Ecommerce Web Design Blog

What is a Content Management System (CMS)? How does it work? How could it benefit you?

The system used in information based websites to let you manage your own news, image galleries, blogs, forum or written page content is called a Content Management System, or CMS. The CMS is usually a secure administration section of your website that you log into and from there create and edit menus, configure the titles on pages, decide whether content gets displayed or not, manage users and more.

CMS systems help ensure that your page content does not get out of date, and help you manage the navigation structure easily - as the CMS system keeps track of all the links in your site. This can save you time, reduce error and make you more flexible to change. Such flexibility makes CMS web design systems very popular with large corporate organisations who have a large amount of content. Small business can also benefit because the CMS gives your site a platform to grow and add in new features that would not be possible if you were managing the site yourself with static pages.

The key advantages of CMS systems are:

• Centralised management and content sharing - you can set up administration profiles to determine who edits your site and what they can edit. Multiple people can work on your site.
• Centralised backup - all of your content gets saved in a single database which can be backed up by you or your hosting provider
• Web Design and content separate- your site can have a design skin (or web design template) applied, which enables elements of the design to be updated and modified without affecting your content
• Create written content and multimedia content - insert videos, include photo galleries, add Flash, write content, the choices are varied and flexible with a content management system. Adding directories a forum or a blog is very easy with an information site and CMS system
• Independence - you don't need to contact your web company and/or designers every time you want to make a change to a page on your website. You save yourself time and money programming things like blogs and forums.
• Save money on web developers and in house web skills - if you can use a word processor, you can learn to use a content management system. Most CMS systems are designed so even people with very basic computer skills can quickly learn to be skilled content managers.
• Update information quickly - for news and other written content, a CMS system is outstanding value for money. If implemented well, it can be quickly indexed by search engines as well, building your site's credibility and in many cases rankings too.

How do you go about writing easy-to-read content for your website?

How do you go about writing easy-to-read content for your website? How can you keep your visitors coming back? Here are some tips that could help you.

1. Write for the customer, not for you

You're passionate about telling everything about your product. But your customers might find knowing everything a bit overwhelming. Put yourself in your customer's shoes: what are the main benefits of your product.

2. Assume your customer's don't have much time

Get to the point. It will be well received by your customers. Keep it short, simple and focussed on the benefits. This will increase your chances of holding your customer's attention and keeping them on your site. Don't try to put your existing brochure online.

3. Be interactive

Take advantage of features like forums and directories to involve your customers. Include forms on your site. Encourage customers to provide you with feedback and information about their preferences, and gain their permission to send them newsletters. You can use newsletters to get them to come back to your site.

4. Keep your content current

if you are regularly update pages, search engines will keep coming back and indexing your site. Your customers will also keep coming back if there is a lot of valuable content. So if you are running a parenting resource for example, keep adding new articles. If you are running a forum about motor racing, comment on the latest motor racing trends, cars, techniques and meets.

5. Create a community

Develop a club with exclusive benefits or something similar to build loyalty. Give them access to special features or content. Give away something special for the people who keep coming back. If you have a forum, reward those who post often. Email your members with valuable information, teasers etc. If you are running a mortgage broking site, have a daily email with interest rates and comments when the Reserve Bank changes the Official Cash Rate is updated. Have a column written by an expert relevant to your industry in your blog or newsletter (e.g. child psychologist, lawyer, chef, economist etc) as this will add credibility to your site.

6. Measure your reading ease

Above all else, keep your writing style simple and easy to read. Use short sentences if you can. Search for 'Reading Ease tools' in Google. Visit one of those sites that measure the readability of your site. These sites give you a score out of 100 about how easy your content is to read. 100 is extremely easy, 65 is plain english, 30 is difficult with long sentences. 0 is extremely difficult language that is very hard to read. Most guides on reading ease say to aim your site 60.

This article has a Flesch Reading Ease score of 65.