Web Content Management is not dead

Having recently returned from another hectic 3 days at Internet World, I have had a few days to reflect on the sort of enquiries we were getting. There had been something of a trend over the past year to dismiss Web Content Management as yesterday’s news, and hail Social Media as the new king. However, whilst we are (obviously) as excited as anyone about the benefits of harnessing Social Media, it seems from speaking to people at Internet World that a CMS-driven site is going to be a commercial necessity for some time to come. Yes we want branded Facebook pages, yes we need to encourage direct communication between business and customer through social networks, but put bluntly, people still value having their own unique bit of cyberspace as much as they ever did.

Surprising? Perhaps not: so often each new online innovation results in a rush to dismiss the old and embrace the new, but what we’ve seen this year is a more circumspect approach. There now seems to be an understanding that these established tools for building brands and making sales still have a part to play.

The exciting part, and the thing that we at Auros intend to take an active role in, is how we harness the power of a great content management system to provide a comprehensive site that works with conversations happening in the social space. Integrating a traditional web presence with the right social networks is going to be a key part of the online persona of any business over the coming months and years. This will mean applying our skills and experience to the question of how to engage customers effectively in the social space, in a way that actively supports and enhances a brand. For instance, closer integration of content and comment are required – use great content to spark debate, and make that debate part of the content.

The future is unknown, but by providing a firm foundation on which our clients can build their brand, we aim to help them respond quickly to changes in the market and act accordingly. We are all at the whim of the end-user, and what he or she decides is cool and worth using, but then that’s what makes this business so exciting!