Why Your Content Management System Might Be Killing Your Website.

Funny title from a guy who never shuts up about how great content management systems are and just why your business cannot survive without one.

Before I start let's get the definitions out of the way... A content management system (or CMS) is technology that lives behind your website and allows you to securely and hopefully easily make changes to the content of your web-pages. The advantage is that you can make changes whenever you want without paying a cent. No need for your designer or web developer to get involved and charge you $$.

Last week I walked into our design studio and found one of our happiest and most positive designers head in hands, slumped over his desk all but unresponsive. On his monitor was his latest design masterpiece - a work of design integrity and marketing genius no less. A project that was going to take our client from a nobody to a somebody overnight. Problem was our client had been given the keys to our content management system and had made "a few tweaks" to the project our designer had slaved over.

On the homepage our client had carefully centred-aligned text, created giant headlines of various sizes in purple, red, orange, green and yellow. Fearing something important might be missed our client had added a half dozen bright flashing images into any and all available spaces. All in all it had started to look like a terrifying creation from 1991 rather than an effective website taking a small business in 2008 to the next level.

Something I need to point out here.... our designers have all studied full-time design degrees and other courses. They now plug away at design 5 (or more) days a week (and sometimes 5 nights as well) and well... they know a thing or two. The great thing about managing the content side of your own website is that it is actually really simple and keeps your site relevant and interesting. The downside is that well-intentioned design tweaks can quickly erode the effectiveness and professionalism of your site.

I have created a list here of the 10 things you absolutely must NOT do if you want your site to look professional. And don't take my word for it. Visit a bunch of the large and succesful websites out there today - you will find these rules apply equally to successful companies generating billions of dollars as they will to you. It is all about communication and ensuring your site visitors can find the information they want and make the right decision about your business and its level of professionalism.

1. Too many font colours, sizes, styles
   This is one of the number one mistakes website owners make. There is a feeling out there that to make something stand out you make it different - bigger, brighter, stranger somehow. There is an element of truth to this but poorly executed it will make nothing stand out on a web-page as no-one will be inclined to read it. Keep things consistent - work with your style guide and keep it constant. If you want help in this area look at successful sites on the web and speak with your web designer about possible solutions.
2. Inconsistent layout and structure
   Users don't like to get confused. Use consistent space between items, keep page elements in the same place on each page, keep your language and message consistent. If a page contains too many things that look out of place then chances are you are not really 'highlighting' things but rather making your site harder to use.
3. Poorly formatted and presented images
   When you give an image to a web designer to upload to your site they will asses whether it should be a GIF or JPEG. They will ensure it is correctly cropped and sized, that it is the right resolution and that it is placed correctly on your website. Before you upload an image you also need to do these things or you run the very real risk of making your site look awful and perform very poorly.
4. Under construction pages
   When you are planning new content for your site it is easy to get so excited that you want to tell people all about it - even before it is ready for them to see. There is nothing worse than a site with 'coming soon' or 'under construction' messages plastered all over it. In most cases either the content is ready or it is not. If it is not - then keep it to yourself.
5. To left align, centre align or justify text?
   The web is not a magazine or a book and what looks great in print does not always look great on a website. Centre aligned text can behave badly on some layouts and look messy. Justified text can be very hard to read on-screen. Having left aligned text on your website is generally the best way to format your text.
6. Spelling mistakes
   For many people it does not matter what you write and how interesting it is if they find it littered with spelling mistakes. Take the time and check your work. And then when you know it is perfect show it to someone else so they can find the errors you have missed. Also, don't forget to spellcheck a page using tools in your content management system.
7. Trying to control what will fit on a page (or a line)
   This is a common mistake people make on the web. Again, a website is not a book or a magazine and you have to accept that your carefully crafted website will appear differently to different users. People have control over the size and style of the fonts used in your website as well as lots of other web-related variables. If you try to be overly controlling in this area your site (and sanity) will likely suffer.
8. Not enough spacing around elements
   A real temptation to the new website owner is to cram as much as possible on to a page and to try to stop content going over one screen height in length. This is always counter productive. Content as they say is king and allowing plenty of whitespace around your words and images will make them easier to read on screen and will ensure readers stick with you even if this means a page is a little bit longer.
9. Animations
   There is a view that making things move makes your site look exciting and sophisticated. Be very careful - movement on a web page is distracting and will result in people spending less time reading your pages. Also, if your animations are not professional and relevant to the interests of the user they will become simply annoying. Keep your animations simple, use them for vital content only and do not have them looping over and over and over again.
10. Getting too tricky (content should be clear and simple and 'scannable')
    People read websites differently to books and magazines. Keep your content simple and to the point. Keep it relevant. Use headlines and sub-headlines and short paragraphs. Do not use lots of complex tables unless they are really relevant to the content. Let people know what you're talking about from the very beginning of a page.

There are plenty of other mistakes you can make when using a content management system to control your website but the list above should get you started. Don't let this all turn you off though. I would see an effective CMS as a vital tool for any business wanting to have an active and effective web presence. Just make sure you follow the rules.