| The Ipod Of Websites - What A Good CMS Can Do |
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Ask just about any American over five years old what an Ipod is and its quite likely they'll pull one right out of their pocket. Not every mp3 player has enjoyed such great success as the Ipod. Quite similarly - not every website enjoys the success the owners had hoped for. But how on earth could a website and Ipod be related? There are accessories available today which can transform an Ipod into a home stereo, calculator, gaming console, video player, video recorder, camera, car stereo, or even track your running performance. Anything you want, odds are you can find some sort of accessory to take care of it for you. The reason for this is the modularity / plug and play capability of the Ipod. Anything that is plugged into the Ipod can access the system controls, memory, processing power, and output. The Ipod acts as the core of the system, and can be almost infinitely upgraded with accessories. Unfortunately, this is not the case with most business websites. Time after time we come across website owners who have paid to have their website hand coded from the bottom up. As the needs of the business owner change to meet new demands or changing market conditions, they often find that their expensive proprietary system is now useless. These business owners would have been well advised to avoid those costly custom developments and enter the new world of content management systems (CMS). A good CMS allows a site administrator to make changes on the fly without any knowledge of HTML or programming. Want to add shopping cart functionality? Simply plug in a shopping cart component. Looking to add a slick new flash photo gallery? It can be done in five clicks. Even if you want to change the entire look and feel of the site, you can watch the change between the blink of an eye. Just like an Ipod, if you need something new, it is possible to do it with an accessory rather than a whole new system. When looking for a web designer to help with your project, ask them to give you a tour of the CMS they recommend. If you hear anything other than a prompt cheerful response, it might be time to continue your search elsewhere. |