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Avoiding CMS Pitfalls Presented by John Piechowski, Managing Director – Northwoods Software

Avoiding CMS Pitfalls Presented by John Piechowski, Managing Director – Northwoods Software. A little about myself. My first computer was an Apple IIc Computer programmer in the Army Live in Jackson Student Pilot Worked in many areas of IT for over 20 years

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Avoiding CMS Pitfalls Presented by John Piechowski, Managing Director – Northwoods Software

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  1. Avoiding CMS Pitfalls Presented by John Piechowski, Managing Director – Northwoods Software

  2. A little about myself • My first computer was an Apple IIc • Computer programmer in the Army • Live in Jackson • Student Pilot • Worked in many areas of IT for over 20 years • Implementing Content Management for 8 years • Briggs and Stratton Dealer Extranet • Medical College of Wisconsin • Boy Scout Troop and Little League Website

  3. What We’ll Cover • The goals of using a CMS • My top 10 list • Minimize the impact • Reap the benefits

  4. Goals of a CMS • Better website • Consistent look • Improve accuracy • Easier to manage • Reduce duplication • Improve search • Personalization • Security • Control • Workflow • Distribute workload • Add Functionality

  5. Pitfall # 10 The Team gets too big and can’t make effective decisions

  6. #10 – Form a Small Team

  7. Pitfall # 9 CMS isn’t flexible enough (or is too flexible)

  8. #9 - Flexibility With tamed exuberance • Page Creation • Editing • Linking • Images • Placement • Metadata • Tagging

  9. Pitfall # 8 Doesn’t allow for tight integration

  10. #8 – Assess Integration Needs • External systems/data • Dealer Locator • eCommerce • Business System • Inventory • Order status • Warranty System

  11. #8 – Assess Integration Needs

  12. #8 - Integration

  13. Pitfall # 7 Poor Information Architecture

  14. #7 – Efficient Information Architecture • You can’t use it if you can’t find it • Do it from your user’s perspective • It’s not just a CMS problem “The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability.” - IA Institute

  15. Pitfall # 6 Keep adding to Scope

  16. #6 – Think in Phases • Set a 3 month or less goal • Max of 6 months • Business change • The web is flexible • Manage scope • Phase II and III

  17. Pitfall # 5 The effort to create new content is underestimated

  18. #5 – Plan Early for New Content • Inventory • Assign responsibility

  19. #5 – Plan Early for New Content • Inventory • Assign responsibility • It’s not just pasting from Word • Learn writing for the web • Example of scanning “Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what’s left” - Krug, Don’t Make Me Think

  20. Pitfall # 4 Existing Content isn’t any easier

  21. #4 – Migrate Existing Content • Planning process • Very easy to underestimate • Old Content • Remove • Refresh/Rewrite “We just need to copy and paste our existing content and we’ll be done”

  22. Pitfall # 3 Believing that Training isn’t needed

  23. #3 – Plan for Training • Goals • Distributed publishing • Easy to manage • Empower the Users • Content Entry • Content Approval • Administrators

  24. Pitfall # 2 Paralysis (preventing go live)

  25. #2 – Knowing What is Good Enough? • Compare new site to current site • 20% better • Phase II

  26. Pitfall # 1 Thinking that Go Live means the work is done

  27. #1 – Planning for Care and Feeding • You’ve Just Begun • Maintain content • Monitor SEO • Monitor Analytics • Keep the content fresh • Train new users

  28. Join us for Upcoming Lunch & Learn Seminars http://learn.northwoodsoft.com

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