An interview with the Joomla Community Magazine - May 2023
Is managing your own content on a website rocket science or magic? No. That said, depending on the content and how you want your site to perform it can be time consuming and tedious work.
Yes, I used the term "work" because it isn't about just dashing down your thoughts and dropping in the 5 MB photo you took on your phone. Well it could be but the load time for all those huge pictures will cost you someplace. Server bandwidth or space, end users with slow load times and your pics chewing up their data plan. How will that photo look when your article is shared on social? Jotting down your thoughts? How is your spelling and grammar? Do you want your SEO to be good? Have you thought through your wording? No one wants to get into the cross hairs of a fire storm having unintentionally hurt or alienated people.
Speaking of photos, you need to take time to take good photos. I don't just mean high resolution, I mean good lighting, clear details of whatever you are focusing on. Do you need a HDR camera for this? Not today. Your phone will probably do the job for you just fine. That said, space around your item should be about 25% and a clean or non-distracting background is important depending on what you are doing.
A while back I was asked to do a site that the client would self manage the content. Great! I set it all up and did the training videos etc. I even made sure they didn't have to mess with sizing all the images. Just one and could do it right on the site. They wanted space to add all the details. Done! They loved the site. Just what they wanted. Looks great. It was literally a matter of gathering the details and images. Naming the images so they could find them easy after uploading and find them to easily remove them when the item sold. Copy and paste the details and select the images you want. Easy right? "It's tedious and too much work. I didn't realize it was so boring."
Does this mean you shouldn't have a website? Oh heck no! Be sure to let me know up front how you want to use the site so that is built to fit your needs. Also be prepared for the learning curve and to dedicate time for adding your content. For the majority of my business clients they have me manage the content because they are busy running their business. Here is the info - add this to my site and share it on our social. As the infamous meme goes, "Ain't nobody got time for that!"
Some say it is tedious. But for some of us there is great pride ensuring a site is fast and well managed. Yes, it still takes time and work but you can focus on making your business grow and thrive while still having your site showcasing your product or service.