The Problem with Content Management Systems - Redux
My original article on Content Management Systems has sparked some debate and some keen observations so I'm posting some follow-up thoughts.
First off, I really don't hate all CMS tools. I think that when used properly they can be very good at doing what they're designed for.. and that is to manage content. That's a very important distinction to make. A CMS is not a design tool. It's not an architecture tool. It's sole purpose is to manage the content of your site.
What's more important though, is who is managing the content. If the person in charge is a web developer then a CMS or a blogging platform such as MovableType can be a tremendous asset to help alleviate some very tedious production work. However, when the CMS is being used by client who's not a web developer, that's when the problems arise. People who aren't trained web developers simply don't know the best practices for managing a website.
- Copy and Pasting from Microsoft Word into many CMS tools results in horribly mangled HTML/CSS code
- Uploaded images and PDFs aren't properly compressed for the web
- Title tags are often forgotten
- Often times copy isn't written properly for the web or for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Semantic h1-h7 header tags are rarely used which can also hurt SEO
- Accessibility attributes such as alt tags are forgotten or improperly used. I've seen a CMS insert things like alt="img0006.gif" which is NOT a proper alt tag.
- Etc, etc, etc
My whole point in this tirade is that the web isn't a DIY project anymore. Just because you read a book on HTML a few years ago doesn't make you a web developer, sorry.
If you want your car properly maintained, you go to a mechanic... your health, a doctor... your house, a roofer or a plumber perhaps. If you want your website properly maintained, hire a web developer to do it and let them chose whatever tools they think is best.
1 Comments
Excellent essay. It is very useful for me. Thank you very much http://www.tourhag.com/iyinet-webmaster-forumu-2008-seo-yarismasi/
Posted by: jimmy | February 10, 2008 3:34 PM