The Disadvantage of a Content Management System

Previously I discussed the benefits of using a Content Management System for your business. You should also know when it’s better to build a static site instead.

Let’s look at some of the disadvantages of a CMS Site:

1. Contains hundreds of files

A site that contains many files leaves itself open to errors. For example a client updating the site may create errors (i.e. inserting images that are too large, inserting flash, javascript, video files) that result in substantially altering the design of the template.

It may take the designer many hours to find the cause of the error. He may have to go back to redesigning the original site especially if the files were not backed up. This will cause much frustration for the site owner because his site will be offline. He may lose all the files he has created thus losing his customers and having to spend money again to fix the errors.

A static site only contains a few files that can easily be corrected for errors.

2. Limited flexibility in design

CMS sites primarily use templates for design. They are easy to recognize because they have a standard format i.e. 2 or 3 column design with boxes placed in various positions to accommodate the content.

The designer must stay within the confines of this type of template therefore he is limited in the flexibility and uniqueness of design that can reflect his business.

3. Limited SEO of web pages

The web pages of a CMS site are generated dynamically. This often means the URLS of the web pages contain long strings that are a combination of words, numbers and/or symbols. Search engines have a difficult time spidering these types of pages. Not all web designers will care to edit the code to make the CMS site search engine compatible.

Meta tags (a necessity for obtaining good rankings) are also often left out of dynamically produced pages.

Duplicate content can easily occur in CMS sites because it may use several style sheets to produce the same content i.e.
print style sheet plus the standard design style sheet.

If the CMS site contains a blog the content may be duplicated by appearing on the front age, in the archives, in the printed version and in the syndicated content.

4. SEO Maintenance

Since CMS sites often contain hundreds of pages it may be difficult to optimize them. For example it will take a long time to
change the keywords in the copy and meta tags for that many pages. Keywords for web pages need to be refined and altered
to keep pace with the changing demographics of peoples’ searches.

5. Slow loading

Because a CMS site is database driven you need to wait for the pages to be processed by the server. Since there are hundreds of pages they may be slow to load. This will cause you to lose visitors as most internet users have a short attention span. A site should only take a few seconds to load.

A CMS site on a slow server or on a server that includes many other sites will make also take a long time to load.

A static site that is built using CSS (cascading style sheets) and doesn’t use lots of tables in its design will load much faster than a CMS site.

6. Expensive design

CMS sites cost a lot more to design than static sites because a designer has to install and configure the database, design the
template, then customize it to include all the extensions i.e. menus, polls, banners, forms etc.

It will also require extensive testing to check for errors, browser compatibility and screen resolution.

Finally the designer needs to explain to the client how to manage the web site from the control panel i.e. add content, grant permissions to different authors etc. The web designer must include charges for time spent with the client on how to
administer the CMS site.

7. Maintenance costs

• What if your CMS site suddenly produces errors?
• As the owner of the site are you making constant backups in case the site goes down?
• What will you do if your database server fails?
• If not, is your designer doing the backups for you?
• How will you know if your designer is still around should your site go offline?

These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself when considering a CMS site for your business.

Conclusion

Before considering a CMS site for your business, determine what your needs are. If you are a small organization or business that needs less than a hundred pages consider building a static site instead.

If you are a large organization or business that will have hundreds or thousands of pages that need to be added or updated frequently with multiple authors, consider creating a CMS site.