What do emerging internet trends mean for your choice of a content management system?
With so much buzz about Web 2.0 – blogging, social networking, web applications – over the last few years, there’s been little discussion lately of content management systems. However, choosing the right CMS is still crucial to a website’s success; now that choice needs to take into account the changing expectations of users and the changing needs of organizations in the new landscape of the web.
Your choice of CMS may be affected by Web 2.0 concepts in many ways. Today we’ll look at three of them:
Access control and approval
Extensibility
Multimedia capability
Access control and approval
While there are many definitions of Web 2.0, one of the key concepts is the shift from one-way communication to interaction. For organizations this is closely linked with the idea of marketing as a conversation rather than as a one-way process. From a CMS point of view, this raises new issues concerning access to your website.
On one hand, there are opportunities in opening your website to interaction with visitors. Given the opportunity, users will often contribute relevant and valuable content at no charge (in some cases they will even pay to do so). Technical support forums, for example, can significantly reduce your support workload while identifying your organization as open and forward-thinking, and can generate reams of search-engine-friendly content into the bargain.
On the other hand, the web can still be a dangerous place, and there are real risks to your brand in allowing unfettered access to competitors or malevolent third parties, not to mention well-meaning but technically challenged users.
A CMS that is ready for Web 2.0 must provide fine-grained, secure access control, and allow for an approval process to ensure that your web presence doesn’t undermine the value of your brand.
Extensibility
If user interaction is a key concept for Web 2.0, so is interactivity between web applications. A modular, extensible CMS framework will enable you to take advantage of existing web services, as opposed to a more rigid system that will require substantial custom development to add new functionality.
A system that includes or seamlessly links to standard business functions such as a shopping cart system can also save you money by avoiding the cost of integrating separate software packages.
Multimedia capability
A third key concept behind the new web is a greater diversity of content. Gone are the days when web content was thought of as text and images. Video and audio are increasingly important and expected on a website, as are more advanced image viewing features and management of downloadable files. Your chosen CMS should make it easy for users to add multiple content types and display media in a clear, eye-catching and flexible way.
The range of Content Management Systems available can be bewildering. While some are designed with Web 2.0 concepts in mind, others are scrambling to maintain relevance with hastily added features. Before you decide on a CMS, spend some time considering how your choice will affect your organization’s opportunities to benefit from the emerging landscape of the web.
InsiteCreation is a flexible and full-featured ASP.NET Content Management System with advanced multimedia capabilities and built-in e-Commerce functionality. Visit our website to find out whether InsiteCreation is right for your organization.
Content Management 2.0
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