Editor's Note:

Content -- some argue that it's the sole
reason the internet exists. If you run an online business then you have content on your site and it's time you paid more attention to the management
of that content. Today's issue will help you get started in content management, and offers some great forum resources.

You can click here to go directly to the EcommerceTrends forum.

Here are some other forums that will interest you:

Submit Your Site For Review
Email Marketing
Submit Your Logo For Review
Internet Industry Questions

Best Wishes,
Garrett French

Content Management Systems
How do pages that are created/managed by content management systems fare with SE's?

I have never used one before because I am aware that any "?" or other symbol in the URL of pages would hurt ranking; however, I have over 100 sites that are related and it is becoming a management nightmare.

I have a sign business and I am writing separate sites for each product and each keyword/phrase of each product. It is working well as far as ranking very well with search engines; however, I am very tempted to try a content management system to keep them organized.

Is this a route you would persue and is there a content management system you would recommend or would you stay with the separate HTML pages/sites?
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What should a content management system include?
I've recently developed a custom CMS program used to run my new (in house only) site but as I start to add authors I've realized I'm not sure I have everything I need! As a writer what features do you need or look for when using a CMS script (besides simply posting articles)? I've written a file upload/management utility and a profile one as well but I think more may be needed. Some of the ideas I’ve seen with are related article linking, link management (for external links) and many other tools but I'm not certain what is really useful and what simply extra fluff. The system is currently designed to run my site only so I’m not worried about portability as much as author functionality. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
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Topics   Replies   Author  Search Engine Friendly CMS 4 grasko Content Management Resources 0 Garrett Looking for CMS Providers 1 Binomic PHP Nuke Sites 18 b-girl CMS??? 5 chyann

Content Management : Critical Skill of the Modern Manager
By Gerry McGovern
Contributing Writer
Article Date: 2003-07-03

The Internet has changed how organizations manage. Historically, management was focused on 'walking and talking.' Today, 'reading and writing' are becoming more and more central. This trend is reinforced by a recent META Group study, which found that 80 percent of business people choose email as their primary communication tool.

The evolution of the information economy is marked by an increasing formalization of how business is done. In the past, business was often based around contacts, lunches and handshakes. Less business is done that way today.

Take, for example, Amazon, who has over 30 million customers. How many of these customers have talked to, let alone met, an Amazon representative? Very, very few. The vast majority have interacted with Amazon through content. This content is either published on the Amazon website or delivered by email.

The META Group study (released April 22, 2003), found that 80 percent of business people believe that email is a more valuable communication tool than the phone. The top three reasons people prefer email over the phone are:

• It allows communication with multiple parties
  
• It enables more rapid communication
  
• It allows for communication to be formally recorded
  
  "These findings reveal a major tipping point in the evolution of communications," states Matt Cain, from the META Group. "Clearly, e-mail best suits a changing business climate characterized by geographically distributed workgroups, extreme mobility, the need for rapid information dissemination, and a desire for reusable business records."
  
  Content—whether it is found in emails, websites or printed documents—has become the oil that lubricates business. It is surprising, therefore, how poor many organizations are at understanding the value and cost of content.
  
  “Only 6% of organizations undertake ongoing, specific measurement of the return on investment (ROI) of their intranet,” according to a Prescient Digital Media study, published in June 2003.
  
  I'm not surprised by the results of this study. I give content management workshops all over the world. I have yet to find an organization that is seriously examining the ROI for its content.
  
  This is an unsustainable situation. The modern organization is creating more and more content. But it is not measuring how much that content costs to create and what value it has established. How can managers manage content professionally if they cannot measure it effectively?
  
  One of the Internet myths was that it no longer matters how you write, that good grammar and proper spelling are now irrelevant. The exact opposite is true. It has never been more important to write well. It has never been more important to communicate in a clear, simple, short way.
  
  Think about how you read. If the first couple of paragraphs are not relevant, you switch off. Improving your ability to write will improve your ability to be read. In an attention-deficit economy, those who get read, get ahead.
  Read the rest of the article.