We're doing ministry in the digital age. We're wired and digitally connected beyond comprehension. As a result, web sites have greatly increased their ministry value and have become the critical communication hub for...

+ Brand building;
+ Internal communications;
+ Community outreach;
+ Conversation and Engagement;
+ Prioritizing your ministry assets

A critical piece to your web success is having the right CMS (content management system) to manage content. You've likely heard the true measure of a web site is "content. content. content."  For those churches who are struggling with their web impact, its often easy to see their web tools for managing content are at the root of their problems.

What You Should Expect from Your CMS 

+ SMARTER, MORE EFFICIENT WEB TOOLS. SImple illustration for you... Smart Phones of today are more powerful, smarter, and easier to use than the flip phones of three or more years ago. Time passes and technology continues to advance and get stronger, faster, better. You should expect a CMS to create measurable efficiencies for these fundamental areas: page editing, photos, audio, video, calendars, forms, and blogs. To be relevant in the web world today you have to look at the broader picture of church communications and ensure you have a CMS that confidently facilitates these communication areas. 

+ SENDING MORE CONTENT. Smart CMS tools have built in logic to help you deliver content to more people, in various ways. A strong CMS should multiply your content's visibility and reach. RSS feeds and email subscriptions guarantee targeted and timely delivery. Your CMS should give you better search engine optimization or  visibility so people can easily find you. Calendar, blog, and media content should be automatically driven to your home page and mobile pages. In short, a smart CMS moves you from a static content model to a sending content model. Your next CMS should make it easy on your audience to engage by delivering more content to them.

+ FIT YOUR SKILL SET. We see too many churches that are using the wrong CMS because they may not have a true understanding of what they need in a CMS or what's available to them. The CMS needs and priorities of design creatives, copy writers and techie minds will vary greatly. So, its important to understand what your needs are combined with the strengths of the CMS. Beyond your skill set, you have to consider your time availability as well. How much time can you devote to web management on a daily and weekly basis? The right CMS should fit your skill set comfortably and provide a nice compliment to your level of expertise and time availability. 

+ SOCIAL INTEGRATION. Your web site has the potential to be an aggregator of content for your social networks. This means your Twitter and Facebook conversations and networks can intersect within your web site design. Your CMS should allow you to easily integrate conversations to your home page or within other sections of your site. A smart CMS should help bridge various social environments thus preventing your web ministry from being disconnected from those networks. Beyond social integration, your CMS should allow you to easily integrate third-party solutions such as giving, ecommerce, and media assets. Integration flexibility is critical as new tools and devices are constantly changing the way people connect, converse, and transact online.

+ FLEXIBILITY FOR EXPANSION. This is an area that creates pain points for churches pretty quickly. There are easy to use CMS solutions that can place a low ceiling on your web growth. Simple is great, except when it begins to limit what you can do and consequently your impact. We all know the web is evolving and will continue to evolve. Your CMS should allow your ministry to morph and grow to keep up with audience expectations. Be sure your CMS will compliment and reinforce your vision for web expansion and results.

Every carpenter needs the right tools in his tool box to do the job right. Communicators, what are the CMS tools that will ensure your web relevance and efficiency?

MORE ON THE SUBJECT: Seth Godin, author/blogger has a "before you redesign your web site checklist"... helpful resource for you.