This is the first in a 5 part series that covers some basic tips and tricks of how to do WCM.
5 Pillars of WCM
The web and WCM systems have evolved to a substantial level of maturity. The level of sophistication incorporated in these technologies is substantial. While they do not require a rocket scientist to implement or administer, they do require a disciplined and consistent approach to management
These days there seem to be as many Web Content Management (WCM) systems as there are programming languages. From Open Source systems to blogging platforms to wiki systems to big vendor Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and portal systems we are swimming in WCM options. Oracle Web Content Management is part of Oracle Universal Content Management. Whether you are using Oracle WCM or another system, there are some key strategies for optimizing your site and content that can spell the difference between a site that successfully drives desired behavior and one that simply exists on the web.
Each WCM platform will have its own idiosyncrasies and optimization tricks. But with some careful consideration of the basics, an intentional uptake of technologies that help and regular maintenance your WCM site will sing. Here are 5 pillars for successful WCM site and content optimization. Some are specific to Oracle WCM, some cross technological and vendor boundaries.
Pillar 1: Don’t wait until your site performance stinks to implement optimization techniques.
Unfortunately many organizations find themselves in this position. A site or sites have been around for a while and suddenly the site tanks, users get frustrated, employees grumble and IT scrambles to fix big hairy problem with more executive level attention than is probably warranted. There are any number of reasons the site tanks. A market shift puts attention on an offering described by the site and traffic spikes against a sub-optimized site. Stale information left on a site is used in a way never intended and opens up a liability for the organization. The reasons are many but the negative results are the same.
A few hours of up front planning and execution can make all the difference. None of the items in this list are new or revolutionary. However, consistent and disciplined practice are vital to ensure you are not caught unawares.
1. Caching. Do it. Many WCM systems have built in caching mechanisms. The best systems have the ability to cache whole pages or specific portions of the page. Oracle WCM has the ability to cache whole pages or specific portions of the page. Take advantage of these features. If a page has a high traffic rate, an unanticipated spike or is consumed by other SOA services in the organization, implementing caching for even one minute can make a huge difference to site performance and user satisfaction.
2. Content Delivery Network (CDN) loading for common files: Offload commonly used libraries, such as JQuery, to a CDN. When a user views the website, the libraries will be loaded from the geographically closest data center. It should be noted though, that this should be used primarily in an externally facing or public web scenario. For intranets and other domain-contained content, CDNs can have a net negative performance impact.
Remember that sites often evolve over time to add in new and ever-richer content. As these incremental changes stack up substantial performance impacts can be realized, often only after a critical tipping point. Therefore, having a disciplined approach to performance and infrastructure and conforming incremental changes and additions to this approach can save headaches in the future.
Pillar 2 coming soon!
