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It has already been decided that your college Web site needs a content management product to improve your Web sites’ effectiveness and cut costs. With the myriad of options available today (NuRelm, Interwoven, Vignette, Roxen), how do you choose a product that will vastly improve the ability of all staff to easily add content (more than only copy alone, but the pages, links, and downloadable files too), cut costs, and make everyone’s job easier? The decision is not as easy as you first think.

The most important criteria you need to understand is that choosing a content management product involves comparing information on internal expectations and external options. An optimal choice will not occur by only looking one way before you cross the street.

Internal Expectations are the needs and wants of everyone at your college who will “touch” the content management product in one way or another.

First and foremost, get everyone on-board as to why you are evaluating Web site content management products and the benefits that all stakeholders will derive from an informed choice. Anne Wallace, director of marketing for the Community College of Beaver County, speaks from experience. “Do your homework. Encourage all stakeholders to be content management champions even before you know which product you will choose.”

Second, ask yourself where you are now with your school's Web site?  Where do you want to be?  Map out what needs to be improved and what you and the rest of the stakeholders want to improve.  Examples include a larger, more informative site, easier navigation, a more inspiring design, more dynamic content, an online course catalog, and other online interactivity to peak a visitor's interest.

Third, determine what you are looking for in advance. Once all the needs and wants have been laid out on the table, rank them by priority and eliminate those that are clearly not feasible (by cost, time, or resources available). Taking the initiative to properly assess your online needs prior to choosing a content management product will save much time and frustration.

External Options are the content management products on the market ranging from simple HTML text editors to enterprise-wide applications built exclusively for Fortune 500 companies. Most community colleges fall somewhere in the middle, electing mid-market products now obtainable that meet their needs, are easy to use, and fall within budgetary constraints. Asking many questions and keeping an objective opinion will ease your way through the evaluation process.

Implementation and Training A brand new car is worth nothing if you cannot drive it. Who will implement the product – the vendor, the college, or a third party? Include integration fees (if any) in the budget. Will the integration involve a totally new site design, or can the existing design (and branding scheme) be utilized without changes to accommodate the content management product. Will a consultant be needed? A recent chat room discussion unearthed a shocking budget crisis for one organization when a consultant for a Fortune 500 content management company charged $2,000 per day for 6 weeks to choose and implement an enterprise content management system. Once integrated, what is the learning curve for content contributors – hours, days, or weeks? Can communications professionals easily use it? And most importantly, do not buy a product that focuses on the technology and looses site of the content.

Features are all the pieces that fit together and make the software work. Buy all necessary pieces upfront and add-on the luxury items as you need them. Will the site be able to grow, or are you limited to only changing existing copy? Are there incremental costs for expanding the site? Is there a feedback loop (a workflow process that allows approved content contributors to publish directly to the Web site, while the Web site administrator reviews changes from other content contributors before it is published)? Is versioning of content an option?

Users vary greatly in technical ability and desire to contribute content. Implementing Web site content management is a drastic change and empowers non-technical staff, almost overnight, to be content contributors. It is important to know if this product will keep everyone happy. Consider all users, both internal and external, from entry-level to director-level, as well as visitors to the site. Is this the optimal solution for marketing, public relations, Web staff, and the IT department so that all can work in harmony? Avoid the products that suit one department but cause friction to develop elsewhere. Finally, ask yourself, “Will this make my job and everyone else’s job easier? Can I plain as day see how this will benefit the college?”

Once you get the list down to a final few products ask to see them in action and be allowed to test drive them for a few days. After you have kicked the tires on each, the product of choice should be apparent.

It is a difficult evaluation process, but after weighing everyone’s needs and wants with what is available you can come to a well thought-out decision that is in everyone’s best interest.

Adam Bujanowski is the marketing manager at NuRelm E-Business Software. He is a certified master of marketing strategy and is currently pursuing his MBA at the Katz School of Business. Visit www.nurelm.com for more information regarding content management products for educational institutions.