Articles - Page 109

The Top 10 AI Tools for Small Business: From Automation to a Coordinated Team of AI Agents

matt-garrepy

Whether you consider yourself an Internet entrepreneur, a content marketer or simply somebody who makes their living off the web, you'll have likely heard of <a href="http://www.copyblogger.com/" target="_blank">CopyBlogger</a>.
The Internet marketing blog turned community has long been an authority when it comes to content that converts. Now, they have a new platform built from the ground up to convert visitors into customers, and browsers into community members. It's called the <a href="https://rainmakerplatform.com/" target="_blank">Rainmaker Platform</a>.
Although it's based off of WordPress, it isn't WordPress, nor is it a WordPress plugin or extension of any kind. It's a standalone CMS for Internet entrepreneurs.
Rainmaker offers a long list of specialised features, many of which Internet marketers will have come to know and rely on. Here they are at a glance:
<ul>
<li>Create powerful content-driven websites on your own domain.</li>
<li>Choose from 27 customizable Genesis themes &amp; additional landing page templates.</li>
<li>Build membership sites, forums and online training courses.</li>
<li>Upload, manage and sell digital products like software, ebooks, and more.</li>
<li>Built-in analytics &amp; reporting.</li>
<li>Built-in A/B Testing.</li>
<li>Training &amp; educational material included.</li>
<li>Avoid a patchwork of plugins, themes, and complicated code.</li>
<li>Cloud hosted, with upgrades, maintenance, security all taken care of.</li>
<li>Export content to WordPress at any time you choose.</li>
</ul>
Now, as a blogger with my own website, <a href="http://www.employtheinternet.com/" target="_blank">Employ the Internet</a>, Rainmaker doesn't just interest me – it suits me perfectly. A platform which makes it easy to create bespoke landing pages, build membership-driven communities, distribute eBooks, podcasts, and more? Well, that sounds awesome.
And indeed, it is pretty awesome.
But despite my admiration, I doubt I'll be migrating my blog from WordPress to Rainmaker just yet. My hands-on tinkering with the platform will explain why.
<h2>Hands-On With The Rainmaker Platform</h2>
Note: This is not a full review of the Rainmaker Platform, but rather a brief insight into some of its core features.
After quickly and easily signing up and logging in to Rainmaker, I was presented with a clean and sleek dashboard.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-3700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" />
The dashboard is populated with some nicely laid out stats, from membership signups to forum activity. It also lets you keep track of A/B testing results, and (after integrating with Google Analytics) site traffic too.
Before navigating away from the dashboard, I took the opportunity to test out some of the top menus and other options. I noticed that I had control over what displayed on my dashboard, via a WordPress-esque “Screen Options” menu.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-14700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" />
This was one of many examples of where the WordPress foundation was shining through, but if anything, this only serves to make the move easier for users coming from WordPress.
Across the top of the page, I noticed buttons allowing me to preview my site, add, edit and manage different areas and pages, as well as a help menu, which directed me to the Rainmaker knowledge base. Everything worked well, and as a regular WordPress user, I didn't feel completely alienated by the new interface.
<h2>Themes &amp; Design</h2>
Navigating to the “Design” section brings up a range of options to choose from in setting up and customizing your website. These include; Themes, Appearance, Menus, Content Areas, Slider, Dynamic Sidebars, Custom CSS, Forms, Maintenance Mode, and Social Sharing.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-4700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" /> 
Rainmaker currently has 27 Genesis themes, all of which can be customized if you know your way around CSS. They're all pre-installed, which means you only need to click “Activate” to switch between them all.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-5700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" /> 
When it comes to customization, WordPress' customization tool is used. This allows you to select and adjust Favicons, change colour schemes, background images, footer sections, content areas, page layouts and so forth.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-6700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" /> 
You can also use the “Design” section to set up sliders, apply custom CSS, and even put your site into maintenance mode.
Overall, Rainmaker's design options are solid. There may not be many themes available, but putting a personalised spin on things seems to be quite easily done.
<h2>Content Types</h2>
The most exciting part of Rainmaker is the content types it can manage and help you distribute.
Via the “Content” section, a number of different content types can be created. These include; Pages, Posts, Landing Pages, Portfolios, Podcasts, Media and Forums. Plus, this is the place where you organize categories, tags, forms and import/export content to and from WordPress.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-7700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" /> 
All types of content are created using an editor page which is highly similar to the WordPress editor page. WordPress users wont have any issues adjusting. When it comes to things like Podcasts and Portfolios, the page merely offers up additional fields below the text editor.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-8700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" />
For example, when creating a new Podcast page, you can upload the audio file, and configure things like player placement and episode duration.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-9700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" /> 
It's all rather straight forward. Far simpler than I expected it to be, actually.
<h2>Conversions &amp; Reporting</h2>
More notable features can be found in the “Conversions” section.
Here, you can set up membership pages, connect to email marketing tools like Mailchimp and Aweber, and set up your preferred payment gateway too. At the moment, the options are Stripe and PayPal.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-10700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" /> 
Further down the “Conversions” page, you will find options to create new products, begin A/B testing, view orders and configure your download manager.
The built-in A/B testing system will have many marketers up on their feet.
You can easily assign pages to be tested, by setting up one, two or three variations of the same page, to test which one converts best. You can set it to run up until a certain amount of traffic runs through, or by how many times the page is viewed.
You can also manually stop the test whenever you like, but you can't choose to end it on a particular date. Which I found strange.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-13700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" />
As far as reporting goes, Rainmaker goes into detail within the “Results” section.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-15700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" /> 
Here, you can check Google Analytics, conversion reports, A/B testing reports, affiliate reports and even form reports, which enables you to see how well your contact form is doing, for example.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-16700x0.png" alt="Rainmaker Platform" /> 
All in all, Rainmaker offers pretty much everything an Internet entrepreneur needs to accommodate his or her audience, and assess how best to move forward.
It's a simplified, refined and slightly more professional version of WordPress, with fewer moving parts, but a more robust marketing engine.
<h2>To Move, Or Not To Move</h2>
Internet Entrepreneurs everywhere (most of whom live on planet WordPress) are now asking themselves the same question. Should I move my site over to Rainmaker?
Typically, there's no straight forward answer to this question. But to help you decide, allow me to weigh up the pros and cons for you.
<h3>Why I'm Tempted to Move</h3>
Rainmaker streamlines the processes between you as an Internet marketer, and your audience.
You can focus less on plugins and coding, and more on your website's design and copy. Rainmaker gives the nitty gritty stuff a back seat, by supplying you with hosting, automatic updates, security, a dedicated support team and a knowledge base to keep your business afloat when things get tricky.
Plus, signing up to Rainmaker automatically gives you access to <a href="http://my.copyblogger.com/join-authority/" target="_blank">CopyBlogger Authority</a>, a renowned marketing education community.
I could imagine that moving from WordPress to Rainmaker would feel like moving from a modern super city to a scenic, tightly-knit village, where every resident is a marketing fiend. The removal of all that complexity will just make life easier.
However, the grass isn't always greener for everybody.
<h3>Why I'm Staying Put (For Now)</h3>
Although Rainmaker is a highly professional and functional platform, it doesn't quite negate the broad usefulness and flexibility of WordPress.
Rather ironically, a recent blog post of mine, <a href="http://www.employtheinternet.com/optimize-blog-posts/" target="_blank">7 WordPress Plugins to Optimize Blog Posts</a>, is something Rainmaker users will miss out on, and those are just the tip of the iceberg. Plugins like WooCommerce and frameworks like Thesis also go out the window. So sure, Rainmaker is simpler, but it's also more restrictive.
Rainmaker compensates with built-in SEO, Genesis themes and and its own native formatting options, but the fact of the matter is, WordPress allows for all of that and more – albeit with a little more elbow grease.
With no plugins, and only a small amount of themes on offer, Rainmaker users may even begin to see their competitors employing the exact same tactics as they are, perhaps even with similar designs. Naturally, this lack of flexibility could easily become a problem.
This, paired with a hefty price tag of $95 per month, is enough to make me sit tight. For me, and likely for many others, WordPress still does a solid job, and it allows me to continue experimenting with my online presence.
With that being said, if you know your audience is large enough, and your podcasts, eBooks and online courses are already flowing, Rainmaker is worth consideration. In fact, despite my preference to stick with WordPress for now, I certainly don't rule out a future with Rainmaker – especially if it matures and expands.

Hands-On With The Rainmaker Platform: The CMS for Internet Entrepreneurs

mike-johnston

<a target="_blank" href="https://flextype.org/">Flextype</a> is an open source flat file CMS that was developed in 2018 by <a target="_blank" href="https://romanenko.digital/">Sergey Romanenko</a>. It's purpose is to provide a lean, open source solution without the complexities found in many other content management systems. Today, we're going to take a look at Flextype and see what it's made of and what the administrative interface looks like.Before I get started, let me just explain a bit more about Flextype for those who are unfamiliar. If you aren't familiar with the concept of a flat file CMS, what it means is that this system does not require a database but rather stores everything in files within a directory structure. This may not be suitable for every type of website; such as one with thousands of complex pages; but it does work for the majority of them. To learn more about flat file CMS and how they work, read my <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/static-site-generators-vs-flat-file-cms-is-there-a-difference/">Static Site Generators vs Flat File CMS post</a>.The advantage, of course, is that should you need to change hosting providers, it simply requires you to zip up the contents of your website and extract them somewhere else. No messy database exports to deal with. There are numerous flat file CMS out there (see our <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/flat-file-cms/">Flat File CMS list</a> for instance) and Flextype is simply one of the options.Flextype uses a number of technologies to achieve it's simplicity and overall functionality.Some of these key technologies include:<ul><li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.slimframework.com/">Slim PHP</a>: Framework for powerful web applications and APIs.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://twig.symfony.com/">Twig Templating</a>: Flexible, fast, and secure template engine for PHP.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.doctrine-project.org/">Doctrine Project</a>: A set of decoupled and reusable PHP libraries for powerful web applications.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://thephpleague.com/">The PHP League</a>: The League of Extraordinary PHP Packages well tested and using modern coding standards.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://respect-validation.readthedocs.io/">Respect Validation</a>: The most awesome validation engine ever created for PHP.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/thunderer/Shortcode">Thunderer Shortcode</a>: Advanced shortcode (BBCode) parser and engine for PHP.</li></ul>Now that we've covered that, let's move on with the review.<h2>Getting Started with Flextype</h2>To get started with Flextype, you'll need to download the latest release from their <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/flextype/flextype/releases">GitHub repository</a>. Once downloaded, simply upload the zipped file to your web host and extract it. Copy the files and directories within the extracted directory to /public_html/ if you want everything accessible on your root domain and visit the domain to get started.You should see something like this:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-review---1.png" />The initial welcome pageIf for some reason you don't see this, you may want to check out their <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.flextype.org/en/basics/requirements">requirements page</a> to make sure your server is compatible and / or has the right requirements installed.<h3>Creating an admin user</h3>Once you've managed to sort things out and are ready, visit the admin panel by following the link on the homepage. This will prompt you to create a user account for the CMS.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-review---create-a-user-account.png" />Creating a user account<h2>The Flextype Admin Panel</h2>Once you've created your user account and logged in, you'll be greeted with the admin panel.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-review---the-admin-panel.png" />Flextype Admin PanelAs you can see, the admin panel has been designed to minimize complexity. It's very simple, straight forward and easy to navigate within. Let's check out some of it's functionality.First, we'll take a look at Entries.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-admin---entries.png" />Flextype EntriesClicking on the three dots to the right of the Home entry, you'll get a context menu where you can add, edit, preview, delete, etc. Clicking on edit will launch the editor.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-editor.png" />Flextype EditorFrom here, you can make modifications to the individual entries (in this case the home page) and change some of it's settings. The integrated editor works well and provides plenty of functionality to do the job.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-entry-settings.png" />Flextype Entry SettingsWithin the settings you can modify pretty much everything about your entry, from the meta description to the template that's being used for it, visibility, the Url and more.The next tab in line is the media tab which, you guessed it, let's you upload media to be used with your entry. The odd part here, however, is that once you upload it and go back to the editor to insert it, there's no means to select the image.Instead, you have to copy the URL from the media upload tab to your clipboard, switch to the editor tab, click the image insert button and paste it in.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-editor---inserting-media.png" />Flextype Editor - Inserting an Image into the editorPersonally, I feel that this method is a bit cumbersome and can be improved on and I'd recommend the developers take it into consideration. It's a minor inconvenience, but since Flextype is focused improving productivity and ease of use, it's definitely something that needs correcting.Moving along. On the source tab you'll fine the source for the entry which you can modify and save if you prefer working with the code rather than a WYSIWYG editor.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype---source.png" />Flextype Entries - Viewing the sourceNext up are Fieldsets. According to the <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.flextype.org/en/fieldsets/fieldsets">Flextype documentation</a>, fieldsets can best be described as configuration files written in YAML for Admin Panel to  create publish forms. They establish your content model. Essentially, a  schema that defines your fields, data types, and the interface used to  manage them.You can create new fieldsets and modify their source just as you would an entry. Here's a look at the structure:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-fieldsets.png" />Flextype FieldsetsSnippets are rather self explanatory. You use them for certain things such as inserting your Google Analytics code into your website and other types of code that you'd typically find within your websites' header.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-snippets.png" />Flextype SnippetsUnder the Tools menu you will find three items; information about your server, a cache tab where you can clear your cache and a registry tab showing all of the keys that Flextype uses. I won't get into all of them but here's what the cache page looks like. As you can see, it's very simple and just lets you clear your cache should you need to. Cache settings themselves are a bit further on and I'll show you those in a moment.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-tools---cache.png" />Flextype ToolsUnder the Settings tab is where you'll find the main settings for your CMS (and website). Everything from your site title and description to managing your robots.txt file are done from within this page.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-settings.png" />Flextype SettingsYou can also manage your cache settings from the cache section of the settings tab. Here's how it looks:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-cache-settings.png" />Flextype Cache SettingsLast but not least, there's one killer feature that you won't want to miss. Dark Mode.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/flextype-dark-mode.png" /><h2>Conclusion</h2>A solid new entry into the Flat File CMS space, Flextype accomplishes what it set out to do; offer simplicity and ease of use to users. Where it's lacking at the moment is in themes and plugins. While I'm sure most developers won't require them for the majority of websites, they do make life easier for non-developers that are interested in using the CMS.There are links to a plugins page on the Flextype website but it's a bit weird how they have it organized. Plugins are listed under issues for some reason instead of just in an organized manner on homepage itself. I'm sure there was some logic to it but it's not super obvious unless you are stubborn and tend to click through every link like I am. You can find them here: https://github.com/flextype/plugins/issuesThemes are organized in a similar manner and you can find them here: https://github.com/flextype/themes/issues. I'd recommend a restructuring to make these easier to locate in the future.I'm looking forward to seeing what the future brings for Flextype. There is no doubt the development team is on the right path, they just need to keep plugging away and hopefully, expanding their community as the word spreads.You can check out Flextype yourself on their website: <a target="_blank" href="https://flextype.org/">https://flextype.org/</a>

Flextype Review

techcto2

Content curation is a concept that has been on the rise over the last couple of years. Curation, derived from the Latin word ‘cura' which essentially means to care of or oversee something, basically means the collection and presentation of content in a way that is interesting and useful to the end user. A recent survey revealed that each Facebook user created about 90 pieces of content each month. There are currently more than a billion people using Facebook as of July of this year. Do the math and you’ll realize that people love finding, creating and sharing content. With the explosion of the internet and social media, people all over the world are looking to make sense of content and are wanting to have a platform where someone has already done the hard work so they can simply congregate on a forum and take what is meaningful to them, served up in bite-size information that’s easy to take in.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/content-curation.jpg" alt="Content Curation" />
Content curators are thus tasked with the responsibility of collecting links, resources and posts from all over the internet and coming up with interest portals (think Pinterest, but with text) that people can use in the here and now. You might be tempted to think of this system as being an automated one (much like Google news). Content curation is far from being automated as people expect something that has a human element, as well as something that is interactive whereby they can leave responses and get answers to the same.
Content curation is especially important for organizations that want to be recognizable brands as it gives them a platform to establish thought leadership and stand out from the millions of competing companies. One such media company that has been able to do this is Huffington Post, whose blog currently tops the Alexa Global Traffic Rank. This means that people trust and access the HuffPost webpage and series of blogs to get up-to-date information regarding current news and affairs. Some people may point out that HuffPost is just a vacuous media company with inane stories about celebrities and random animals doing funny things, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that web users gravitate towards the website to glean valuable information as it breaks.
A great way of visualizing the process of content curation would be to think back to your childhood and remembering those years when you spent time cutting up photos and putting them in a scrapbook. If you never did that, I’m sure you at least had photos of your favorite celebrities or bands on your bedroom wall. As your interests changed, so did the media on your bedroom wall and scrapbook. This means that even before the advent of social media, people were content hunters and gatherers in the simplest form of the word. In 2013, the same people who did this in during their childhood and in their teens are wanting an easier way of curating content, and this is where you come in as a content curator.
There are three tenets governing content curation, and they are:
<ol>
<li>Seek</li>
<li>Sense</li>
<li>Share</li>
</ol>
Seeking information involves doing some research on the topics you want to cover and organizing your sources. You can spend half an hour doing this on a daily basis, spending 15 minutes in the morning and the remainder late in the afternoon or evening. You want to scan information, blog posts and web content and capture only high quality links in preparation for the second stage of the curation process.
Making sense of it all requires you to have a keen eye regarding what works and what doesn’t, as well as how all this information fits together in the bigger scheme of things. For example, you may write a post and include links leading out to other articles and news pieces that expound on the topic that you’re covering. You may also need to know how to annotate links and archive the information you’re presenting for future access. This should you anywhere between 30 minutes to a full hour each day.
Sharing is the last part of the process, and it involves sharing the best bits of information and posts in a way that adds value to your reader. You can do this via social media, as well as via email and influential websites such as LinkedIn.
The most important aspect of content curation has to be consistency. You want to develop a relationship with your readers or followers and have a reputation for providing them with insightful content that can enrich their lives on a daily basis. This is especially important for web-based businesses that are wanting to convert followers into customers. The truth is that once you earn the trust of your audience, they’ll be more willing to purchase whatever physical or digital items you have to offer.
Here’s a list of content curation tools to help you tell your story to a waiting audience:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://get.meddle.it/">Meddle</a></li>
<li><a href="http://opentopic.com/">Opentopic</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.storify.com">Storify</a></li>
</ul>
Please leave your thoughts and comments in the text box below and share with us your content curation strategies.

Content Curation – Building Your Brand via Targeted Story Telling

If your site runs on the powerful SquareSpace CMS (see our <a href="/squarespace-review-the-long-awaited-commerce-solution/">squarespace review</a> for more info) and you own an iPad, you absolutely must try their iPad app.
SquareSpace for iOS is an exceptional app that allows you to post and manage your SquareSpace site directly from your iPad and it's one of the best apps we've seen so far for content management. As you can see from the video above, it's a slick and powerful interface that allows you to easily add post content, pictures and more to your site.
Using the text editor is quite easy and allows input in a variety of formats such as Markdown, Textile, Plain text and HTML. The editor works very well and is nice and clean. Adding pictures from the iPad is as easy as selecting from the camera roll / photo library and they too work without issue.
One of the best inclusions that they made with this app was that of the metrics. It's nice to be able to have a quick look at your stats on the go and they are formatted well for the iPad screen with more than enough stats for the metrics obsessed.
In my time using the app, I experienced only smoothness and no issues with forced closures or crashes. It's a slick interface that makes you actually WANT to use the app for publishing.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mzl_aodbyhyt_1024x1024-65.jpg" alt="Squarespace ipad app review" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace-blog.png" alt="squarespace ipad app review" />
If you don't have SquareSpace or haven't heard of it, check it out here: <a href="http://www.squarespace.com/?channel=pp&amp;subchannel=general&amp;source=cmscritic">SquareSpace</a>

SquareSpace iPad app Review

Key Website Builders: A Comprehensive Overview

A landing page. 
On the Internet, you've seen it countless times. And still, a good landing page is something of a rarity. A good landing page is something you fall in love with.
A landing page is something you've created specifically for your the people who you want to attract. It's like a date or an important speech. A good landing page conveys not only an idea of your service but also the feeling.
For it to work, you have to pay a lot of attention during the development of your landing page.
There are five important things you should look for. Those five things together make or break your landing page strategy. After all, in the modern Internet the interaction between you and your potential audience happens in a matter of seconds. You have to catch attention before the page finishes loading.
Are you interested to find out how your next landing page strategy should be shaping up? There <a href="http://blog.templatemonster.com/2013/08/08/how-to-optimize-landing-page/">a lot of different techniques</a> and tips. Today, we'll be talking about the five that are essential to every landing page.
<h2>1. A Call-to-Action</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace700x0.png" />
Your call-to-action is the most important part of your landing page. It informs the reader of what action to take.
Steer clear of going with the dull, overused “submit” text on your call-to-action button. Try something descriptive like:
<ul>
<li>
Give Me a Free 30 Day Trial
</li>
<li>
100% Money Back Guarantee
</li>
<li>
Show Me What I’m Missing
</li>
<li>
Yes! I Want To Be A Winner
</li>
<li>
Schedule A Meeting
</li>
<li>
Take the Tour
</li>
<li>
Yes! Place My Order
</li>
</ul>
The list goes on and on, but you see how all of these buttons are more engaging than “submit.” And, who wants to submit anyway? Empower the reader.
Additionally, make your call-to-action stand out. Most call-to-action buttons are red, yellow, or orange because these colors pop off the page.
Another key point — get to your call-to-action early. Readers shouldn’t need to scroll down your page to find it. In fact, <a href="http://www.nngroup.com/articles/scrolling-and-attention/">people spend 80% of their time</a> on your website above the fold.
Your call-to-action shouldn’t be an after-thought, it should be the main driver.
<h2>2. A UX Friendly Form</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/yourfirstcustomers700x0.png" />
There’s nothing worse than a needy form. If your form is asking for my phone number, my date of birth, the name of my first born children, and whether I believe in unicorns, it’s asking for too much information. In fact, I’m a big believer in asking for just name and email address — and maybe that’s too much.
With social logins, it’s not even necessary to ask a user to create a new account. Most people hate that anyway, and <a href="http://growthhackers.com/9-things-you-should-know-about-social-login-cro/">88% of people enter incorrect or incomplete information on registration</a> forms anyway. Instead, get them to sign up with their social login, if possible. That way, the information is likely correct, you get a huge amount of information about them, and you don’t annoy them by asking that they join yet another site.
If social logins won’t work for your application, just remember to only ask for the information you need, and most of the time, it’s a name and email address. When you ask for more (like a phone number), you’re entering the scary “I’m going to call you during dinner” telemarketer zone, and potential leads will just leave.
<h2>3. Social Proof</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/contatta700x0.png" />
People trust other people. That’s why it’s a good idea to add testimonials on your landing page. I prefer to do it below the fold for two reasons:
<ul>
<li>
To keep the main message uncluttered
</li>
<li>
To capitalize on the 20% of time that readers spend below the fold
</li>
</ul>
Don’t simply settle for word-only testimonials. They’re not as effectual as having an image of the person smiling next to the testimonial. Bonus points for linking to the actual website or social media profile for that person or company.
Videos are fun, engaging, and adds even more validity to social proof.
In lieu of actual testimonials, you can add the logos of well-known companies with whom you’ve worked.The type of endorsement validates your product in the eyes of your audience.
<h2>4. Make It Responsive</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/responsive9700x0.jpg" />
<a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet">According to mobile research study</a>, over 60% of smartphone users surf the Internet from their phone, and approximately 34% access the Internet from their phones alone. Is your landing page considering these visitors?
Responsive design means that your landing page adapts to any screen size, from desktops to tablets to smartphones. Instead of asking visitors to pinch-to-zoom, you can page adapts to be functional and readable on every format.
Your responsive landing page should be finger-friendly. Tiny call-to-action buttons won’t work well on a mobile device. Also, you don’t want to make the reader scroll too much on mobile devices.
If you’re using WordPress, <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes.php">a theme that supports responsive design</a> is the necessary way to go.
<h2>5. A/B Testing</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/testing10700x0.jpg" />
How do you know what’s working unless you test? A/B testing lets you study each variable on your landing page to determine what’s more successful.
For example, you can test which call-to-action text is more persuasive. Keep all other elements on the page the same. Route half of the visitors to page A, and the other half to page B. Once you determine which is more persuasive, keep that element, and go on to test another part of your page.
It’s continuous testing, and it’s all worth it. Very small changes can make a world of difference in conversion.
<h2>In Closing</h2>
Those five principles of landing page design will make your landing page into something truly special. 
Don't be afraid of talking to your potential audience. Fall in love with them instead.

5 Steps Towards a More Effective Landing Page

Agility CMS has <a href="https://agilitycms.com/resources/posts/agility-pricing-structure">announced</a> a new pricing model for their all-in-one headless content management system, aimed at helping a broad range of customers ­– from developers to the enterprise – expand their digital strategies. 
Founded in 2002, Agility CMS has positioned itself as a “Content-First” SaaS headless platform, giving users a significant amount of flexibility over their digital experiences through powerful, lightweight APIs. This includes the full array of JAMstack (Javascript, API, Markup) and browser-based frameworks – including static React site generators like Gatsby – that simplify and accelerate website performance while acting as a unified content hub.
Agility’s new pricing tiers reflect a shift in the CMS market, where platforms are offering both developers and enterprise organizations expanded options while simplifying the procurement process. As licensing has shifted to more subscription and SaaS-based models, many CMS platforms have raced to add more value to their offerings, including free entry points and streamlined pricing at multiple levels.
"We want to give [users] more, yet simplify things,” said Jon Voigt, CEO of Agility CMS. “We kept hearing that people are upset with the complex pricing models out there; we wanted to provide a better free edition and an unlimited community-supported edition that was based on value."
The chief reason behind the pricing change is to provide greater access to the Agility CMS across the marketplace, allowing users to increase productivity and collaboration between marketing, sales, and development teams. In addition to their advanced headless capabilities, unmatched load speeds, rapid development, and low-code content management, each of Agility’s paid packages are loaded with features.
<h3>The New Agility CMS Pricing Model</h3>
Agility is now offering four pricing tiers: a free Developer option, a Standard package for small teams, a Pro tier for high-performing businesses, and a custom enterprise option. 
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/agility-cms-pricing.png" /></figure>
Let’s take a look at these <a href="https://agilitycms.com/pricing">packages</a> in more detail:
Free: Agility CMS offers a free package for web developers. This plan includes 5 users, 10GB bandwidth, 2,500 content items, and community support – and it’s free forever. You can even <a href="https://account.agilitycms.com/sign-up?product=agility-free">sign up</a> without giving your credit card information. This plan is ideal for users who want to learn web development and content management, do some general tinkering, and have fun building. If you feel like you reached the limits of the free package, you can easily upgrade. 
Standard: For $47 per month, this package delivers unlimited users and content items. Community support and 500GB of bandwidth is also included. Starting with the Standard Package, every Agility CMS tier includes Content Management, Ecommerce, Ticketing, Search and User Generated Content. If you're running a small site with 500 pages or less, this package is ideal. 
Pro: At $579 per month, the Pro package is designed for high-performance business websites and includes unlimited users, unlimited content items, 1TB of bandwidth, and direct support from the Agility CMS team. With Pro, you can sell more products with rich eCommerce, generate custom reports, manage federated search over multiple domains, and more. 
Enterprise: Starting at $2,500 per month, the Agility CMS Enterprise package is for large-scale organizations that need highly customized setup with world-class support. Enterprise includes more direct support, a dedicated account manager, and greater control over the granular needs of your organization. Pricing varies based on the bespoke requirements of an organization; for a custom quote, contact their sales team.
All Agility CMS plans – including the free tier – include these features:
<ul>
<li>Roles &amp; Permissions     </li>
<li>Approval Workflows</li>
<li>Content Modelling and Versioning</li>
<li>Rich Text Editor</li>
<li>RESTful API &amp; Webhooks</li>
<li>Open Source SDKs (Javascript &amp; .Net)</li>
<li>Single Sign-on (SSO)</li>
<li>24/7 Monitoring</li>
<li>Unlimited Languages/Locales</li>
<li>Unlimited Content Definitions</li>
<li>Unlimited Asset Requests</li>
<li>Unlimited API Requests</li>
</ul>
<h3>Focused on Developers</h3>
One of the best parts of Agility’s pricing is its free tier for developers. Like most “freemium” models, it’s limited in its scope and capabilities. But it can still power an actual production solution, including access to APIs. An enterprising coder can build a basic proof-of-concept for a project or even power a small website – all for free. But be warned: the API will not charge overages for this package, so if you hit your limits, your calls will be blocked.
With a path for easy upgrades – and even alerts to tell you when you’re approaching your limits – Agility helps its users to scale more seamlessly based on their needs. As a headless platform, this is even more advantageous, as developers have more freedom to create in the language or framework of their choice and shape digital experience across a multitude of channels.
Because it’s a multi-tenant SaaS-based solution, Agility appears to have more control and flexibility over their pricing, and they’ve endeavored to make it easier to understand. However, because it’s a multi-tenant SaaS-based solution, it might be a limitation for organizations that require on-prem hosting or security governance for all of their websites and CMS platforms.
You can try Agility CMS for free <a href="https://account.agilitycms.com/sign-up?product=agility-free">here</a>.
<h3>About Agility CMS</h3>
<a href="https://agilitycms.com/">Agility CMS</a> is a SaaS headless “Content-First” platform with fast, flexible development and familiar authoring tools. Designed for developers, marketers, and enterprise organizations, Agility CMS is trusted by customers in the US, Canada, and across the globe – including Visit Orlando, PepsiCo, Polaroid, Hockey Canada, California State University Long Beach, Cineplex Entertainment, Scotiabank and more.

Agility CMS Introduces Simplified Pricing Tiers For Headless Content Management

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Today's a day for giving away cool stuff so we're offering up a new contest for everyone!
We're giving away three $50 Visa Gift Cards to three lucky people.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/visagc.png" />
To enter, all you have to do is write or reply to a forum post in our new forum.
The best part? You can enter DAILY which means you can get more than 1 entry per day by posting regularly.
You can reply to a topic or create your own.
Have a question about web design, development or CMS? Ask it!
Just want to share who you voted for? You can do that too. All types of posts count as long as they aren't spammy or completely unrelated to the topics our site is based on.
Use the following form to enter.
[[rafflecopter]]
The contest runs from today through October 21, 2014 so be sure to enter for your chance to win!

Win a $50 Visa Gift Card!

Shopify - The global commerce platform

Build your business with Shopify to sell online, offline, and everywhere in between.

The global commerce platform

#ffffff

<a href="http://www.gutensite.com/?refcode=CMSCRITIC" target="_blank"> Gutensite</a> has now implemented Stripe, the popular payment gateway, its its eCommerce offering.
With features focused on elegant and professional presentation, Gutensite is a website builder which fits the corporate website mould perfectly. You can read more about it in our full <a href="/gutensite-review/" target="_blank">review of Gutensite</a>.
For existing Gutensite users making use of the platform's eCommerce features, will be please to know that Stripe is now integrated with the Gutensite Pro and Premium package.
<a href="http://www.gutensite.com/?refcode=CMSCRITIC"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gutensite_logo-1.png" style="max-width:98px" /></a>
<h2>A More flexible &amp; Cost Effective Option</h2>
Gutensite eCommerce users were previously having to deal with other ways of accepting card payments.
But now, with Stripe, payment gateway setup is instant and free, and there are no monthly costs. The processing rate is a flat 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, which happens to also be cheaper than most traditional bank merchant accounts.
Stripe also has web and mobile payment options for accepting credit cards as a mobile point of sale tool, and can power marketplaces to facilitate payment between buyers and sellers.
So if you want to sell your products, or accept donations for your non-profit using Gutensite, your life just became a lot easier. If you have a Gutensite Pro account, the store is already included for free, or you can add on the store to your existing site. Then create an account at Stripe, and copy/paste your secret key into your store settings.
For more information on this new Gutensite-Stripe integration, <a href="http://www.gutensite.com/Stripe-Integration-For-Instant-Affordable-Credit-Card-Processing-In-Store" target="_blank">check out the Gutensite announcement</a>.
Furthermore, be sure to check out <a href="/products/gutensite/" target="_blank">Gutensite via our CMS Directory</a>.

Gutensite Announces Stripe Integration

Liferay Inc., provider of the world’s leading enterprise-class open source portal, announced today that Scott Tachiki, a seasoned financial executive, has joined the company’s leadership team as Chief Financial Officer.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/eric_mason_color-1_qbkdmr.jpg" />Tachiki brings about 20 years of business experience in management, corporate law and accounting. Before joining Liferay, he served as Chief Operating Officer and acting Chief Financial Officer at 4D Global Partners, a consumer electronics sales and marketing company based in Northern California.
“Scott’s impressive background in both law and finance makes him a great fit for his new role at Liferay,” said Liferay CEO Bryan Cheung. “We welcome him to our team and look forward to his contributions in the financial and contractual management of Liferay’s rapid global growth through its subsidiaries, partner networks and OEM business.”
Tachiki’s hire follows Liferay’s strong financial performance in the first half of 2011. The portal provider reported a 50 percent growth in revenue over the same period last year in its core business. Liferay has enjoyed such double-digit revenue growth for several years along with annual increases in profits since its founding.
<blockquote>“I’m excited to join an executive team at Liferay that has been so smart and financially savvy with its operations,” said Tachiki. “I am impressed by the team’s dedication to solid strategic growth, its devotion to Liferay’s employees and customers and its commitment to positively impacting the world as a core priority of the company.”</blockquote>
Tachiki specialized in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance as an attorney at the law firms Simpson Thacher &amp; Bartlett and Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk &amp; Rabkin. A Certified Public Accountant, Tachiki previously worked at Deloitte &amp; Touche specializing in the financial services industry.
As Vice President of Business Development at LearningGate.com, a web-based grade book for teachers, he managed operations and successfully structured, negotiated and closed the sale of the company. Tachiki received his law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley and his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from UC Berkeley.
For more information on Liferay’s new CFO, please visit <a href="http://www.liferay.com/about-us/leadership/stachiki">www.liferay.com/about-us/leadership/stachiki</a>.

Liferay Welcomes New Chief Financial Officer

When any web or digital professional thinks “analytics,” the first name that comes to mind is Google. And for good reason: the Google Analytics platform is the most widely used on the planet. Every day, millions of individuals and organizations rely on Google’s insights as their “source of truth,” helping them to better understand their customers and improve their digital experience.
<a href="https://blog.google/products/marketingplatform/analytics/new_google_analytics">Google Analytics 4 was just released</a>, and everyone from developers to digital marketers have been eagerly anticipating this update. The good news: it doesn’t disappoint. Not only is there a much deeper integration with their popular Google Ads platform, but the new Google Analytics offers some cutting-edge, AI-powered enhancements that are certain to delight users across the digital spectrum.
Google Analytics has a legacy that’s almost as old as the tech giant itself. It began when a still-youthful Page and Brin <a href="https://urchin.biz/urchin-software-corp-89a1f5292999">acquired Urchin</a> in 2005, adding their innovative web statistics and analytics technology to the Googleverse. Shortly thereafter, Google Analytics was officially launched, and has continuously evolved its core features for tracking and reporting on website traffic. Today, it’s a keystone of the Google Marketing Platform brand, and provides an SDK for gathering usage data from iOS and Android via their <a href="https://developers.google.com/analytics/solutions/mobile">Google Analytics for Mobile Apps</a>.
The Google Analytics 4 release is a milestone, as it’s the first major deviation from the Urchin framework – providing a new, more intelligent analytics platform that builds on the foundation of the <a href="https://blog.google/products/marketingplatform/analytics/new-way-unify-app-and-website-measurement-google-analytics/">Google’s App + Web property</a> introduced last year. Google previously had two separate analytics tools for web and apps (Google Analytics and Google Analytics for Firebase), but the App + Web resource combines everything to present a holistic view of customer data.
<h3>New insights and predictions powered by machine learning</h3>
By applying advanced machine learning models, Google Analytics 4 can automatically alert you to significant trends in your data – like products experiencing increased demand around specific customer needs. With enhanced predictive modeling, it can even anticipate future actions your customers may take. For example: it can help calculate churn probability so you can more efficiently invest in customer retention at a time when marketing budgets are under pressure.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/google_analytics_predictive_metrics.png" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/10/Google_Analytics_predictive_metrics.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/10/Google_Analytics_predictive_metrics.png 1000w" /></figure>
<h3>Customer-centric measurement without fragmentation by device or platform</h3>
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/google_analytics_new_reporting.gif" /></figure>
Google Analytics 4 uses multiple identity spaces, including marketer-provided User IDs and unique <a href="https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9445345?hl=en">Google signals</a> from user opt-in ad personalization – giving you a more complete view of how users interact with your brand. For example, you can track if customers first discover your business from an ad on the web, then later make purchases in an app or from a website. 
You’ll also get a better understanding of your customers across their entire lifecycle, from acquisition to conversion and retention. As has long been the case, Google enhances attribution and intent, giving marketers greater insight to power their Customer 360 strategies.
<h3>Deeper integration with Google Ads</h3>
Google Analytics 4 also offers a deeper integration with <a href="https://ads.google.com/home/">Google Ads</a> and the suite of Google marketing products, letting you create custom audiences based on your web and app traffic. Now, you can better reach your customers with more relevant, personalized experiences to drive higher conversions. These optics are designed to improve the overall ROI of your marketing spend.
<h3>More granular data controls</h3>
<a href="https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/websites/digital-law/general-data-protection-regulation-new-rules-for-businesses/">GDPR</a> and <a href="https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/websites/digital-law/california-consumer-privacy-act-ccpa/">CCPA</a> have had a profound impact on digital practices, and Google has been at the center of it. What’s great is that Google Analytics 4 offers enhanced features for managing data privacy and compliance. With these granular controls, marketers can confidently manage how they collect, store, and leverage their Analytics data.
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
Google Analytics has been around the block – and for such a mature and megalithic brand, it’s sometimes hard to expect a lot of product or service innovation. While the core features are still well-represented in this new version, the big shift is the around the unification via App + Web, enabling a more holistic view of the customer experience across both channels. With so much complexity around website traffic and users, making sense of the data is key – and Google seems to be doubling down on that mission.
The tighter coupling with their Google Marketing Platform, specifically Google Ads, is more evidence that the "search king" is connecting all of the various endpoints along the journey. The intended result: a more seamless, end-to-end marketing platform that is becoming increasingly automated by the day. 
If you’d like to upgrade to Google Analytics 4 from your existing analytics setup, you can <a href="https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/10089681#start">create a new Google Analytics 4 property</a> alongside your existing properties. This will allow you to start gathering data and benefit from the latest innovations as they become available – all while keeping your current implementation intact.
If you haven’t used Google Analytics yet… well, 2005 is calling. But it's not too late. Click <a href="https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/provision/#/provision">here</a> to get started for free.
<h2>About Google Analytics</h2>
<a href="https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/">Google Analytics</a> is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic, currently as a platform inside the Google Marketing Platform brand. As of 2019, Google Analytics is the most widely used web analytics service on the web.

Google Analytics 4 Unifies App and Web Analytics, Adds AI and Marketing Enhancements

Sometimes, you just want an extremely simple store, offering some extremely simple products. Yet too many e-commerce CMS often make the process of setting up and populating an online store lengthier than it has to be.With Wazala! you can have an elegantly simple online store ready to go within minutes.Essentially, Wazala! allows you to add a store to your website in a rather unique way. Instead of having to build and design an entirely new page or section of your website, Wazala! enables you to beautifully overlay your store on top of an existing web page.Unsure of what I mean? Allow me to explain.<h2>A Store from Within</h2>Wazala! allows you to create a store, unlike traditional online stores. Wazala! brings a button to your website, which activates the storefront. Your website's web page is dimmed, and your store is presented to the user over the top of it, without leaving the page.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/1700x0.png" alt="Wazala!" />Adding an online store to your website in this way means, you won't have to worry about building a new section of your site. The store is simply there, within the pages of your website.Alternatively, if you would prefer that your store is presented in a more traditional way, Wazala! have you covered there too.As well as being able to overlay your online store, you can also have your store located on a separate page on your website, or even embedded into an existing page, making it look more integrated.<h2>Simple Yet Detailed</h2>Without doubt, the appeal of Wazala! lies mainly in it's elegant, minimalistic design. But on top of its aesthetic simplicity, Wazala! still has some useful features to help get the most out of your store.Wazala! excels at getting your products online extremely fast, but it also does a great job of helping you market and evaluate the progress of your store in a more constructive way.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2700x0.png" alt="Wazala!" /> For example, as the store admin, you can access in-store analytics within your dashboard screen, which presents the sales and revenue made over certain periods of time. You can also view customer details, total store views, and much more.Additionally, Wazala! gives you a helping hand when it comes to marketing your products. Using the admin panel, you can create coupons that give customers access to discounts in a variety of ways.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/4700x0.png" alt="Wazala!" />Your coupons can cover the entire store, or simply a small selection of products or categories, and can also run between dates which can be easily set and modified at will. You may also set percentage discounts, or make the discounts value-based, allowing you to market them as both discount coupons and gift vouchers.Other features include inventory tracking, the ability to receive payments through PayPal, Google Checkout and Authorize, and even the option to sell both physical and digital products.<h2>Hugely Accessible</h2>As previously mentioned, Wazala! allows you to present your store within your website in a variety of different ways, including embedding and overlaying. However, the accessibility and presentation features don't end there.Wazala! also enables you to reach your customers via a variety of platforms and networks, in a way that suits their needs.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/5700x0.png" alt="Wazala!" />Your Wazala! store will come fully optimized for mobile web browsers, which means that customers browsing your store from a mobile device will be able to do so seamlessly. All features available to desktop users are a the fingertips of mobile users, including the ability to pay and checkout.What's more is, Wazala! stores can be integrated into many popular CMS, including WordPress, Wix, <a href="https://www.weebly.com/">Weebly</a> and Blogger. Additionally, you can even integrate your store into social networks like Facebook and Tumblr.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/6700x0.png" alt="Wazala!" />To further extend the accessibility of Wazala! there is an incredibly easy way for your customers to switch between languages whilst they browse through your products. No less than 15 languages are available, ensuring that your store can be enjoyed by an audience from across the globe.Sound good? check out their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wazala.com/">15-day free trial</a>.

Build an Online Store Within Minutes Using Wazala!

Social Media Contests offer a great way for companies to increase online engagement and generate new leads, which is why they’ve become an integral part of social media marketing campaigns across the world.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/7910370882_e2d8bfd3b4_o479x0-is.jpg" />If you want your contest to stand out from the crowd, a well-designed template and easy entry process can make all the difference. You also need to consider how you’re going to set it up. To avoid any confusion, it’s usually best to host your contest on one social network – such as Twitter – and then utilize your other networks for contest promotion.Once you’ve determined which channel you’re focusing your efforts on, it’s time to look at the various social media contest apps available to see which is best suited to your needs. In the this post, I'll cover 10 contest apps that are definitely worth checking out.<h2>1. WooBox</h2>Woobox is a social media contest app that's compatible with Facebook, Website, and Mobile. In terms of features, there are a variety of campaigns types available such as Sweepstakes, Photo Contests, Instant Win, Pin to Win, and Video Contests.These guys are leading the social media contest crowd at the moment, with over 2 million users worldwide.Pricing plans are extremely comprehensive and pricing is dependent on a number of factors including chosen apps, features, audience size, and no, of pages. New users can avail of a 30-day free trial to get started and you should have a good idea of what your requirements are after this.<a target="_blank" href="https://woobox.com/">Learn more about WooBox</a>.<h2>2. Offerpop</h2>Offerpop is an easy-to-use promotional app that offers a pretty extensive range of social media contest types, including Photo Contests, Video Contests, Quiz, Tug of War, Deals, Caption Contests, Engagement, and Conversion.The app is compatible with Facebook, Mobile, and Website, and all apps are fully optimized for mobile.Depending on your business needs, pricing runs on a pay per campaign or subscription basis (starting at $15 per month). <a target="_blank" href="https://www.offerpop.com/">Click here</a> for more about Offerpop has to offer.<h2>3. Rafflecopter</h2>Rafflecopter is a popular app that’s become a hit with bloggers and online influencers due to its easy embed feature. If embedding isn’t an option for you, Rafflecopter will set up a page on its site for your contest.Even the least tech-savvy users can set up a social media contest on Rafflecopter in minutes – no coding skills required.Users can choose from 2 campaign types – Sweepstakes and Mobile – and pricing plans start at free. Users can also opt for the Basic ($13 p/m), Premium ($84 p/m), or Enterprise (custom) package.The Free option actually includes a decent variety of features such as unlimited giveaways, embed options, support, and the 1-Click Facebook App. But if you’d like to avail of high-end features, such as email list integration, you’ll have to upgrade to the Premium plan.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.rafflecopter.com">Learn more about Rafflecopter</a>.<h2>4. SnapApp</h2>SnapApp is a comprehensive social media promotion tool that’s compatible with Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Website, Email, and Mobile. The various campaign types available include Sweepstakes, Contests &amp; Competitions, Offer, Polls &amp; Surveys, and Trivia.SnapApp single app pricing starts at $249 a month and custom pricing options are available also.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.snapapp.com/">Learn more about SnapApp</a>.<h2>5. Wishpond</h2>Wishpond is a marketing automation platform that offers various contest types such as sweepstakes, coupons, hashtag contests, video contests, and more. Wishpond makes social media contest creation a simple endeavor, and users will have their competition setup within minutes.This app is compatible with Website, Mobile, Facebook, and Twitter, and prices start at $44 p/m for the Basic plan. New users can also avail of a 14-day free trial to test it out (credit card required).<a target="_blank" href="https://www.wishpond.com/">Learn more about Wishpond</a>.<h2>6. AgoraPulse</h2>AgoraPulse provides a complete CRM, Facebook apps, and analytics suite. It may not be the obvious choice for users who are only seeking a contest app, but this is a contest builder that's built for efficiency and it’s definitely worth consideration.The analytics functionality with this app is impressive and pricing is extremely competitive. For $39 a month, businesses can onboard 2 Facebook pages and up to 50k fans.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.agorapulse.com/">Learn more about AgoraPulse</a>.<h2>7. ShortStack</h2>ShortStack offers a great range of contest templates that are well designed and easily customized. The drag-and-drop functionality makes this app incredibly intuitive and the analytics function is pretty detailed.A CSS option is also available for the coders out there, so this app will appeal to technophobes and technophiles alike.The Free plan includes up to unlimited campaigns, up to 25k Facebook fans and up to 5,000 campaign visits per 30 days. If your requirements exceed this, you can opt for one of the paid plans which kick off at $29 per month.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.shortstack.com/">Learn more about ShortStack</a>.<h2>8. Constant Contact Social Campaigns</h2>Contant Contact started out as an email marketing tool, but their social media contest app can now be used as a standalone tool completely separate to their other offerings.If you’re already a Constant Contact user, this would be a great add-on service to avail of. Contest types include offer Coupon, Sweepstakes, and Downloadable Content.You can try this app out for free for a period of 60 days, and pricing plans start at $20 after that.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.constantcontact.com/">Learn more about Constant Contact</a>.<h2>9.Binkd</h2>Binkd allows users to set up a free Twitter Contest to easily capture email addresses. There are a number of other content types available such as Sweepstakes, Challenge Contest, Word Contest, Video Contests, and Photo Contests. This is a beginner friendly app that’s easy to use and intuitively designed.Premium plans start at $29 per month for unlimited campaigns and up to 5000 entries/leads.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.binkd.com/">Learn more about Binkd</a>.<h2>10. Tradable Bits</h2>Tradable Bits describes itself as an ‘all inclusive digital marketing toolbox’ and the social media contest app is just one of its available tools. Tradable Bits offers an extensive range of campaigns, such as Photo Contests, Tug of War, Quiz, Instant Win, Promotion, Slideshow, Downloads, Reviews, and Fan Wishlist,Pricing is free for basic apps and paid plans start off at $15 per month for 1 page. An Agency plan is available for $250 and this includes online training and support.<a target="_blank" href="https://tradablebits.com/">Learn more about Tradable Bits</a>.<h2>What’s Your App Of Choice?</h2>Have you used any of the above apps to run contests on social media? Or perhaps you have a favorite that I haven’t mentioned here?We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

10 Awesome Social Media Contest Apps

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CMS Summit 26

Find out at Open Source CMS 26, October 20-21 in Utrecht, Netherlands

What's ahead for Open Source CMS?

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What's ahead for Open Source CMS?