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For many marketers involved in SEO, the three letter acronym CMS can sometimes be more like a four letter word.  Depending on the CMS and the implementation, there are some serious problems that can impact your SEO efforts.  From duplicate content to unfriendly redirects to lack of content optimization, the list can get quite long.

The irony is that CMS packages & content management software are supposed to make your life easier (and many do), but there are times they can negatively impact your SEO initiatives (and that’s an understatement).  There are many types of content management systems on the market.  Some are tailored for specific industries, others for running e-commerce shops, and then you have the major players which can run robust and high volume websites.  Some packages are more flexible to work with, while others have limits.

I’ve mentioned SEO a few times already, but you probably noticed that the title of my post focused on SEM and not just SEO.  That’s because I’ve been running into more and more CMS-related SEM problems than I’d like to.  Some of the problems can be avoided if they are addressed up front, while others are more difficult to tackle.

My goal is to arm you with information that can help you avoid some of the headaches I’ve seen when running SEM campaigns while using a CMS to power a website.  And as many of you know, hell hath no fury like an SEM that can’t track his campaigns properly.   By the way, I am by no means saying that CMS packages in general are problematic for marketing departments.  I simply want to explain specific situations where content management systems can be a thorn in your SEM side.

But Isn’t SEM Straight Forward?

There are times when I’ve been brought in to help companies and clients vet and choose the right CMS packages.  Regardless of the size of the client, most of the focus has been on the potential SEO impact.  I think many people see paid search as something relatively easy to implement.  For example, choose your keywords, build campaigns, point them to your site, and you’re good to go.  That’s not necessarily the case.  Sure, the SEO implications of choosing the wrong package for your specific situation could be catastrophic, but when many SEM campaigns are heavily judged on ROI, you should be able to give yourself the best shot at success (and that means control).  That’s where some CMS packages can be a pain in the neck.