Articles - Page 91

Brightspot Illuminates the Future of CMS with Human-Controlled, AI-Powered Storytelling 

matt-garrepy

Nowadays, if you aren't opting for a cloud-hosted CMS or website builder, there are a few key names that (should) spring to mind when it comes to website hosting.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bluehost.com/">Bluehost</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.inmotionhosting.com/">Inmotion</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.godaddy.com/">Godaddy</a> for example are three capable companies. 123-Reg.co.uk? Not so much.And yet, I've come across more than one web design client in my time who, to my frustration, relies on 123-Reg for their website hosting needs.In my personal experience with the company, I have been left disappointed. And it's safe to say that I'm not alone.<h2>Who are 123-Reg?</h2>123-Reg is a web hosting company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2000, it's technically the largest domain provider in the UK. Which is some feat.But sometimes the numbers can tell a misleading story, because on top of a relatively dated user dashboard, 123-Reg has a few issues.Here's three reasons to steer clear.<h2>Reason #1: The Horror Stories</h2>Most website hosting companies have their fair share of disgruntled ex-customers ranting about their services, but 123-Reg's share is beyond what one might call fair.Some of the stories online are enough to make you run for the hills. I can't testify that the following claims are true, but what I do know, is that they're common:<ol><li><a target="_blank" href="https://webdesignfromscratch.com/blog/how-123reg-almost-crippled-my-business/">How 123-Reg Nearly Crippled My Business</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://paulnrogers.com/review-123-reg-hosting-services/">[Stay] as far away from 123-Reg as possible!</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="http://0lly.uk/2013/11/01/123-reg-lost-my-domain/">123-Reg lost my domain</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="http://0lly.uk/2008/05/07/123-reg-stole-my-money-auto-renewal-nightmare/">123-Reg stole my money</a></li></ol>Now those are some grisly tales, to say the least.<h2>Reason #2: Iffy Marketing Packages</h2>If you've had a look through 123-Reg's website and decided that it's geared towards those who aren't so tech-savvy, you would be correct. And their marketing packages give it away big time.They have something called, “Instant Traffic” which is supposed to bring your website traffic from Google, simply by 123-Reg submitting your site to the search engine. Anybody who knows anything about SEO knows this is utter garbage.It's worth noting that, upon investigation, there doesn't seem to be a way to sign up to InstantTraffic anymore, but it is still present in customer's dashboards<h2>Reason #3: Poor Customer Service</h2>123-Reg boasts a notoriously poor customer service.Firstly, they have a phone line for sales, but not for support. Live chat is available, but only during UK working hours.That lack of 24/7 support is a huge issue, and one which I discuss in my article, “Why You Shouldn't Use Your Friend's Website Hosting Company“.Imagine your website goes down at 9pm London-time. You'd have a 12-hour wait before you can actually chat to your website host. That's a long time to wait if your website is anywhere near successful.<h2>Avoid, Or Jump Ship</h2>Quite frankly, you can pay the same money (or even less in some cases) for a web host that doesn't have an awful reputation, doesn't promote bogus SEO schemes, and has a decent level of round-the-clock customer service.Based on all of the above, I'd strongly recommend that you avoid 123-Reg for hosting your website. Try either one of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bluehost.com/">Bluehost</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.inmotionhosting.com/">Inmotion, </a>or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.godaddy.com/">Godaddy</a> instead, all of which have far better track records.And if you're already using 123-Reg, I'd think about moving to one of those names above, even if its only for the 24-hour support – which is an industry-standard when it comes to web hosting.Update by Mike J: On April 16th, 2016 a major issue occurred at 123-reg, the details of which are outlined in this email that was sent out to their customers:<blockquote>Dear Customer.I am writing to you to explain what happened to some VPS services on 16.04.16. This email is to detail what our steps have been. I am committed to open communication with all customers and would like to take this opportunity to explain in detail.So what happened to some services? As part of a clean-up process on the 123-reg VPS platform, a script was run at 7am on 16.04.16. This script is run to show us the number of machines active against the master database. An error on the script showed ‘zero-records' response from the database for some live VPS. For those customers, this created a ‘failure' scenario – showing no VM's and effectively deleting what was on the host. As a result of our team's investigations, we can conclude that the issues faced having resulted in some data loss for some customers. Our teams have been and continue to work to restore. What have we done? We have been working with an extended team of experts and have left no stone unturned. Our teams have been working long into the night to restore as much as we possibly can. We have also invested in external consultants to recover, in the best way possible.We have recovery running on the VPS servers and some are restoring to new disks. We have also begun copying recovered VPS images to new hosts and we expect some VPS to be back up and running throughout the night and into tomorrow.Our teams have worked for more than 24 hours and will continue to do so. No stone is being left unturned.As the technical teams come back with updates for individual VPS we will communicate updates to customers.For those customers with their own backup of their settings and data, if you wish to restore services yourself you can do this by issuing a reimage command through your 123 Reg control panel, this will give you a freshly installed VPS on a new cluster, where you can restore your service.I understand that some customers may have lost some confidence in the service that we offer. So, I want to explain what we have done to prevent this happening again. We have started an audit on all cron-jobs and scripts controlling the platform, and associated architecture, so that no script will have ability to delete images, only suspend. For image deletion for those suspended over 28 days we will have a human eye to double check. A new platform will be available by the end of the year for customers which we will provide self-managed and automated snapshot backups, in addition to architecture technology to backup the whole platform, something that is not available on the current platform. I hope this goes some way to win back your confidence.Richard Winslow, 123 Reg Brand Director</blockquote>Following this email, Twitter has gone absolutely nuts with furious customers who have not only lost their websites but, in some cases, their businesses as well. This type of experience is the nightmare of every business owner that relies on their website and our hearts go out to the poor people who have been affected by this horrible hosting nightmare.I don't know about you, but I can't imagine how 123-Reg is going to win back anyone's confidence after this debacle. If I was a customer, I'd be insulted by the suggestion that they could. We will be staying on top of this story and updating this post with any developments. In the meantime, however, please let us know about your experiences in the comments below.

Why You Should Avoid 123-Reg At All Costs

mike-johnston

Evidently, Squarespace has noticed a trend within its customer base. Namely, that lots of Squarespace users are running three or more Squarespace websites at once.
<img alt="sshot-33" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-33.png" />
Why else would they put together <a href="http://circle.squarespace.com/">Squarespace Circle</a>, an exclusive club for those users who run at least three Squarespace instances.
Aimed at the developer community, Squarespace Circle members will get some perks that make building websites for clients more manageable.
<h2>The Inner Circle</h2>
Here's a look at some of those perks, that only those with multiple Squarespace websites can access (<a href="http://Squarespace Circle">by signing in at the Squarespace Circle website</a>).
<h4>Six-month trial periods</h4>
Firstly, and perhaps most interestingly, Squarespace Circle members will have extended trial periods of up to six-months for all new projects.
That's a massive step up from the two week trial extended to everyone else using Squarespace.
<h4>Optimized Customer Care</h4>
Squarespace is offering Circle members “optimized customer care”. They haven't divulged the details of this supposed optimization, though.
<h4>Exclusive content</h4>
Squarespace is developing exclusive advanced guides, marketing materials and product release notes to help Circle members produce better websites and grow their business.
<h2>More Than Just Circle Time</h2>
Squarespace has already announced that they're working to make Squarespace Circle a serious resource and information hub for developers.
<blockquote>
“Squarespace Circle is growing. We’ll be listening closely and looking for new ways to improve your workflow, help you sell your services, and connect you with each other.”
</blockquote>
I can't help but feel a little bit excited about this whole development.
I've always seen Squarespace as one of the best website builders around, but I've always wondered about how tough it would be to run a web design agency that deals solely with Squarespace.
Before Squarespace Circle, you essentially had two weeks to build and present your client his website before payment was due for the first month. Now that is one epic time constraint.
But now I can definitely see how more developers and professional web designers will be attracted to Squarespace as along term solution for their existing and future clientèle.
Also, it's nice to see that Squarespace aren't charging a fee here. It feels more like a reward for being a serial Squarespacer, rather than just a paid privilege.
In any case, I'm eager to see how this all pans out.
The official announcement of Squarespace Circle can be found on the <a href="http://blog.squarespace.com/blog/introducing-squarespace-circle">Squarespace blog</a>.

Squarespace Circle: The Club For Serial Squarespace Users

MODX has announced a host of new updates to their MODX Cloud product line yesterday. These new updates bring with them a selection of enhancements such as improved custom domains, SSL and more.
The addition of a new Add-ons tab is one such addition:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/add-ons-tab-modx-cloud.jpg" alt="add-ons-tab-modx-cloud" />
With the new Add-ons tab, MODX Cloud customers can quickly and easy perform additional tasks such as:
<ul>
<li>Requesting SSL for increased security and visitor trust, and to boost your SEO,</li>
<li>Ordering the <a href="https://modxcloud.com/add-ons.html">Managed Cloud service</a>, so you never have to worry about monitoring or maintaining your site at all, and</li>
<li>Adding server resources (PHP Workers) for higher traffic or more complex sites.</li>
</ul>
One of the most important updates in this announcement, in my mind, is the addition of SSL for everyone. Especially with the importance of SSL certificates nowadays as they relate to Google rankings, I think MODX has done a smart thing in making them accessible to everyone. With their new update, users can update to a secure site at no additional cost. SSL is now available at all plan levels, including their Basic plan. According to their release announcement, they are working to make this even easier in the future as well.
Last but not least, the following additional improvements were made:
<ul>
<li>The MODX Cloud user guide and knowledge base now lives in our <a href="https://support.modx.com/hc/en-us">Zendesk Help Center</a>. You can search our KB articles straight from the Dashboard help widget, and open a ticket if you don’t find the answer you need.</li>
<li>Need to grab a file you accidentally deleted a few days ago? Now it’s a whole lot easier: restore a backup into another Cloud instance straight from your main Backups tab in the MODX Cloud Dashboard.</li>
<li>Added latest version of <a href="https://modx.com/blog/2016/04/06/modx-revolution-2.4.4-fixed-output-filter-issue-from-2.4.3/">MODX Revolution (2.4.4</a>).</li>
<li>Updated to latest <a href="http://nginx.org/en/CHANGES-1.8">nginx</a> and <a href="http://php.net/archive/2016.php#id2016-03-31-4">PHP</a>.</li>
<li>And finally, we were able to make faster nightly backups. Faster is better, right?</li>
</ul>
Interested in MODX Cloud? Check them out at <a href="https://modxcloud.com/">https://modxcloud.com/</a>
<h3></h3>

MODX Cloud Updates Introduce SSL for Everyone and More

<a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/?utm_source=cmscritics&amp;utm_medium=sponsored&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritics">nopCommerce</a> claimed a highly notable prize during CMS Critic’s most recent CMS Awards, receiving the crown for the People’s Choice Award for Best eCommerce Solution for SMB 2015.
<a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/?utm_source=cmscritics&amp;utm_medium=sponsored&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritics"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/NpWCNiFfwSLE881i8ip-XaZ_c0vlGwVU5Wt2op0E5Ld5fgTizLht6I0zH39qcHbgXO8wEBQDgF9OOjtQx3gwD65VukM_DUYRzFbacLs8x8vsQZqjd3-Ppa9lmHWCCS5WYEUzH8qN" alt="NpWCNiFfwSLE881i8ip-XaZ_c0vlGwVU5Wt2op0E" /></a>
Some may consider the win as a small coup for the robust selling platform, as it overcame some pretty big names in the process.
However, I would disagree.
Since its establishment in 2008, nopCommerce has calmly carved out a reputation of reliability and robustness, winning some big clients along the way, such as; Cadbury, Puma, Reebok, Speedo, and BMW.
In light of their recent showing at the CMS Awards, and also after their inclusion in my list of, “<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-25-cms-to-watch-in-2016/">Top 25 CMS to Watch in 2016</a>”, I thought now would be a good time to take a closer look at the Russia-based platform.
<h2>Free, Open Source &amp; Downloaded 1.5 Million Times</h2>
nopCommerce is free to download and totally open source. Notably, 1.5 Million people across the globe have already clicked the download button.
<a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/?utm_source=cmscritics&amp;utm_medium=sponsored&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritics" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/KEJEDO8B48ZaLt8vR-U-ZbrRYGzWgWiT8duCE3zAoImt_2vhaa215XVDAX_4LYDdli25AY3KiKrNjVAfeYmrtL37iAr6VlXRCsTkr6S6Y7hxxIgpxZZdBzN2zls7ikxYX1MPUKzZ" alt="KEJEDO8B48ZaLt8vR-U-ZbrRYGzWgWiT8duCE3zA" /></a>
But it’s fair to say that many free and open source eCommerce products exist out there. What is it that makes nopCommerce stand out from the crowd?
Mobile Ready 
In today’s world, people want to read, write, watch and even buy using their mobile devices.
nopCommerce ensures that your store is ready to make such sales, with interfaces that are conveniently presented on all mobile devices and in all resolutions with clear and up-to-date responsive design.
Checkout Flexibility 
nopCommerce also serves up a variety of checkout options, so merchants can choose the system that best suits them.
Checkout types include; easy one-page checkout, anonymous checkout and much more.
Primed For Marketing 
In terms of marketing, nopCommerce comes bundled with features such as; discount codes, gift certificates, product ratings and product reviews. Extra marketing tools are provided for automated statistics and content marketing.
Plus, all pages created with nopCommerce are compatible with major product comparison feeds such as Google Shopping, PriceGrabber, Yahoo Shopping and Become.com.
Multi-vendor &amp; Multi-store Support
nopCommerce also boasts multi-vendor and multi-store support.
This means that nopCommerce users can operate a multi-vendor marketplace and easily re-sell items supplied by other vendors. Each vendors can enjoy a dedicated administration panel, keeping everything separate and easily managed.
nopCommerce’s multi-store support also allows users to operate two and more online stores (with totally different URLs) using just one administration panel.
<h2>Community, Extendability &amp; Sublime Security</h2>
When it comes to open source products, the size and engagement rate of the community is vital. Thankfully for them, nopCommerce has that well covered.
The nopCommerce community thrives in the <a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/boards/?utm_source=cmscritics&amp;utm_medium=sponsored&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritics">nopCommerce Community Forums</a>, where users can reach out for support, share their nopCommerce projects, and even have off-topic discussions.
But the nopCommerce community does far more than just talk. They’ve walked the walk, too, coming together to produce more than 1000 third-party plugins, themes and language packs.
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_SqKsDk-lwZlYgykg8x-CR1Jqslr8TQD-q8zqTvp6s2z9Y7jW3LTihDsfU_mB82UU-EtHDuc6A3djGqF-f1UuNXtzD4B2YY38eLv8rGmiqp3lUGT_ZpHCEQ1CRdkXQ_WCDZqluS3" alt="_SqKsDk-lwZlYgykg8x-CR1Jqslr8TQD-q8zqTvp" />
All of those expandability options (many of which are free to download and use) can be found via the <a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/extensions-and-themes.aspx?utm_source=cmscritics&amp;utm_medium=sponsored&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritics">nopCommerce Extensions &amp; Themes Store</a>.
And finally, I think it’s worth mentioning the impressive security track record that nopCommerce team should be proud of; in seven years, they have released just one security patch, despite having over 25,000 active stores worldwide.
Now that’s pretty awesome.
To find out more about NopCommerce, <a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/?utm_source=cmscritics&amp;utm_medium=sponsored&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritics">visit their website</a>, or <a href="http://demo.nopcommerce.com/?utm_source=cmscritics&amp;utm_medium=sponsored&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritics" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">try out their demo</a>.
* * *
This post is sponsored by nopCommerce. Find out more at <a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/?utm_source=cmscritics&amp;utm_medium=sponsored&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritics">nopcommerce.com</a>.

nopCommerce: A Closer Look at The CMS Award Winner For Best Ecommerce Solution For SMB

StudioPress, the popular WordPress theme developer, has announced a new theme entitled <a href="http://my.studiopress.com/themes/interior/?_ga=2.126455624.4583036.1624549743-4831094679.1623261405671">Interior Pro</a>. This new theme was designed by Ashley Schweitzer.
This theme offers clean typography and a slick color palette to bring an overall look and feel that is sure to please.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/interior-pro-theme-1024x1024.jpg" alt="interior-pro-theme" />
Features include:
<ul>
<li>A mobile-responsive design that looks amazing wherever it’s viewed</li>
<li>Support, documentation, and the StudioPress community forum</li>
<li>The best rankings possible because of our clean code and mobile-friendly design</li>
<li>Super-fast page load times</li>
<li>One-click theme updates</li>
<li>Airtight security so you can rest easy</li>
</ul>
<a href="http://my.studiopress.com/themes/interior/?_ga=2.126455624.4583036.1624549743-4831094679.1623261405671">Try the demo</a> or check out StudioPress's <a href="https://www.studiopress.com/themes/">other themes</a>.

StudioPress releases Interior Pro Theme for Genesis Framework

A number of excellent analytics platforms have been developed in recent years, but <a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/">Google Analytics</a> remains the industry standard in terms of its offering. The official Google Analytics app was first released on Android in 2012, but it took another 2 years for them to release the iOS version in 2014. This paved the way for a number of third party apps to bring the service to your smartphone and tablet in a variety of different styles and formats. 
With so many choices on the market, I had a look at 10 of the best Google Analytic Apps for Android and iOS. 
<h2>1.Analytix for Google Analytics – Android</h2>
This is a great third party app that allows you to access important Google Analytics data when you’re on the go. This display is easy to read and key stats, such as daily goals and unique views, are displayed clearly in a ‘progress bar’ format. 
Analytix for Google Analytics is $1.99 and you can download it<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dibbus.analytix"> here</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/1.png" alt="1" />
<h2>2. gAnalytics – Android</h2>
This app allows you to easily set the time period you want to assess, which allows for thorough analysis of your data on the move. It also supports multiple accounts and multiple profiles which can be switched between easily.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2.png" alt="2" />
It isn’t the most visual Google Analytics app out there, but it lays all of your data out clearly and concisely. It also places a premium on ease of use and this is reflected in its intuitive design.
gAnalytics is free to download and you’ll find it <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.e6bapps.ganalytics&amp;hl=en">here.</a>
<h2>3. mAnalytics – Android</h2>
This app by Mugitek displays your Google Analytics data in a very forensic way. It might not be as eye-catching as some of its competitors, but it does provide a good depth of data analysis. You can download mAnalytics for free <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mugitek.analytics&amp;hl=en">here</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/3.png" alt="3" />
<h2>4. Analytiks for Google Analytics – Android</h2>
If having your Google Analytics data presented to you in top-notch layout is your thing, then this app is perfect for your needs. It presents all of your site data in a very visual and responsive format that really brings your traffic to life. You can also swipe between accounts and profiles with ease. Analytiks for Google Analytics is free and you can download it <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blattlabs.analytiks&amp;hl=en">here</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/4-1.png" alt="4 (1)" />
<h2>5. Abondo – iOS</h2>
Abondo is a great choice if your primary focus is measuring your eCommerce metrics. All of the primary stats – like transactions, revenue targets, unique visits, and conversions, are displayed extremely clearly. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/5-1.png" alt="5 (1)" />
It doesn’t just trade on simplicity either; Abondo allows users to drill into the stats quite a bit, allowing a lot of detail to be uncovered. This free app can be downloaded <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/abondo-ecommerce-analytics/id827401774?mt=8">here.</a>
<h2>6.Dashboard Pro For Google Analytics – iOS</h2>
Its complex user system might not be for everyone, but Dashboard Pro gives you a ton of complex metrics and options to visualize your stats. It also lets you track a number of stats in real time, which is a great feature. Download Dashboard Pro for free <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dashboard-for-google-analytics/id433586090?mt=8">here.</a>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/6.png" alt="6" />
<h2>7.Quicklytics for Google Analytics – iOS</h2>
This is a fantastic app for easily finding data on multiple websites. You can swipe from side to side and alternate between different profiles and/or sites with ease. It’s extremely intuitive and very responsive without eating into a lot of battery life.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/7-1.png" alt="7 (1)" />
The graph-based design lets you constantly refocus on the metrics that matter to you – such as country visits, referral reports, users, unique visitors and bounce rate, and everything is very easy to navigate. You can download Quicklytics for free <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quicklytics-for-google-analytics/id354890919?mt=8">over here.</a>
<h2>8.Analytics Tiles App</h2>
This is a fantastically designed app that uses its ‘tile’ layout system to give you a constantly updated snapshot of your site data. It allows you to swap between websites and profiles extremely easily and even lets you colour code each site to differentiate it. You can download Analytics Tiles for free <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/analytics-tiles-app/id527147208">here.</a>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/8.png" alt="8" />
<h2>9.Analytics Matter for Google Analytics Website Monitoring</h2>
This app has a really clean and really nicely designed interface that does a great job of dialling in on the important metrics.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/9.png" alt="9" />
It has color coding features that give you a quick update on how your site is doing month to month, day to day, or year to year. It’s really intuitively designed and packs a lot of information into one screen, which saves on swiping and allows for easy analysis. Download it for free over <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/analytics-matter-for-google/id593918504?mt=8">here</a>.
<h2>10.Simply Stats</h2>
Simply Stats has a minimal design that displays all of your data in really clear, concise graphs and charts. Everything about this app screams ‘usability’, from its ultra simple UX to its concise data layout – and you won’t be disappointed with the metrics it provides either. Download Simply Stats for free <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/simplystats-for-google-analytics/id657106167?mt=8">here.</a>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/10.png" alt="10" />
<h2>What’s Your Go-To Analytics Mobile App?</h2>
Is your favorite analytics app listed here? Or do you know of a hidden gem that we haven’t mentioned? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!

10 Apps For Google Analytics

grainne-logue

Marketing automation can be a great way to streamline your marketing processes, but those processes have to actually be in place to begin with, before they can ever be streamlined.
Without a solid content marketing strategy driving your business forward, your marketing automation efforts will be pointless.
Of course, it’s tempting to simply ‘switch off and turn to marketing automation for all of your marketing needs, but the easiest routes in business are rarely the most profitable.
Here’s the thing; you don’t need marketing automation to get leads. You need a website, quality content, and a marketing plan.
<h2>First Things First</h2>
Think about it – how are you supposed to automate your marketing processes if they don’t exist yet? 
The whole premise of marketing automation is to create a system that automatically provides your customers and potential customers with relevant materials based on their specific wants, needs, and behaviors. But if you don’t know your customers, how are you going to market to them? 
This is where small businesses make the mistake of putting the ‘cart before the horse', as they get lured in with promises of easy leads and new business.
The reality is that you have to put the work in if you want to see results, and your marketing automation processes won’t work if they’re not supported by a content marketing strategy that supports your key business objectives. 
If you’re running a small business with limited resources, then you should be focusing on the basics before even considering implementing marketing automation. 
<h4>Here are a few questions you should be answering ‘Yes’ to before investing in marketing automation software:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Do you have an overall marketing plan in place?</li>
<li>Do you have a content strategy in place? Does it align with your key business objectives?</li>
<li>Do you have means to create and publish quality content on a daily basis? </li>
<li>Do you know your customer? (i.e. clearly defined buyer personas)</li>
<li>Is your site already attracting decent organic search traffic and leads?</li>
<li>Do you have a growing database of leads?</li>
<li>Do you have the resources (i.e. people, revenue, time) in place to implement and manage the software? </li>
</ul>
If you haven’t answered yes to at least half of the above questions, then it’s probably not a great idea for you to start automating your marketing at this moment in time (as awesome as that new platform may look).
<h2>Relationships</h2>
Before you can get started with any kind of marketing plan, you have to figure out who you’re targeting and why. You have to find out what they’re interested in and what will make them interested in your business. 
This relationship building is how you humanize your marketing efforts and these personal connections are vital for small businesses as a lot of your initial business will be generated via word of mouth, testimonials, and online reviews/recommendations.
The problem with marketing automation is that it outsources a lot of the tasks that you should be in direct control of as a small business. And if it’s not properly monitored, you’ll lose that ‘personal touch’ that’s so crucial to your success. 
<h2>Engagement</h2>
The most important thing about your marketing and social media channels is engagement with your audience and potential audience. 
Automated marketing often takes the ‘social’ out of social media and can make your company come across as cold and uninterested in its customers. You need a human at the helm to drive conversations and grow an online community around your brand. Nobody wants to be that company with 90 followers that spams <a href="http://www.twitter.com">Twitter </a>with promo links every hour of the day.
<h2>Social Selling</h2>
To follow on from the lack of engagement, marketing automation can have a pretty harsh impact on your social selling techniques. 
Automated social posts can lack the impromptu and personal feel of a real person – even when they’re carefully curated. Social selling is an integral part of a brand’s identity and if you get it wrong it’s going to have a seriously negative effect on how your brand is perceived. Your small business will benefit from personal touch. 
Remember, social selling is SOCIAL – the clue is in the name – which means it should always involve real people talking in real time to other real people. So, leave the bots at the door for this one.
<h2>Email Marketing</h2>
Automating your email blasts is a great idea when you’re a medium or large business with hundreds (if not thousands) of potential leads that need contacting. But what works for a large business won’t necessarily work for a small business that’s just starting out. 
 
When you automate your email marketing as a small business, you risk alienating your clientele or leads with generic and impersonal content. A small business will have much more success by personalizing a good template to ensure that the potential lead feels like they’re valued and not just another @ on a list. 
<h2>Branding</h2>
What a lot of small businesses don’t realize is that branding is absolutely everything when it comes to your marketing. Without a strong brand identity and content strategy, your marketing can come across as vanilla, generic, and lifeless. 
 
We’ve all seen the brands that start trying to sell before they get their marketing nailed down properly – and it’s not a good look. Small businesses often don’t have the resources to get all of these things in place and you need all of them in order to automate your marketing effectively. Without these key ingredients, brands can end up looking dehumanized and listless. 
<h2>Still Think Marketing Automation Is Right For You, Right Now?</h2>
Marketing automation is a great time-saver for businesses with a lot of leads and clientele and it can be valuable for small businesses too – in fact, here are <a href="/8-ways-marketing-automation-can-improve-your-roi/">8 ways that it can increase your ROI</a>. But this will only happen when you have the proper foundations in place to begin with. 
Once you have your ducks in a row, you can have a field day perusing the vast number of marketing automation systems on the market! 
To help you out, you can also check out our post on <a href="/choose-the-best-marketing-automation-system-in-3-easy-steps/">choosing the right marketing automation platform for your business</a>.
Are you considering implementing marketing automation in your small business in the future? Have any particular platforms caught your eye yet? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

Why Your Small Business Isn't Ready For A Marketing Automation System

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Congratulations are due for the folks at <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/go/flywheel/">Flywheel</a>, the WordPress hosting platform for designers, as they raised a whopping $4M Series A round of funding, led by the fine folks at Five Elms in KC, along with many of our existing investors – Linseed, Ludlow, Lightbank, HPVP and a handful of others.
In a blog post on the Flywheel website, CEO and Co-Founder Dusty Davidson had this to say:
One of the pretty cool things about this round is that Flywheel was in the (unique) position of not really needing to raise money – we’ve got a large and growing customer base and cash in the bank. With the seed round of funding from a year and a half ago, we were able to build a fast-growing and profitable business, and have established ourselves as one of the top players in the WordPress hosting market.
That said, we’ve long talked about Flywheel as “a software company that happens to host websites,” and to that end, one of the things that funding allows us to do is continue to innovate and add features and functionality to our platform for designers and agencies.
We could have grown both quickly and organically, continuing to add features every now and then and products ad-hoc over the next few years. On the other hand, we realized that we could raise money with some like-minded partners and laser-focus our efforts on building THE WordPress platform of choice for web designers. Our partnership with Five Elms allows us to do just that (in addition to adding a bit of fuel to our sales and marketing fires).
Congratulations to the folks at Flywheel from all of us here at CMS Critic, we look forward to good things! Check out <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/flywheel">Flywheel</a> in the hosting directory or on their <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/go/flywheel/">website</a>.

Flywheel raises a whopping $4 million for their WordPress Hosting Platform for Designers

Sailthru, the company behind the Sailthru Customer Retention Cloud, have announced their acquisition of mobile marketing automation platform, Carnival.io.
Carnival’s mobile marketing automation suite brings a breadth of features includes push notifications, in-app messaging and a rich customizable message stream which allows marketers to automate messages by customer behavior, location and demographic data. In addition, Carnival offers robust mobile analytics. Key Carnival customers include Coca-Cola, Penguin Random House, Anheuser-Busch InBev in addition to other Fortune 500 and leading retail, publishing, travel and CPG brands.
CEO's for the companies had the following to say:
“Through the acquisition and integration of Carnival, mobile engagements can now be informed by the multichannel profiles that make Sailthru unique. Finally, marketers have a single solution that increases the relevancy of their mobile communications and connects the total customer experience to improve customer lifetime value, decrease customer churn and boost other retention-focused metrics.
We’re proud to continue to offer retailers and online publishers solutions designed to meet their specific needs, and I look forward to our team sharing more about the power of using Sailthru’s data for mobile marketing automation.” said Neil Lustig, CEO of Sailthru
“Sailthru and Carnival share a commitment to improving retention and the long-term value of relationships between brands and customers,” said Guy Horrocks, CEO, Carnival. “Both of our businesses are built for modern marketers: with Sailthru, you have an extremely powerful engine able to provide true personalization at scale. At Carnival we share this vision and have built an intuitive mobile platform for marketers. By making it extremely easy-to-use, we save marketers time and increase their opportunities for success in the rapidly evolving mobile landscape. I’m excited to see what we can bring to market together as mobile becomes an even greater priority for every retail and media brand.”
To learn more about these companies, visit <a href="https://www.sailthru.com/">https://www.sailthru.com/</a>

Sailthru Acquires Carnival.io

As someone with a natural deficiency in design, I can testify to the necessity of pre-built themes.
WordPress has thousands of pre-made themes readily available just for people like me. And the best part is, the vast majority of WordPress themes on offer can turn a dull web page into one with great web traffic potential.
To save you time and effort though, I've picked out nine themes that cater to; business, news, and even personal blogging purposes. All you have to do is pick your favorite.
<h2>News</h2>
<h4>Colormag – Themegrill</h4>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/colormag.png" alt="colormag" />
Colormag is a theme on WordPress made popular by it’s great forum support.
It’s ideal for anyone trying to display multiple news topics on any variety of topics. It’s simplicity and elegance in design are merely bonus.
Check out more at: <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/colormag/">https://wordpress.org/themes/colormag/</a>
<h4>Hueman – Nikeo</h4>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/hueman.png" alt="hueman" />
If you’re looking for a fantastic theme with great accent colors and even better functionality then this theme by Nikeo is the way to go.
Hueman comes with two scrolling side bars that makes displaying multiple breaking stories a breeze and the front page along with limitless links and headings gives great direction to any visitors of your site.
Check out more at: <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/hueman/">https://wordpress.org/themes/hueman/</a>
<h4>Afford – MudThemes</h4>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/afford-1.png" alt="afford (1)" />
Just because news headlines have to be attention grabbing, that doesn’t necessarily mean your web page does too. With this simple theme you can allow your headlines to do the talking for you.
This theme goes especially well for those looking to display news related to business and politics
Check more out at: <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/afford/">https://wordpress.org/themes/afford/</a>
<h2>Business &amp; Entrepreneurial</h2>
<h4>Blackoot Lite – Iceable Themes</h4>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/blackoot-1.png" alt="blackoot (1)" />
If you really want your web page to stand out from the crop then you have to do something different. This web page really drew my eye with its darker colors and very formal layout.
It would make a great candidate for anyone looking to sell a product or to project a serious demeanor.
Check more out at: <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/blackoot-lite/">https://wordpress.org/themes/blackoot-lite/</a>
<h4>Matrix – Webhunt Infotech</h4>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/matrix.png" alt="matrix" />
WebHunt Infotech has really provided a quality theme here. ‘Matrix’, no not the movie, is a terrific theme for those looking for a minimalistic feel with maximum customization.
It gives a great front page to display any number of products on. With a compelling front page and as many links as you could possibly need to provide additional detail, this theme is well in the running to becoming my favorite.
Check more out at: <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/matrix/">https://wordpress.org/themes/matrix/</a>
<h4>Build Lite – SKTThemes</h4>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/build-lite.png" alt="build lite" />
This theme does a great job at filling the niche for industrial or construction businesses. It’s flexible and customizable and nothing says ‘we can build it’ quite like a soaring skyscraper.
With plenty of interactive links and space to display text this theme can allow even an amateur to hammer (he-he word puns) together a solid web page.
Check more out at: <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/build-lite/">https://wordpress.org/themes/build-lite/</a>
<h3>Personal &amp; Blogging Themes</h3>
<h4>Story- Alex27</h4>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/story.png" alt="story" />
Story, is a theme by a traveling blogger. So naturally, a blogger would know what other blogger want right?
Story gives a well structured way to share with anyone who visits just exactly what you’ve been getting into lately. Play a round of disc golf today? Why not post the picture on the front page!
(P.S. I’m always looking for more disc golf buddies)
Check more out at: <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/story/">https://wordpress.org/themes/story/</a>
<h4>Freak – Rohit Tripathi</h4>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/freak.png" alt="freak" />
Freak is the sort of theme I would recommend for travelling or even deep seated topics such as philosophy or emotional quotes.
The layout of the page along with the tone it sets really stimulates an open thought process. A myriad of customization options makes this choice a no brainer for bloggers anywhere.
Check more out at: <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/freak/">https://wordpress.org/themes/freak/</a>
<h4>Pro Blogg – DessignThemes</h4>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/problogg.png" alt="problogg" />
ProBlogg does an excellent job with this multi-blog theme. It’s open layout allows any blogger a variety of places to write about their various interests.
It includes a bar to social media widgets at the top right and it offers plenty of space for multiple photos on the front page. Hope you like photography!
Check more out at: <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/pro-blogg/">https://wordpress.org/themes/pro-blogg/</a>
<h2>Spice Up Your Site</h2>
A new theme can spice up a website to really set the tone and direction you want visitors to go upon arriving.
Don’t forget to tell us what other themes you’d like talked about and post a comment below about any themes worth mentioning below.

9 Great WordPress Themes for Blogging, Business & News Sites

The latest Joomla! release is now available. This is a bug fix release for the 3.x series of Joomla that corrects a variety of bugs that have been reported since the release of Joomla 3.5.0.
<a href="https://www.joomla.org">Joomla!</a> 3.5.1 fixes some issues found in the 3.5.0 release two weeks ago, this includes:
<ul>
<li>Fix root url sometimes returning empty in canonical URLs</li>
<li>Fix having to log in twice when user session expires</li>
<li>Some SMTP emails could no longer be sent due to a bug in the SMTP email server setup</li>
<li>Session restarts caused PHP Errors</li>
<li>Fix insertid() returning 0 for the PDO MySQL driver</li>
<li>Fix the Empty trash and unarchive button not existing for com_banners</li>
</ul>
Learn more about <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/joomla">Joomla!</a> in the CMS Directory and don't forget to follow them and write a user review!

Joomla! releases 3.5.1 version of the popular open source CMS

CrownPeak has announced a merger with ActiveStandards, a company that is focused on the Digital Quality Management sector. The combined company will provide clients with the only cloud-first DXM platform that features built-in DQM. In connection with the merger, the company has confirmed a $50 million investment by K1 to support the anticipated re-launch as well as future product enhancements.
According to the announcement, the resulting company will still carry the CrownPeak name. CrownPeak will offer next generation solutions for SaaS DXM, through super-fast, multi-site, enterprise deployments that will create exceptional, high-quality customer experience moments, across all digital touchpoints – through one powerful and accessible platform.
“As global enterprises undergo a transformation in digital marketing they are increasingly challenged to deploy and maintain high-quality digital experiences across many touchpoints,” said Jim Yares, CEO of CrownPeak. “Our powerful union with industry leader, ActiveStandards, and support from K1 will allow us to address and surpass this need. We will offer clients the clear solution to manage and deliver rich and consistent content-driven customer experiences.”
“The combination of CrownPeak’s and ActiveStandards’ market leading solutions creates a platform that will transform the way brands communicate, relate and connect with their customers,” said Neil Malik, CEO of K1. “The industry is primed for a development of this magnitude and we are excited for continued investment in this partnership.”
“We are thrilled to be joining forces with CrownPeak as we share a common vision of how to empower global enterprises with the technologies they need to improve their customer experience at scale,” said Simon Lande, CEO of ActiveStandards. “Our union takes place at a defining time and uniquely positions us to move the technology frontier forward.”
Prior to the merger, <a href="http://www.crownpeak.com">CrownPeak</a> and ActiveStandards maintained an integrated offering with several joint clients including some of world’s largest insurance, financial services and pharmaceutical companies. The <a href="http://www.activestandards.com">ActiveStandards</a> platform will take on the “CrownPeak Digital Quality Management” name and remain available as a standalone solution. The company will continue to build on its suite of award-winning integrations with other Content Management Systems and Marketing Technology providers.
Available integrated capabilities include:
<ul>
<li>A native, cloud shared-service platform to standardize development of websites and Digital Experience Layers across large enterprises,</li>
<li>The ability to enforce quality and compliance standards across every website, both pre- and post-publication,</li>
<li>Dashboards providing visibility across every digital touchpoint and</li>
<li>A flexible deployment architecture that enables digital experiences to be deployed as “front end” across multiple legacy applications to rapidly create modern, high-quality digital experiences.</li>
</ul>
Check out <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/crownpeak/">CrownPeak</a> in the CMS directory.

CrownPeak merges with ActiveStandards and raises $50 Million to form new DXM company

Today, Liferay has announced the release of Liferay Portal 7.0 Community Edition. This new release brings with it one of the most exciting features of this new Liferay release, a modular system. What this means is that Liferay 7's functionality has been modularized into hundreds of modules, allowing you to use what you need for each project and take away the rest, giving you an extensibility unthinkable until now, and a much more elegant development model.
<h3>Advanced Forms</h3>
Liferay 7 also brings with it a new way to build advanced forms. The forms can have complex multi-column layouts and span several pages. They can be published in any Liferay site just by dropping the form into a page or also Google Forms style, by providing a URL that links directly to a full page form. Many field types are included out of the box and custom types can be added by deploying custom modules. Forms can also be integrated with Liferay's workflow system to submit forms through a predefined process.
<h3><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/liferay-forms-1024x736.png" alt="liferay forms" /></h3>
<h3>Optimized Content Authoring</h3>
One of the features I was most looking forward to seeing in this release was the new <a href="http://alloyeditor.com/"> Alloy Editor</a>. Built on top of CKEDITOR, this new editor improves upon the content editing experience and provides a sleek, beautiful new interface to the process.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/alloy-editor.png" alt="alloy editor" />
Other features in this release include:
<ul>
<li>The ability to geolocate all web content, data lists, documents &amp; media.</li>
<li>A new site template showcasing a modern product site, leveraging Liferay 7's new features such as application decorators, new application display templates, sets of pages and more.</li>
<li>Improved blogs, forum and wiki.</li>
<li>Easier to use staging, even for the most advanced scenarios.</li>
<li>New image, file and media selector.</li>
<li>much more.</li>
</ul>
For a full list of improvements and some additional screenshots for this release, see the release notes.

Liferay Portal 7.0 CE Released

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