Content “Management” Systems

Today I’m going to talk about something that really frustrates me – Content Management Systems that make content hard to manage…

If you want to turn your website into a powerhouse salesperson that never sleeps, attracts, and converts new revenue, then you need a great content management system (CMS).

I prefer WordPress (it powers nearly 43% of the entire internet with the next biggest share being less than 3%: source).

But over the last decade-plus of working with websites, I’ve seen very few that are ready to dominate the search engine land.

Why?—

Because the people who built the site forgot to build the site so its content is truly manageable.

Content First. Then Design.

Far too many people lead with building sites based on a design and layout they like and that is where the process of making a content management system unmanageable often begins.

They choose interactive features before considering the content the feature is actually supporting.

At Avalanche, we create content first (in a Google Doc). Then we follow this process, and I advise you to do something similar:

1. Content Templates
   Research to benchmark what to include in a content type (product page, service page, etc.)
2. Write the First Piece
   For any content type, write a full piece out to create a template.
3. Create Custom Post Types
   Service pages, location pages, product pages, etc. in your CMS.
4. Create Custom Field Groups
   These are form fields you actually enter your content into (titles, paragraphs, lists, etc.) specific to your custom post type.
5. Lay it Out Logically
   Take the full written content and lay it out on a page and iterate until you’ve got a good flow.
6. Design & Features
   Consider features, colors, and interactions that support the content experience, not the cool experience.

If you want your website to be successful, make sure you’ve got a great and manageable custom-built content management system.