In May 2010 Ektron CMS400.NET released version 8.01 to build off of the enterprise-level features offered by the earlier Ektron version 7.0. In addition to allowing businesses to improve Web 2.0 aspects and offer even more tools for traffic analysis and document management, version 8.01 also introduced the targeted content widget, which was revamped and improved further in version 8.02 of Ektron CMS400.NET.
In addition to the latest improvement from 8.01 from May 2010, the newest version of Ektron CMS400.NET include enhancements made later in Version 8.02 of Ektron CMS400.NET, which offer improvements on the newest features as well as adding new capabilities to the content editing process.
Ektron CMS400.NET has consistently remained one of the top enterprise-level web content management systems that provides business insight in conjunction with development flexibility in through ASP.NET.
Take ownership of your business website again and make it even more customized to meet your visitor's needs while improving SEO and organization of content.
You now have even more control over content within the Ektron CMS. Quickly copy and move folders from within the CMS to reorganize your content structure.
In comparison to previous versions of Ektron CMS, moving and copying content has become more flexible and accommodating to customizable order. You are now able to select and copy or move multiple folders all at once to another location. In addition to improved folder moving capability, Ektron 8.01 also has enhanced the support for multiple language versions of the content that is moved or copied.
Taxonomy categories have also become more flexible, allowing you to quickly and easily transfer content to different taxonomy node or copy it to another node. The properties to any taxonomy can now be customized with extended functionality that helps you capture additional information.
The Ektron document management system (DMS) includes a drag and drop screen with an added tab, which allows users to browse authorized files for uploading to the website, such as with SharePoint or other media location.
This new File Upload tab reduces problems associated with varying browser versions or Windows systems, load balancers, and other factors that can affect the uploading of media or content files.
The Ektron URL aliasing feature now includes an expansion to the Community Groups as well as for Users. While the benefits of URL aliasing are frequently associated with its benefits in search engine optimization (SEO), one of the key benefits include simplified URLS with shorter and easier to remember wording.
The URL aliasing benefits community groups or users that are seeking to encourage type-in visitors to specific pages, without the concern of lengthy URLs being the only option to find the page.
Flexibility is important, but so is consistency when it comes to a webpage. The Ektron PageBuilder has been updated with a Master layout, which functions to allow page designers to lock certain sections from being edited by authors so that they remain on the site. For example, a company logo or specific page footers can always stay in place from the Master layout, and no changes that the content editor makes will remove these locked sections or features.
It's hard to tell if someone picked up and read your company brochure unless they tell you they did -- it's much easier to tell if they downloaded it though if you're measuring user activity on your website.
Your website should never be like a brochure. It should have engaging content with links to other sources that expand the subject of your expertise or service offerings. One of the benefits to a Web 2.0 world is that there is the addition of social media interaction that can allow users to further interact with your content and share with their own online communities, providing backlinks and other traffic to your website.
What about measuring this impact? Without knowing where your audience is coming from, it can be tough to find out how to continue to cater your content and service offerings to meet the needs of a growing audience. Third party tools and other widgets that can work in conjunction with Ektron CMS technology allows businesses to get this insight and find out what pages are converting and which topics are making an impact on the bottom line.
The new Ektron Version 8.01 offers two types of analytics to improve business insight: web traffic and user activity.
The Traffic Analytics feature serves as an integration point with an external web traffic and end user behavior analytics provider, such as Google Analytics, or Yahoo Web Analytics. These external services integrate with the Ektron CMS to monitor web traffic to your different websites, while providing helpful reporting information that can give you insight into which pages are performing well and which need improvements.
The Business Analytics feature offers a similar reporting feature as the Traffic Analytics, but takes into account the key metrics that can have an impact on your business, based on website traffic and user activity. You can use the Business Analytics feature to track different activities and provide reporting information on top content and top referral pages. Gaining insight into which pages are sending your top content the most traffic can give valuable insight on what type of content or communication is driving web traffic to your site and whether or not this traffic is converting and becoming returning traffic.
Developer note: By default, the Business Analytics feature is not enabled, so you will need to enable it by setting the value of ek_enableClassicAnalytics property to true: <add key="ek_enableClassicAnalytics" value="true" />
Ektron CMS already includes social media integration tools, but the 8.01 version added new elements that make sharing your web page content easier than ever for your site visitors. The micro-messaging bookmarklet enables users to have even more sharing power with the ability to quickly send the link to the page as well as a custom message to friends or colleagues that might be interested in the information or product offered on your web page. Your visitors can share the information through a pop-up messaging tool, making it possible for your visitors to stay on the web page, while still sharing your site information.
Ektron version 8.01 also has improved the message board feature, which makes the editor’s role of approving several or all comments faster and easier with updated functionality. The comments can also now be approved or deleted from the CMS400 Workarea. Keep track of these changes with an activity stream that highlights the changes and updates made.
Activity streams can also be filtered to not include users or groups that should not be included in the activities feed. Time tags also are an option, with activities showing as “1 day ago” or “1 hour ago,” depending on when they occurred.
A related tool for eCommerce is the new Guest Checkout feature, which allows customers to safely make a purchase from your site, without needing to setup an account.
Present your website visitors with relevant content that is populated based on their interests as they browse your website. You can customize the content to display specific content related to the topic you would like your visitors to see based on the page they are viewing, or you can offer dynamic content that offers related content with similar categorizations. |