How to Avoid the Top Ten Mistakes of Web CMS Projects

by

M Silverman

Are you starting to consider developing a Content Management System (CMS) for your organization’s website? You want to improve the chances of a successful outcome, considering the large investment at stake. Avoiding common mistakes can save you a lot of time and pain. The good news is that with planning and good advice, your organization can avoid the Top Ten Mistakes of Web CMS Projects.

1. Making decisions by committee Your decision making team should be made up of three or fewer people. The team should be empowered to review work, make decisions and communicate progress with the rest of the organization. One person on the team serves as the main decision-maker and primary communicator with the development team. Three people on a team are enough to gather input, break a tie if necessary, and make good- quality decisions. Large committees can often experience many issues including increased costs, timelines and disappointing outcomes. Some groups find it difficult to make a decision at all and when it takes a long time to come to a decision, people on the team become frustrated. The amount and quality of contributions to the project often decreases. 2. Not appointing a project manager Your project manager will help save resources and minimize frustration during the process. The project manager is often the voice of the project team and manages fluctuating deadlines and priorities. Projects without a project manage can easily lose focus, causing delays, duplicate efforts and confusion about what comes next. Without a project manager, CMS projects can easily get sidetracked, causing delays, duplication of work and general confusion about next steps. 3. Failing to make a project plan In order to prepare resources for a successful result, you must have a pre-determined project plan. A project plan should include the budget, the high-level milestones of the project, a timeline, and assignments for who is responsible for each milestone. Then, when a milestone must be moved, the plan can be adjusted. Without a project plan, there is no clear direction on how to get from the beginning stages through to the final implementation. Projects without plans are vulnerable to stalls and severe delays, as there is no accountability or agreed- upon priorities. 4. Picking a CMS before doing all your homework The most critical part of the project is the initial research phase. This is when you define your requirements – the needs of your users, the skills and abilities of your contributors, your technical parameters, etc. It is imperative you complete this research prior to choosing a CMS package so you do not spend money on software features you won’t use or restrict growth because the package doesn’t allow for expansion. Taking the time to do careful research and a thorough requirements list at the beginning of the project pays off in the end. 5. Ignoring the ‘simple is better’ rule It is almost always a mistake to add new business processes while building the system. Adding new processes creates confusion, slows down the project and may ultimately result in lower adoption of the final system. Another temptation is to add steps to the content management workflow, like assigning additional approvals. Usually, the more steps in the process, the slower it takes to publication. Eventually less content makes it to the site. The most efficient content management processes have streamlined the steps to publication to as few as possible. 6. Underestimating the job of moving old content into the new system Content migration – the process of moving information from the old system into the new one – is often ugly. And a frequently-made mistake is to minimize the complexity of content migration until it’s too late. When content migration isn’t addressed early, you may end up with a major delay just before launching. Another problem with ignoring migration is that often significant issues and questions are brought to the surface during migration. Addressing those early can save time and improve the overall quality of the site. To avoid this mistake, determine early in the project how existing content will get into the new system. Be prepared for about a week of clean-up and page-by-page review. 7. Waiting too long to plan for site hosting Shopping for hosting is like shopping for a car. You can pay as much or as little as you want, but you’ll likely get what you pay for. Hosts vary greatly in the services they offer, so find out early what your needs are, the level of support your organization requires and how much tolerance you have for downtime. Hosting is often left until the end of the project, sometimes with disastrous results. You need to know early if your hosting service can support the new CMS and what changes (and additional costs) will be required. Another issue is determining who holds and has access to your site’s DNS. Find out if the host provides traffic reporting and make sure the tools and reports offered meet your needs. Inspect the licensing for the new CMS carefully, because costs can vary depending on the hosting environment and licensing arrangements. Determining these requirements up front can save time and frustration when it comes time to launch. 8. Not making usability a priority Any tool that is difficult to operate discourages users. That applies as much to Web sites as it does to machinery. When a CMS system is difficult to use or navigate, authors will not add content (or add it only infrequently) and your audience will get discouraged and stay away. The site overall will become stale, and the whole investment of time and money is compromised. Experienced Web designers and developers understand Web heuristics – the shortcuts and cues that are familiar to Web users – and can employ them to make your site as user-friendly as possible. Essential to usability is testing. A simple test involving three to five people can identify aspects of the site that need re-worked to enhance usability. But testing shouldn’t be a one-time event. Testing throughout the development and deployment of the site provides ongoing insight into how your users are really using it and what you can do to serve their needs and keep them coming back. 9. Not using real content in the prototypes Using fake or ‘stand-in’ copy during the early stage of a CMS project has risks. By not using real content, it’s difficult to get an accurate sense of the page layout. It’s then possible to design for copy that is longer or shorter than the actual content, causing major headaches, re-work and delays. The best outcomes happen when real content is used for mockups and early stage examples. 10. Waiting too long to start adding new content The number one reason CMS projects don’t launch on time is because the content isn’t ready. When content is not prepared or not entered until the last minute, you miss the chance to confirm your page layout and the usability of the site. Early on, identify the new content to be developed, the priorities, who will be responsible and a timeline for getting it done. Start entering content as soon as possible. Finally, don’t wait until every last piece of content is entered before launching. Launch as soon as your priority information is up and ready; then, continue updating after the launch. Last Thoughts As you’ve probably figured out by now, this list has a few themes. The first is that planning is critical. Knowing what you want to accomplish and then determining a map for getting there is essential to a successful CMS project. The second theme is that with a CMS in place, a Web site is never finished. The whole point of a CMS is to make it easy for everyday users to update your site so that it can always be fresh, relevant and accurate. The third and most important theme is that a good advisor – someone with experience and expertise – can be a huge help during a CMS project. An experienced advisor can steer you away from mistakes and point you toward best practices.

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How to Avoid the Top Ten Mistakes of Web CMS Projects