Website back office: what you need to know

by our Web Agency Optimize 360

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Le Back Office of website is an essential element in the effective administration and management of your online presence.

This term may seem technical, but it is crucial to understanding how a website works and what tools are available to optimise its management.

In this article, we will define the Back Office, its role and its main characteristics.

What is the website back office?

Le Back Officealso known as back-office or administration in French, refers to the whole of the features and tools for managing and updating a website. It is reserved for the site's administrators and creators and is not directly accessible to visitors. The Back Office contrasts with the Front Office, which is the part of the site that is accessible to visitors. visible of the site by Internet users.

In simple terms, we could say that the Front Office represents the appearance and navigation of a website, while the Back Office is its internal engine for managing content, users and various other functions. The two are closely linked: actions taken in the Back Office have repercussions on the way the site looks in the Front Office.

Website Back Office roles and functions

The main functions of a Back Office vary depending on the tool used to create and manage your website, but they tend to cover the following areas:

Content management

The Back Office enables you to create, modify and delete articles and pages of a website. You can also organise your content using categories or keywords, add images and videos, and manage comments left by site visitors.

User management

Another important aspect of the Back Office is user management. It allows you to create and administer employee accounts who work on the site (editors, moderators, etc.) and assign specific roles and permissions to each user. For example, you can give access to the content management module without authorising access to the site parameters.

Site settings

The website back office also offers options for configuring various technical and aesthetic elements of the site. These include :

• • Choosing a theme or template : This is the general design of the site, including its layout, colours and typography;
  • Configuring menus and widgets : These elements are used to improve browsing and display additional information on the site;
  • Settings SEO : these parameters help optimise the site for search engines, such as Google;
  • Managing extensions : some applications offer the option of adding extra functionality by installing extensions.

Data management

For sites e-commerce or incorporating contact, booking or registration forms, it is essential to be able to manage this information correctly. The Back Office therefore offers the possibility of collecting and processing all the information you need. data generated by these interactions with usersThese include orders, requests for information and the creation of customer profiles.

Different back office solutions for different website creation platforms

The choice of Back Office will depend largely on the platform on which you decide to create your website. The main solutions are :

• Content management systems (CMS) : they offer tools of varying degrees of sophistication for administering a website, with an interface that is often intuitive and accessible to non-developers. The most popular CMSs include WordPress, Drupal or even Joomla !;
• Site builders : Wix, Shopify, Squarespaceand Weebly are all online page creators with their own Back Office system for easy management of site content and parameters;
• Tailor-made developments : for more complex projects, it may be advisable to design a bespoke Back Office based on the specific needs and constraints of the project. In this case, the use of a team of web development is essential.

It is therefore important to select the tool that offers the best Back Office best suited to your level of technical expertise and the features you need to manage your website effectively.

Navigability and security: two crucial elements of the Back Office

In addition to pure functionality, there are other important criteria to take into account when judging the quality of a Back Office:

Airworthiness

Above all, the Back Office must be easy to use to facilitate the day-to-day management of the site and limit the risk of errors. It is therefore essential to choose an ergonomic and intuitive interface, with clearly indicated actions and fluid navigation. Platforms with a active community often offer useful additional resources (tutorials, forums) to help you master their use.

Security

Protecting data and access to your management tools is also a crucial issue. The Back Office must therefore put in place secure access systemsThese include the use of personal identifiers, the ability to manage individual permissions and the integration of anti-spam measures for comments and forms.

And don't forget toregularly update your tools and extensionsThese are often used to correct potential security flaws.

Successful day-to-day management of the site thanks to the Back Office

Le Website back office is therefore an essential component in the creation, administration and security of your online presence.

It allows you to control the different sections and functions of your site so as to offer visitors the best possible experience.

Pay particular attention to this when choosing the platform that will host your project, because a back office that is adapted to your needs will make it much easier to manage and develop your project in the future.