Content Management Systems (CMS)
Improving the federal government’s ability to deliver digital information anytime, anywhere, on any device—via open content—is a key goal of the Digital Government Strategy. A content management system (CMS) can help your agency move to an open content model, making it easier for people to find, share, use, and re-use your information.
GSA’s Center for Digital Services Innovation has developed this CMS toolkit that provides the following resources for agencies:
Business Case for a CMS
Moving to a CMS requires a significant investment in time and resources. Read the business case, and see how other agencies have used a CMS to improve business operations.
Choosing a CMS
You’ll want to consider many factors when selecting a CMS, and it’s important to get it right, because most agencies stay with the same CMS for several years.
- Decide if You Need a CMS—can you create open content without one?
- Evaluate Types of CMS—weigh the pros and cons of open-source and commercial CMS tools, and which CMS tools other agencies use
- Identify Resource Needs—learn what’s required to obtain, implement, and sustain a CMS
- Document Requirements—document the features and functionality of each CMS to narrow down your list
- Select the Right CMS Tool—test out top contenders, decide which tool best meets your needs, write a Statement of Work for contract help with migration
- Is One CMS Enough?—determine if one CMS can meet all your content management needs; for example, can you use the same CMS to manage your website and your blog?
- Common Pitfalls—avoid common mistakes, such as not developing a content strategy
Preparing Your Content for a CMS
The more work you can do up-front to clean up and streamline your content, the easier your migration will be.
- Develop a Content Strategy—analyze search and other behaviors
- Conduct a Content Inventory—take stock of all your content
- Clean Up Old Content—eliminate ROT (redundant, outdated, or trivial content)
- Identify Content Structure—determine content types and metadata, and identify any CMS changes needed to support structured content
Migrating to a CMS
You’ve done all your prep work, now it’s time to migrate. Make the process run smoothly to minimize disruption to your content owners and visitors.
- Plan Your Migration—identify role and responsibilities, and keep stakeholders informed
- Migration Models—will you do a manual or automated migration, or a combination?
- Migrate Your Content—do a test run, move your content to the new CMS, consider a beta site, manage broken links, test everything once it’s moved
- Launch—launch your new CMS/site
Agency Case Studies
- CMS selection—Choosing an enterprise content management system-NASA
- Press releases—Automating publication of press releases-Department of Education
- Events—Transforming events into open content-DigitalGov University, GSA
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Content Lead:
Rachel Flagg
Page Reviewed/Updated: November 27, 2012