Complexity, Specialization, and Priority of Web Authoring

Stages and Evolution of Web Authoring

In the early days of the web, web authoring was pretty exclusively a programming job. If you built a website and web pages, then you had to write the code for it. Manual coding has not gone away completely; it still plays a necessary role (sometimes a small role, sometimes a larger role).

Modern authoring tends to rely very heavily on CMSes and related tools that offer visual editing. Your authoring software handles the code complexity for you. Most tools use some sort of WYSIWYG editor (“what you see is what you get”) where the screen an author edits looks very similar to the final web page. This allows businesses to rely less on programmers and makes page editing more accessible. Enter the role of “author.”

To a certain extent, authoring has become easier and more streamlined since the days of programmer reliance. However, as websites and businesses grow in complexity, authoring requires more and more sophistication and expertise.

In modern websites, the functions and tools of a web author range from fairly straightforward to incredibly complex—depending on the size of your website, the CMS or infrastructure your relying on, and how sophisticated your end results need to be.

Some businesses have a fairly small, fairly strict website where there are simple, clear templates and building block options. Other businesses—usually at mid-market and enterprise sizes—have significantly more technical and complex features and processes that authors need to know (e.g., multisite management, personalization, API integrations, structured content blocks—just to name a few).

The Complexity of Modern Global Websites

Modern large, global websites have a level of complexity that requires specialized skills. We frequently have businesses approach Cimarron Winter for authoring help because they have a fragmented and incomplete authoring process. For these businesses, it has reached a critical point because they have either overwhelmed their current team and need additional support or because problems have risen (duplicate content, broken pages, consistency concerns, or security or compliance threats).

Website success requires:

• Website architecture designed strategically and appropriately for successful ongoing authoring, management, and scalability.

• Educated authors that can consistently author pages correctly that meet best practices, architecture design, and content governance rules.

Expert Authoring Matters

When you have a well-designed system and consistent, sophisticated authoring practices, you are setting your business up for success. Scalability and flexibility become significantly easier. Security and compliance risks are reduced. Multi-site management, cross-divisional projects, and cross-channel campaigns run smoother.

Often marcomm and marketing team members are stretched thin, and authoring is a strategically smart area to pass off to specialty partners. Cimarron Winter provides the expertise level that frees up your team. We have years of experience helping brands with complex authoring needs including process management, globalization and personalization management, taxonomy, universal snippets, and more. As a focus area, our team members also stay up-to-date with upgrades and new features of many major CMSes including AEM, Sitecore, Hubspot, WordPress, and more.

Is AI Changing Web and Content Authoring?

AI features within website CMSes and related tools are definitely changing authoring needs and practices, but authoring still requires human management and review. Even in best case scenarios where AI features can be setup to run autonomously, the setup required is still uniquely human and requires people who are deeply familiar with your business, the website, and your ecosystem needs. In more common scenarios, people are still required for setup, review, and revision.

If you want to discuss your authoring concerns, contact us. We can help you set up or improve your existing CMS infrastructure as well as tackle ongoing web authoring to produce polished, complete pages.