Content management systems make it easy to respond quickly to marketing initiatives, but sloppy management will cost your brand respect, credibility and cash.

The Web has quickly become the place to go to find information about a company, and smart marketers are always looking for ways to leverage it to continually disseminate information quickly and effectively.

To do this, many marketers rely on content management systems (CMS) to update information on the fly, without having to hire an outside firm. A CMS enables users unfamiliar with HTML or other scripting languages to modify the content on their site and create pages and sections. These pages typically run off of templates that conform content to pre-determined design and layout styles.

But, before you run out and jump on the CMS bandwagon, consider the underlying need for companies to consider the process through which they modify the appearance of the Web site. Making things easier does not always make the end-result better. By adding convenience, the CMS industry has brought about the downfall of the process and procedure of refreshing one of the most powerful sales tools the corporate Web site.

Careful planning and manual processes have lapsed in many cases, with significant changes to Web sites now being made by individuals with just administrative capabilities and a CMS at their fingertips. I’d like to discuss some of the common content management pitfalls that companies fall in to, as well as how marketers can avoid the negative effects of sloppy content management.

The Role of Content Management Systems

CMS have been rapidly adopted by marketing professionals hoping to reduce reliance on IT departments for quick, frequent Web site changes. The systems provide many immediate benefits, including the ability to:

• Delegate content management to appropriate parties
• Make changes quicker and less expensively
• Deliver content faster to the end-user
• Maintain brand and style consistency with templates

Before the age of the CMS, changes to a Web site went through a formal and often complex process. Changes would be compiled, requiring the marketing department to take a broad look at the site and think strategically.

Those changes would be aptly documented and delivered to the IT department or Webmaster. The Webmaster would provide an objective third-party view that would also serve as a review of the proposed changes. Finally, the Webmaster would post the new information and notify the marketing department, which would, in turn, review the new information to make sure it was posted correctly, bringing the round of changes full circle.

With the advent of CMS, many corporations have relaxed the rules and reduced the Web site modification processes to little more than the standards set for sending one-to-one email. These organizations neglect the processes necessary to make well-thought out and planned changes to their sites -- and to catch errors before they become public. As a result, many companies today are experiencing the backlash of not having proper procedures in place.

Eroding Trust and Professionalism

Because traffic cannot be physically seen coming to and from a Web site, it is easy for marketers, and corporations overall, to forget that more people view their site than often see a printed brochure. What these firms forget is that careful tactics are just as important, if not more so, when posting information online.

Errors, such as typos, may erode trust with customers and prospects that visit a Web site, as reported in a 2002 study of more than 1,600 American and European Internet users conducted by Stanford University's Persuasive Technology Lab and sponsored by Makovsky & Company, a New York business communications firm. The report indicated that companies that fail to check spelling on their corporate Web sites risk damaging their online credibility just as badly as if they faced financial or legal troubles.

Blows to Business

Besides embarrassment, typos can also translate to lost profits or angry customers if the mistake happens to be a price, resource-related information or product specifications. A few years ago, when United Air Lines posted a San Francisco-to-Paris flight for $24.98 on its Web site, the carrier was forced to honor the fare for several happy customers.

Dropping the Ball

When you think about it, another issue that gets overlooked when proper procedures for updating content are not in place is only natural -- follow-up falls by the wayside. After all, if formal procedures for posting information on the site are not set, then most likely policies for dealing with information that is coming in from the site also will not be in place. A 2003 study by The Customer Respect Group, examining the 100 largest U.S. companies, said that 31 percent of those companies don’t respond to online inquiries. This not only leads to lost sales, but to unhappy customers who share their dislike with others.

Bloat

Like humans and animals, Web sites can also experience bloat.  Without frequent strategic review of the site, additional pages get created that lead to mixed messages and duplication of content. Content duplication is a sign of wasted resources, both human and technical. Duplication can make information more difficult to manage as it changes -- with or without a content management system.

What’s the Answer?

While there are numerous other issues that arise when implementing a CMS, they are not the technology’s fault, but the fault of a lack of procedures that become more apparent with the openness of the technology. Today’s marketers and corporations need to realize that their companies’ images are dependent on systems being put in place through which changes can be made to the Web site.

To minimize errors, Marketers always should follow a procedure like this for all changes:
1.    Identify the content to be modified;
2.    Appoint someone with related knowledge to modify that content;
3.    Deliver it to the administrator for that section of the site, who approves it in context;
4.    Post the change to a staging environment for approval;
5.    Have a proofreader check the staged page, including links, and grant approval;
6.    Require Web strategist and relevant parties approve content;
7.    Get legal approval;
8.    Post content to live site;
9.    Ensure that links and content are correct on the live site; and
10.  Periodically review the site as a whole for improvement and optimization

Individuals must be tasked to continually ensure that the Web presence supports the company strategy. Positions such as Director of Internet Strategy and VP of eCommerce are emerging to assume that role. Technologists, writers, marketers, salespeople and designers are included in the support staff for these new positions. And many of these services can be outsourced.

Increasingly, corporations need to realize that numerous departments have their hands in the Web site and that it is not only marketing’s domain. Human resources, customer service, operations, sales and others deliver their expectations to the Web team, and those expectations must be prioritized and effectively communicated. Ultimately, information provided by each must represent a cohesive part of the company whole, which Marketing should help to frame.

Today, marketers and others temporarily or permanently tasked with managing the Web site should hold periodic strategy sessions to assess and plan for the Web presence. Corporations need to develop procedures and delegate responsibility to employees to ensure that there is someone to initiate the changes, someone to proofread them and someone to think strategically about the end-goal of the Web site.

While investing in a CMS is a step in the right direction, organizations must understand the tool’s limitations -- no CMS will do it all for you. Content management systems are no replacement for lack of procedures. Companies need to employ sound management procedures, an outlined strategy and careful implementation to ensure that the Web site best represents the company.

Reid Carr is the president and strategy director for Red Door Interactive, in charge of helping organizations, such as Sharp Systems of America, The National Brain Tumor Foundation, The Eastridge Group of Staffing Companies, SkinMedica and others, to lay out strategies for their online Web presence and interactive marketing activities. He can be reached at rcarr@reddoor.biz