First of all, what is a Content Management System?

A Content Management System, or CMS for short, is an application designed to facilitate the creation and management of content.

So, do you need a CMS?

Whether or not you may need a CMS solution depends on the size of your website, the amount of traffic you receive, your skills as a webmaster, the number of users who will be adding content to the website, and many other factors.

Website Size

The content of a large website can be very difficult and tedious to maintain if a content management system is not used. Most CMS solutions will store the content in a database in an organized fashion. The administration interface of the CMS should provide an easy way to manage the content.

On the other hand, a CMS solution for a small website may be overkill. A website with a small number of pages is easy to maintain, but may need a content management system solution as it grows.

Website Traffic

The amount of traffic a website receives can be a significant factor in deciding whether or not to use a CMS. Static html pages have always been the fastest loading, whereas dynamic pages need to be compiled or pull information from a database. The processing behind these operations can add time to the loading of the page. It is important to consider the amount of processing that takes place behind the scenes in a content management system. Fortunately, there are many lightweight CMS solutions these days for high traffic websites.

Webmaster Technical Skills

A content management system can be an easy solution for a webmaster who lacks the necessary skill set to create their own website. Most CMS solutions contain a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. The editor allows for the creation of website content without HTML or other website specific knowledge.

There are many templates available which can be easily installed in many content management systems. Some of these templates are free and some come with a small cost. Another solution to creating the look for your website would be to hire a website designer. This can come with a significant cost, but you'd be getting the exact look and feel you want for your website.

Website Users

In many situations, a website will have more than one content provider. In this case, it may be beneficial to consider a content management solution, as a good CMS system will have the ability check in and check out content. The purpose of check in and check out is to prevent more than one user from editing the same content at the same time. Multiple users on a static website can create many problems with content updates without the help of a CMS system.

Conclusions

There are certainly other factors to consider in whether or not to use a content management system, but hopefully the information contained above will help you in making an informed decision.

I had to run into the supermarket the other day to pick up a few items. Unfortunately for me it wasn't the store I do the normal weekly shopping at, so I was unfamiliar with where everything was. To make matters worse it was one of those massive stores where you can buy groceries and probably find a contractor to build a house for you.

Nothing bothers me more when I walk into one of those huge stores and have to spend a good hour to find a gallon of milk. Your website should not be this way either.

I have listed a few ideas that should help make your website more user friendly to your customers so they are not overwhelmed when they type in your web address, and at the same time, know they can trust you.

First and foremost you need visitors to your website. With little effort you can have about 200 to 300 unique visitors each day. That can be done just by registering your website on Google, Yahoo, Ask and the other search engines. However the goal here is to attract customers not just visitors. You will need to get those numbers up. You need to find ways to attract new customers. A good way is to advertise. If you are on a limited budget sign up for an advertising website`s free account at first, and then as sales pick up, move over to their premium account. There are a variety of advertising websites out there. Develop a plan to use them all.

Once you have visitors you need to make your website user friendly. In other words easy for someone to navigate around and find what they are looking for. Hire yourself an experienced web designer. A real good one is worth their weight in gold. They will design you a website that is not only user friendly, but also one where visitors will want to continually come back to and tell their friends about. Once that happens, the sky is the limit.

Build trust and confidence with your customers. Your customers want to know that you are not some fly by night web company. They want to know if they order from you, you will deliver and if something goes wrong, they can get a hold of you. Put on your website a contact page. Let your visitors see how they can get a hold of you via email, phone, physical address and so on. Do not forget to respond promptly to your customers when they do contact you. In today`s world of "I need it yesterday", people will move on to your competitors if they don`t hear back from you within the same day, sometimes faster.

To go along with the above tip and to add on to the trust factor, provide detailed information about your company. Post your company history, your mission statement, and what means the most to you about being in business as it relates to your customers.

So there you have it a few tips to help your website out. Implement them to build a better online presence.

By: Bruce A. Tucker

The thing about computer languages is that there is some weird heaviness on the actual work involved. People are scared of by codes and although they see the power, they just can't seem to get going because they have no idea where to start.

That is where training comes in. And of course, fun training. You need to be taken by hand and shown exactly what you need to do, where you need to do it, and when you need to take the right action.

The funny thing about CSS is that it allows you to create your website in the fraction of the time when you would do it using tables. It's hard to believe, but still after all these years of promotion for CSS people (and companies!) still heavily rely on tables for layout. They have no idea that they are simply wasting time on old techniques that will be useless in a matter of time.

So where do you need to pay attention on when you are looking for a CSS Guide?

1. The Teacher

The number one thing you need to be sure of is that your teacher knows where he or she is talking about. Why is he or she teaching about Cascading Stylesheet, because they need to from their boss? Because they think they can teach, no matter the subject?

Think of that, how many teachers are only "teaching" stuff, and never practice it their own? Ask yourself "why" are you teaching you me this. Are you the best in the field? Where did you get your knowledge from?

2. Teaching Style

So the teacher may be a great person, has all the required skills, has a passion for the subject and knows about everything of it. But can your teacher deliver? Does he or she KNOW how to explain things? How to take you by hand and show you step-by-step how things work?

Is it fun to follow along with the teacher? CSS is one of those topics that can become boring easily when it's only discussed in a technical way. Make sure you know what you can expect!

An even more important thing is cutting right to the case. You don't want to end up with all kind of knowledge that you will never use in practice. It simply isn't useful to learn every possible css style there is when you just get started. And this brings us to the third point you need to pay attention on when you are looking for a css guide.

3. Teaching / learning speed

Can you keep up with the course? Does your teacher decide the speed, or do you? Of course a great way to follow a course is one that allows you to define your own speed. Home study courses and guides are wonderful for that.

4. Delivery

How is your guide delivered? Are you somebody that likes to read, follow along with a training video or both? Decide what you like, training videos are great, because they allow you to follow along in a real life situation. This means hands on practice, which is exactly what you need if you want to become good in CSS.

5. Contents

Last but not least, content. What is discussed in the guide? What is marked as important? Do you get a total reference, or do you know you don't need that, that the real thing you need is a hands on course with day-to-day subjects? Decide what you want to know, just the basics, how to create full layouts, or just how to create a menu using 100% CSS.

It's up to you now, decide what you need, you know how important the 5 above points are, and where you need to pay attention on. And one last tip, make sure you get some preview videos or sample chapter before following any course, it can save you a lot of time and money at the same time.

Hilco van der Meer
CSS Expert