Evaluating Web Content Management Products

When Internal Expectations Meet External Options

It has already been decided that your college website needs a content management product to improve
your website’s effectiveness and cut costs. With the myriad of options available today (NuRelm,
Interwoven, Vignette, Roxen), how do you choose a product that will vastly improve the ability of all staff
to easily add content, including the pages, links, and downloadable files. How do you pick the right
product to cut costs and make everyone’s job easier? The decision is not as easy as you first think.

The most important criteria you need to understand is that choosing a content management product
involves comparing information on internal expectations and external options. An optimal choice will not
occur by only looking one way before you cross the street.

Internal Expectations​ are the needs and wants of everyone at your college who will “touch” the content
management product in one way or another.

First and foremost​, get everyone on-board as to why you are evaluating website content management
products and the benefits that all stakeholders will derive from an informed choice. Anne Wallace, director
of marketing for the Community College of Beaver County, speaks from experience. “Do your homework.
Encourage all stakeholders to be content management champions even before you know which product
you will choose.”

Second​, ask yourself where you are now with your school's Web site? Where do you want to be? Map
out what needs to be improved and what you and the rest of the stakeholders want to improve. Examples
include a larger, more informative site, easier navigation, a more inspiring design, more dynamic content,
an online course catalog, and other online interactivity to peak a visitor's interest.

Third, determine what you are looking for in advance. Once all the needs and wants have been laid out
on the table, rank them by priority and eliminate those that are clearly not feasible (by cost, time, or
resources available). Taking the initiative to properly assess your online needs prior to choosing a content
management product will save much time and frustration.

External Options​ are the content management products on the market ranging from simple HTML text
editors to enterprise-wide applications built exclusively for Fortune 500 companies. Most community
colleges fall somewhere in the middle, electing mid-market products now obtainable that meet their
needs, are easy to use, and fall within budgetary constraints. Asking many questions and keeping an
objective opinion will ease your way through the evaluation process.

Implementation and Training​ ​A brand new car is worth nothing if you cannot drive it​. Who will
implement the product – the vendor, the college, or a third party? Include integration fees (if any) in the
budget. Will the integration involve a totally new site design, or can the existing design (and branding
scheme) be utilized without changes to accommodate the content management product. Will a consultant
be needed? A recent chat room discussion unearthed a shocking budget crisis for one organization when
a consultant for a Fortune 500 content management company charged $2,000 per day for 6 weeks to
choose and implement an enterprise content management system. Once integrated, what is the learning
curve for content contributors – hours, days, or weeks? Can communications professionals easily use it?
And most importantly, do not buy a product that focuses on the technology and looses site of the content.
Features​ are all the pieces that fit together and make the software work. Buy all necessary pieces upfront
and add-on the luxury items as you need them. Will the site be able to grow, or are you limited to only
changing existing copy? Are there incremental costs for expanding the site? Is there a feedback loop (a
workflow process that allows approved content contributors to publish directly to the Web site, while the
Web site administrator reviews changes from other content contributors before it is published)? Is
versioning of content an option?

Users​ vary greatly in technical ability and desire to contribute content. Implementing Web site content
management is a drastic change and empowers non-technical staff, almost overnight, to be content
contributors. It is important to know if this product will keep everyone happy. Consider all users, both
internal and external, from entry-level to director-level, as well as visitors to the site. Isthis the optimal
solution for marketing, public relations, Web staff, and the IT department so that all can work in harmony?
Avoid the products that suit one department but cause friction to develop elsewhere. Finally, ask yourself,
“Will this make my job and everyone else’s job easier? Can I plain as day see how this will benefit the
college?”

Once you get the list down to a final few products ask to see them in action and be allowed to test drive
them for a few days. After you have kicked the tires on each, the product of choice should be apparent.

It is a difficult evaluation process, but after weighing everyone’s needs and wants with what is available
you can come to a well thought-out decision that is in everyone’s best interest.

Anne Wallace , MBA, a marketing professional with over 15 years professional marketing experience, is
the director of marketing and public relations at the Community College of Beaver County.

Adam Bujanowski is the marketing manager at NuRelm E-Business Software. He is a certified master of
marketing strategy and is currently pursuing his MBA at the Katz School of Business. Visit
www.nurelm.com​ for more information regarding content management products for educational institutions.