So you have a Content Management System (CMS) and want to go DIY with your website but not have the DIY look. Here are some additional tools to help you out.
A Basic Text Editor
It’s good practice to write your content outside of your website just in case you get that inevitable crash mid-sentence. Avoid Microsoft Word or Rich Text Editors when writing your copy and instead use a feature-less text editor such as Notepad, WordPad or textedit. Don’t apply any styling until it’s in your website. Once you have your content ready, copy and paste into your CMS and then add your styles using the “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) editor.
Image Manipulating Software
To make sure you website loads in a timely manner make sure you resize your images to fit.
A big player in image manipulating software is of course Photoshop, but lets be realistic – not everyone can afford Photoshop nor do you need the multitude of features. There are some great photo editing programs such as Snipshot, Picknik, DrPic so don’t limit yourself to just Photoshop.
Website Monitoring
If you haven’t already, sign up to Google Analytics and get the code installed on your website. Analytics shows the activity on your website, where visitors come from how long they are on the website and what they do.
If you have a WordPress site you can install the code yourself using the Analytics plugin, otherwise ask your web developer to help out.
General Tips on keeping things professional
If you haven’t already read my article on Annoying things on websites make sure you head over there.
Ensure you use the styles that your web designer has set up for you. This includes the Paragraph, Heading 1, Heading 2 Heading 3 – don’t try different font colours and different font styles as it just looks bad. This will keep you website looking professional.
Conclusion
Remember if you don’t have time to update your website and give it the attention it deserves, hire someone to help. You may find you even save money in the long run (see When busy businesses don’t need Content Management Systems).