Content Management

Last week, Sitecore announced Sitecore 8, the next version of its Sitecore Experience Platform. Over the past few years, Sitecore and almost every other CMS provider has focused on providing marketers and other users with as many analytic tools as possible. In their campaign for this new version, Sitecore has stated a belief that when it comes to raw numbers, enough is enough. It's time to return the focus back onto the art of marketing.

A few months ago, I had a problem. After eight years of non-stop writing, I found myself exhausted of all enthusiasm to blog. Let me tell you, it's a sad day in Web City when an advocate for content management systems has no real desire to author new content. I was also questioning in this age of "always on" social media whether the traditional blog had lost value not only to me but my readers. If content is no longer king, why should I spend so much effort creating new content? So as summer approached, I decided to take a break from blogging.

This week, Kentico Software announced the release of Kentico 8.1. According to the company, Kentico 8.1 features a variety of new enhancements that bring greater website performance and ease of use to the digital marketing activities of today’s digital agencies and professional marketers. With new “Buy X, get Y” discount capabilities, Kentico 8.1 promises to offer customers new ways to maximize their online sales.

If there’s one thing we as marketers have to admit we’re guilty of at times, it’s the use of buzzwords. Especially in the CMS world, acronyms (WCM, CXM, DXM) abound, and the latest terminology can feel like nothing more than the current fad. It’s true, the industry has a terminology overload, but it’s for this reason especially that, when they come around, game-changing concepts need to be explored and identified. Content-as-a-Service, or CaaS, is one such game-changer.

One of my favorite local companies, Blend Interactive, recently made some news this past week. Blend Interactive has named Karla Santi as their Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Santi has been a partner at Blend Interactive since the company formed in 2005, where, to the public, she served as Creative Director and, behind the scenes, handled a good chunk of operational oversight.

Blend Interactive is a web design, development, and strategy firm located in Sioux Falls, SD. Blend Interactive specializes in custom design, strategy and development for web and mobile, and is responsible for the annual Now What? Conference.

With so many security issues, hacks and vulnerabilities in today’s WordPress websites the best defense and sure way to protect your website and data is to have a proper automated backups set.

There are many ways to take backups of your website, some webmasters prefer to take backups manually of their web files and databases. But to save time and be more productive there are many automated tools and services that can be combined and used to take backups.

So I'm halfway through my three month sabbatical from blogging and I get an email from my good friend, Shaun Walker. For those that don't know Shaun, he's the CTO and co-founder for DNN Corp. You know, the guy that started DotNetNuke. To make a long story short, Shaun wanted to remind me that the DNN community recently released 7.3 which focuses on platform performance. Shaun thought it would be a good idea to mention the release to readers here at CMS Report.

The nice thing with friends in high places is the ability to see advanced copies of guides and books before they hit the public. Digital Clarity Group (DCG) has announced the immediate availability of an update to the North American edition of its popular Guide to Service Providers for Web Content and Customer Experience Management. Over the past few days, I've combed through the pages and remain as impressed with the guide as I was with its original release.

Magnolia lets companies easily deliver engaging, personalized web experiences

Basel, Switzerland, 24 June 2014 – Magnolia International has released the 5.3 version of its award winning web content management (WCM) platform. This release focuses on building personalized online experiences, enhancing collaboration for content publishers and quickly integrating with enterprise data sources.

These days, everyone in the industry is talking about the importance of making eCommerce and CMS work together. Rightfully so. But I see another hot topic on the horizon, a bridge of sorts between content and marketing automation.

Content Marketing and Marketing Automation are in many ways continuations of the same process: whereas content marketing focuses on getting visitors to your website, and engaging them meaningfully in the web environment, marketing automation is about lead nurturing- where the end goal is to hand over hot(ter) opportunities to sales. These two systems can reinforce one another to help your site generate revenue. Below are some key points to keep in mind when considering integration.