What Is Web Content Management?

What Is Web Content Management?

Web content management, when reduced to the lowest common denominator, comes down to the basics of working with content. By Web content, we mean any information or data on the Web. We must identify the types of content we need to manage and how content assets relate to one another. We must define the roles that need to be supported as we work with content. We must identify formal processes required to enable managed workflow based on these roles. Although we can probably enable Web content manage- ment with manual processes for small volumes of content, we will need a supporting sys-tems architecture and Web content-management tools to handle content efficiently as the volume and variability of content grows.

Web content management does not have an out-of-the-box definition or solution. In fact, the definition of content management must be based on the characteristics of the content and the business model. For some organizations, content management is a straightfor-ward publishing process—from a database to the Web. Other organizations rely on sophisticated content assembly that supports the automated, dynamic generation of a Web site. In some organizations, content management is limited to managing text files. In other organizations, content management requires structuring of large volumes of mul-timedia collections based on metadata attached to each rich media asset. Some organiza-tions are only concerned with the management of newly created content. Others must consider management of legacy data as well. As you can see, Web content management requires human understanding of the business process, content analysis, and system design. Investment in information modeling and design are critical to the success of a Web content-management solution.