"Content is King" - remember this saying and you won't go wrong.

When it comes to your website, there is nothing as important as content and for this reason, you need to pay particular attention to how you manage and maintain it.

Unless your website is extremely complex and has very particular requirements, most web designers these days provide some sort of rudimentary content management system (or CMS) which will allow you to manage and edit the contents of your website yourself.

A CMS provides you with a secure online area that you have to log into using a login name and password which will be given to you by your web designer. Here you can access the content in your website, and edit and change it as you see fit. 

Very Important!! A CMS can be a double edged sword - although it provides you with a lot of flexibility, and allows you to change your site content whenever you feel like it, content management systems are usually expensive to implement and can prove difficult to use.

Managing content is also an extremely time-consuming and demanding task, so you need to discuss this with your team and make sure that you are up to the task. If possible, ask them if you can try out a demo version of the CMS, as this will provide some indication as to whether you are able to understand and use the system.

As an alternative, many companies offer to manage your content for you for a nominal monthly or hourly administration fee. This might make a lot more sense for you initially, as you only have to pay for content changes as and when you see fit.

So the question you have to ask yourself is - do I choose a self-managed CMS, or do I get my web designer to manage my website for an hourly fee?

Well, this all depends on how often your site needs to have fresh content...

If you are creating a news portal or online magazine for example, then you’re going to have to edit your site daily (if not hourly) and you would definitely need a CMS that you can use yourself or provide access to for your editorial staff.

If your site is merely a means for showcasing your portfolio, for example, then it’s possible that you only need to change the content once a month and a CMS would be overkill. In this kind of situation, it would make sense to pay your web developers to make the changes as you need them.

Important notes to consider for the future:

1. Your immediate content management needs might not be intensive now at the start of your business, but try and forecast what they are going to be in time when your business is booming.
Will your content needs have changed by then, and if so, would it make sense to have a CMS added on later?

Ask your web development company if it’s possible to add CMS functionality into your site at a later stage. If they cannot, you might be forced to take the risk and get a CMS right from the start.

2. If you decide to take a CMS with your website, make sure that the company provides sufficient training sessions, as well as sufficient reference material and tutorials that you can reference when on your own.

3. Many web design companies try take advantage of site changes, and charge exorbitant prices for the smallest of alterations to your content. Make sure right from the start what the charges are going to be, and get it in writing.

Click Next to move onto the next lesson - Custom-made vs. Templates