What is a CMS?
A content management system is a package specifically designed to be managed entirely by yourself or your staff without any programming knowledge.

The Port Web Design will create a custom, highly professional design for your CMS web site at a very reasonable price.

Then, via a web-based interface that works much like Word does, you just point-and-click, type in the new text, and click save. Your site is instantly updated. Equally easy is adding new pages, deleting old ones, or restructuring the site to match your new business model.

The CMS also automates tasks, such as applying the same page layout and appearance across the site.

What are the benefits?
A content management system makes life much easier in many ways: You are no longer dependent on the web designers making changes for you - no more web designer fees! Changes can be made any time they are needed, day or night. This is increasingly important as your business comes to rely on the website as a communications channel. All the technical details are simply handled by the CMS database. The CMS ensures that all the pages are consistent in design.

The many other powerful features of the CMS allows your website to grow along with your business.

And last but not the least: every new info or update is stored in the database! Insert a keyword in your search and a 2 year old article will come up!

Why every website, even small website should use a content management system?
You can have an unlimited number of pages in an unlimited number of categories and sections, all of which will be search engine optimized.

Also, with a static HTML website, a new page will cost you $90 - a CMS let you manage and add unlimited number of pages, photos, videos... at NO ADDITIONAL COST!

• Add your own content and images without new web designer fee through your backend administration platform. Take control of your website. Manage clients, orders, products, content, emails and more, all from your backend administration platform.
• You can add unlimited new pages to your websites anytime with any normal web browser from anywhere in the world - or with your iPhone..!
• Add music, videos or social networking systems, group, profiles, photo galleries..
• Gather email addresses from your clients and mass mail directly from your website.
• Set up email enabled contact forms.
• Manage Banners and Ads easily
• Have a completely searchable website
• Hundreds of components & modules available: directory - weather - forum - shopping cart - calendar of events - video conference - photo gallery - social networking.....
• Conduct polls or surveys
• Detailed Page and Hit statistics
• Install your own Wordpress blog - FREE download with Fantastico DeLuxe and much much more!!!

With our hosting plans and a CMS, there is no restriction as to the number of pages, subpages, subfolders or subdirectories....

Once the website is setup, and the customers start rolling in, you will want to make ongoing changes. These could be very small, such as changing a phone number, or adding a news item. New products, or shifts in business direction, will necessitate larger updates to the site. Chances are, though, you will still love the design, and it’s just the text that needs to be changed. While the web designer did a great job, you don’t want to have to go back to them for every change.

This is where a content management system (CMS) comes in. Sitting behind the scenes, it gives you the ability to maintain your own site. No website larger than a few pages should be without a CMS to manage it. If you know how to use Microsoft Word then you are already capable of managing the content of your own web site – it’s as simple as that! The heavy task of coding content into HTML templates is eliminated, once the designer is done with the initial design, integration and set up . Adding user interactivity is much easier.

Today's Web users expect a high degree of interactivity. A dynamic system allows you to offer interactive features smoothly and efficiently, and to incorporate personalization features that wouldn't be possible with a static website.

When a site gets to a certain size, it simply doesn't make sense to stay flat, because maintenance becomes a nightmare.

You have a website, It has grown over time, and while it is very useful, it is far from perfect. Much of the content is out-of-date or inaccurate, it's hard to find the information, updating the site is complex, and the appearance is becoming dated.

Worse yet, you've lost track of all the pages on the site, and by having all the changes made by your skilled webmaster, the updates are piling up in their in-tray. What was on the site last week, or last year? You couldn't say. In the back of your mind, you know that this could leave you in a difficult position if a customer sues, but there is little that you can do. If this sounds grim, you are not alone. In fact, it's the natural by-product of maintaining a site using manual tools such as Dreamweaver or Expression Web.

Thankfully, these problems are what a content management system is specifically designed to solve. Of course, every site looks different, so the CMS lets the web designers and web developers set up the structure and create the look that is applied by the system. These publishing capabilities ensure that the pages are consistent across the entire site, and enable a very high standard of appearance.

The CMS can be used to make your site dynamic and interactive, thereby enhancing the site's impact and ranking.

The many other powerful features of the CMS allows the site to grow along with your business.

And the cost?
The good news is that a lightweight CMS, suitable for a modest-sized website, is not expensive. It can be as low as a few thousand dollars. Of course, if your site is larger, or has complex requirements, the cost of a matching CMS will also grow. After all, you get what you pay for.

Next steps : Talk with us about what we can provide in terms of a content management system. Tell us what you need. Request a FREE quote. We will set up an appointment or a conference call.

Emails and conference calls during the creation and set up process ARE FREE!

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I would like to add to the "trends" I've noticed myself. More and more clients are requesting that they would like to update their site themselves. So Web Content Management could be said to be an increasing trend. Also, the way in which content is offered. Print friendly versions, RSS feeds, etc. All the above are aimed at accommodating visitors needs, while increasing site functionality and should be considered in any design brief.

See also: *** Why would you need a database...? *** Click here to find out!

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Contact us for a FREE quote or check our rates and packages here:
Email: info@theportwebdesign.com
or call: (207) 967-4691

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