Web Content Management Products

An Introduction to Web Content Management (WCM) Strategic Planning

Monday, November 9, 2009 by Brad Davis

Strategy without tactics is inertia.
Tactics without strategy is chaos.

3 Questions to Ask Before Starting a New Web CMS Project

Sometimes it's a good idea to return to the basics. Here are three fundamental questions I have found most helpful when tasked with developing a strategic plan, web content management or otherwise:

1. Where are we now?
2. Where do we want to go?
3. How are we going to get there?

Sounds simple, right? Maybe, but these three questions can form the foundation of a very complex web content management plan.

Where Are We Now?
Assess the current situation

Conduct a comprehensive assessment of your online marketing operations from your website design to methodology for managing online content. Start by asking the right questions, worry about answering them later.

How are our websites performing with respect to traffic and conversions?
What is the flow of content from creation to delivery?
What are the WCM roles of business, marketing, and IT?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of our online channel?
How long does it take to roll out a new online campaign?
How is content translated and localized?
How is consistency of brand and message maintained across multiple channels?
What is the web experience of our online visitors?

If you know exactly where you are, it's much easier to get to where you want to be.

Where Do We Want To Go?
Set well defined objectives

Sure, you want a cool looking website that does really cool things. More importantly, however, I bet you want a website that will help you achieve online marketing objectives, like increasing conversion rates. Be as specific as possible.

How Are We Going To Get There?
Develop a plan

Before looking at web content management vendors and technology, craft a step by step plan that will take you from where you are to where you want to be. Standard elements of a strategic plan include:

Strategy
Tactics
Timeline
Budget
Metrics

When the time comes to look at web content management products and solutions, consider how well they will integrate with your strategic plan. Give more weight to WCM features and functionalities that will best help you achieve your defined objectives.

The selection of an enterprise web content management system and vendor should be a very deliberate process. The WCM industry is currently undergoing rapid change, from both technology and vendor landscape perspectives.

For more information about WCM planning and solutions, please feel free to contact SDL Tridion. SDL Tridion is provider of best-in-class enterprise web content management systems. Positioned as a "Leader" by both Forrester and Gartner, SDL Tridion ushers in next generation web content management by integrating a suite of ROI focused online marketing tools.

From Web Content Management to Unified Marketing

Monday, November 2, 2009 by Remco van Rij

Welcome to my very first blog! With my blogs I would like to share with you my experiences in my working life as a Sales Executive of SDL Tridion, the market leader in Web Content Management Products for web sites. I want to address topics, subjects and issues I see during client meetings, that you could relate to your own situation.

What does the current economic climate do to companies? I have seen cost cutting, reorganizations, shrinking budgets and closing down offices. All things a company can do on the cost-side to survive this crisis. But what are they doing on the revenue side? Especially in these days, it is important to find and be found by your customers and prospects and stay ahead of competition. Just web presence is not sufficient anymore...

The successful companies are the ones who have a consistent brand image thru all their communication channels. They are able to offer profiled and personalized content because they know their customers, prospects and website visitors. It sounds easy, but it takes some effort to reach this level.

These companies make a difference against their competition because they build and protect their image with brand management tools and apply website personalization. This makes all their communication and campaigns more effective and will lead to increasing conversion rates.

Well, how does your company build and protect its brand and is able to target the right audiences?

Maturing (or just changing?) Content Management Landscape

Friday, October 23, 2009 by JanJaap Kolleman

Continuing on our "crystal ball" conversations about the present and future of content management, let's take a look at how the content management landscape is changing with the not-subsiding merger and acquisition/market consolidation activities and the rise of mid-market and smaller vendors. That's not to mention commercial and free open source CMSs and the (at times) cloud-friendly SaaS Online Content Management options.

As the CMS space is maturing, we see not only Web Content Management products change, but also the vendors themselves evolve.

Who would've thought 5 years ago that we will see architecturally different RedDot and Vignette under the same ECM vendor umbrella, and the traditional proprietary vendors will be facing competition from OSS CMS vendors.

Although there's still considerable uneasiness about "cloud" computing and storage, more and more vendors and customers are making strides into this direction. More organizations are looking to educate themselves about the pros and cons of the "cloud."

Then, we have this whole new beast of social media, social networking and social collaboration changing the way we do web content management... But let me save that for a future post.

Forrester Reviews Top Web Content Management Vendors and Systems

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 by Brad Davis

Searching for an Enterprise Web Content Management System? Start Here.

In an earlier blog post, I suggested that you begin the web content management vendor selection process by doing some research and developing a "short list" of vendors to evaluate. If you're like most organizations, you will probably begin with a Google search using phrases like:

Web Content Management Reviews
Web Content Management Vendors
Enterprise Web Content Management System
Global Web Content Management
Best Web Content Management

Search on a WCM related phrase and you'll get a mind blowing number of results-over 184,000,000. And most of these will be from WCM companies who want to sell you their wares. Of course that includes your friends at SDL Tridion :)

Want Factual, Unbiased WCM Research? Go Straight to Forrester.

Forrester Research, a renowned web content management industry analyst, publishes a report that evaluates leading enterprise-class web content management vendors and their solutions. Their latest report is "The Forrester Wave™: Web Content Management for External Sites, Q-2 2009". The detailed report is used by many organizations to develop their "short list".

About the Forrester Report

Forrester evaluates 10 web content management vendors across approximately 115 criteria, which they grouped into three primary categories:

Current offering
Strategy
Market presence

Results are summarized in a clear concise manner with easy to read charts, diagrams and tables. If you are looking for a best-in-class enterprise web content management system from a leading web content management vendor, this report is definitely a "Must Read".

Download the Forrester Report for Free

Click here to download the web content management reviewed report by Forrester, compliments of SDL Tridion, a leader in enterprise web content management and online marketing solutions.

Selecting the Best Web Content Management System

There are hundreds of web content management products, systems, and solutions on the market today from hundreds of different vendors. Hopefully, you will find the Forrester report helpful in narrowing the playing field and developing a short list of enterprise web content management vendors to evaluate.

Which enterprise web content management system is right for you and which vendor should you select? This depends upon the specific needs of your organization. In any case, be sure to select a financially strong company with the ability to provide excellent web content management support and service.

Beyond Web Content Management

In addition to looking at the features and benefits of different web content management systems, I would also suggest that you take a look at how they will help you achieve your online marketing objectives, such as increasing conversion rates. Look for web content management software tools that will assist with online brand management, target audience marketing, email campaigns, and website personalization.

The bottom line: Top web content management vendors will help you do much more than basic online content management. They will help you realize the many benefits of web content management, the most important of which is ROI.

Quality & Compliance Management For Your Online Presence

Thursday, October 15, 2009 by Brad Davis

Online Brand Management

Enterprise and global organizations want to present their brand, image and vision clearly and consistently. But with thousands of pages, in dozens of languages, for many different brands and products, this may seem like an impossible task. The good news is it doesn’t have to be.

Safeguard is a web content management software tool for SDL Tridion’s Enterprise Web Content Management System. It’s a powerful solution that provides website quality and compliance management- with just a few clicks of a mouse. This means you can deliver consistent, high-quality websites that comply with your own internal standards, industry best practice standards, and regulations.

To learn more about Safeguard and how it can simplify online brand management and improve the quality of your online presence visit: www.sdltridion.com/products/web_content_management/safeguard/

The Challenge of Website Management

Effective online communication requires the orchestration of many different factors. Ask yourself these questions:

Is all published content accurate, up-to-date and search engine optimized?
Do all of your sites have consistent branding and messaging?
Do your websites meet accessibility and legal requirements?
Are local websites presented in the right language?
Are digital assets managed according to company rules?
Do your websites comply with global and regional standards
Are you tracking and bench marking site-wide performance?

Safeguard monitors your entire web presence, in any country or language. Easy-to-use dashboards provide detailed information on your online performance, reporting any quality and compliance breaches so you can fix them and maximize your online business results.

About SDL Tridion

SDL Tridion is a recognized leader in web content management and has received top rankings by leading industry analysts. In addition to enterprise web content management systems, SDL Tridion is also an online marketing solutions company that provides: