Who needs to be part of our content workflow? a. Authors b. Editors c. Subject Matter Experts d. Reviewers e. Publishers 6. How do we want to work? a. Software installed on our local machines or servers b. Web-based admin interface c. Mobile devices d. Front-end editing e. All of the above 7. Do we have a geographically dispersed team? 8. Do we want or need someone in-house to handle more complex changes to our site? If so, do we need to provide web development training to that person or group before or after launch? Who will handle those needs in the meantime? Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 82

83 9. What are our Top 10 requirements? 10. Who are the 3-5 vendors on our short list, based upon our Top 10 requirements? 11. Have we conducted demos, interviews and/or a proof of concept for these vendors? 12. Which one vendor is the best (not perfect) fit for us at this time? Copyright 2012 Lisa J. Kirschner - All Rights Reserved Worldwide. 83