Content Management System Evaluation Checklist
4.8/5 with 127 votes
Table of Contents
Introduction
A good content management system (CMS) can help you develop and maintain a beautiful, functional website with very little or no knowledge of web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The number of content management systems available, however, make choosing the right one difficult, but this checklist can help you narrow your focus and find the CMS that best suits your needs.
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Toggle Your Organization status
Your Organization
Toggle Sector. status
Sector.
In which business field do you operate?
Toggle Fiscal Model. status
Fiscal Model.
Are you for-profit or non-profit?
Toggle Size. status
Size.
How many people are in your organization?
Toggle Revenue Sources. status
Revenue Sources.
Will you be selling goods or services online?
Toggle Your Target Audience status
Your Target Audience
Toggle Is your website audience internal or external to your organization? status
Is your website audience internal or external to your organization?
Toggle Customer type. status
Customer type.
Will your website target businesses or individuals?
Toggle Income. status
Income.
What is the basic income level of your audience?
Toggle Motivation. status
Motivation.
Will site visitors be looking to make a purchase, learn something, or interact?
Toggle Demographics. status
Demographics.
Evaluate typical visitor age, gender, race, ethnicity, and geographic location.
Toggle Tech Savvy. status
Tech Savvy.
What do your visitors expect from a website?
Toggle Communication. status
Communication.
How does your audience prefer to communicate?
Toggle Your Administrative Users status
Your Administrative Users
Toggle Responsibility. status
Responsibility.
Who will build and maintain your content management system website?
Toggle Scope. status
Scope.
How many departments will make content updates?
Toggle Tech Savvy. status
Tech Savvy.
How much training will staff require to administer the CMS?
Toggle Scope. status
Scope.
Will upper management access administrative functions?
Toggle Your Website Project status
Your Website Project
Toggle Budget. status
Budget.
How much can you spend?
Toggle Timeline. status
Timeline.
When do you need to start and complete your website implementation?
Toggle Scope. status
Scope.
What functionality do you need from your website?
Toggle Staff. status
Staff.
How much employee time can you devote to a CMS project?
Toggle Potential Content Management Systems status
Potential Content Management Systems
Toggle Price. status
Price.
How much do the software and associated licenses cost?
Toggle Technology. status
Technology.
Is the CMS hosted, or will you need servers and IT staff?
Toggle Mobile Friendly. status
Mobile Friendly.
Does the CMS work on tablets and smart phones?
Toggle Open Source. status
Open Source.
Is the CMS source code available?
Toggle Customers. status
Customers.
What organizations are currently using the CMS?
Toggle Community. status
Community.
Does the software vendor provide a forum or mailing list for customer interaction?
Toggle Support. status
Support.
How does the vendor help resolve customer problems?
Toggle Training. status
Training.
What options exist for helping staff learn your CMS?
Toggle Security. status
Security.
Can you limit access to certain parts of the content management system?
Toggle Expandability. status
Expandability.
Can you add administrative users without incurring additional costs?
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Presented by:
Adam Hughes
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Details
Content Management System Evaluation Checklist Tips
- Because you will be using a content management system to build the site that represents your organization on the Internet, make sure that the CMS you choose is technically capable of presenting the image that you want to portray. Some CMS software works well for hobby sites, but not business sites, so pay attention to how the end-product looks.
- If your organization has an IT staff, then an open source CMS might be a good choice since it allows for the most customization. Open source projects also tend to have strong communities around them, so getting help with problems is generally not too difficult.
- If at all possible, get access to a trial version of each content management system that you are considering. At the very least, request a live demo from the software vendor.
- Consult with peers at similar organizations who have recently adopted a new CMS to find out why they made the choices that they did.
Who it's for
This Content Management System Evaluation Checklist is for teams that want consistent execution, less rework, and clear ownership.
- Standardize quality - run the same Content Management System Evaluation steps every time, regardless of who executes
- Save time - reuse a proven Content Management System Evaluation workflow instead of rebuilding processes from scratch
- Improve accountability - assign owners and see what's done vs. what's pending
- Onboard faster - use the Content Management System Evaluation checklist as the SOP and training guide
- Coordinate across roles - handoffs are clear and everyone works from the same source of truth
How to use it
How to use this Content Management System Evaluation Checklist:
- Start by saving it - save as a Template if you'll reuse it, or as a Checklist if it's a one-off project.
- Customize it once for your workflow - remove what doesn't apply and add your team-specific steps.
- Assign ownership and execute - set owners/due dates where needed and track completion as work happens.
- Reuse without rebuilding - when Content Management System Evaluation comes up again, start from your saved version and run it with clear ownership.
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Scores 4.80 with 127 votes