In fact, what the heck is a content management site?

In a nutshell, a content management site or CMS for short, lets the site owner log into a back end management/administration area where changes to the site can be made without having to know computer programming/coding language. One such CMS platform is WordPress which provides the non-techie website owner an amazing amount of flexibility and control over their website content, structure, images, and more.

I define a static site as one with a smaller number of pages and mostly unchanging content. These sites do not need updating often but when they do, they require a person familiar with computer programming language. A static site is usually good for:

1. a business or individual on a limited budget who needs an online presence
2. a business that doesn’t have frequent changes in its online content

One should consider how their business may grow and the needs of their website to accommodate that growth. A static site can grow into a more extensive site consisting of many pages with additional dynamic features such as photo galleries, forms, etc…. This could be an additional cost in the future, possibly even more than the original site. If the additional content needed frequent maintenance, then this becomes another, possibly regular, expense. For the business that is growing and thriving this isn’t a bad thing IF one has a reliable web designer/programer who gets work done in a timely fashion and is easy to get a hold of!

A CMS provides a means for a “non-technical” person to update or edit their website content. CMS sites can have a wide variety of administrative functionality. There are some other CMS solutions but many of these lack the range of capabilities and options for website growth that WordPress has.

In the past I have used a small program that is added to a standard site so changes can be done through a familiar Word-like text editor. In my experience, these are limited to just text changes or image replacements on a page by page basis. They can be a bit temperamental to use and sometimes clutter the behind-the-scenes code with junk code.

WordPress is a good solution for the business owner who needs to change their website content frequently, who wants full control over the content and image layout of their site and who sees their website growing quickly as their business expands.

For some types of websites, WordPress is “overkill”. A standard site is good for the business that just wants to establish themselves online for better customer visibility, drive customers to a brick and mortar store, or has content that doesn’t change much throughout the year. An example would be a horse boarding stable where the facilities and services offered remain consistent from year to year and the only changes may be new services or boarding rates.

A WordPress CMS is best for the business that changes services, products or information frequently. Shopping cart sites, blogs, or businesses that offer educational content or content dependent on calendar dates would benefit from this type of site.

At Equine Online Design we sit down with you and discuss your available options. We want to help you come up with a website plan that fits your budget, your goals and the forward direction of your business.

This, of course, can be very subjective as there are many different definitions of what “looks good”. Sometimes websites are judged either good, great or poor entirely on how they look. But, a website is more than just a pretty set of pages on the internet. A website is a delivery method for information, products and services.

A website can be simple looking but because of how it’s marketed and it’s underlying structure, it could have excellent search engine ranking. One might look at a site like this and say it’s not that great a site but in terms of being found and showing up in the first page or two for keyword searches in the major search engines, this site could be fantastic!

Because a website’s information, products and services need to be found online among hundreds, if not thousands, of similar businesses much of what makes a website great will be “behind” the pretty looks.

However, if a website is visually unpleasant according to most peoples’ standards, then although the website is easily found online, it may not capture the attention and pocketbooks of all those potential customers. One thing I have found to be a death sentence to any website, even the ones that are heavily marketed, is an amateurish look (like something a preschool child would design) with bad, missing or ILLOGICAL navigation! Once viewer frustration sets in they bounce right off your page and on to somewhere else.

Making your website attractive involves either a background in graphics or art, a really good sense of style and taste or knowing someone with these abilities. It also helps if you are familiar with software programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

Making your website rank well in search engines involves some of these factors:

1. a structurally sound website
2. search engine optimization
3. indexing with major search engines
4. up-to-date XML sitemaps
5. on- and offline marketing

Once your website is found, keeping a potential customer on your site to make a purchase, use your services or view your information, involves your website being:

1. attractive
2. easy to navigate
3. engaging
4. able to deliver the information it promises
5. easy to use
6. easy for customers to contact you
7. being professional looking and sounding to assure customers of your legitimacy

If all of the above factors are taken into consideration when building a website and are practiced or employed to the best of the web developers and clients ability, then one should end up with a website that is truly GREAT!

When you start a business, you need to create the quickest possible route to visibility and success. A well-researched and designed logo helps to establish your credibility. Many new businesses fail within a few years. One reason for this is lack of an identifiable brand or ineffective marketing. If your marketing materials do not stand out, your image, and therefore your sales, can suffer.

An initial slow start and low cash flow often cause new business owners to put off paying for a professional logo and marketing materials “until they really get started.” But the truth is that designing their own marketing materials to launch their businesses, instead of having them professionally designed, will make getting those first clients difficult and may result in a business failure.

Rather than choosing to design your own marketing materials for your business, we recommend hiring a professional designer, experienced with branding, to take on this task for you. These days, it’s easy  to design a business card at the local office supply store or online. With word processing software you can experiment with typefaces and layout. But if you do not have a good sense of design principles, trends in type and design, or a strong sense of color, you could cause more problems than you solve. Some reasons why you shouldn’t put off a professionally designed logo and other printed materials:

• Your business could seem unstable: Starting with one logo/brand and then changing a few months later creates confusion for existing or future clients. Is it the same business? Did it change owners? This can give the impression that the business owner can’t make up its mind.
• Your business might look amateurish or unpolished: Using self-designed materials looks unprofessional and also might communicate that you cannot perform to or meet the standards required. Lacking a professional “look and feel” can appear that your business does not matter to you. Customers can get the impression that you don’t care about the quality of your work or the way that your work reflects upon their business.
• You will look unfocused: Unprofessional, uncoordinated marketing materials can make your business look jumbled or confused. If you have a business card with one look and a website with another, it can cause an identity crisis. It’s best to tie everything together from the start.

So, while putting off your logo development may seem like a prudent idea from a cash-flow point of view, it could result in your business never getting off the ground. and establishing a reputation as a professional, stable entity.

If you think that you can’t afford to hire a designer to brand your business, consider the outcome. Can you afford not to?