Small Business Websites Need a CMS
Marketing your small business online is a process which rewards the swift and penalizes the idle. If your small business can’t afford to have a skilled website developer on staff full time, then your website needs to be operating on a CMS (content management system) platform.
In its most basic sense, a Content Management System allows the everyday business owner to bypass the expense of paying a developer $100.00/hr every time they want to make minor changes to their website. A CMS platform enables individuals who do not know how to write HTML code to make changes and additions to their website at will through the use of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) technology.
The majority of small business owners have no idea how to make changes or additions to their website—which is why most remain static and don’t do a good job at marketing their business and converting web traffic into customers. There are several CMS platforms available from the costly, one-off custom built to the little to no cost platforms like Joomla and WordPress.
Google’s recent introduction of Caffeine, their new search engine platform, now allows for the indexing of information at a much faster rate–meaning that Google’s search engine is constantly looking for and rewarding websites with the freshest and most relevant content. In essence, if you can’t add content to your website on a regular basis, you will disappear.
Through a CMS, you can also install plug-ins which allow for on-page optimization of your website from the page titles to the descriptions and keywords associated with a particular page. Complete the on-page process by adding keyword rich text on your home page with anchor text pointing to pages within your site.
A CMS also allows for the creation of additional web pages which feature new products, services or specials—things that are continually evolving for most small businesses. You can also create specific landing pages to drive targeted traffic which are hidden and non-navigable and whose only purpose is to promote a particular offer.
WordPress CMS platforms are especially useful for performing blogging functions. Blogging is a great way to add keyword rich content which should be promoted through social media and bookmarking websites to drive additional traffic. Remember, every additional page that is created is an additional page that will be indexed by Google Caffeine which helps move your website up the search engine results and in front of your target audience.
John, Great points. You can’t believe how many of my clients and friends are unable to make changes to their websites because it is controlled by a web designer. I tried to do a reciprocal link program within my Rotary club and I think I was the only member able to add links to the website. No one else had a CMS system. It should be standard that all new websites have a good CMS system added to it.
Thanks for your feedback–yes, things are definitely moving in that direction!
Hi John, yes indeed it makes perfect sense. The functionality and end user ability is increased drastically. Most visitors need a high level on intractability before they decide to make use of a companies services or poducts. A CMS gives you all the tools needed to create this level of interaction. From an Admin point of view, a couple hours reading will be enough to be able to maintain a C.M.S. The cost of design and turn around time is diminished drastically as well. It’s an all round winner. Consider your options carefully before choosing the correct CMS from the start. We use wordpress extensively in conjunction with other open source apps.
Great points! WordPress is so user friendly and I believe search engine friendly as well.