Articles - Page 77

Agentic AI Is Coming. Is Your DXP Ready?

dsfaltudo

<img alt="streamlined-updates" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/streamlined-updates-1-e1471435122911.png" />
<a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2016/08/pepper/">WordPress 4.6</a> is finally here, and <a href="/wordpress-4-4-beta-bare-bones/">this time</a>, it actually has some features that are worth updating for.
Named ‘Pepper' after the musician Pepper Adams, WordPress 4.6 improves theme and plugin management by allowing you to update, install, and delete directly from the Plugins and Themes interfaces.
It also boasts native (and thus faster) fonts, a better content recovery feature, and an automatic inline broken link checker. Not too shabby, WordPress.
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" src="https://videopress.com/embed/GbdhpGF3"></iframe> 
<h2>Theme &amp; Plugin Management and Inline Link Checking</h2>
The ability to update and delete plugins and themes without leaving the Plugins and Themes interfaces makes it a lot easier to manage your site. I'm a big fan of this feature, because it's those extra few seconds that were taken up by page redirects that made WordPress so tiring to use at times.
As for the automatic inline link checker, WordPress now alerts you to the fact that you have inserted a broken link into your page or article. A small, but intelligent upgrade to the inline linking feature introduced in version 4.5
<h2>Better Content Recovery and Faster Fonts</h2>
In the case of a lost internet connection while writing a post, WordPress has been saving and recovering work for a while now. But with WordPress 4.6, the platform now stores unsaved work to your browser, making data loss ever rarer.
Finally, WordPress 4.6 now uses fonts that your browser already has to hand, meaning that pages load (fractionally) faster. I doubt this will impact the average WordPress user at all, but when it comes to speed, every little helps.
Is this a mind-blowingly awesome WordPress update? No – but it isn't a bad one either.
<a href="/how-not-to-show-your-support-for-wordpress/">I ruffled a few feathers</a> when I spoke out about the <a href="/wordpress-4-4-beta-bare-bones/">lacklustre nature of WordPress 4.4</a>, but I can already see the benefits emanating from the new features found in WordPress 4.6, so kudos to the WordPress dev team and community for this one.
For more information, <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2016/08/pepper/">check out the official announcement</a>.

WordPress 4.6 Improves Theme & Plugin Management

mike-johnston

<img alt="Act-On_logo-2016_two-tone" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/act-on_logo-2016_two-tone.png" />
<a href="https://www.act-on.com/">Act-On Software</a>, the marketing automation system aimed at small and medium sized businesses, has announced its ‘Advanced Social Media Module', which will help segment audiences based on their social media activity.
The new module brings about scheduled social publishing, social analytics, content recommendations, and more.
Act-On have pointed to the opinion of Augie Ray, an analyst at Gartner, as one of their reasons for releasing this new feature:
<blockquote>
“Marketers have focused much of their social media efforts in the Buy cycle, but they can create greater benefit by optimizing social media throughout the entire customer journey to capture loyal customers and activate advocates.
No single social media metric can encompass the many ways social media contributes to a business's top line and bottom lines. To measure the impact of social media, marketers need to identify their brand's opportunities in the Buy, Own, and Advocate cycles, and select the measures that best fit those opportunities to fulfill attribution requirement.”
</blockquote>
<h1>Advanced Social Media Module</h1>
Act-On's new Advanced Social Media Module is a serious upgrade in the social department. Here's a breakdown of how it empowers marketers.
<h3>Advanced Social Publishing</h3>
<img alt="scr-acton-oktopost-calendar-view" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/scr-acton-oktopost-calendar-view.png" />
Act-On’s advanced social publishing allows you to create, curate, and schedule your content in advance. It then automatically publishes your content based on your targeted schedule for Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn. 
This feature alone replaces apps like Buffer and Hootsuite to unite marketing efforts under one roof.
<h3>Social Analytics</h3>
<img alt="scr-acton-oktopost-analytics" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/scr-acton-oktopost-analytics.png" />
Act-On’s Advanced Social Media Module features a simplified analytics dashboard, where you can see how your social media marketing efforts are driving leads and conversions.
With it, you can track acquisitions, engagement, audience, content, and advocacy.
<h3>Content Curation</h3>
<img alt="scr-acton-oktopost-content-curation" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/scr-acton-oktopost-content-curation.png" />
Not sure what you content to share? Act-On's built-in content curation engine gives you content recommendations based on your audience’s engagement with what you’ve already been sharing.
The more engagement a post generates (such as clicks, comments, likes, and conversions) the more the engine will recommend similar content.
<h3>Roles &amp; Permissions</h3>
<img alt="scr-acton-oktopost-roles-permissions" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/scr-acton-oktopost-roles-permissions.png" />
Act-On allows you to easily manage cross-functional roles with the Advanced Social Media Module. You will be able to assign team members to selected campaigns and social profiles, allow them to be a publisher, or just work behind-the-scenes.
All in all, this seems like a fantastic upgrade which should play right into the hands of marketers – particularly since <a href="http://ctt.marketwire.com/?release=11G109728-001&amp;id=9182167&amp;type=0&amp;url=http%3a%2f%2fcontentmarketinginstitute.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2015%2f09%2f2016_B2B_Report_Final.pdf" target="_blank">93 percent of B2B marketers report </a>using social media as a marketing channel.
For more information, <a href="https://www.act-on.com/products/platform/inbound/social-media/advanced-social-media-module/">check out the Act-On website</a>.

Act-On's Marketing Automation System Just Got Super Social

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/backup_pro_review_-_1-1.png" /> Backup Pro is a CMS agnostic data backup tool that forgoes the cloud to put your website data in your hands.
Launched back in 2011 by the programmer and entrepreneur <a href="http://blog.ericlamb.net/">Eric Lamb</a>, Backup Pro has built a reputation for being feature-rich and flexible in the face of disaster recovery.
At the time of writing, it supports the following five content management systems:
<ul>
<li>WordPress</li>
<li><a href="/concrete5-marketplace-gets-backup-pro/">Concrete5</a></li>
<li>Prestashop</li>
<li>Craft</li>
<li>ExpressEngine (2 &amp; 3)</li>
</ul>
However, support for other content management systems is coming.
Backup Pro allows for abstract storage of website backups through any combination of local storage, Amazon S3, Rackspace, Google Cloud Storage, Dropbox, FTP (with SSL), SFTP, and even an email inbox. Plus, you can create your own storage engines for complete control over your backups.
A command line interface also allows you to take backups with Backup Pro without involving Apache into the process. And since Apache applies limits to PHP, using the command line interface for Backup Pro ensures your backups never fail due to time and/or memory issues.
Another handy feature is the ‘Integrity Agent’, which is an automatic system that inspects your backups looking for errors and missing data – so you don’t have to.
What’s more is, thanks to the REST API support, Backup Pro users don’t just have total access to their data, they have absolute control over it, too.
In this review, I’ll be focusing on how Backup Pro handles itself with WordPress – which I feel is the most relevant platform to focus on, considering <a href="https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_management/all">26% of the known internet runs on WordPress</a>.
Plus, there’s no difference in functionality between the different “versions” of Backup Pro.
<h2>First Impressions</h2>
I always start my reviews on the vendor website, and this review is no different.
Backup Pro was crafted by Eric Lamb, and he has decided to host the product on his personally branded Mithra62 website, where it can be purchased and downloaded.
It’s sold alongside Mithra62’s other products, which include <a href="https://mithra62.com/projects/view/automat-ee">Automat:ee</a>, <a href="https://mithra62.com/projects/view/securit-ee">Securit:ee</a>, and <a href="https://mithra62.com/projects/view/export-it">Export It</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/backup_pro_review_-_2.png" />
The website itself is clean and professional, with a dark color scheme. There’s nothing wrong with it in terms of design, but it certainly doesn’t feel prestige, either. And on that note, I think it’s fair to say that a re-branding project wouldn’t go amiss.
Nevertheless, let’s get down to business.
<h2>Getting Started</h2>
After downloading Backup Pro, I uploaded it to my WordPress test site like any other plugin, to test out the functionality.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/backup_pro_review_-_3.png" /> After installation and activation, I checked out the Backup Pro interface. To access Backup Pro, you’ll find it on the sidebar, consisting of four sections:
<ul>
<li>Dashboard</li>
<li>Backup Database</li>
<li>Backup Files</li>
<li>Settings</li>
</ul>
Here’s a close look at all of them.
<h2>Dashboard</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/backup_pro_review_-_4.png" />
The Backup Pro dashboard is very easy on the eyes, and doesn’t try to do anything fancy to take up your WordPress menu or screen space – like many other plugins try to do.
It gives you an overview of the backups you have already created by showing you how many backups you have taken, the total space taken, the total space available, as well as the date of the most recent backup.
This overview is also segmented to show database backups and file backups individually. Beneath all of that, is a list of your most recent backups. It gives you everything you need at a quick glance, and does nothing too fancy – just the way I like it.
<h3>Backup Database</h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/backup_pro_review_-_5.png" />
To backup my site’s database, I only needed to head over to the Backup Database section and click Start Backup.
The resulting backup took a matter of seconds, leaving me with.
I was able to see all my recent backups listed, and I could also leave a note on each one, to help me remember exactly when and why I made that backup – if necessary.
<h3>Backup Files</h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/backup_pro_review_-_6.png" />
As with the database backup, a file backup can be done via one click of a button, and it all worked just as fast. Of course, the speed will largely depend on how large your website is.
Once backed up, I was able to see the backup in my list, restore it, or download it to my computer. The download conveniently came as a .zip file.
As with the database backups, I was also able to leave notes for each of my listed backup.
I took multiple backups, downloaded them, restored them, and tinkered as much as I could. It all worked seamlessly.
So far, so good!
<h3>Settings</h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/backup_pro_review_-_7.png" />
The settings page is where things take a more technical turn.
From here, you can configure things to do with:
<ul>
<li>Database backups</li>
<li>File backups</li>
<li>Cron backup</li>
<li>Storage locations</li>
<li>Integrity alerts</li>
<li>Rest API</li>
<li>Additional SQL commands</li>
</ul>
Generally speaking, you won’t need to touch these settings, but it’s good to know that you can change things like the maximum amount of locally stored file backups and the file format of database backups – should you ever need to.
<h2>Getting Help</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/backup_pro_review_-_8.png" />
If you run into any trouble, Backup Pro offers some decent support options on its Support page.
There’s a searchable knowledge based with a decent amount of FAQs, along with a small support forum to pose questions if needed. Neither are extensively detailed, but they are there.
There’s also a trackable ticketing system if you need some more hands-on assistance.
As for <a href="https://mithra62.com/docs">documentation</a>, there’s a whole lot of it that can be found on the Mitha62 website, which details everything from configuration to automation.
Plus, Eric Lamb’s personal approach will come in handy if you need help. He personally runs the Backup Pro twitter account for example, so you can reach him there.
In fact, during the course of this review, I actually uncovered a minor bug and reported it back to Eric Lamb. He fixed it almost immediately.
<h2>Pricing</h2>
Backup Pro currently sells for $99.99, which is a great price when you compare it to the long term costs of cloud-based competitors.
If we compare that one-off fee to some worthy competitors, we’ll see why Backup Pro makes more sense financially.
CodeGuard’s cloud service charges you $5 per month, while DropMySite charges $2.50 per month. Even if you go for the latter option, Backup Pro becomes the cheaper option before the two year mark.
<h2>The Verdict</h2>
Backup Pro does what it says on the tin.
It poses solutions for the problems brought about by cloud-based backup services, and makes it easy to keep all your data safely offline as well as online (across a wide range of storage options).
I’m not a huge fan of the branding that surrounds the product, but that’s a minor issue with no bearing on the product itself, which is nothing short of great.
Furthermore, the fact that is works with a good range of popular CMS – and promises to work with more soon – is something that I have to commend it on. However, in order to really push Backup Pros’ USP as a CMS agnostic tool, more content management systems need to be on the list. Particularly Joomla and Drupal.
To find out more about Backup Pro <a href="https://mithra62.com/projects/view/backup-pro">visit the Mithra62 website</a>.

Backup Pro Review

We talk about a lot of business software here on CMS Critic, so I've decided to start Software Explorer, a new YouTube series dedicated to exploring tools ranging from content management systems to wireframing tools – and everything in between.
Here goes nothing!
<h2>Introducing #SoftwareExplorer</h2>
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vOJyI-ntvtg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
In each episode of Software Explorer, I'll dedicate a few short minutes to setting myself up with a new software. In the process, I'll evaluate things like the user interface, support options, pricing, and anything else that crops up.
Stay tuned for episode one, which will be out next week.
To make sure you see every episode, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2NIS5VfbwL6Igf2vhkV9rg">subscribe to our YouTube channel</a>.
Know a piece of software that you want me to feature on Software Explorer? Tell me about it in comments section below!

#SoftwareExplorer: A New YouTube Series For Business Software

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/telephone-586268_1280-e1470917206500.jpg" alt="CMS mobile apps" />
A CMS (Content Management System) is used to create and maintain digital content – typically in the form of a website. That management of content is still primarily done from a desktop of sorts, but with the business world becoming ever more flexible, the need for mobile content management is growing. 
If you're looking for a CMS that will enable you to produce and edit your website's content from the road, here are five platforms ranked based on the quality of their mobile application.
<h2>1. WordPress</h2>
<a href="https://wordpress.org">WordPress</a> is perhaps the most well known self hosted content management system on the web. Countless websites from <a href="http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/06/19/drawing-a-penny/?utm_content=bufferfc567&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer">The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss</a>  to <a href="https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about/">The Walt Disney Company</a> are ran using either the .com or .org versions of WordPress so it should come as no surprise that their app is number one.
The WordPress app for iOS allows its users to publish content from within the app, edit pre-existing posts, and view their site statistics. The application also acts as a way for people who just want to consume content to use the app as a reader for the most popular WordPress blogs and sites. The ability to do pretty much anything you need to from the app paired with its blog browsing capability edges out the not so steep competition.
Download (Free): <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wordpress/id335703880?mt=8">iOS</a> &amp; <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.wordpress.android&amp;hl=en_GB">Android</a>
<h2>2. Drupal</h2>
<a href="https://www.drupal.org">Drupal</a> is a widely popular content management system with a ton of useful features that boasts flexibility. Several notable websites use Drupal including the <a href="http://www.bbc.com">BBC Homepage</a>. Drupal’s standard features come free.
Drupal’s mobile application, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/drupad-drupal-on-the-go/id378485000?mt=8">Drupad</a> includes features like the ability to manage any number of websites, create and edit content, as well as the option to read posts and moderate comments. However the app feels terribly dated and for it’s price that’s unacceptable. 
Download ($4.99): <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/drupad-drupal-on-the-go/id378485000?mt=8">iOS</a>
<h2>3. Joomla</h2>
<a href="https://www.joomla.org">Joomla</a> is an award winning, open source, and free to use content management system so trusted that <a href="http://www.ebay.com">eBay</a> uses them. 
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/joomla-admin/id435607955?mt=8">Joomla Admin</a> for iOS allows its users to monitor all of their Joomla websites. It also offers the ability to block ip addresses of people using their site from within the application. Unfortunately this app is another example of an overpriced and outdated piece of software. It gets this spot on the list simply because it was updated more recently, although not recently enough. 
Download ($4.99): <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/joomla-admin/id435607955?mt=8">iOS</a>
<h2>4. Movable Type</h2>
<a href="https://www.movabletype.com/?__utma=239423775.1493377145.1470801874.1470847148.1470851143.4&amp;__utmb=239423775.10.10.1470851143&amp;__utmc=239423775&amp;__utmx=-&amp;__utmz=239423775.1470847148.3.2.utmcsr=google%7Cutmccn=(organic)%7Cutmcmd=organic%7Cutmctr=(not%20provided)&amp;__utmv=-&amp;__utmk=226467545">Movable Type </a> was launched in 2001 as a scalable and flexible publishing and blogging software. Widely used in Japan it now serves as the backend for large media and fortune 100 companies.
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/movable-type/id1016788124?mt=8">Movable Type</a> for iOS includes an easy to use HTML text editor along with features that enable you to add, edit, and delete entries or web pages. You can then preview mobile and desktop versions of your content. Seriously, four spots in and finally there’s an app that I don't wince at the thought of suggesting. Useful features that are clearly defined and at no cost to the consumer, this one is all upside. 
Download (Free): <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/movable-type/id1016788124?mt=8">iOS</a>
<h2>5. Umbraco</h2>
<a href="https://umbraco.com">Umbraco</a> is another feature packed content management system that is free to use. However you can sign up for Umbraco as a service for 25 euros (about 28 dollars U.S.) One example of their platform at work is <a href="http://www.vanityfair.it">Vanity Fair Italy</a>.
Umbraco does have an app and it’s called <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/umobile-for-ios/id699889313?mt=8">uMobile for iOS</a> . However it appears to be in beta with its latest version being 0.9.6.1. The features that this app enables are unclear, but if you’re already using Umbraco you might as well give it a shot. It won't cost you anything.
Download (Free): <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/umobile-for-ios/id699889313?mt=8">iOS</a>
<h2>Weirdly, That's All Folks</h2>
 When I sat out to write this post, I imagined I would really have to fight to narrow it down to the final five. 
With the increasing popularity of smartphones, tablets, and workers on-the-move, I was shocked to find that only a select few CMS offer solid mobile apps.
So, the main takeaway here is that CMS vendors should really consider making a useful mobile app for their consumers.
Is there a Content Management System that you wish had an app? What does a good CMS app need to do for you to spend money on it? Let me know in the comments below!

5 CMS With Awesome Smartphone Apps

<img alt="agile crm app" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-10.png" />
<a href="https://www.agilecrm.com/">Agile CRM</a> has just released their mobile app for iOS (beta) and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=agile.agile.crm&amp;hl=en">Android</a>, making it possible for their users to access their free CRM on the go.
The Agile CRM team recently announced that their platform was now <a href="/agilecrm-free-10-users/">free for up to ten users</a>, so their new app should come in very handy for small businesses and startups who work from the road.
The relatively young platform is winning users from around the world.
<h2>CRM for Mobile: How Agile Are Making it Work</h2>
Agile CRM's mobile app for iOS and Android is a powerful tool that helps marketers and salespeople acquire, retain, and service customers.
<img alt="agile crm app" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-11-1.png" />
Here's a breakdown of the core features found within the app.
<h3>A Simple Dashboard</h3>
The Agile CRM mobile app dashboard gives you quick access to recently viewed contacts, deals and upcoming tasks.
Agile's streamlined mobile dashboard helps you increase sales and track, tag and convert more leads. You can also change your app settings from the dashboard.
<h3>Manage Contacts</h3>
The app also lets you access contact data exactly when you need it.
You can add tags, change lead scores, write notes and check tasks related to your contacts, directly from your mobile device.
<h3>Track Deals, Events, and Tasks</h3>
The app can also be used to <a href="https://www.agilecrm.com/deals">track deals</a>, move relevant milestones, and get a real-time picture of the progress of your leads.
You can also check pending tasks, mark tasks as complete, and create new tasks and events for colleagues to see.
<h3>Google Calendar Sync</h3>
Agile CRM’s app can be integrated with <a href="https://www.agilecrm.com/google-calendar-sync">Google calendars</a> to create a seamless 2-way sync. This enables you and your team to view up-to-date versions of all of your tasks from the calendar within the app.
All in all, this seems like a pretty comprehensive mobile version of Agile CRM, and since it comes at zero cost, it's hard to fault it. It's especially nice to see now that Agile CRM is free for teams as large as ten.
To find out more about the Agile CRM app, <a href="https://www.agilecrm.com/mobile-crm">visit their website</a>. You can <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=agile.agile.crm&amp;hl=en">download it now for Android</a>, but you'll need to wait a short while before it's out of beta on iOS.

CRM for Mobile: The Agile CRM App Goes Live

<img alt="Squarespace Plugins" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-9.png" />
Although I'm a big fan of <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/">Squarespace</a>, it's no secret that there's a frustrating shortage of Squarespace plugins. However, that might be about to change.
If you aren't already familiar with it, Squarespace is a popular website builder with a focus on elegant website design. It was originally geared towards photographers, although it now caters to many other industries.
As far as customization is concerned, Squarespace users have traditionally been confined to the native website builder and whatever code they could muster up (Squarespace allows you to insert custom code).
Squarespace Plugins on the other hand, were nowhere to be seen – until now.
<h2>Squarespace Plugins: They Exist</h2>
<img alt="Square Plugins Squarespace Plugins" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-8.png" />
I recently came across <a href="http://squareplugins.com/">Square Plugins</a>, a website dedicated to producing Squarespace Plugins.
They have over 200 Squarespace plugins to date, including plugins that deal with:
<ul>
<li>Galleries &amp; slideshows</li>
<li>Video backgrounds</li>
<li>Accordions</li>
<li>Buttons</li>
<li>Social icons</li>
<li>Navigation styles</li>
</ul>
They even offer a handful of <a href="http://squareplugins.com/freebies">freebies</a> to help bolster your Squarespace website. Not too shabby.
I had a short chat with Tom Bull, the Founder of Square Plugins, about how his project came about:
<blockquote>
We've been building websites on Squarespace for years now, and have become increasingly aware of the platform's limitations as well as its benefits. Building a basic, beautiful site is wonderfully easy with Squarespace, but integrating additional features or designs that are not included in the platform's offering is very challenging.
Just over a year ago we launched an online plugin store with over 200 coded plugins that Squarespace users can add to their site's with ease. Our vision is to help ambitious Squarespace users take their websites to the next level, both in individuality and ‘wow' factor.
Our code is now live on over 8,000 Squarespace websites, and we're adding to our range of plugins every week.
</blockquote>
To add a plugin to your Squarespace website, Square Plugins send you the code, along with detailed instructions on how to add it from your Squarespace admin panel.
The prices start from $6, which isn't too bad, although some of their better plugins (like the plugin which allows for video backgrounds) cost as much as $59 – which isn't very reasonable.
<h2>The Need For Official Squarespace Plugins</h2>
Don't get me wrong, I'm thoroughly impressed by Square Plugins – but I'd like to see Squarespace dishing out their own plugins, too.
A flourishing third-party plugin market is a good thing (just look at how well the WordPress community handles its own plugin needs), but not all Squarespace users will want to wander outside the safety of the official Squarespace website.
Plus, the need to manually insert code into your Squarespace website isn't ideal. In fact, the need to handle code will only alienate novice webmasters – a key demographic within the Squarespace community.
This prolonged alienation from plugins leads to a problem which I feel is growing within the website builder market as a whole:
If you take a sample of websites built by Squarespace, you'll see that they end up delivering minimal functionality with similar design elements, making them look and feel very similar (particularly if they use the same templates). Squarespace plugins by Squarespace, would change that.
I will refer once again to WordPress to illustrate my point here. The <a href="https://jetpack.com/features/">WordPress Jetpack plugin</a> was developed by Automattic – the company behind WordPress – as a free all-in-one solution to boost functionality, visibility, and security for WordPress.org websites.
It provides features like automatic social sharing, website speed tweaks, image galleries, related content widgets, and much more.
I'd personally love to see a Squarespace equivalent to what Automattic have produced for WordPress (Squarespace Jetpack, anyone?). That, followed by a steady release of additional plugins, would open up a whole new world of possibilities for the Squarespace community.
For now though, it's good to see third-parties like Square Plugins stepping up the the plate.

How to Get Squarespace Plugins

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/work-1515801_1280-1-e1470658642294.jpg" alt="work-1515801_1280" /> Business owners are well aware that increasing staff equals increasing expenses (and, often, an increase in headaches!). But a DMS – a Document Management System – can be a worthy alternative.
A DMS allows for a range of techniques that grow sales without incurring additional costs to your business. Some of these strategies vary based on industry, but there are things you can do no matter what type of business you’re in that can boost your sales without requiring additional employees.
Here are three techniques to consider:
<h2>1. Increase Customer Satisfaction</h2>
In this age social media, never has it been more important to keep your customers happy. If someone loves the service they received while interacting with your company, you may get lucky and get a rave review on Twitter, Facebook, or Yelp.
However, if they have a bad experience, chances are much higher they’ll post all about it online. Focusing on customer experience is a very effective way of increasing sales. If your customers (or prospective customers) have a better experience with your company than with that of your competition, your sales opportunities expand without increasing staff.
Research states that the key drivers of customer satisfaction have to do more with customer experience than cost. Price falls lower on your customer’s list, somewhere between #4-#6 in priority. And, if your happy customers tell other prospective customers, they’ll do the selling for you with their valuable referrals, and referrals are the best kind of lead to close.
Ensure your business is employing technology and business process solutions that allow your employees to provide quality care to your customers. Choose systems that allow speedy turn-around times when responding to customers. The easier it is for your team to take care of the customer, the better they will be at it.
<h2>2. Increase Operational Efficiency</h2>
If your employees are spending large chunks of their time doing non-billable tasks, it’s eating into your bottom line. Studies indicate that office workers spend 5-15% of their time reading information, but up to 50% (yes, that’s 50%) of their time looking for it. And that’s just one way your employees’ valuable time is being underutilized. There are many ways to become more operationally efficient, which means more customers are serviced with the same number of headcount.
Effective employee training is an important piece of office efficiency. Ensuring everyone knows how to do their job well and is familiar with all procedures and processes makes employees not only more effective, but is also proven to help boost office morale.
And, if your office is running smoothly, you’ll feel at ease dedicating a percentage of time to continual employee education, which delivers a myriad of positive results. With the right technology, you can easily provide excellent training materials in easy-to-access, user-friendly online repositories. This makes training affordable and accessible to employees at all levels.
It’s also important to define and understand current work processes. The better your workflow is defined, the more efficient it will be. For example, do you have a lot of confidential documents? Is compliance an issue? How are your invoices tracked? Who needs access to documentation? Where is financial information kept? Who owns which step of each workflow? How do you manage office accountability? The proper technology can greatly simplify these processes and manage workflow. Make sure you don’t let technology dictate workflows and office processes; rather, know what your business needs to stay cutting-edge sharp, and build or buy your technologies to fit.
Encourage your team to continually evaluate what is working and not working. Learn from mistakes and failures, give and receive feedback, and then adjust. Keeping your team (and their processes) from becoming ‘stale’ is key to being an efficient office, and being an efficient office allows more flexibility for growth that results from smart evaluation.
<h2>3. Reduce Other Office Costs</h2>
It’s simpler than you might think to reduce costs typically associated with running a business. Office space is valuable real estate. How much of it is currently being used by filing cabinets and other paper-heavy materials? When was the last time you tallied your mailing costs, or how much you really spend on paper supplies and the true cost of printing? These expenses are easier to track than the vast amount of time your labor force spends doing paper-heavy tasks that generate no revenue.
Paper – and all the expenses associated with it – is pricey. Storing documents in paper forms costs businesses worldwide roughly $30 billion a year.  According to research by efilecabinet.com, a business with 50 employees spends an average of $612,620 per year just to house paper.
Again, technology plays a vital roll in the solution. Choose solutions that offer both security and mobility while freeing valuable employee time for revenue-generating activities. Not only will it save your business money, it will make for a much happier workforce.
<h2>The Right DMS Goes a Long Way</h2>
The right Document Management Solution addresses each of the three sales growth tactics detailed above.
It allows businesses to serve customers with improved quality and speed, increases operational efficiencies in almost every area while maintaining security and compliance, and eliminates all costs associated with paper.
DMS is vital to boosting sales without having to increase your headcount, and you may just be surprised by all the additional benefits the right solution provides your business.
<hr />
This post is <a href="/advertising/">sponsored</a> by eFileCabinet. Find out more at <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/">efilecabinet.com</a>.

3 Ways to Increase Sales With a DMS (Without Hiring More Staff)

Hotjar - Spot what confuses

Spot what confuses your users with Hotjar & AI

#ffffff

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/shopgate.png" alt="shopgate logo" /><a target="_blank" href="https://www.shopgate.com/">Shopgate</a> has just rolled out marketing and design services to compliment their mobile commerce platform, which integrates with major eCommerce platforms like Shopify and <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce</a>.The addition of marketing services is expected to give retailers a lift in both app downloads and customer engagement, continuing Shopgate’s dedication to driving mobile revenue for their customers.Shopgate’s SaaS platform enables online retailers to create, maintain, and optimize native apps and mobile websites for the iPhone, iPad, Android smartphones, and tabletsPreviously, Shopgate was offering online retailers the technology needed to build and maintain mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Android smartphones and tablets. But with this new suite of marketing features, Shopgate retailers now have the option to build and execute sophisticated marketing campaigns that maximize reach and improve key metrics like app downloads and sales conversions.Here's how it all works.<h2>Fully-fledged Mobile Marketing</h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/section1_imagery-768x512.jpg" alt="Shopgate marketing" />Here's a breakdown of what mCommerce marketing includes:<ul><li>Quarterly marketing strategy review</li><li>App store optimization (ASO)</li><li>Push notification campaigns</li><li>Targeted app downloads</li><li>Design packages</li></ul>Shopgate has announced different packages which are designed to accommodate every size retailer from small to mid-size – particularly those with no in-house marketing resources at their disposal. They also cater to larger enterprise-scale retailers with what it calls its “High Volume” package.<h2>Marrying Mobile eCommerce &amp; Mobile Marketing</h2>Casey Gannon, VP of Marketing at Shopgate. thinks that marketing was the perfect match for Shopgate's existing eCommerce platform:<blockquote>“Shopgate Marketing Services represents our effort to marry best-in-class mCommerce technology with proven marketing strategies to help our customers gain a competitive advantage over other online retailers.Help with marketing has been a popular request from customers for some time and we are finally ready to bring out a range of helpful marketing tactics and strategies to a large audience. Our mCommerce technology continues to be our primary source of revenue but we expect as much as 25% of current and new customers to utilize our services by the start of 2017.”</blockquote>For more information about Shopgate and its services, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.shopgate.com/en/services?utm_campaign=Services&amp;utm_source=PR">visit their website</a>. The official press release  can be <a target="_blank" href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160803005807/en/Shopgate-Adds-App-Marketing-Services-mCommerce-Offering">found here</a>.

Shopgate Adds Marketing Features to its Mobile eCommerce Solution

<img alt="zoho crm" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/workspace-820315_1280-1_fuama1.jpg" />
Zoho has just rolled out the latest major version of <a href="https://www.zoho.com/crm/">Zoho CRM</a>, making it, “the industry's first multichannel CRM” in the process.
Zoho CRM, which is free for up to 10 users, helps manage the contacts and sales processes of small businesses, enterprise-scale organizations, and everyone in between.
Here's what the latest version brings to the table.
<h2>Zoho CRM: Multichannel Customer Engagement</h2>
Thanks to this update, Zoho CRM now supports email, social media, live chat, and phone communications, enabling salespeople to engage their customers and prospects across all major channels.
Highlights of the latest version of Zoho CRM include:
SalesSignals: SalesSignals keep salespeople informed in real-time about customer actions on various touchpoints like social media, satisfaction surveys and support tickets helping them act in time and make speedy sales.
SalesInbox: Zoho is completely changing the way salespeople go about their email with the launch of a new product that works with ZohoCRM: Zoho SalesInbox, a dedicated mail client for salespeople. Emails are organized as per CRM data, adding more context. Metrics like template analysis, version comparison and open rates make sure quality of email keeps improving.
Mobile apps for field sales: Salesreps can check-in at customer locations, find prospects nearby, track sales activities, and close more deals on the move with Zoho CRM's new mobile app. Sales managers can foster desired practices among their teams with metric-driven sales contests using the new Zoho Motivator app for iOS, which works in sync with Zoho CRM.
<h2>A Revamped UI</h2>
To accompany the newly supported channels, Zoho also took to their CRM's user interface. Now, it boasts usability innovations such as Timeline View, Page Layouts, and Gamescope to improve salespeople's ability to close deals.
Here are the highlights:
Clean and minimalist new interface: The latest version of Zoho CRM is designed to minimize the processes involved in sales and maximize selling. It does so with an intuitive new interface and smart new features:
Timeline view: Salespeople can see their customers' historical data and interactions with their team, all in one place. They can also see any upcoming action items that have been assigned to members of their team.
Advanced filters: This insight-discovery tool allows businesses to probe their CRM data based on activities such as tasks, notes and emails.
Page layouts: Many businesses face the challenge of having to handle sales processes that might not always fit into the common CRM sales cycle. Page Layouts enable companies to handle multiple products and processes using a single CRM account.
Gamescope: With this feature, anyone, not just sales managers, can create contests and invite their peers to play a game for a friendly wager. Sales activities like making calls and closing deals could win an employee points, trophies and badges. The use of game playing elements promotes healthy competition within a team. GameScope complements Zoho Motivator, which is a metric-driven gamification tool.
<h2>“Enhancement to Help Close Deals”</h2>
Raju Vegesna, Zoho's Chief Evangelist, says this release is all about helping salespeople close more deals:
<blockquote>
“Today, every progressive sales team needs a CRM that connects with customers and prospects regardless of their preferred communication channel.
At the same time, the CRM must remain flexible enough to advance the sales process through any channel. Our aim with this release of Zoho CRM is to provide the multichannel support that connects salespeople, prospects and customers and provide the usability enhancements that close more deals.
“The new additions to our CRM speak to our growing commitment to being a key player for mid-market and enterprise businesses.”
</blockquote>
For more information on Zoho CRM, visit<a href="https://www.zoho.com/crm/"> www.zoho.com/crm</a>.

Zoho CRM Goes Multichannel

Landing pages serve as an entry point for a website, and they usually have one goal:To convert visitors.Converting visitors may include selling a product, gaining email addresses, sending traffic to a different page, and so forth. But no matter what the end goal is, marketers across the web use landing pages to achieve it.Without a well placed landing page or two on your website, you'll have to rely on your website's design to funnel your visitors towards your website's end goal. Now, although that's not impossible, the standard website will never match the conversion efficiency of <a target="_blank" href="https://blog.kissmetrics.com/c-o-n-v-e-r-t-s/">a strong landing page</a>.<h2>What Does a Landing Page Look Like?</h2>Landing pages come in many different forms, and brand typically design them to reflect the rest of their brand and website.But even the biggest brands in the world use landing pages. Here's one from CodeAcademy:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-11.png" alt="sshot-11" />As you can see, their landing page (which also happens to be their homepage) is sleek, simple, and guides the visitor towards signing up. Classic landing page design.Now that we've established what a landing page is, here are twelve of the very best landing page builders that you can use today:<h2>1. <a target="_blank" href="https://instapage.com">Instapage</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/instapage.png" alt="instapage landing page builder" />Instapage is one of the most popular landing page builders on the list. It boasts responsive templates, drag-and-drop editing, over 5,000 fonts and 33,000,000 images to freely work with.  It also allows you to use widgets, parallax scrolling, and custom code.Instapage can also build forms, carry out A/B testing, and display visitor statistics.Prices From: $29 p/m<h2>2. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wishpond.com/">Wishpond</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wishpond.png" alt="Wishpond landing page builder" />Wishpond is another big player in the landing page builder market. It offers some nicely crafted templates, custom code customization, analytics, Facebook publishing, A/B testing, forms, and social promotion features.I recently published a <a href="/wishpond-review/">Wishpond Review</a> which goes into further detail on the popular platform.Prices From: $44 p/m<h2>3. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.leadsquared.com/">Leadsquared</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/leadsquared.png" alt="leadsquared landing page builder" />Leadsquared is a lead generation platform that offers a whole range of features, all aimed at converting website visitors.Landing page building is on the feature list alongside website widgets, marketing automation, analytics, email campaigns, SMS campaigns, mobile customer relationship management, and much more. It's one of the most feature-rich products on this list, and yet, the price is the most reasonable.Prices From: $15 p/m<h2>4. <a target="_blank" href="http://unbounce.com/">Unbounce</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/unbounce.png" alt="Unbounce landing page builder" />Unbounce offers some beautiful landing page templates, and integrates well with many popular marketing and CRM platforms, including Hubspot, WordPress, Salesforce, Mailchimp, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.zoho.com/crm/">Zoho CRM</a>.You can publish an unlimited amount of pages on Unbounce's lowest plan, make use its drag-and-drop interface, use full-screen backgrounds, embed videos, and more.Prices From: $49 p/m<h2>5. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.pagewiz.com/">Pagewiz</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pagewiz.png" alt="Pagewiz landing page builder" />Pagewiz is a solid landing page builder that lets you send captured emails to multiple places; so you can automatically add new emails to your email campaign system as well as your CRM.Pagewiz also boasts widgets, real-time analytics, A/B testing, and the ability to manage multiple accounts from the same interface – making it ideal for marketing agencies.Prices From: $29 p/m<h2>6. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.megaphoneapp.com/">Megaphone</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/megaphone.png" alt="Megaphone landing page builder" />Megaphone is a good old fashioned landing page builder that focuses on one thing: creating stunning landing pages.Their templates are pretty darn good, catering for things like events, webinars, thank you messages, sales, and so forth. It integrates with a range of email campaign platforms, gives real-time stats, and lets you deploy your landing page as pop-ups, too.Prices From: $49 p/m<h2>7. <a target="_blank" href="https://landerapp.com/">Lander</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/lander.png" alt="Lander landing page builder" />Lander is a reasonably priced landing page builder with drag-and-drop page management, Facebook publishing, A/B testing, mobile landing pages, and PayPal integration.Like Unbounce, Lander lets you create unlimited pages, even on its cheapest plan (which is relatively cheap indeed).Prices From: $22 p/m<h2>8. <a target="_blank" href="http://instabuilder.com/v2.0/launch/">Instabuilder</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/instabuilder.png" alt="Instabuilder landing page builder" />Not looking to commit to a monthly subscription fee? Instabuilder 2.0 may be for you.For a one off fee, you can use the web app to build landing pages with its drag-and-drop interface and widgets. It's not as well polished as some of the other products on this list, but it's a lot cheaper in the long run.Prices From: $77<h2>9. <a target="_blank" href="https://app.kickofflabs.com">Kickoff Labs</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kickofflabs.png" alt="KickoffLabs landing page builder" />Kickoff Labs is another tools that is – once again – more than just a landing page builder.Their templates are sound, and they offer features such as contest management, pop-ups, A/B testing, and automatic email responses. Interestingly, you can even import your own HTML landing pages into Kickoff Labs and integrate it with the rest of their platform.Prices From: $39 p/m<h2>10. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.leadpages.net">Leadpages</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/leadpages.png" alt="Leadpages landing page builder" />Much like the other products on this list, Leadpages offers mobile friendly landing page templates that can be customized without coding. The difference? Leadpages is able to complete visitor signups via SMS – which helps you expand your reach beyond just email.Facebook publishing, exit pop-ups, video backgrounds, and HTML editing make up some of Leadpages' other features. Also, like Unbounce and Lander, there's no limit to the amount of landing pages you can publish.Prices From: $25 p/m<h2>11. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.1minutesites.com/">1MinuteSites</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/1minutesites.png" alt="1minutesites landing page builder" />As the name suggests, 1MinuteSites focuses on getting your landing page out into the world as quickly as possible.You can use it publish landing pages on Facebook, on your own site, or on their domain. You can also use it to create pop-ups and notification bars, or hide content from a visitor until they share it on social media. However, it doesn't have the prettiest templates, nor is it the cheapest option.Prices From: $39.95 p/m<h2>12. <a target="_blank" href="http://landingi.com/">Landingi</a></h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/landingi.png" alt="Landingi landing page builder" />Last but not least is Landingi. This platform offers up a seriously detailed customization interface that some may even find overwhelming. But if you're looking to finely tune your landing page, look no further.Their templates are bright and airy, and it also lets you A/B test, build forms, and view statistics. Landingi also boasts a lead inbox that lets you manage all the leads you gather.Prices From: $29 p/m<h2>Start Profiting From Your Traffic</h2>Your traffic may be flowing nicely, but a landing page will help funnel those visitors towards your product, your newsletter signup page, or any other place that you can profit from.Do you use any other landing page builders? Tell us about them in the comments section below!

12 Epic Landing Page Builders to Boost Conversions

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/entrepreneur-593361_1280-1-e1470313740830.jpg" alt="entrepreneur-593361_1280" />
Workplace labor, particularly that of the unskilled and unnecessarily time-consuming variety, has greatly cost the global economy in recent years.
Issues such as frequent employee turnover are costly in many ways (<a href="https://www.zanebenefits.com/blog/bid/312123/Employee-Retention-The-Real-Cost-of-Losing-an-Employee">studies suggest</a> that each time a salaried employee has to be replaced, it costs 6-9 months’ salary, for example). Employee retention remains a challenging and expensive problem for most employers. But one piece of software can mitigate— and maybe even overthrow—many organization-wide issues. Efficient processes and educated, efficient workers are the backbone of global economic health, and Document Management Software (DMS) can help revitalize the global economy.
You may be thinking it sounds unrealistic (or at least overly optimistic) to say the right DMS can help retain talented employees, boost worker morale, and even improve employee wellness. However, it’s not too good to be true. Here are 5 ways DMS can help save the world’s workforce.
<h2>1. DMS = Happier Employees</h2>
“I sure love my time-consuming, manual paper processes!” said no employee, ever. Yet that is what a lot of employees spend a lot of time doing, even in this high-tech Information Age. Not only are these archaic methods of pushing paper incredibly painful for the employees pushing it, they are costly for the organization.
Science has proven that happy employees are more productive employees—see recent studies by the <a href="http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/new_study_shows/">University of Warwick</a> or Harvard’s Shawn Achor (The Happiness Advantage is full of engaging stats on the subject). Warwick’s Dr. Sgroi says, “The driving force seems to be that happier workers use the time they have more effectively, increasing the pace at which they can work without sacrificing quality.”
Employees who are empowered with cutting-edge technologies that make their work life easier and much less mundane are happier on the job. And, since happier employees are even more efficient, that makes for lots of happier bosses, as well.
<h2>2. DMS Helps Retain (and Expand) Talent</h2>
Employee attrition is expensive. In today’s economic climate, companies are fighting to attract, train, and retain valuable workforce. Going paperless through DMS frees up time, money, and resources to acquire and train human capital internally instead of accessing it from universities, staffing programs, or other third parties. Unskilled labor is the result of insufficient training, and insufficient training can be resolved through DMS.
Employees enjoy being valuable assets, and, as a precursor to establishing their value, employees can increase productivity by using the right document management software. Employees also appreciate continuing education and skill acquisition opportunities, which can be implemented in lieu of counterintuitive, outdated application training.  Employers find this generates a great return on their human capital investment.
<h2>3. DMS Optimizes Human Capital</h2>
In economics, human capital refers to the economic value of a person’s or group of people’s labor. Any paper-based office management process reduces employees’ output, and therefore human capital. If your employees are spending time walking to printers, or searching through drawers for files (this is much more costly than you’d think), you’re losing valuable human capital resources.
Going paperless through DMS optimizes human capital through automation, simplified workflow, reduced document storage redundancy, and other cost savings.
<h2>4. DMS Reduces White Collar Manual Labor</h2>
Although paper-based offices are seldom viewed as a source of manual labor, paper-dependency is to organizations what the shovel is to the coal mine, or the hammer is to the construction site. Whether your employees are wearing white collars or a hard hat, paperwork is equal to grunt work for your labor force.
Eliminate this wasteful (and morale-crushing) burden through DMS, and ‘de-manualize’ your labor.
<h2>5. DMS Means Time for the Important Stuff– Like Ping Pong Tournaments</h2>
What do you do with all that time you’re saving as a paperless office? How about a little friendly inter-office ping pong competition? Office karaoke, anyone?  With all the time and money you’re recouping with your DMS, you can easily shut the office down early one afternoon and have an employee picnic instead.
Companies around the world have figured out that employee wellness is key to their success. Just check out Google; with <a href="http://www.inc.com/business-insider/best-google-benefits.html">on-campus bowling alleys, gyms, and scooters for employees to ride around the office</a>, they know the formula for employee creativity. DMS frees up time and resources so you can splurge on some office fun.
Other DMS benefits include cross-cultural collaboration to a worldwide workforce. DMS eliminates knowledge silos that paper-dependent organizations bring when attempting to bridge communication and cultural barriers in the age of globalization. DMS adoption leads to interconnectivity, optimized performance, and streamlined economic progress at the global level, as well as across departments within your own office building.
The right electronic document management system plays an integral role not only in optimizing your organization’s work environment, but perhaps the economy’s as a whole. It’s time for your organization to go paper-free and help save the world’s workforce—one DMS implementation at a time.#
<hr />
This post is <a href="/advertising/">sponsored</a> by eFileCabinet. Find out more at <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/">efilecabinet.com</a>.

Saving the World’s Workforce — One DMS at a Time

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/typing-690856_1280-e1470054607247.jpg" alt="typing-690856_1280" />
Think good customer service is still as simple as being friendly and helping customers? Think again.
Technology has played a pivotal role in the way businesses operate and that includes how they handle customer service. It has given customers the ability to be connected all day, every day, and have access to platforms that they are able to use to talk about your company – both the good and bad. Because of this, businesses are adapting to the changing customer needs so they don’t put their reputation and quality of service at risk.
A company’s website needs to make a great impression. Here's why:
It’s typically the first place a potential customer goes to when they want to learn more about the company. A majority of information about the company (or at least information that answers the most frequently asked questions) should be visible. 
This way, customers are able to answer their own questions without having to create multiple requests. Some of the things that are commonly provided include:
<ul>
<li>Forum/comment section</li>
<li>Contact information</li>
<li>Documents</li>
<li>Online chat</li>
</ul>
<h2>A CMS Only Takes Care of Content</h2>
Content Management Systems (CMS) supports the creation of digital content under a common user interface, which is typically the first place that customers will go to for information about the business, such as your website. Your CMS gives your customers access to information, get help, and stay connected. But with all this, a CMS comes with challenges.
It’s no longer enough to provide customer support within “business hours” only; you need to be there for your customers right when they need you. 
Businesses who have troubleshooting guides or FAQ pages on their websites are taking the first steps to empowering their customers to seek out information themselves. 
Self-service allows customers to solve their own questions without having to wait for a customer service representative to respond. But when customers can’t find the information they need, they will become frustrated. 
These expectations are driving many companies to leverage technology in new ways to meet these rising customer demands. Unfortunately, a CMS can’t do this alone. There needs to be a more robust solution if you want to take your customer service to the next level.
So what’s an alternative way to manage all these changes to customer service, you ask?
That's simple: <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/customerportal">a customer portal solution</a>.
<h2>Great Customer Service Comes From Customer Portal Solutions</h2>
<a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/customerportal"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2016-07-29-1024x731.jpg" alt="Magentrix Customer Communities" /></a>
With a customer portal, you are able to store all your information in a single location. Say goodbye to disorganized information, and hello to a fantastic place for self-service customer support! By providing customers with information that they can access whenever they want, you will be able to reduce the amount of support tickets coming through in addition to being there for your customers 24/7. This can be done through uploading informative documents in a documents section, setting up a Live Chat, or opening up a dialogue among the customers themselves through a forum.
Not only are you able to provide support at any time of the day, a customer portal is a secure place to connect to your customer data.  While a CMS helps you manage content, they are missing the customer data that is critical for a truly self-service environment. <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/customerportal">Customer portals</a> allow you to seamlessly synchronize with your CRM data so that customers can track and manage information about their help requests and account information.
A customer portal shifts the power to customers through collaboration and communication. Collaboration allows customers to connect from practically anywhere in the world, and this principle can and should be applied to customer service, both among departments in the business and between businesses and their customers. By encouraging <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/socialintranet">social collaboration</a> in an online community, you’re giving customers access to utilize and <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/articles/blog/Redefining-Collaboration-in-a-Digital-27-6-16">collaborate on business data that is important</a> to them.
No matter what industry you’re in, it’s important to invest in the necessary time and resources into providing the best customer service – ESPECIALLY in today’s digital world. All the interactions you have today have the potential to leave a positive (or negative) impression, which will ultimately lead to how new audiences will view you. It’s in your best interest to make that impression positive and create a mutually beneficial relationship between your business and your customers.
<a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/customerportal">Magentrix Customer Community Solution</a> enables you to introduce your customers to a full self-service experience. Help your clients get support whenever they need it, access resources at all times, and create a community where they can help and interact with each other. A seamless CRM integration allows you to share any data with your customers through the portal. 
Learn More about <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/customerportal">Magentrix Customer Communities</a>.

How to Deliver Great Customer Service With a Customer Portal Solution

Call Tracking + AI 

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

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Spot what confuses your users with Hotjar & AI

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads