An easy to use CMS for editing your website

Why is a CMS a good idea?

When it comes to search engines, content is king. The tricks of yesteryear with carefully considered meta-content in the header of your webpage are no longer the prime optimisation for Google. Keywords are no longer separated far away from the content they describe, instead they should be included as part of a cohesive and wide-ranging effort to make your content shine out from amongst the billions of websites out there.

So, with this in mind - do you really want a webpage that is difficult to update?

In one of our recent articles, we talked about a case study in which changing a button label from 'your' to 'my' lead to a 90% increase in clicks. This level of granular control is the hallmark of a good content management system, as well as a targeted content marketing strategy. A combination of the two can elevate your business, event or profile far beyond the competition.

Alongside this, a CMS will automate many aspects of Search Engine Optimisation that are often overlooked. A good example is the sitemap. One of the things that Google will look for is an updated (XML) sitemap of your site showing all pages on the site and informing it of new ones and changes in content. Managing this manually is a chore and thankfully this is another area a good CMS can help with.

Adding a CMS may sound like an expensive investment, but it can actually save you money in the long term. With the keys to your shiny new CMS in hand, any fees for future content updates are immediately removed and adding new content no longer comes with an accompanying invoice. There's no limit to what, where and when you can amend the copy on your website. If your business relies upon a quick reaction to recent events, your developer's nine-to-five no longer applies to you. If you want to add a new section to your site, it can be done when you want it and at the click of a few buttons.

With a Content Management System, your website can truly become your website, without compromises or middlemen.

What is our CMS of choice?

At Root Studio we always consider each individual project's needs before settling on a content management system. Having said that we find that more often than not the excellent CMS system from Perch is the most suitable solution. Having launched around 6 years ago, the system has grown to be a sleek, stable and professional platform with which we can build almost any type of website. With sensible out-of-the-box functionality and an active developer team providing timely updates your new CMS powered website will never be left unprotected or left with no upgrade path to the latest features. With Root Studio hosting over 60 websites running on a Perch CMS, we have yet to find a client unhappy with the system - we've also converted a fair few customers who were well accustomed to the often labour intensive ways of other systems such as Wordpress and Expression Engine over the years.

One of the best features of Perch is the absolute freedom we have in creating templates. This means that our team of talented designers can work on bespoke concepts for your website with the confidence that their vision will be realised in full. With a region-based system, the software never puts barriers in front of the design and never dictates to us how certain features should look. You need only to read through our blog archive to see the diverse range of websites we have launched, all powered by Perch - including the award-winning Lincolnshire Show site.

Perch isn't limited to managing page content, it can also be extended by a wide range of add-ons that can convert it from a CMS to a fully featured blogging application, events management platform or data collection system. With a comprehensive e-commerce application also coming soon, Perch is looking to bring it’s ease of use not just to simple content edits but to a range of complex functionality - making everyone’s life that little bit easier. All of these features are then accessed through the same friendly and accessible control panel.

If you require a little more, we can work with you or your team to produce bespoke add-ons tailored to your exact requirements. The NCS team were one such client who have their CMS integrated with their online signup process, giving them end-to-end control of managing registrations and exporting to their Customer Relationship Manager (CRM). A seriously complex system made user friendly through our CMS.

How will a CMS make your life easier?

A CMS should work for you, not against you. A Root Studio CMS doesn't make you jump through hoops to manage your site, but gets out of the way and let's you do the driving.

Simple, but Powerful Editing Tools

The Redactor editor allows you to write your content with familiar formatting controls (similar to those in a Word document). Set headers, font-weights or embed multimedia without the need for any code knowledge.

Makes Blogging Easy

The Perch Blog app is as extensible as the rest of Perch and gives us total control of the fields and regions available to each of your blog posts. With the same simple editor and ability to separate posts by category, tag, section or any field you need there is nothing Perch is unable to do in comparison to other systems.

Never Lose an Email

The Perch Forms app allows you to collect information from forms on your website easily. Useful for contact forms or competition entries, with the peace-of-mind that their submissions are stored safely and securely in the CMS. The forms app also comes with built in autoresponder support, as well as a robust anti-spam system. All data from the forms app can be exported in the universal Comma Separated Value (CSV) format ready to import into an Excel spreadsheet or CRM - this app can come in really handy when those contact emails go missing. Logging in to your CMS you’ll find all submissions through the website contact forms are safe and sound.

Asset Management

Keep your images and documents organised. The Perch assets system is a centralised area for all your uploaded media. Organised by 'buckets' with intelligent analysis and tagging available, it is easy to find existing images to insert in your content. A simple drag-and-drop interface makes it a breeze to upload new content too. Best of all, the assets system also dynamically re-sizes uploaded images to fit the content region, keeping the website fast and bandwidth usage low whilst at the same time meaning you don’t have to be a Photoshop wizard!

We are Here to Help

Editing your own site doesn't have to be daunting. We provide free training for your new CMS, face-to-face or through a screen-sharing session and are always here to help. If you are interested in finding out more email us at design@rootstudio.co.uk or call us on 01522 528246.