Posts Tagged ‘CMS’
A Preview of Elcom v 7.5
Elcom CMS is getting ready to release Version 7.5 this Fall and they are certainly heading in the right direction. Although new to the North American market, Elcom has gained a lot of attention in 2011 with a very robust and affordable CMS platform solution.
There are a number of great new features addressing many small but important functions for making the site administrators job much simpler.
Falcon-Software offers website planning, creative design, development, Ektron, Elcom, EPiServer, Kentico, SharePoint, Sitecore, and Sitefinity implementations, CMS training and server hosting services. We invite you to get started today. Call us for a free consultation at 800-957-1126.
Survey Shows Marketers Embracing Personalization, Demanding Better Technology Tools
EPiServer Survey of More Than 100 Companies Reveal that Personalization is Highly Effective and Outperforming Traditional Mass Marketing Techniques, but Remains Underutilized Because of Inadequate Data and Software Applications.
- Read the entire EPiServer article: http://is.gd/hlkrA2
About EPiServer
EPiServer, the leading supplier of solutions that enable true Web engagement and drive business results for end customers. 3,500 customers worldwide use EPiServer’s technology platform that combines content, community, commerce, and communications with a configurable metrics dashboard. EPiServer CMS is the foundation for more than 10,000 websites and is used by more than 130,000 web editors daily. The EPiServer platform is delivered through an extensive network of over 500 partner companies in 30 countries. EPiServer combines the stability and support of a commercial product with EPiServer World, a thriving developer community of more than 12,000 developers. EPiServer is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with an AAA-ranking by Dun & Bradstreet since 2000. The company was founded in 1994 and has offices in the United States, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, The Netherlands, South Africa, Australia and the United Kingdom.
The What, Why & How of Mobile Web
This blog post was provided by Elcom CMS to provide a concise and strategic overview for business and IT managers, about Mobile Web. It aims to provide strategic level insights into the topic of Mobile Web and its practical applications – by addressing the following issues:
• What is Mobile Web?
• Why it’s important (trends and business implications)
• Strategies to help implement Mobile Web capabilities (advantages/disadvantages)
• Mobile Web best practices
• Other considerations
What is Mobile Web?
Generally the term Mobile Web refers to the browsing of the internet from a Mobile Device, such as a phone, PDA or Tablet. These devices are portable, wireless enabled and o er users a convenient way in which to retrieve information, connect to friends and family and shop online.
The importance of the Mobile Web, reached a milestone in 2008 when according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), mobile access to the Internet exceeded desktop computer based access for the first time. From this point, there has been a growing need among businesses on how to best capitalize on and cater to this new demand.
Why It’s Important
Global Trends
Currently there are over 5 billion mobile phones worldwide in active use today – a figure which is approximately 4 times greater than Personal Computers. This automatically indicates that as ownership of mobile phones and other such devices continues to rise, so too does consumer demand to access the Web from mobile devices, whether it be in addition to or in replacement of traditional PCs.
There is an abundance of research in support of this notion. This is especially the case throughout 2010, whereby global Web traffic from mobile devices increased exponentially (124%). In North America, the Web traffic from mobile devices increased by 110%, according to the same study conducted by Quantcast.
On the other side of the world, mobile consumers in China have surpassed their American counterparts with regards to using the devices to access the Internet (38% of Chinese mobile subscribers compared to 27% of American mobile subscribers), despite less advanced networks.
Further to these current trends, Gartner Research states that “By 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide”. In addition, while the number of PCs accessing the Web is predicted to be 1.78 billion units in 2013, the combined installed base of smart phones and browser-equipped enhanced phones is expected to exceed 1.82 billion units – surpassing PC access by almost 100 million units.
Business Implications
Every day, more and more consumers are using their mobile devices to access and retrieve information via their mobile browsers, view multimedia and other rich content, connect to social networking sites, and even make retail transactions. This diverse level of interaction between the business and its customers ultimately impacts all stages of the consumer purchase decision.
For example, if a customer cannot find a company’s website or other relevant information it seeks; or is unable to view this information because of a non-mobile compatible site, then their information search stage is severely hindered. This is also apparent when evaluating alternatives, as when a customer is unable to find or view the necessary information, then they would unlikely include that particular company’s product on their shortlist for purchase. Further to this, is the inability to actually make the transaction or appropriate call to action through a non-existent or non user friendly ecommerce portal for example, would ultimately serve to obstruct the actual purchase decision.
Web sites are generally designed for the large screens of desktops computers and laptops. However, mobile devices, even those with large screens like an iPhones, make it very difficult to browse, search for information, connect or transact. Some web site programming languages, including Flash, can’t be viewed on some mobile device operating systems, meaning that important messaging, even navigation, may not work for many web sites .
Therefore, it is particularly evident that in order for a business to effectively capitalize on this Mobile Web trend, its website content needs to be properly tailored for mobile devices. This will not only assist in acquiring a competitive advantage, it will also ensure positive interactions between the business and its customers.
Mobile Web Strategies
When selecting the most appropriate strategy to deploy, it is necessary to comprehend why and how the targeted users browse. Apart from convenience, a user can be time-poor and simply require quick and easy access to certain pieces of information such as a company’s contact details or brief product information. This is indicative of mobile browsers seeking answers to pre-defined questions, rather than an involved reading experience.
In addition, web design for mobile devices must account for differences in the browsers and the different screen sizes. While most mobile devices have screen sizes that are between 128×160 and 320×480, other mobile phones have screen sizes between 176×220 and 240×320.
After understanding these issues of context, design and mark-up, there are two primary strategies which can be utilized to achieve a functional and accessible Mobile site. A business can either select to keep one site for both PCs and Mobile devices, or create two separate sites.
One Site Method
The One Site Method can be executed using two main approaches:
- User Agent Detection
- Media Queries
The User Agent Detection approach involves repurposing content. This means that content which is created for a specific use (i.e. to be accessed via PCs), is automatically reorganized and converted for another use (i.e. mobile device compatibility). This is generally achieved through a user-agent detection code, which is able to detect the device a user is browsing from, and then automatically provide the user with the appropriate version of the website for that particular device.
The Media Queries approach allows websites to be tailored to a number of mobile devices, without having to change the content. When using CSS3, this is done by understanding the capability of the mobile device and then restricting the capacity of stylesheets, in terms of dimensions of the browser window, the dimensions of the actual device, page orientation and screen resolution.
When selecting either approach, under the One Site Method, a key question businesses need to ask themselves is whether they can in fact create a single site which will operate effectively over the two separate contexts. If the content on the site is not relevant or suited to a mobile device, regardless of how it is repurposed or how restrictive the stylesheets are, then it may be necessary to evaluate the option of the Two Site Method, which will be discussed in later sections of this paper.
Advantages – One of the primary advantages of the One Site Method is the ease of ongoing maintenance and administration. When content is automatically repurposed or restricted for a mobile device, any changes or modifications do not need to be duplicated across different sites. This also assists in version control and syncing, ensuring consistency across multiple Web properties saving time and reducing operational costs.
Furthermore, this automation also brings positive marketing implications, in that administering one site allows a business to more easily maintain brand uniformity and message consistency. A site that is repurposed for mobile devices retains all logos, positioning, content and functionality – it simply allows the user to view the web page in a size suited to mobile devices.
Disadvantages - The most immediately apparent disadvantage of the One Site Method is the propensity to push irrelevant content to the end user, or content which does not suit a mobile device.
As discussed previously, a user browsing from their mobile device is typically seeking answers to a pre-defined question, such as the company’s contact details or product range. A repurposed site could serve as a hindrance in helping to answer these questions, as there would be much more information for a user to navigate through, before finding what they were searching for. However, this is not absolute and its impact should be assessed on a case by case basis.
The other disadvantage of the One Site Method is that it can be slightly more expensive to implement. Cost will vary depending on the complexity of the site. For example, a plain text site being repurposed would be much cheaper to implement than a banking site which would involve repurposing complex applications.
Two Site Method
The Two Site Method involves redeveloping a site’s information architecture, thereby effectively generating two separate sites for users browsing on mobile devices and those on PCs. The site targeting PCs would be the standard site, with all available content and functionality, while the site targeting mobile devices would be a much more simplistic version of the main site, containing only a few key details and more simplistic functionality.
Some key considerations of this approach include the importance of ensuring content is simple and readable. This means selecting the content to be deemed most relevant (i.e. contact details, store locations, product range), and ensuring it is presented in a format which is easy to get to, and easy to read. Some other important features include installing a powerful search tool, buttons with direct access to relevant details and appropriate calls to action.
Advantages - The most significant advantage of the Two Site Method is the ability to better tailor content for mobile devices, and therefore only push what is relevant for this type of browser. This would in turn assist in better site conversions where calls to action are easily viewable, as well as providing a far greater user-experience than if a user would have to navigate through an entire site, in smaller dimensions, for a simple piece of information.
Disadvantages - The main disadvantage of deploying the Two Site Method is with regards to the increased amount of site administration and maintenance required. Any changes or modifications made to the main site, will need to be assessed and accordingly replicated on the mobile site. The modifications will be based on each individual site’s information architecture.
Best Practices
Upon selection of an appropriate strategy, there are a few rules or best practices which should be adhered to, in order to provide the optimum user experience. These are in conjunction with the aforementioned strategies and are as follows:
Thematic Consistency - This ensures that content is accessible on a variety of sites, regardless of the type of device.
Page Content and Layout - Designers should present context in a way that is suitable for mobile viewing. The text should be written in clear, simple language. Scrolling should be limited to one direction, as most mobile devices cannot support scrolling in multiple directions. Furthermore, if background images are used ensure that they remain readable on the device.
Provide a Consistent Experience - Sites should always be designed to meet the needs of Default Delivery Context. This will ensure that mobile users receive a consistent experience on all devices.
Testing – Designers should test mobile websites on emulators or actual devices. Emulators should be used with caution as they often behave differently than actual devices. Where practical, test mobile sites on as many actual devices as possible.
Refreshes, Redirections and Pop-ups – Designers should avoid pop-up windows on websites, as support for these on mobile devices is limited. Do not automatically refresh the page on mobile page designs. Alternatively, provide a means to turn the function on or off. Redirects only operate quickly if the server is configured to redirect with HTTP 3xx codes.
Resource URLs - Designers should strive whenever possible to keep URLs short for mobile devices. This will make it easier to type the information on the small cellular device. Designers should account for users linking to a site through a hyperlink as well as other sources.
Minimize Navigation - When designing for websites, minimizing navigation at the top of the page.
Minimize Links - Balance the number of links provided on the page.
Target Identification of Links - Mobile device users are often slowed by following links on websites. Always identify the target of the link to avoid unnecessary navigation onto the website, by users.
Image Maps - Designers are encouraged to not use image maps unless the device supports them effectively.
Externally Linked Resources – Externally linked resources may increase the load times of mobile context. These should be kept to a minimum.
User Input - Always keep the required number of keystrokes to a minimum. Ensure that labels will appear along with any related form entries. Provide default values to make selection easier.
Other Considerations – HTML5
When launching a site for mobile devices it is necessary to plan for issues such as cell reception and network instability. These occurrences are all highly likely, and can adversely affect the user-experience. An excellent way in which to limit the effect of 3G network problems is through the use of offine content delivery mechanisms, such as HTML5.
With HTML5, all content would be stored offine and no connection would be necessary to access to the website homepage or documents, emails and attachments, hosted on it. The applications of HTML5 are limitless. For example, fully functioning learning management systems (LMS) could be developed for mobile devices where students could have access to vital information whenever they need it.
Who is Elcom?
Founded by John Anstey in 1996, Elcom Technology Inc. (Elcom) is a globally recognized enterprise web content management solution. Elcom assists mid-market organizations achieve their online objectives for corporate websites, intranets, e-commerce portals, staff orientation and elearning through one powerfully simple, secure platform.
Sitefinity CMS 4.0 Review
Recently, Telerik released version 4.0 of their popular .NET based content management system, Sitefinity.
Mike Johnston from CMS Critic, delved in to this new release to see what is different and what has been improved upon.
- Read the Review: First look at Sitefinity CMS 4.0
Web CMS Vendors Battle for Control of the SMB Market
Web content management software is a bloated market space, and with sales growth in the billions you will literally find hundreds of vendors all fighting for top position. Visiting the vendor websites to gain a perspective on what differentiates one WCM vendor from another is far more difficult than one would imagine and more times than not, a fruitless exercise.
So if your looking to purchase a WCM solution for the first time or upgrading an existing system; the vendor selection process can be foggy at best. So, how does one start in narrowing down the options and ultimately selecting the best solution for your current requirements, budget and long-term needs?
CMS Connected (www.cms-connected.com) showcases top CMS vendors in an interactive 60-minute debate style webinar, helping you get beyond the glossy brochures and marketing hype by asking the real tough questions you want to know. In addition, the attending webinar audience also has the opportunity to ask the vendor guests a few ‘no holds barred’ questions as well.
On April 7th, 2011, two of the most affordable and feature rich mid-level .NET CMS products on the market today, Kentico and Telerik’s Sitefinity will go head-to-head on CMS-Connected. Sign up now for this free webinar event and find out who reigns supreme!
Your Website Needs a Social Life
You’re proud of your website and you should be: it’s easy to use, looks great and is packed with fresh content. But while you’ve been working hard to keep your website current and compelling, the wider web has been changing around you. And the way people approach websites like yours is changing too.
- A website used to be a place to read things… Now it’s a place to do things.
- A website used to be only about creating great content… Now it’s also about creating great web experiences.
- A website used to be a one-way medium… Now it’s a many-to-many conversation.
This ‘Social Web’ transformation, driven by the wildly popular social media experiences like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter is changing the way the web works and the way your visitors think. The social web is about fully engaging users and treating them as more than just consumers of content or adherents to your agenda. In the social web, visitors are full participants, sharing their views, their content and their contacts. The result is an exponential increase in user involvement that is changing the fundamental principles and dynamics of marketing. Brands that succeed in tapping into this enormous power will reap the rewards in traffic, loyalty, revenues and market share. Brands that fail to learn the new rules of the social web will be left with the scraps.
What Is a Social Website?
A social website is any site that invites people to participate by publicly sharing their thoughts, feedback, opinions, links and any content they’ve created as well as images and videos. It also encourages them to share their experiences with friends or colleagues, whether on the site or beyond and makes it easy to do so.
Why You Need to Be More Sociable
There are plenty of reasons to make your website more social than it is today. Here are some of the most important ones:
Engage people more fully - Your customers, prospects and target audiences are human beings first. And human beings appreciate being asked what they think about things. Nobody likes to be talked at. It’s not polite.
Boost credibility - People are more likely to trust another user than they are to trust you. Harness that force to your advantage by giving a forum to your brand advocates – yes you give airtime to detractors too, but this in itself shows confidence and boosts credibility.
Increase stickiness - ‘Unique visitors’ is no longer the killer metric of the web. Engagement metrics like time on site, page views and repeat visits are. Anyone with a budget can generate raw traffic. It takes sociability to turn that traffic into something more valuable.
Listen to your users - Instant feedback from your customers and site visitors is an incredibly valuable – but under-exploited – asset. A social website gives your brand ears.
Influence your market - You can’t join the conversation until there’s a conversation to join. Once you’ve started one, it’s a great opportunity to get involved, address negative comments, de-fuse time-bombs, acknowledge positive input, reward your brand advocates and generally get your views across.
Better target your messages - The more you know about someone, the better you can tailor your messages to them. Active involvement in your community gives you priceless insight into attitudes, behaviors and propensity to buy. It also sharpens your segmentation and feeds your personalization efforts.
Harvest great content - User-generated content – from blog comments to photos and video – enriches your site and makes it more interesting, entertaining and valuable to other users. And it’s free if you ask nicely.
Boost your search engine results - Google spiders love lots of new, relevant content. The more you can attract, the better you’ll do on search results pages and the more traffic you’ll generate.
Generate buzz - Static websites that don’t engage visitors look and feel like ghost towns. Websites that are bubbling with activity, community and participation show that your brand is young, vital, successful and popular.
Top 10 Tips on How to Go Social
Adding social features to your website isn’t difficult but if you get it wrong, your failure will be rather… public. So here are a few tips:
- Moderate gently - Fairness is a core principle of the social web. If you kill every negative comment, you lose respect as a moderator and alienate your community. Much better to respond constructively to negative feedback in the same forum it was given. Only resort to censoring or banning in extreme cases.
- Open your kimono - There’s no point going social if you’re going to be overly defensive or ‘corporate’. The social web is a great opportunity to lower your guard, give the spin doctors a Valium and just respond to people openly and honestly – you’d be amazed how much they’re willing to forgive if you just say sorry.
- Look after your super-users - Every community has champions – the people who really identify with your brand (or the activity you’re involved with) and get stuck right in. Identify these super-users and make sure they feel welcome and valued. Give them special privileges. Reward their loyalty. They’ll return the favor.
- Walk before you run - Don’t launch an über-community if you don’t have any traffic, a blog or simpler forums. Build your community from the ground up, listening to your users as you grow.
- Don’t forget great content - Social media never lives in a vacuum. You still need to populate your community areas with great content from your CMS to keep people interested, involved and coming back for more. You can’t expect users to do all the heavy lifting. Just make sure your CMS can easily connect.
- Respect privacy - This is absolutely essential. The kind of people who participate in web communities are the kind to get really rabid when their trust is abused. Only use data in exactly the way you say you will. No exceptions.
- Go beyond your site - A social relationship with your community doesn’t stop at the borders of your own site. Go out and meet people where they congregate. Join Facebook groups, comment on blogs, set up a YouTube channel and a Twitter account. All are great forums for listening – and for recruiting people to your social website.
- Get the back end right - Some social features (like social bookmarking) are fairly lowtouch. Others require a significant amount of back-end programming and integration. Make sure your developers know what they’re doing – and start with a Content Management System that you know can handle the job (if the social functionality is already pre-coded and templated, so much the better).
- Performance matters - Social sites make much greater demands on your servers than simple content sites – especially if user-generated photos and videos are involved. You may need a platform that can handle millions of users and billions of page views per month. If your CMS can’t scale to the demands of the social web, you risk frustrating (or losing) your users.
- Analytics are critical - You need to actively monitor and measure all activities on your social pages just as you would on the rest of your site. Make sure your social features include rich reporting and analysis. User stats drive insight.
The Role of Your CMS
The Content Management System you choose will make a big difference in the success of your social web initiatives. The right CMS will not only make it much easier to introduce social features, it will also make for richer, simpler, easier-to-use social web experiences.
Ideally, you need a CMS that is:
Social-centric – Not every CMS is built to handle the more challenging social features discussed here. If social media is not in the DNA of your CMS, shop around. Ask to see the community templates.
Editor-friendly – You need a CMS that makes it easy for non-technical editors to add content, create pages and moderate comments.
Developer-friendly – Developers shouldn’t have to learn a whole new language just to create social features for your site.
Modular – Your CMS should always be growing by letting you snap on new modules as they’re developed.
Widely used – A popular CMS has an active developer community to contribute modules, ideas, advice and experience.
Actively supported – You’ll want a CMS that has someone standing behind it – for support, development, training and advice.
Go forth and socialize!
Note: A special thanks to Alex Martel, Channel Sales Manager at EPiServer North America for supplying some great material from their eBook.
Using SharePoint for Your Website: The Good, The Bad and The Possible
Presented by Sitecore co-founder Lars Nielsen, and sponsored by Redmond Magazine, this webinar will dig into the CMS features of Microsoft SharePoint, such as workflow, content reuse and sharing, and accessibility checking and compliance, assessing which capabilities work for public websites, and what alternatives you have if SharePoint is not the best choice for your website style.
You will learn:
- Ways to extend SharePoint when publishing content to the web
- How to achieve multi-language and multi-device web support
- How you can easily reuse content for multi-site syndication
- Examples of Sitecore’s Web Content Management combined with SharePoint’s Document management to achieve true Enterprise Content Management
- The new features SharePoint 2010 and their impact on managing public websites
- How to achieve more with your website while staying with your .NET and your Microsoft investment
Whether you are currently using SharePoint for your website, or considering using it, this webinar will be a valuable tool for determining whether you are using the best resource for your website style.
Harness the Power of Social Commerce with EPiServer CMS
The recent holiday shopping season saw US consumers spending an estimated $32.6 billion online, an increase of 12 percent over the previous year and an all-time record for the season1. Despite a still soft economy, these figures clearly show the momentum and acceptance that online commerce has gained. At the same time, online social interaction is poised to replace traditional search. With over 6 billion minutes per day spent on Facebook alone, your business can’t ignore the social trend. Now the convergence of these two trend lines creates an opportunity for explosive growth in your online sales.
Discover the easy way to turn website traffic into revenue with EPiServer
In today’s global marketplace, your website is the most vital tool in your sales arsenal. A powerful online presence can help you blast through your sales goals and take your business to the next level. That’s why you need an online solution that will maximize every step in the sales process – from the very first search all the way through final payment.
Increase your customer base and the value of every online transaction
EPiServer offers a full suite of online sales and marketing tools that allow you to:
- Bring more qualified visitors to your website. Over 57%* of all online purchases begin with a search. Use EPiServer’s built-in SEO tools to drive maximum traffic to your landing pages.
- Engage your website visitors by providing them with targeted content based on their location, industry or needs.
- Increase the value of your sales with EPiServer’s upselling and cross-selling features.
- Leverage the power of social media by creating your own community where customers can post product reviews and engage in conversations.
- Get instant answers on how your campaigns are performing and which landing pages are delivering the best results.
EPiServer Commerce makes it easy for you to take control of your online sales. You get support for the whole commerce cycle, from the point where users research options and review other visitors’ opinions through to the purchase, delivery and ongoing customer care. The user-friendly interface means you won’t need to contact a web developer every time you want to add new content or track your results.
Falcon-Software offers website planning, creative design, development, Web CMS implimentations, CMS training and server hosting services. We invite you to get started today. Call us for a free consultation at 800-957-1126
A Great Start to 2011!
Falcon-Software is proud to announce the signing of 4 new CMS deployment contracts to help kick-start the new year:
Anthro Corporation
Tualatin, Oregon (Kentico CMS Deployment)
Seattle Pacific University
Seattle, Washington (Sitecore CMS Deployment)
StressMarq
Victoria, British Columbia (Kentico CMS Deployment)
Windy City Wire
Bolingbrook, Illinois (Kentico CMS Deployment)
After one of the busiest winter seasons in recent memory, it seems the momentum will continue to be strong throughout the first quarter of 2011. The demand for Falcon-Software’s .NET content management expertise has never been so high and as the company looks towards the coming months, it would appear that the demand for their services will only increase.
“Not only are we acquiring a healthy number of new accounts, we are also seeing a significant increase in projects with our existing clientele as well”, states Gary Eisenstein, President and founder of Falcon-Software Company”.
It’s not just CMS services that are in high demand for Falcon-Software. They have also seen an increase in other services such as social media and site globalization projects, mobile applications and Intranet sites.
Lionbridge and Sitecore announce partnership for a seamless process from content creation to translation
Integrated Web Translation Provides Enterprises with a Competitive Edge In a Global Economy
Lionbridge Technologies and Sitecore, today announced a partnership to enable organizations to manage global Web communications as an integrated, seamless process from content creation to translation. Global organizations have a significant set of challenges – including translation of brands, content and websites, global program management, building and managing a network of outsourcers, and more. Many of these organizations rely on corporate websites to increase international market share and speed adoption of products. Lionbridge and Sitecore have partnered to integrate the Sitecore Content Management System (CMS) technology with Lionbridge’s Freeway translation technology platform. This integrated solution will give organizations a seamless process for managing the linguistic and technical requirements of Web content.
