maine web development, web design, internet marketing

If those words in the title are thoroughly confusing, don’t worry, I had no clue what they meant a few years ago either. Since then I have had the opportunity to dive into each one and see what they are all about. Whether you are involved with your company’s website, or you work on your own, you have probably heard of at least one of these three open source content management systems (CMSs). While there are hundreds of great systems available (just check out the CMS Matrix to see), Drupal, Wordpress and Joomla are typically the most talked about. Have you ever been curious about exactly what each one is and which CMS is right for your website? Starting this month, I will present a 3-part webinar series, answering your questions and giving you an introduction to each system.

Drupal

This CMS is a full scale website creation and management system. Drupal, which was released as an open source project in 2001, is built for easy web community integration and allows for large scale customizations. It has a large following, especially among developers who are very passionate about the system. Because of this, there are many custom built add-ons (known as modules) available. There are also many sites available for support and tutorials, which is helpful because of the steep learning curve associated with Drupal. Websites that require a lot of customizations will find Drupal to be a good solution.

Wordpress

Wordpress is another open source CMS that is often used as blogging software. With the recent release of version 3.0, there are new features that allow users to have more freedom when adding content other than blog posts, making it a robust content management system. Similar to Drupal, Wordpress has add-ons called widgets that can be customized and placed in different areas on the site without having to use code. Wordpress has a versatile templating system with many themes available. This CMS is perfect for blog-based websites with additional information pages and some unique functionality.

Joomla

Another popular open source CMS is Joomla, which was released in 2005. There are many free and commercial plug-ins available for the system that allow for customization of your website. Multiple templates are available for Joomla sites, which are easy to install and switch between. As with Drupal, there tends to be more of a learning curve, but it can be easily mastered with the proper set-up. Joomla can be a good solution for simple websites, member based websites, and sites that need a little bit of customization.

If you are interested in learning more about any or all of these systems then keep an eye out for the upcoming webinars on our webinar listing page. The Introduction to Drupal webinar will be held on Tuesday, July 13th and you can register for it here. I look forward to talking CMS with you!

Photo Credit: Andresit@

With all the wonderful out of season weather we have had lately in Maine (with the exception of today…) I think I am safe to say that summer weather has finally arrived! It is just about time to start hitting the beach and enjoying the sun. With all the vacations and beach days to come are you going to be neglecting your website? Will your content sit there with no updates, to be done “when I get back?” Coming up with a content strategy and sticking to it will help keep your website updated through the summer, and allow you to truly enjoy your days at the beach.

Get your Content Strategy in Order

Ideally, you should create a content strategy before beginning development on a new website. However it is never too late and is always beneficial to create one! Your plan will help you figure out what content you will be updating and who will be making the updates. Here are some things to think about when creating your content strategy:

• What content will be updated?
  Think about what pages you will be updating or adding new content to. Are there certain pages that you will need to edit regularly? Do you have a blog or news feed that you will need to post to? Make a list of what content needs to be updated and what you can leave on the site with little updates.
• How often will content be updated?
  If you have a blog or news feed then your content will need to be updated more often than if you just have informative pages. Keep in mind how often you think your visitors will be returning to view new content.
• Who will be adding/editing content?
  After looking at what you need to update and how often, will you need other people to be involved? Be honest with yourself so that you can keep up with the demands.
• When will content be updated?
  Finally, schedule the times that content will be updated. If you have content that will be updated daily then make time each day to do that. If you will be doing one big update a week then block that time out or just do a little work on the content each day.

Follow Your Plan

Once you have your content plan in place stick to it! Follow your strategy and update your site on a timely basis. If you find that you took on too much, then go back and revise your plan so that it works for you. Always keep your audience in mind and make sure that the content you provide and the frequency at which you provide it is beneficial and keeps people coming back!

Take Your Time off and Don’t Worry About It!

If you know that you will be out often in the summer, keep in mind that not everyone else is on vacation. If you do not have anyone else to assign content writing to, then come up with some blog posts, promotions, or news before hand and schedule them to release while you are out. If this does not work out and people will notice that you are gone then make an announcement on your site. That way a site that is typically updated often will not leave visitors hanging with no excuse why. With a solid strategy in place (that is followed!) you can relax out of the office – worry free, knowing that your website is up to date!

Last night I attended a great presentation and discussion called “Search Engine Optimization for Drupal Sites” at TechMaine. Much of what we talked about revolved around website elements that are important for SEO. The CMS tool we used to discuss implementations of SEO solutions was Drupal, but any other CMS or static site would also benefit from an SEO upgrade. When choosing a CMS for your site or evaluating your current system, keep the following “CMS SEO Friendly” checklist handy.

1. Allows Editing of Meta Information
It is important for SEO that each page on your site has a unique title and description. The title is what appears at the top of your browser window and should be a brief and targeted statement about the subject of your page. The meta description is not visible to users on the page, but is used as the brief summary that appears on the search results page.

Both the title and description should include keywords that you have selected for your website. Make sure your CMS gives you the ability to edit these on each individual page so that you can customize them and make sure there are no duplicates.

2. Has Friendly URLs for Content
Often when a CMS is installed the urls will have page id numbers and other system information in them. The ability to have useful urls that reflect page content is a must. Some CMSs allow you to specify what you want in each page url while others automatically use the article name. For example hallme.com/my-great-article is much better than hallme.com/articles.php?id=6054. Just make sure it is informative for both users and search engines.

3. Only One H1 Tag Per Page
The H1 tag is the header that appears in the page content as the title. It is important to have an informative and keyword rich header because this tells visitors what they are about to read and is also one of the first things that spiders crawl on your website. Some CMSs allow for multiple h1 tags or will automatically put the tag around your logo in the header. Others do not use h1 tags at all! You may need to configure your template so that it uses one h1 tag and then uses other tags (h2, h3, etc.) for the rest of the headers.

4. Ability to Edit Page Content
This should be an easy one to check off because if a CMS does not allow you to edit your content then it is really not a CMS. I have included this though because of how important it is to make sure that you use your CMS to create quality content using keywords.

Before even beginning development on your website you should be thinking about what keywords will be used throughout your site. Think about your target audience and what people will be typing in to search engines to find your content. Base your content on those keywords so that visitors see that you have what they want and stay on your site.

Last night the presenter told us that you do not want “false traffic” because you will have a higher bounce rate, so make sure your content is relevant. If you change your web strategy at any time, make sure to go in and edit page content so that it continues to reflect your keywords and calls to action.

5. Easy Site Map Generation
There are two types of site maps; an xml site map that is generated for Google and a site map that is a page on your website with links to all of your content. It is important to have an xml site map submitted to Google so that it is easier for robots to crawl your site. There are programs to create these for you and some CMSs include modules to create xml site maps, which can be handy. Having a visible site map on your website is also important so that users can find information quickly. It can be a pain to update the site map every time a new page is added so try to find a module for your CMS that automatically creates a site map.

6. Access to 301 Redirects
Use 301 redirects on your site to point any old urls to new pages on your site if you are doing a redevelopment. These are also used to point a www domain to a non-www domain or vice-versa. For example www.hallme.com and hallme.com both go to the same page, but if you look up in the url you will notice that the www is always there, even if you typed in the latter. It doesn’t matter which one you use, as long as you pick one and make sure that people can type in both to get to your page. Some CMSs allow you to make that redirect in the system while with others you have to use a .htaccess file. Find out what your CMS does and make sure you are comfortable with it.

How Does Your CMS Rate?

If you were able to check off each point for your CMS then you are doing great! If not, you may not have to dump your CMS, but you should do some research to find out how to apply these important elements. Just remember if your urls, headers, content, and site usability are good for the people who visit you website, then it is good for SEO!

Photo Credit: geishaboy500

More and more these days I am finding that clients are coming to developers with requests for using specific content management systems for their new site before they even think of what they want on their site. For example, “I would like a Wordpress/Joomla/Drupal site because everyone uses them and I heard that there is a great community around it.”

Any of those may be the perfect tool for many, but did that person think about what will happen if his site changes direction? What if that person wants to add community management or other custom tools? The original CMS choice may not be the best solution after all. There are many great CMSs out there to get any job done, but they are all essentially just tools.

Before you even begin to think about which system you want to use, make sure you have a solid goal for your website and a strategy in place to reach it.

Get Your Goals in Order

The first step to creating your new website is to think of your goals, both for the site launch and in the future. Why do you want a website? What will it do for your business? Consider your target audience and why they would want to visit your website. Spend time thinking about what you want your visitors to do once they are on the site and what impression they will get from your site. Don’t just put up a website because everyone has a website now-a-days and you just “need” one to survive. Make sure your website is up on the web with a purpose!

What is Your Strategy?

Once you have determined what you want to achieve from your site, plan a strategy to get there. Decide what type of content you will be putting on the site and come up with action items that will get visitors to interact with your company in the way that you want. Think about how will you be highlighting your products and services so that visitors will complete the action you have intended for them. Don’t get caught up in the details of “how” yet, figure out what you will be communicating and the response you want first.

Find that CMS!

Now that you have determined your website goals and overall strategy you can start thinking about the tools you intend to use to reach those goals. Create a list of requirements for your website. Did you decide that you are going to use images to display your product? Then make sure a photo gallery is listed as a requirement. Will customers be contacting you through the website? Add a contact form to your list. Think carefully about all the tools you will need to achieve your goals. If you are not sure what the best tool will be to help you with your strategy then brainstorm what you would envision on the website. Your web team can help you determine what tool will best fit your vision.

Of course picking the best CMS for your site is quite a process in itself. But if you know exactly what you need it to do for you then you should be able to select one that will work perfectly. Having the correct tools will be a great help in achieving your web goals, but no matter how great the CMS is, it can not make up for a poor web strategy.