A content management system can be a double edged sword. The same things that make it such a powerful communication tool are the things that can create problems as your content grows.
Empowering staff to easily create and deploy useful content for their customers and prospects is a huge benefit, but over time, the content can get a little bit out of control. We had my friend Karyn from Analytic Design Group (
www.analyticdesigngroup.com) give us (Rob and two of our local Resellers,
www.octopusstrategies.com and
www.3degreeswest.ca) a presentation yesterday demonstrating some of the great work they do helping large organizations wrangle their content so that it is usable.
ADGi has developed some great tools to test proposed navigation before the site gets built. If the site has already been built, they can test a baseline and then re-test with proposed structures. This isn't guess work. This is hard evidence of how your target users interpret your navigation. Once her team figures it out SiteCM CMS makes it easy to move and re-name your content.
Another fantastic service they offer is user testing where they record what the user is doing on screen with a video of their face as they talk about what they are doing and feeling. Nothing like a furrowed brow to convince you that your site can use a tweak or two!
These services might be a bit much for a company with a 20 or 50 page site, but once you get to 100+ pages in 3+ levels of navigation, then it could make a real difference. The knowledge you gain from a test can have a lasting impact and benefit all content owners. If you think you have issues chances are your customers KNOW you do! What are you waiting for?
Tags: navigation, testing, usability