How can you develop an effective governance plan for CMS implementation and integration?

A content management system (CMS) is a software platform that allows you to create, manage, and publish digital content on your website or app. However, implementing and integrating a CMS is not a one-time project, but an ongoing process that requires a clear and effective governance plan. A governance plan is a set of policies, roles, and responsibilities that define how your CMS is used, maintained, and improved over time. In this article, you will learn how to develop an effective governance plan for CMS implementation and integration, covering the following aspects:

1 Define your goals and scope

Before you start implementing and integrating your CMS, you need to define your goals and scope for the project. What are the main objectives and benefits of using a CMS for your content strategy? What are the features and functions that you need from your CMS? What are the sources and types of content that you will manage with your CMS? How will you measure the success and impact of your CMS? These questions will help you establish a clear vision and scope for your CMS project, and align it with your business and user needs.

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Joyce Broderson

Management Consultant, Doctor of Business and Management, MBA, Specialty: Diversity and Inclusion, Equity. Former Affirmative Action Officer. Recruits, Trains, and helps others find success in work and life.
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The company designs, implements and integrates content that has been managed and strategized for its sake with the variety of sections who must develop and approve the work as completed, usually called the governing body of a board of directors. They give the approval for the final product containing the goals as initially set forth, the strategy utilizing the objectives and benefits to be met; and the features and functions that make the product a working endeavor. When the product is properly assembled, sources and content type will be easily located and manageable, and it will be easy for both groups to clearly see the vision and scope of the product, and its usefulness will be clear to both initiating and finalizing parties.

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Alan Baker

Author & Video producer (Retired)
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Unless you own the firm, the most important factor in setting up a CMS is to estimate your costs. Remember that there will probably be a committee reviewing your proposal. They will be managers and accountants. You must be able to convince these people that your proposal is worth the investment. Also, some firms, under their CEO may want to keep their costs down and are reluctant to invest, even if you can show the benefit on paper. The next CEO might be more favourable to your proposal. I'll add more in Section 6 Here's what else to consider.

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2 Assign your roles and responsibilities

A CMS project involves multiple stakeholders, such as content creators, editors, developers, designers, marketers, and managers. Each stakeholder has a different role and responsibility in the CMS project, such as creating, editing, approving, publishing, or maintaining content. You need to assign and communicate these roles and responsibilities clearly, and define the workflows and processes that govern how they interact with each other and the CMS. This will help you ensure accountability, quality, and efficiency in your CMS project, and avoid conflicts, confusion, or duplication of work.

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Alan Baker

Author & Video producer (Retired)
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Be careful when assigning roles to people, and check what other companies are doing with these titles. When working for one company the role of editor was a prestigious position. In my next company, this role was a starting position, leading to the next promotion as a technical author. Over many years, this company has now changed the meaning of the editor role to holding a top prestigious position.

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3 Establish your standards and guidelines

A CMS project also requires consistent and coherent standards and guidelines for your content and design. These standards and guidelines include aspects such as content structure, format, tone, style, metadata, accessibility, SEO, branding, and usability. You need to establish and document these standards and guidelines, and make them available and accessible to your CMS users. This will help you ensure that your content and design are aligned with your goals and scope, and that they provide a positive and consistent user experience across your channels and platforms.

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4 Choose your tools and technologies

A CMS project also depends on the tools and technologies that you use to implement and integrate your CMS. These tools and technologies include aspects such as the CMS platform itself, the hosting and security options, the development and testing environments, the integration methods and APIs, the backup and recovery solutions, and the analytics and reporting tools. You need to choose and evaluate these tools and technologies carefully, based on your goals and scope, your standards and guidelines, and your roles and responsibilities. This will help you ensure that your CMS is reliable, scalable, secure, and compatible with your existing systems and processes.

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5 Monitor and improve your performance

A CMS project is not finished once you implement and integrate your CMS. You need to monitor and improve your performance constantly, based on the data and feedback that you collect from your CMS users and your website or app visitors. You need to track and analyze metrics such as content quality, user satisfaction, engagement, conversion, retention, and revenue. You also need to solicit and act on feedback from your CMS users and your website or app visitors, such as surveys, reviews, comments, or suggestions. This will help you identify and address any issues, gaps, or opportunities for improvement in your CMS project, and ensure that your CMS is delivering value and meeting your goals and scope.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Bhumika S.

Marketer | Writer | Reader | Blogger
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Additional insights and options for CMS implementation and integration governance planning: 1. To ensure content classification and searchability, define CMS-managed content types and metadata standards. 2. Create content guidelines that support the organization's goals (style guides, tone of voice, and brand guidelines). 3. Establish a content calendar for creation, review, and publishing. This will help publish content on time and in line with the objectives of the business. 4. Integrate SEO best practices into the CMS to boost search engine rankings and website traffic. 5. Analytics tools can track CMS and content performance. Tracking page views, bounce rates, and engagement rates helps identify areas for improvement.

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Alan Baker

Author & Video producer (Retired)
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I once worked for a defense contracting company but was troubled that a large department (in which there were several authors), relied on two computer typing pools. When I had completed a section of work and passed it to one typing pool I had run out of tasks. Because part of my degree was in Economics, I asked the head of the department if I could do a proposal on equipping the department with up-to-date equipment, and he agreed! In addition to my normal work, it took several months to complete (interviewing staff, etc.). What I did not expect was a management panel of 12 people reviewing my proposal. Only part of my original proposal was accepted, but in a new proposal, the rest was spread over the next three years.

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How can you develop an effective governance plan for CMS implementation and integration?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Define your goals and scope

2 Assign your roles and responsibilities

3 Establish your standards and guidelines

4 Choose your tools and technologies

5 Monitor and improve your performance

6 Here’s what else to consider

Content Management

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How can you develop an effective governance plan for CMS implementation and integration?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Define your goals and scope

2 Assign your roles and responsibilities

3 Establish your standards and guidelines

4 Choose your tools and technologies

5 Monitor and improve your performance

6 Here’s what else to consider

Content Management

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