CMS Blog | Tips for Effective CMS Development

Does Your CMS Cut It

Almost every Content Management System (CMS) offers something attractive. Typical users find CMS to be amazing because they are now able to update basic content and sometimes much more via a login over the internet. Although powerful, these 5 things that should be examined when looking for a CMS solution - especially when paying for CMS services. Many paid systems can be quite limiting. Most open source gurus will agree that many of the paid services available are not designed with the customer in mind, but rather a self-serving business model that keeps everything static for them!

1 - Root access. This sounds very basic. However, many CMS solutions do not offer users root access to their data. Root access is defined as the ability to access all data within your website via FTP or other folder view. This includes HTACCESS (for HTML or PHP sites) or IIS file (for ASP or Windows server sites). Without this access, serious limitations exist in marketing a site correctly, especially if there is not a tool within the CMS to address redirects (pages that need to permanently move via 301) correctly. Additional functions such as robots.txt are other limitations without root access.

2 - Hosting and tools. Companies such as Yahoo!, eBay, and many smaller firms lock users into their hosting as part of a CMS package. This sounds harmless until you have downtime or other issues you find annoying such as higher monthly fees, higher domain registration fees, etc. If you cannot move your entire site to another host, you need to reconsider the provider. This is a nice trick many companies play to lock you in. It is an expensive exit and they know it.

Companies that have "turnkey" or "online" site building typically take full advantage of new website builders. Often times these so called "easy" to use systems are equally as difficult as a web editor for first time users. Most of these CMS companies that have templates or other "easy" tools end up making most sites very similar with only colors and basic assets changed per user preference. Identity is often lost or the site itself looks dated from day one.

3 - Bizarre URL's and indexing. If no one can find your site in a search, it does not do a lot of good to have a site unless you are promoting it elsewhere heavily. I have seen clients come to me with full ecommerce/catalog sites where nothing beyond one level gets indexed (included) by the search engines. I have noticed CMS services such as MIVA rarely index well in Google aside from the top level pages. The actual "catalog" or "products" in which the site is promoting cannot be found. One thing you can do is research other sites the provider has hosted or built. Use the tool "site:www.SiteToResearch.com" (no parenthesis) to see how many pages are actually indexed. You may be surprised to find that some of the site's strangest URL's such as admin or non-content related pages are indexed while most of the important pages are not.

Another example of URL's and bizzare structure - Check out the site http://www.amssinc.com - The site is not too bad, however, when examined closely, the URL structure for all the links on the left side are extremely long. For example:
http://www.amssinc.com/sw/common/custom/internet/custompage.asp/SETSESS/1/ASE/75/MSE/0/USE/1/TSE/1/LSE/1/SSE/6260/OSE/1/
SWSESSIONID/prueerzcspurss) and are actually images, not text. This is about the worst case scenario for ranking well on keywords that could have come up much nicer. Images are not well suited for SEO in navigation; not to mention the horrible string of text that follows the site name. All that said, a good CMS will have either static URL's available, or URL's that at least make sense. Even catalog pages do not necessarily have to be extremely long URL's.

4 - Text based menus. This one may sound a bit silly. However, having used and developed on several types of CMS platforms, there is nothing worse than trying to teach a client where to look for something. If it is icons based and has 3 or 4 levels to dig through to get what you need, it is worthless. A simple text based menu that makes sense with the flow of the site is highly recommended. Typical navigation in the admin area will be on the left side, with obvious links and options. Although icons may make everything look modern, it becomes a headache to learn if digging through multiple menus is involved. Ideally a user should be able to access almost everything from a single page without having to go back to some main menu each time a different function needs examination. Simple thing, but can be extremely annoying.

5 - Provider's name on homepage. Some people don't mind having the site designer or CMS provider linked from the homepage. However, this again is a self-serving mechanism that only serves the provider. The more homepage links a site has directed to them, the more relevant THEY become. Some companies are tacky enough to even use keywords in the text that links back to them. Your site becomes the provider's advertising. It seems small and petty, but when you look at sites like One Network Devices and scroll to the bottom of the homepage, you see that the hosting brand and company are both serving the provider. If a provider does not make this clear in the contract, don't do it. Often it is hidden in the fine print.

There are many choices out there forr CMS providers, custom web development, etc. The best choice for you is the one that serves your needs at a reasonable price. Keep in mind that ownership of the site should include ownership of the root, the content, the ability to move hosting if needed, and to have equal chances of being found in a search engine. Anything short of this becomes a question as to why you want a website in the first place. An honest developer or company can show you the high points of their system and not force you into a cookie cutter position of "my site is like everyone else's site" in the sense that you really don't have that much control over the guts of your site!

Sean Robinson
Web Marketer