What is web content management Definitions of common jargon and acronyms associated with WCM Common out-of-the-box features in web content marketing (WCM) tools How to justify investments in web content management (WCM) How much WCM solutions typically cost Essential pre-purchase tips and tricks to maximize an investment in WCM

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Technology Cheat Sheet
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Gleanster Research produces
two types of CheatSheats:
ÆÆ Concept CheatSheats:
Explaining the nuances of a key concept.
ÆÆ Technology CheatSheats:
A comprehensive guide to a technology.
CheatSheats offer a quick and consumable
overview of a key concept or technology.
Our analysts develop these with one goal
in mind; explain the concept or technology
as if you were talking to your grandmother.
It’s the quickest way to get acclimated to
emerging business terms and impress your
colleagues and your boss with practical
insights at your next meeting.
Inside a Concept CheatSheet
The Technology, Defined
What’s does it do?
Industry Jargon Acronyms
Features Functions
Pricing
Justifying the Investment
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Web Content Management
The Technology, Defined
A web content management system
(WCMS) is a software system that
provideswebsiteauthoring,collaboration,
and administration tools designed to
allow users with little knowledge of web
programming languages or markup
languages to create and manage website
content with relative ease.
What Does It Do?
A robust WCMS provides the foundation
for collaboration, offering users the
ability to manage documents and
output for multiple author editing and
participation. WCMS gives business
users (Marketing, Product Marketing,
Product Management, Operations,
Service and Support, Agencies, etc.) to
update a web property without having
to rely on IT or technical resources
to code web assets. The tools also
support brand consistency and a
better user experience because they
allow organizations to templatize the
website and expose role based access
to text, graphics, menu changes, etc.
These tools are particularly critical for
large enterprise brands with globalized
operations and more than one web
property. Additionally, in many cases
internal resources alone are not the only
source of updates to web properties,
WCMS tools can also give agencies
and third-party suppliers access to
web updates. Workflow and approval
processes built into the tools ensure
sufficient checks and balances are
happening before content is pushed live
on the website.
Core benefits include:
• A user-friendly graphical interface.
Usually WCMS can be accesses via the
web, client software or a combination of
both. Today, many new releases include
tablet and mobile optimized access.
• Web based templates for brand
consistency and an optimal web
experience.
• Built in link checking and spell checking.
• Access to multi-channel content (text,
images, rich media) and conversion
into web-appropriate formats.
• Version management on changes and
audit capabilities (useful for highly
regulated industries).
Industry Jargon Acronyms
Content Management System (CMS):
A CMS is a computer program that
allows publishing, editing and modifying
content as well as maintenance from
a central interface; that definition
holistically defines a variety of different
classifications of technologies. CMS is a
very liberally used term that is often used
as a category term that encompasses
web content management (WCM), digital
asset management (DAM), enterprise
content management (ECM), media
management, content curation, blog
platforms, and custom developed apps
from agencies or print providers.
Responsive Design: An approach to web
page creation that makes use of flexible
layouts, flexible images, and cascading
style sheet media queries to build web
pages that detect the visitor’s screen size
and orientation and change the layout
accordingly. Responsive designs will
dynamically adjust the user experience
on a website based on the screen size or
device (smartphone or tablet).

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Technology CheatSheet: Web Content Management 2
COMPLIMENTS OF:
Features and Functions
Access control: Some WCMS systems
support user groups and role based
security. User groups allow you to control
how registered users interact with the
site. A page on the site can be restricted
to one or more groups. This means an
anonymous user (someone not logged
on), or a logged on user who is not a
member of the group a page is restricted
to, will be denied access to the page.
Analytics: WCM generally isn’t a
substitute for a third-party web analytics
platform.ButsomeWCMtoolshaveunique
reporting capabilities that provide insights
about user logins, asset utilization, and
aggregate workflow/approval statistics.
Automated templates: Create
standardized templates (usually HTML
and XML) that can be automatically
applied to new and existing content,
allowing the appearance of all content to
be changed from one central place.
Collaboration: WCM software may
act as a collaboration platform allowing
content to be retrieved and worked
on by one or many authorized users.
Changes can be tracked and authorized
for publication or ignored reverting to
old versions. Other advanced forms of
collaboration allow multiple users to
modify (or comment on) a page at the
same time in a collaboration session.
Content revision: Once content is
separated from the visual presentation
of a site, it usually becomes much easier
and quicker to edit and manipulate. Most
WCMS software includes WYSIWYG
(What You See Is What You Get) editing
tools allowing non-technical users to
create and edit content.
Content syndication to social media:
Built in integration with social media
properties to push and promote web
properties in social channels.
Content syndication: WCM software
often assists in content distribution
by generating RSS (Real Simple
Syndication) and Atom data feeds
(another common feed type) to other
systems. They may also e-mail users
when updates are available as part of the
workflow process.
Content virtualization: WCM software
may provide a means of allowing users
to work within a virtual copy of the entire
web site, document set, and/or code
base. This enables changes to multiple
interdependent resources to be viewed
and/or executed in-context prior to
submission.
Delegation: Some WCM software allows
for various user groups to have limited
privileges over specific content on the
website, spreading out the responsibility
of content management.
Document management: WCM software
may provide a means of collaboratively
managing the life cycle of a document from
initial creation time, through revisions,
publication, archive, and document
destruction. WCM tools can also provide
access to archived content to simplify
access to re-use creative or copy.
eCommerce: Some WCM systems offer
integrated eCommerce capabilities,
or modules at an added cost. In most
cases, it’s going to make more sense
to use a more robust standalone
eCommerce platform and integrate this
with your WCM. Surprisingly, turnkey
integration with eCommerce platforms
isn’t very common in the industry and
typically requires considerable amounts
of customization. So if you want line
of business users to add products,
promotions, or update pricing, they will
likely do this in a separate system (which
may or may not require support from
more technical resources).
Email marketing: Some WCM tools
include packaged email campaign
capabilities to drive traffic to a site.
End-user customization: Site visitors
can actually set preferences about how
they choose to interact with a site.
Internet applications: The ability to
support or create rich content through
AJAX, Flash, or Silverlight.
Localized websites: The ability to
customize local web properties to
update content or language based on
geographical location.
Metadata management: Optimize
SEO and metadata on web properties.
WCM places added control over search
keywords in the hands of business users
who have more domain knowledge
around topical pages.
Mobile access to content: WCM
solutions are in the early stages of
releasing interfaces for users to interact
with the back-in WCMS on mobile devices.
Multilingual: Ability to display content in
multiple languages.
Scalable expansion: The ability to expand
a single implementation (one installation
on one server) across multiple domains,
depending on the server’s settings. WCMS
sites may be able to create microsites/web
portals within a main site as well.
Scalable integration and APIs: Most
WCMS software includes plug-ins or
modules that can be easily installed to
extend an existing site’s functionality.
These could include things like rich
media presentation or integration with
Marketing Automation for call-to-action
modules on web properties.
Testing and Optimization: Built in A/B
and Multivarate testing.
User generated content: Some WCM
platforms are equipped with built-in

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Technology CheatSheet: Web Content Management 3
COMPLIMENTS OF:
user-generated reviews, comments, and
customer feedback capabilities.
Versioning: Like document management
systems, WCM software may allow the
process of versioning by which pages
are checked in or out of the WCMS,
allowing authorized editors to retrieve
previous versions and to continue work
from a selected point. Versioning is
useful for content that changes over
time and requires updating, but it may be
necessary to go back to or reference a
previous copy.
Video streaming and downloading:
WCMS offer different levels of integration
with popular video networks like YouTube
and Vimeo. The tools also support
uploading and downloading videos
directly on the website they support.
Web standards upgrades: WCMS
software usually receives regular
updates that include new feature sets
and keep the system up to current web
standards. Consider the rapid evolution
of mobile websites and the demand for
responsive design. Responsive design
dynamically adapts the web property for
consumption on smaller screen sizes
such as a smartphone or tablet.
Workflow management: workflow is the
process of creating cycles of sequential
and parallel tasks that must be
accomplished in the CMS. For example,
one or many content creators can submit
a story, but it is not published until the
copy editor cleans it up and the editor-in-
chief approves it.
Pricing
There are a wide variety of options
for investing in WCM: open-source,
on-demand, on-premise, hybrid, etc.
Generally, you get what you pay for,
so if you need a globally accessible
system to manage dozens or hundreds
of contributors, workflows, eCommerce
integration, etc. your can expect pricing
to be on the higher-end of the spectrum
to support the website and business
requirements. While open-source may
seem attractive, remember that it’s not
free – there’s no license, but configuring
and using the tool will require a sizable
investment in most cases.,
From a license standpoint, most solutions
are going to require a minimum 1-year
commitment. Pricing ranges from $5k/
year on the low end and upwards of
$250k for licenses alone. The decision
to invest in a solution should be based
on business requirements and desired
outcomes from the implementation. Start
there, and then back into constraints on
budget so that ultimately the decision to
move forward with a solution is weighed
against the opportunity cost of not using
other alternatives. Consulting fees can
range from $5k to $800k depending on
the quantity of web properties that will
need to be migrated into a new system.
Expect to take at least 6-9 months from
requirements gathering to selection
and configuration. It’s not something
you want to rush because new systems
are likely going to represent significant
commitments in the long run after they
become established infrastructure in
ongoing operations.
Customization and integration can suck
up a considerable amount of budget
if you aren’t careful. Consultants and
systems integrators will usually tell you
anything is possible, and in most cases
they will find a way to do the work. That
said, excessive customization can limit
your options for version updates in the
future. Also, all that customization has
to be supported by someone if it has to
be changed in the future and chances
are internal resources may not have
the domain expertise to do it. So keep
in mind that customization costs the
organization up front and from an ongoing
maintenance standpoint. That isn’t to say
that customization isn’t critical to making
WCM fit with your organization’s unique
processes. But you should be mindful
of the business justification behind the
customization. If processes can be
tweaked to support the same outcome
with out-of-the-box features, that’s the
way to go.
Justifying the Investment
Historically, WCM investments were
largely justified as operational investment
in efficiency and productivity (i.e. cost
savings). But the transformational shift
to digital channels places web properties
and the digital customer experience
squarely at the heart of an organization’s
competitive advantage. That means a
better web experience can likely be linked
to increase in revenue and customer
satisfaction. The problem is that it’s
very difficult to measure and allocate
increases in revenue to an investment in
WCM. So while this may be a potential
benefit, it’s usually not something that
can be factored into a tangible return on
investment argument. That means the
investment is largely justified through
cost savings.
Potential ways to justify the investment:
• Increase in revenue (could possibly
be measured in an eCommerce
environment).
• Time savings in publishing content
online (hrs spent x hourly rate x
number of resources x # of years).
• Improved cycle-time on
content production.
• Improved cycle-time on content
approval and review.
• Increased cycle-time on
localized website support.

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Technology CheatSheet: Web Content Management 4
COMPLIMENTS OF:
• Reduction in cost of
supporting local websites.
• Improved meta data capture
by engaging domain experts
in the business.
• Improved search results on assets.
• Cost savings on existing licenses
(systems that will be divested of).
• Total cost of developing in-
house (do the math – it’s often
3-4x a packaged solution).
• Central access to reusable content.
• Cost of re-creating existing content.
• Cost of finding existing content.
• Cost of converting existing
content to web formats.
• Cost of IT coding websites.
• Cost of external resources that
support the website (agency
or other suppliers).
• Redundant spend on licensed content.
• Improve customer experiences online.
• Increase customer satisfaction.
• Increase customer loyalty.
• Increase cross-selling and up-selling.
• Increase customer advocacy.
• Reduction in calls to customer
service (website visitors
finding what they need).
• Improved shopping cart experiences.
• Reduction in cost of
content translation.
• Competitive parity – incorporating
rich media and responsive design.
Before You Buy
With dozens and dozens of different
WCM solutions on the market, it’s often
difficult to tell which ones are the best
fit for your organization. Gleanster is
constantly running into businesses
that want advice on which providers
to choose from, but when OpenText,
Ektron, Adobe, Joomla, and Magnolia
top a short list of options, it’s a sure sign
the organization hasn’t really narrowed
down the business case enough.
• What are your business objectives? If
you don’t know where you are going
all roads seem to get you there. Start
any WCM initiative with a business
requirements exercise that factors
in your organization’s key objectives
over the next 3-5 years with respect
to content management. Business
requirements are not the same thing
as functional requirements. Business
requirements list and categorize
objectives for the business; these are
actually used to inform which features
or functions your organization should
prioritize when selecting a provider
(the functional requirements).
• How do we address these business
objectives? Once you understand
where you are going you can
determine which options exist to get
there. For most organizations the
decision to invest in packaged WCM
will be weighed against the decision to
build it in house. In all honesty, there
aren’t that many great examples of
organizations building in house and
achieving stellar outcomes and saving
money in the process. But, you should
factor in all options, and then start to
determine which ones really make
sense. As you start the demo process,
vendors should be able to bring case
studies and benchmark metrics to the
table to help you build a business case.
If they provide references talk to them,
and determine what they considered
before investing in a WCM solution.
• Develop a phased approach for
bridging the gap between current state
and future state. It’s very easy to look
at a new WCM initiative and think “well
shoot, we’ve selected a provider so
let’s just roll everything over and we’ll
be up and running in a few months.” All
too often business leaders have an ill-
informed notion of the work that really
goes into implementation – especially
if multiple web properties are impacted.
In many cases, you’ll have to define
process standards and taxonomy
long before you turn any dials in a
technology. Vendors will have partners
or internal service offerings that can
help with some of the preparation
and their expertise and best practices
can save considerable time over the
internal learning curve. Take the time
to uncover critical requirements and
then map out a realistic and achievable
plan for accomplishing them over 12-
24 months. This will help establish
milestone objectives that can be used
to champion the next phase.

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Technology CheatSheet: Web Content Management 5
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