Well, I suppose that depends upon who you ask. Often, I get a chance to look at websites built by other people. What usually happens is that a friend/acquaintance/client will say that they cannot figure out how to change a certain aspect of their website. Can I go in and find out how to do it? When you click on the “free site evaluation button” I will be evaluating this precise point. Do you really have easy to access content? Or is it limited, sometimes severely.

So, the story goes on that they give me their login and password, as delivered to them by their web designer, and I begin to poke around. What is always disturbing is that I go in with the intention that their content will be as easily accessible as ours is. I am always thinking that maybe my friend didn’t poke hard enough…or maybe they have a plugin installed that allows menus to get intentionally manipulated to prevent people from destroying their own site.  That has never been the case, not once.

What happens is that I go in and the template has been written, maybe with code, maybe with code and a designer program that only allow certain variables to be manipulated. If that friend wants their address or a certain quote to be changed, and that area is not designated as a box that can be changed, there is no way for the client to change the information. They would need to go back to the web designer that built the site and have them work, hourly and expensively on the changes.

When I couldn’t find the content after diligent search, I took the friend into the back end of our sites. I gave her a password and username and had her poke around. I showed her something amazing and shocking….what? you may ask…..easy to access content.

When you are told that your content will be easy to access, don’t stop there. Ask the follow up question. Will all my content be accessible?

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