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<hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassafras">Sassafras</a> is a genus of aromatic, deciduous trees in the Laurel family – Lauraceae, for you nature nerds – which is native to eastern North America and parts of Asia. Known for its distinct, fragrant smell, Sassafras trees have these uniquely variable leaves that can be unlobed, two-lobed (kind of mitten-shaped), or even three-lobed. Funky, but beautiful.Living in the Southeastern U.S., I’ve experienced Sassafras in real life, often a fixture along dense forest trails. They produce a lovely yellow pistillate, and the leaves, twigs, and bark have an almost citrusy or spicy note to them. It’s delightful. Alluring, even. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:62.04%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/sassafras_leaves_june_nbg_261691941.jpg" /></figure>Sassafras Leaves. Source: June Nbg, Wikipedia/Creative Commons Once upon a time, the bark of the Sassafras tree was the primary ingredient in root beer. It’s hence been recreated using artificial flavorings, partly because the oil derived from it – <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.healthline.com/health/sassafras-drug">called Safrole</a> – has hallucinogenic properties as a mild empathogen. Translation: you feel closeness and affection as it coerces your brain to release serotonin and dopamine.Right now, people could use a dose of Sassafras as they melt down over the “SaaSafras” – a more-than-mild tech selloff seemingly induced by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.anthropic.com/">Anthropic’s</a> new plugins for its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.anthropic.com/webinars/future-of-ai-at-work-introducing-cowork">Claude Cowork</a> agent, which were launched last Friday. In simplest terms, Claude Cowork is an agentic AI workspace that goes beyond answering questions. It can perform CRUD functions (create, read, update, delete) on files and folders on your computer, helping you execute tasks and not just engage in Q&amp;A conversations. Less like a chatbot, more like a digital coworker that can get stuff done.The real buzz is around those plugins, which are designed to automate specialized tasks across departments like marketing, legal, and customer support. Imagine drafting an email in your brand voice, then having a legal agent review it for risk.That sounds cool. But as we’ve seen, it’s hammering stocks as investors weigh the potential for organizations to just rely on these agents over traditional software. Enterprise giants like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/salesforce">Salesforce</a> are feeling a major pinch. Professional services and advertising firms like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.publicisgroupe.com/en/splash-en">Publicis</a> are taking a hit as faster automation and shrinking demand for traditional IT services become a shadowy specter along the growth highway.<h3 id="more-fear-in-the-ai-forest-">More fear in the AI forest </h3>Like we haven't had enough anxiety from the likes of AI. Fact is, we've been talking about a “SaaS implosion” as a byproduct of the agentic evolution for quite some time.The impact is being felt broadly. This includes the categories of CMS, digital experience, and martech vendors, all rolling in a hyperbolic field of “SaaSafras,” anxious that their software might be rendered obsolete by Claude – which, ironically, has been a common companion in the evolution of their own tools.As expected, software business leaders have pushed back, hoping to quell the fear – but offering sage points. As <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/cognizant-ceo-reacts-after-anthropic-claude-cowork-crashes-saas-stocks-says-ai-is-not-magic-2863547-2026-02-05">Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar</a> said today, AI isn’t magic. It’s not a “plug-and-play switch” that delivers results overnight. If that were the case, we would have seen more economic gains over the last three years. Instead, we’ve been served consistent data that tells a different story: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://fortune.com/2025/08/18/mit-report-95-percent-generative-ai-pilots-at-companies-failing-cfo/">95% of AI projects fail</a> before reaching production. 5% of active agentic systems are <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/agentic-panic-new-study-finds-ai-agents-in-production-face-infrastructure-and-reliability-challenges">being refactored every 30 days.</a> And a recent survey from PwC indicates that 56% of CEOs are getting “nothing” from their AI adoption efforts. Investments have been costly, and boards are beginning to focus hard on ROI.By all accounts, AI isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. At least not yet. But we’re still spooked by Claude. Why? Because we thrive on hype. So let’s take a step back to see the forest through the trees. Enterprises don’t just buy software – they buy trust. They buy assurances around HIPAA compliance and FedRAMP. They buy accountability and a single throat to choke. They buy performance, security, and scalability for critical workflows. They don’t just buy products. They buy outcomes.I’m sure Claude’s plugins will make an impact on productivity. It might be enough to rock some of the overall boat away from big, multi-year software licenses. But they can’t replace a system of authority that provides control, governance, and confidence. With AI, code might become a commodity, but context is the real goldmine. Legacy players like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/adobe-experience-manager">Adobe</a> have customer data that provides an irreplicable scaffolding for their own LLM ambitions. Meanwhile, hyperscalers like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/aws">AWS</a> are adding services that will enable SaaS players to accelerate their agentic AI strategies. That could level the playing field and create opportunities.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q1-2026-pitchbook-analyst-note-clash-of-the-titans">As Pitchbook said,</a> this is like the era of laying fiber before the internet boom, and there are durable moats. We just need to know where to dig them.<h3 id="is-this-the-end-of-saas?">Is this the end of SaaS?</h3>It's a loaded question. Clearly, we're seeing challenges and pressures to the prevailing models. But will this erase the companies behind them, or just force an evolution of how they monetize their services? And what happens to the people behind the products in this great reckoning?I agree with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://fortune.com/2026/02/04/jensen-huang-demanding-roi-from-ai-strategy-testing/">Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang,</a> who dismissed the idea that AI will make software obsolete. He called it illogical, doubling down on how SaaS tools will use and be used by AI, not replaced by it. He even said that “demanding ROI from AI is like forcing a child to make a business plan for a hobby.”He went on to say that AI tools have freed up employee time and hasn’t wiped out roles. In fact, from his vantage point, it’s enabling teams to focus on more forward-thinking initiatives and improving core strengths. Despite Amazon’s recent <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.crn.com/news/cloud/2026/aws-layoffs-hit-u-s-and-canada-employees-as-amazon-sheds-16-000-jobs">gutting of 16,000 mid-level workers,</a> large-scale displacement didn’t happen as it was predicted (at least not yet). I wrote about this in my <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/backoff-on-the-ai-layoffs-domos-chris-willis-on-the-future-of-work-in-2026">interview with Domo’s Chris Willis,</a> where companies that have downsized with AI have quietly hired back skilled workers.But labor is, indeed, shifting on all sides. The old model of paying for SaaS software is dying on the Sassafras vine as single-seat software paradigms are replaced by AI agents performing high-value tasks. This is where software companies could move up the ladder as a replacement mechanism – and with that growth, create more of the jobs and opportunities of the future. I say might, because it’s anyone’s guess.Is there reason for concern? Absolutely. CMS is changing in profound ways as content transforms. Licensing models are being disrupted. Composable patterns have made it easier to move from one technology to another. And yes, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cursor.com/">Cursor</a> can vibe code its way to a working website using markdown and sidestep its need for a market-leading headless CMS.But even if an app can be replaced with a vibe-coded tool or a Claude Cowork plugin, is that the best decision for your business? In some cases, it could be. The cost savings and efficiencies will be there. In others, having a solid, proven system of record is the only way to go. <h3 id="smell-the-‘saasafras’?">Smell the ‘SaaSafras’?</h3>There’s a lot of choice emerging in all of this, but it’s been building. Incrementally. We didn’t just arrive here yesterday. And it’s true: some vendors won’t survive what’s ahead. But hasn't that always been the case? Do we really need <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chiefmartec.com/2025/05/2025-marketing-technology-landscape-supergraphic-100x-growth-since-2011-but-now-with-ai/">15,384 tools</a> on the Martec Supergraphic? <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:78.12%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/screenshot-2026-02-05-at-3.png" /></figure>The 2025 Martec Supergraphic. Source: Chiefmartec.com So how do we move forward? Here are some things to focus on:<ul><li>Innovate on the agentic edge but concentrate on productive, workflow-critical solutions where AI can act as a control plane for real work and deliver tangible impact.</li><li>Make governance your moat. Enterprises will always experiment, but in 2026, they’re trading AI novelty for security, scalability, compliance – and, of course, board-worthy results.</li><li>Turn proprietary context into leverage, not just training data. Use the hard-earned structural fundamentals that surround your valuable data – things like schemas and history. They're one of the most important pillars of your IP.</li><li>Kill seat-based pricing before agents kill it for you, and move to outcome- and value-based models.</li><li>Win on orchestration, not generation, because the future belongs to platforms that can manage chaos – not just create more stuff. This is one of the keys to enduring business value.</li></ul><h3 id="the-strongest-roots-will-survive">The strongest roots will survive</h3>That smell in the air today is panic. An emotional sweat that’s a little disorienting and easy to mistake for something more pungent than it actually is. But this “SaaSafras” moment we’re in isn’t a signal to flee the forest. It’s a reminder to pay attention to what’s growing beneath the canopy. AI agents are absolutely reshaping how software is built, bought, and used. But they won’t replace the need for trust, context, and systems of real accountability.The vendors that survive this moment won’t be the ones clinging to the old models. They’ll be the ones cultivating deep roots or growing new lobes of innovation. When the hype fades, durable platforms will adapt in the wild – and remain standing. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:34.15%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/logo_jday_hor.png" /><h4 id="joomladay-usa-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/">JoomlaDay USA 2026</a></h4>April 29 - May 2, 2026 – Delray Beach, FloridaBe part of the Joomla community in one of the most iconic cities in the world! JoomlaDay USA 2026 is coming to Delray Beach, and you can join us for a dynamic event packed with insights, workshops, and networking opportunities. Learn from top Joomla experts and developers offering valuable insights and real-world solutions. Participate in interactive workshops and sessions and enhance your skills in Joomla management, development, design, and more. And connect with fellow Joomla enthusiasts, developers, and professionals from across the world.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/"> Book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:30.06%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/cms-summit-26-logo.jpg" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26">CMS Summit 26</a></h4>May 12-13, 2026 – Frankfurt, GermanyThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Summit brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Frankfurt, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26/tickets">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:30.13%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/12/image-1765546475634.png" /><h4 id="umbraco-codegarden-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Umbraco Codegarden 2026</a></h4>June 10–11, 2026 – Copenhagen, DKJoin us in Copenhagen (or online) for the biggest Umbraco conference in the world – two full days of learning, genuine conversations, and the kind of inspiration that brings business leaders, developers, and digital creators together. Codegarden 2026 is packed with both business and tech content, from deep-dive workshops and advanced sessions to real-world case studies and strategy talks. You’ll leave with ideas, strategies, and knowledge you can put into practice immediately. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Book your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a>

Smell the 'SaaSafras'? Anthropic’s new AI tools are a reminder that change is in the air, but panic stinks

matt-garrepy

Getting Loud with XM Cloud: Sitecore Reports 100% Growth of its AI-Powered Cloud-based CMS

Optimizely Introduces New SaaS CMS with Visual Builder for Marketers

Over the last two years, we've covered a lot of insights published by the <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3749828-1&amp;h=1474142029&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.machalliance.org%2F&amp;a=MACH+Alliance" target="_blank">MACH Alliance</a> as it continues to chart the course for composable.
While the Alliance represents a group of independent tech companies advocating for open, best-of-breed technology ecosystems, it has also become a trusted source for data and trends impacting the trajectory of MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, Headless). This is driven by a cabal of thought leaders and industry experts tracking the movement of everything from <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/">headless CMS</a> to the emergence of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/is-the-birth-of-dxc-the-death-of-dxp-a-conversation-with-darren-guarnaccia-president-at-uniform/">DXC</a>.
This week, the MACH Alliance published the results of its third-annual <a href="https://machalliance.org/assets/pdf/mach-global-research%202023.pdf" target="_blank">Enterprise MACHified research</a> conducted by independent firm <a href="https://melresearch.co.uk/" target="_blank">MEL Research</a> in December and January. The charter was clear: gain a deeper understanding of how MACH investments have accelerated over the past 12 months and how these investments impact organizations as they face the headwinds of a challenging economy – or even the specter of a global recession.  
The study surveyed 500 tech leaders from Australia, France, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S. The research indicates an urgency to innovate in a rapidly changing business environment – with MACH as a key mechanism for responding to economic volatility.
<h2>MACH-advanced companies move faster</h2>
According to the research, four in five decision-makers state that economic volatility has impacted their organizational attitudes toward MACH. This has been a key driver behind a major shift in planning and technology investments, with 85 percent of organizations increasing their MACH infrastructure in the past 12 months.
These companies cite multiple benefits to MACH, including the ability to respond to market changes faster, build and implement new functionality quicker, and reduce costs. The study also reveals that they’re more likely to say their infrastructure is keeping up with customer demands and that they’re ahead of their competition than those with lower MACH adoption rates.
<h2>The US is catching up with Europe</h2>
Regarding MACH adoption, there has been an established disparity between the European and United States markets – but that appears to be shifting as the US gains ground. 
According to the research, a lack of board or leadership support is more likely to be a barrier to MACH adoption in the US than in the overall sample (32% versus 27%). This could signal that MACH faces a perception challenge in the US among non-IT professionals, indicating the need for education and awareness to highlight its value and benefits.
At the same time, US organizations that believe they are significantly ahead of their competition are more likely to have increased the proportion of MACH within their infrastructure (47 percent) than those who haven’t (26 percent).
While the survey shows a decline in the proportion of budgets that are being spent on technology upgrades since 2022 in the UK and Germany (from 39 percent to 32 percent in the UK, and from 36 percent to 31 percent in Germany), this has increased in the US (from 37 percent to 41 percent).
Companies in the US also report the largest proportion of legacy tech. On average, 41 percent of IT ecosystems are still considered legacy, establishing a clear need for tools enabling them to improve and upgrade infrastructures at greater speed.
<h2>Time and money spent on upgrades is an expensive ongoing problem</h2>
In the economic vein, the new research uncovered that not much has changed from a year ago regarding the time and money spent on upgrade projects.
Upgrading is a burden that organizations are struggling to solve, and over a quarter are running over 20 projects each year. One in five spend over half of their IT budget on upgrades, and the same number say upgrades take up over half of their IT teams’ time.
In 2021, respondents said 40 percent of their teams’ time was spent delivering front-office upgrades, indicating that the impact of operating with outdated tech is snowballing.
<a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-01-18-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-it-spending-to-grow-2-percent-in-2023" target="_blank">Gartner has forecast that</a> global enterprises will spend about $856 billion on software in 2023. If a quarter of that was spent on upgrades, it would represent more than $200 billion that could be spent on innovation and improvement of digital experiences. 
<h2>Investment is increasingly moving from front-end to back-end</h2>
The research also found front-end solutions are still receiving the most focus for investment. However, this is changing year over year. While 54 percent prioritized front-end investment in the 2022 report, just 39 percent stated this in 2023.
“The data tells us that too many companies are stuck keeping the upgrade wheel turning," said <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">Casper Rasmussen</a>, MACH Alliance President. "If you add the cost of time and business stands still, the absolute cost is much higher. At the same time, fewer companies see themselves as agile early adopters, and fewer also see themselves as being ahead of the competition compared to our research a year ago."
In countries interviewed in the 2022 and 2023 reports, the proportion that believe their front-office infrastructure is ahead of the competition has fallen from 75 percent to 68 percent. Organizations with 25,000 or more employees also have the lowest adoption of MACH in their front-end infrastructure – and take a more long-term view on making MACH investments.
“The pace of transformation is relentless, but the cost of not innovating is much higher," said Rasmussen. "While transitioning to MACH is no small undertaking, continuing the status quo is an ongoing, big undertaking, especially for larger organizations, which needs addressing. We’re not going to wipe legacy out of the picture overnight. However, those moving toward MACH are better equipped to mitigate future obstacles.”
<h2>What’s ahead and methodology </h2>
The report was executed by independent market research leader MEL Research. Respondent titles included CIO, CTO, Vice President, Senior Vice President, and Senior Manager. All represent organizations with at least 5,000 employees and have a revenue of at least $500 million annually.
You can <a href="https://machalliance.org/assets/pdf/mach-global-research%202023.pdf" target="_blank">download the full report</a> and review a detailed <a href="https://machalliance.org/assets/pdf/2023-annual-research-infographic.pdf" target="_blank">infographic</a> that covers the findings.
You can also schedule a meeting with MACH Alliance leadership at <a href="https://shoptalk.com/" target="_blank">ShopTalk 2023</a> in Las Vegas to learn more about the research. The Alliance will be hosting several days of networking, educational sessions, podcasting, and more at the <a href="https://machalliance.org/machevents/mach-haus-las-vegas" target="_blank">MACH HAUS</a> located in the Delano Hotel, adjacent to Mandalay Bay where ShopTalk will take place.
Email press team member Megan Lampros to arrange a meeting: <a href="mailto:megan.lampros@machalliance.org">megan.lampros@machalliance.org</a>.
<h2>About the MACH Alliance</h2>
The MACH Alliance is a [501(c)(6)] non-profit organization, governed by an independent board and does not endorse specific vendors, members or otherwise. The Alliance was formed in June 2020 to help enterprise organizations navigate the complex modern technology landscape. It aims to guide and show the business advantage of open tech ecosystems that are Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless. All MACH Alliance members meet certification principles that are published on the website.
The MACH Alliance welcomes technology companies and individual industry experts who share the same vision for the future. Learn more at <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3749828-1&amp;h=349526954&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fcts.businesswire.com%2Fct%2FCT%3Fid%3Dsmartlink%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fmachalliance.org%252F%26esheet%3D52478831%26newsitemid%3D20210818005487%26lan%3Den-US%26anchor%3Dmachalliance.org%26index%3D5%26md5%3Ddb9d7bdff8c8646152c1923d3ff4adc2&amp;a=%C2%A0machalliance.org" target="_blank">machalliance.org</a>, read here about <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3749828-1&amp;h=1674984232&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fcts.businesswire.com%2Fct%2FCT%3Fid%3Dsmartlink%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fmachalliance.org%252Fblogdetail%252Fbltfc0a3afbca44303e%26esheet%3D52478831%26newsitemid%3D20210818005487%26lan%3Den-US%26anchor%3DMACH%2Bcertification%26index%3D6%26md5%3Dba1c5d6e1bf42963a3a8bb59771d09da&amp;a=%C2%A0MACH+certification" target="_blank">MACH certification</a> and follow us on <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3749828-1&amp;h=3336969077&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fcts.businesswire.com%2Fct%2FCT%3Fid%3Dsmartlink%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.twitter.com%252Fmachalliance%26esheet%3D52478831%26newsitemid%3D20210818005487%26lan%3Den-US%26anchor%3DTwitter%26index%3D7%26md5%3Ddfeea3f8422d14d51b860d90329a6837&amp;a=%C2%A0Twitter" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/machalliance/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>.

MACH Alliance Releases Survey from Global IT Leaders Analyzing Impact from MACH Investments

cms-critic-staff

Yesterday, <a href="https://machalliance.org/newsroom/google-cloud-joins-the-mach-alliance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the MACH Alliance announced</a> that Google Cloud will join its ranks as a MACH Enabler, becoming the latest addition to the organization's fast-growing community of composable platforms. 
Google Cloud will play an important role as a foundational cloud and infrastructure provider alongside other Enabler members, including <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/netlify-to-host-headless-commerce-summit-for-talks-on-building-world-class-e-commerce-experiences/">Netlify</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-monthly-recap-mach-alliance-announces-new-enabler-category-glassbox-and-optimizely-partner-gutenberg-updates-and-more/">Mongo DB</a>, <a href="https://vercel.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vercel</a>, <a href="https://www.webscale.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Webscale</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/aws-joins-mach-alliance-as-enabler-member-reflects-growth-of-cloud-native-solutions/">Amazon Web Services (AWS)</a>. The MACH Alliance now boasts more than 70 members in its best-of-breed technology ecosystem.
“The MACH Alliance has quickly become the face of advocacy when it comes to pushing for a new standard for IT architectural excellence,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-colyer-4129214/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Colyer</a>, Worldwide Head of Retail Industry Partnerships at Google Cloud. “We see the future in headless and composable commerce and it’s important for us to be a part of the community to which a number of our partners belong. Through our membership, we can truly support those partners while championing open and cloud-native technology ecosystems as they grow in relevance and competence.”
<h2>“Hey Google, what's a MACH Alliance Enabler?”</h2>
No need to consult your Google Home assistant – we've got the answer.
The MACH Alliance added its specialized Enabler membership category in December 2021, reserved for companies that provide an essential platform or infrastructure solution to MACH Alliance members. Enablers typically provide monitoring, data storage, cluster or container management, tracing, service meshing, API gateways, and orchestration.
While they don't offer a direct MACH product or service, Enablers help power MACH solutions for other vendors – making them an integral part of the ecosystem. 
“Having a brand like Google Cloud aligned with our organization is a powerful indicator that the market shift toward composable is speeding up and becoming mainstream,” said <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">Casper Ramussen</a>, MACH Alliance president. “This shift represents a major challenge to the position of long-established enterprise suites, and we’re in the right place at the right time for our movement to really scale. The Enabler category is ripe for growth over the next 12 months and critical to the success of MACH across all industries.”
<h2>Rapid Growth for MACH</h2>
The adoption of MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless) has continued to disrupt the previously monolith-dominated tech landscape. With leading global brands like AWS – and now Google Cloud – joining the MACH Alliance Enabler category, it's clear that MACH has achieved a new tier of industry validation, likely leading to more adoption in the future. 
In just under three years, the MACH Alliance has transitioned from four founding members to 15 at launch, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/bloomreach-emporix-and-kontent-ai-join-mach-alliance-pushing-member-total-over-70/">to now more than 70</a>. This is due in no small part to the rising demand for composable solutions that eliminate vendor lock-in, decrease the need for re-platforming, accelerate time-to-market, improve personalization and experimentation, and more. 
<h2>About the MACH Alliance</h2>
The MACH Alliance is a [501(c)(6)] non-profit organization, governed by an independent board and does not endorse specific vendors, members, or otherwise. The Alliance was formed in June 2020 to help enterprise organizations navigate the complex modern technology landscape. It aims to guide and show the business advantage of open tech ecosystems that are Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless. All MACH Alliance members meet certification principles that are published on the website.
The MACH Alliance welcomes technology companies and individual industry experts who share the same vision for the future. Learn more at machalliance.org, read here about <a href="https://machalliance.org/insights/mach-certification-a-seal-of-confidence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MACH certification</a> and follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/machalliance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/machalliance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a>.

Google Cloud Joins MACH Alliance as Enabler Member

<a href="https://www.semrush.com/blog/what-are-keywords-simple-keyword-definition/" target="_blank">Keywords</a> are the lifeblood of SEO. When used properly, they can juice the search performance of any website and drive more traffic. Of course, they've become somewhat of a precious commodity when utilized for Google Ads campaigns, fluctuating like the price of gold based on their volume metrics.
For most website builder platforms, the fundamentals of technical SEO (search engine optimization) are often engineered into the platform on an architectural level. This might be in the form of structured data on a website template that governs the use of an H1, H2, aria-label, and so on. But there hasn't been as much direct integration with rich keyword tools, leaving marketers to run separate reports and seed keywords in their CMS.
That's about to change for <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wix-to-host-first-ever-developers-conference-wix-devcon-2022/">Wix</a>, a leading SaaS website builder for creating, managing, and growing websites. The company just announced a partnership with <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/semrush-and-yoast-partner-to-enhance-wordpress-seo-and-digital-marketing/">Semrush</a>, a leading online visibility management platform, that will enable Wix users to access Semrush’s SEO keyword data directly through the Wix Platform. The integration will help users identify the right keywords for their website to help improve their rankings in search results.
<h2>Semrush brings industry-leading SEO keyword optimization to Wix websites</h2>
Powered by Semrush’s global database of more than 21 billion keywords, the new integration enables users to easily find the most relevant and effective keywords for their website without leaving the Wix platform. This includes access to critical metrics like search intent and keyword difficulty generated from Semrush’s rich SEO toolkit. 
The integration is available through <a href="https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-seo-wiz-creating-your-seo-checklist-in-the-wix-seo-wiz" target="_blank">Wix’s SEO Setup Checklist</a>, a tool that guides Wix users on how to optimize their website for SEO and get it indexed on Google – with actionable steps and educational resources.
In addition to performance, reliability, and security improvements, Wix has recently augmented its suite of SEO tools. This includes adding 25 new SEO features and products over the past year, as well as hundreds of SEO-related enhancements. As a result of this focused investment, the SEO community has begun embracing Wix. 
The Semrush integration will live inside the Wix dashboard in the SEO Tools section:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/09/wix-semrush-seo-tools.jpg" alt="Wix SEO Tools screen" />
The keyword insights from Semrush provide useful metrics such as:
<ul>
<li>keyword volume</li>
<li>keyword trends showing how popular the keyword is and how popular the keyword has been over time</li>
<li>keyword difficulty, which shows how competitive that particular keyword is, and search intent (i.e. commercial, informational)</li>
</ul>
You can also select and add your favorite keywords and save them to your SEO setup checklist:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/09/wix-keyword-insights-screenshot.jpg" alt="Wix EMRush SEO Tools dashboard" />
<h2>A partnership aligned around website experience and organic SEO</h2>
The new integration with Semrush is available to all Wix users in English. Users will need to have a Semrush account to leverage the integration; the usage quota available will depend on the account connected to their website, starting at a daily limit of 10 words for free Semrush accounts.
“It’s always been our mission to help businesses and search professionals have one unified platform to grow their site’s visibility in search engines,” said Nati Elimelech, Head of SEO at Wix. “With this integration, we’re taking another notable step in democratizing SEO by enabling our users to conduct better research and choose the right keywords and topics to focus on in their content strategy, right from within their dashboard. We are dedicated to making SEO more accessible to everyone and helping our users to make better decisions that will impact their organic growth.”
Both companies appear bullish about the value of the integration. For Wix, arming its users with advanced SEO marketing features may differentiate the platform in a dense market of competitors like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/squarespace-a-diy-website-builder-1/">Squarespace</a> – and enhancing its portfolio with foundational tools like Semrush will help amplify its perceived value, improve loyalty across its community, and attract new users.
For Semrush, Wix presents a broad channel of access to website owners who might now be thinking about the importance of keywords but now have easy access to an industry-leading toolset. 
“By leveraging Semrush’s keyword databases and metrics, Wix is giving users the necessary tools to find smart opportunities and improve their ranking on Google. As Organic Search traffic is incredibly valuable, the new integration in Wix can help to grow their businesses,” said Marcus Tober, SVP of Enterprise Solutions at Semrush. “Now is the time for business owners to take website and online marketing management into their own hands, and platforms like Wix and Semrush can help them do it.”
Want to learn how to conduct keyword research with Wix's Semrush integration? Visit <a href="https://www.wix.com/seo/learn" target="_blank">Wix's SEO Hub</a> and explore this great <a href="https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/keyword-research-wix-semrush-integration" target="_blank">tutorial.</a>
<h2>About Semrush</h2>
Semrush is a leading online visibility management SaaS platform that enables businesses globally to run search engine optimization, pay-per-click, content, social media and competitive research campaigns and get measurable results from online marketing. Semrush offers insights and solutions for companies to build, manage, and measure campaigns across various marketing channels. Semrush, with over 91,000 paying customers, is headquartered in Boston and has offices in Philadelphia, Trevose, Austin, Dallas, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belgrade, Berlin, Limassol, Prague, Warsaw, and Yerevan.
<h2>About Wix</h2>
Wix is a leading platform for creating, managing and growing a digital presence. What began as a website builder in 2006 is now a complete platform providing users with enterprise-grade performance, security and reliable infrastructure. Offering a wide range of commerce and business solutions, and advanced SEO and marketing tools, Wix enables users to have full ownership of their brand, their data, and their relationships with their customers. With a focus on continuous innovation and the delivery of new features and products, anyone can build a powerful digital presence to fulfill their dreams on Wix.

Wix and Semrush Partner to Provide Users with Valuable Keyword Data to Help Grow Online Visibility

Image of Wix and Semrush logos against a purple background

<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/siteimprove-seo-provides-all-in-one-capabilities-for-enhancing-search-performance/">Siteimprove</a>, the enterprise SaaS company with solutions for improving website governance and performance, <a href="https://siteimprove.com/en-us/company/press/siteimprove-s-enterprise-platform-delivers-275-return-on-investment/" target="_blank">announced</a> the findings of a new Forrester TEI study – demonstrating that their platform delivered a 275 percent return on investment (ROI) over three years for a composite organization. 
The study also suggests that the Siteimprove investment could be paid back in less than six months – an impressive ROI by any measure and a testament to the accessibility leader's value across the digital stack. 
Despite being known for their best-of-breed <a href="https://siteimprove.com/en-us/accessibility/" target="_blank">accessibility scanning and monitoring solutions</a>, Siteimprove also offers a robust <a href="https://siteimprove.com/en-us/seo/" target="_blank">SEO platform</a> with a range of powerful enterprise features, including enhanced search capabilities. 
Siteimprove has also added two new tools to their ecosystem – <a href="https://siteimprove.com/en-us/ads/" target="_blank">Siteimprove Ads</a> and <a href="https://siteimprove.com/en-us/performance/" target="_blank">Siteimprove Performance</a> – which help simplify Google Ad management and make website performance data more understandable and actionable. This <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/siteimprove-seo-provides-all-in-one-capabilities-for-enhancing-search-performance/" target="_blank">combined suite</a> provides marketers with greater control and insight across their martech stack. 
"Siteimprove's performance-with-a-purpose optimization allows marketers to spend more time on efficient, effective content creation that truly impacts revenue," said Shane Paladin, CEO of Siteimprove. "The Forrester [TEI] analysis validates our core mission: helping marketing teams consistently deliver the most accessible, inclusive, relevant, discoverable and usable content."
<h2>Making sense of TEI and ROI</h2>
TEI, short for Total Economic Impact, is a methodology developed by <a href="https://www.forrester.com/policies/tei/" target="_blank">Forrester Research</a> that's been used by technology consumers and businesses for over 20 years. TEI provides business value justification analysis to help organizations understand the financial impact of a technology investment. It consists of four components for evaluating the impact of an investment: cost, benefits, flexibility, and risk. 
The Siteimprove TEI study included clients from across North America and Europe that are focused on providing a more consistent and elevated digital experience for their customers. Based on the findings, prior to using Siteimprove, the interviewees noted how their organizations lacked the necessary capabilities to deliver cohesive, high-quality digital experiences across their websites. 
By using Siteimprove to identify errors and performance issues within their digital experiences, participants in the study were able to:
<ul>
<li>Refine their site design and UX, leading to nearly $415,000 in savings: With Siteimprove, users were able to methodically apply an insights-driven approach to page redesigns, content creation, and marketing campaign spending. This led to an increase in site visits, higher registrations, and a reduction in marketing spending.</li>
<li>Improve accessibility, resulting in almost $179,000 in savings: By addressing key accessibility concerns such as readability and inclusivity, companies enabled website visitors with disabilities to interact with their brand more effectively. In addition, customers were able to expand their audiences by offering a more seamless experience to a broader base of users. </li>
<li>Automate monitoring and workflow capabilities, leading to more than $75,000 in savings: By leveraging Siteimproves's automated tools and resources, organizations were able to reduce the average time spent on error detection and content monitoring by 90%.</li>
<li>Bolster traffic from SEO, leading to nearly $110,000 in savings: Through web content optimization – primarily the identification and remediation of technical, content, user experience (UX), and mobile issues – Siteimprove users were able to enhance their website content, improve search engine rankings, and drive more traffic. </li>
</ul>
<h2>What customers had to say in the Forrester TEI study</h2>
TEI has become an invaluable resource for many organizations – and with the Forrester name behind it, the quality goes well beyond other independent research sources.
Still, there's no better indicator of success than the voice of the customer. To that end, the study also featured comments from interviewees that codified the benefits of Siteimprove. Here's one from the head of web marketing for an information technology company:
"We have multiple in-country based [sic] websites, all with different teams. I needed a solution that could help us centrally understand the quality of these sites and provide them with easy-to-understand actions to rectify the identified problems."
And another from a marketing analyst in the education field:
“I spend more time now planning optimizations and providing insights to the business. Previously, I was spending a lot of time collecting and manipulating data and not as much time learning from the data. Siteimprove definitely helps with that.”
There's more to glean from the full TEI study. Siteimprove provides a <a href="https://siteimprove.com/en-us/tei-of-siteimprove/" target="_blank">free copy</a> on their website.
<h2>About the Forrester TEI Study</h2>
Total Economic Impact ™ (TEI) is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company's technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize IT initiatives' tangible value to senior management and other key business stakeholders.
<h2>About Siteimprove</h2>
Siteimprove's enterprise platform transforms content into the foundation of winning customer experiences that drive revenue. Marketing teams using Siteimprove's data-driven approach to consistently deliver content that meets strict digital accessibility requirements and is optimized for SEO, and marketing campaigns. Siteimprove works alongside DXPs, giving marketing and web teams end-to-end visibility throughout the content lifecycle. By automating time-consuming tasks, Siteimprove empowers marketers to deliver highly optimized content faster. Over 7,500 companies use Siteimprove to transform their content into revenue and is regularly recognized as a G2 leader across the board.

New Forrester TEI Study: Siteimprove Enterprise Platform Delivers 275% ROI

paris-tuzun

Image of Siteimprove logo with graphic showing ROI and payback of less than 6 months

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

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Sitecore’s epic <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-embarks-on-1-2b-investment-plan-to-accelerate-growth/" target="_blank">$1.2 billion growth plan</a> keeps bearing its fruits, this time with the addition of a new SaaS DXP. Sitecore yesterday <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/company/news-events/press-releases/2021/10/sitecore-announces-the-future-of-the-digital-experience-platform" target="_blank">announced</a> Sitecore Experience Manager Cloud – the first entirely cloud-native CMS offering the design flexibility, integration-friendliness, and authoring experience for business users to create and deliver personalized digital experiences. 
Sitecore’s new SaaS DXP, which is available for customers from today in most regions globally, is built on a composable architecture, so end users can buy best-of-breed products or an integrated platform that scales to support high volume content, visitor, and data processing needs. The composable approach enables brands to capitalize on Sitecore’s 1,200+ strong partner ecosystem, extensive developer network, and deep-rooted expertise in helping enterprise businesses manage and enhance the customer experience across all industries and regions.
The company also announced a range of new product updates that integrate recent acquisitions and the launch of a subscription-based learning resource. <a href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/" target="_blank">Sitecore Symposium</a>, the biggest annual Sitecore event, was full of announcements, including a range of new product updates that integrate recent acquisitions and the launch of a subscription-based learning resource, all accompanied by John Legend’s singing performance. 
Sitecore’s $1.2B investment last year has been the largest capital investment in the martech space. The investment spurred a series of acquisitions of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/" target="_blank">Boxever, Four51</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-moosend-adds-ai-powered-email-marketing-automation/" target="_blank">Moosend</a>, and, lastly, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-ai-powered-search-platform-reflektion/" target="_blank">Reflektion</a>.
With the new SaaS DXP, customers can now configure and connect products through APIs as needed to gain faster time to value and have the ability to flex their creativity to create differentiation in the market faster than the competition. With microservices-based, cloud-native technology, the option to scale up or down and quickly change content across different channels is possible.
<blockquote>“Today’s announcement confirms our ambition to disrupt the market and help brands stay ahead with cutting-edge technology. Our recent acquisitions have been fundamental to building the most advanced composable platform available today, something we see as the future of DXP. Customer expectations are everchanging, so it is essential brands are empowered to work in real-time, adapting experiences to keep up with the demand. We’re supporting them with the technology to make this possible. By bringing our portfolio together in the cloud, brands can achieve this and enjoy a truly integrated, flexible, and scalable platform – delivering personalized experiences for their customers, whatever the channel.”
- Steve Tzikakis, Sitecore CEO</blockquote>
Below you can find a list of updates to Sitecore’s offering:
<h4>Sitecore Discover</h4>
Following the acquisition of Reflektion in September, <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/discover" target="_blank">Sitecore Discover</a> empowers commerce businesses by adding individualized search and merchandising capabilities. 
With 93% of all online experiences starting with search, this is an essential update empowering brands to offer end-to-end, personalized experiences using AI-powered technology that understands and predicts customer patterns, context, and needs.
With Site Discover, you can deliver a 1:1 shopping experience with tailored search results and recommendations driven by AI in real-time.
<h4>Sitecore Personalize</h4>
Sitecore yesterday announced its new SaaS Personalization Engine powered by technology from the company’s Boxever acquisition. Boxever, a SaaS-based Customer Data Platform (CDP) providing decisioning and experimentation, allows Sitecore to enhance customer intelligence with AI-driven personalization tools. Personalize allows brands to experiment and be agile to customers’ evolving digital behaviors. The AI-based technology empowers digital leaders to deliver next-level, real-time experiences, optimize their conversion funnels and engage customers with relevant content and offers.
<h4>Sitecore Health Cloud</h4>
Sitecore Health Cloud is an offering of Sitecore Experience Platform in Microsoft Azure that caters to the specific intricacies of the U.S. healthcare market. The technology, which is scheduled to be HIPAA ready in Spring 2022, will empower providers to offer engaging and personalized patient experiences using data, delivering great healthcare services in a secure and compliant manner.
<h4>Sitecore Learning</h4>
Sitecore also announced three new tiered learning subscriptions – Essentials, Professionals, and Advanced – to help more professionals across the industry become Sitecore certified. Created to meet the demand for education that matches the speed of Sitecore’s DXP updates and additions, the resource will enable users to learn about products from online courses and instructor-led tutorials. They will also allow professionals to learn about other Sitecore products, opening up possibilities to expand and enhance their capabilities and address the challenge of siloed teams. To find out more about Sitecore’s learning resource, visit: <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/knowledge-center/getting-started/training" target="_blank">learning.sitecore.com</a>
<h2>About Sitecore</h2>
Sitecore delivers a digital experience platform that empowers the world's smartest brands to build lifelong relationships with their customers. A highly decorated industry leader, Sitecore is the only company bringing together content, commerce, and data into one connected platform that delivers millions of digital experiences every day. Leading companies, including American Express, ASOS, Kimberly-Clark, L'Oréal, and Volvo Cars, rely on Sitecore to provide more engaging, personalized experiences for their customers. Learn more at <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/" target="_blank">Sitecore.com</a>.

Sitecore Announces the Future of the Digital Experience Platform, Launching Industry’s First Enterprise SaaS Offering

If you’re a child of the 1980s – or just a fan of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80057281">Stranger Things</a> – you might remember the directory sign at your local mall. It was the one place you could find exactly what you were looking for in a sea of stores, and they’re still a fixture to this day.Unfortunately, most site searches can’t even get you to the food court. In many cases, you’re left sifting through a morass of results, wondering if you’ll ever find your way to that rad new pair of acid-washed jeans.Like malls, site search has been around for a long time. But now, it’s becoming an even more vital part of the digital experience. After all, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nngroup.com/articles/search-and-you-may-find/">more than half of people are now “search dominant</a>”, meaning they will use a website’s search over the navigation to find what they’re looking for.From an SEO perspective, navigation is key. But modern search tools can add a complementary layer of insights and analytics. These cutting-edge, AI-driven technologies can energize your marketing by understanding how your customers are searching – not just what they’re searching for.One of the best site search tools we’ve seen is Swiftype, which was <a target="_blank" href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/09/elastic-acquires-swiftype/">purchased by Elastic in 2017</a>. This powerful SaaS platform has positioned itself as a clear leader in the site search landscape and has evolved to include app search and a host of other features.In this article, we’ll take a close look at Swiftype’s features and explore how you can customize your search results, leverage analytics, and even build marketing strategies within the platform. It’s like a mall for best-of-breed site search capabilities – and we’ll show you exactly where to shop.<h3>Goodbye, Google Search</h3>Back in the day, Google Site Search was the defacto standard. Not only was it easy to implement, but it brought the world's leading search technology down to the website level. Unfortunately, Google deprecated the service in 2018, forcing thousands of websites to scramble for a new solution.Quite a few niche players answered the call, including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.algolia.com/">Algolia</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cludo.com/">Cludo</a>, and others. Enterprise brands also muscled their way into the game, with <a target="_blank" href="https://aws.amazon.com/cloudsearch/">Amazon CloudSearch</a> and Google Search Console offering alternatives.What was missing was the best of both worlds – a cost-effective, cloud-based service that offered core site search with scalable enterprise features. That’s where Swiftype comes in.<h3>What is Swiftype?</h3>Swiftype is a cloud-based SaaS platform that enables organizations of all sizes to create and manage a tailored search experience with real-time feedback, user insight, and search trend analytics. Users are able to monitor which content visitors are searching for and which results they’re engaging with as they browse your website.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-analytics-dashboard.png" />Swiftype is incredibly easy to install and customize. Once you sign up and enter your website’s address, Swiftype automatically indexes your site and renders your custom search engine in real-time. In addition to providing a “marketer friendly” no-code experience, Swiftype also gives advanced developers access to resources including their API.Swiftype offers two main products – Site Search and App Search – which can be added to websites and CMS platforms. We’ve explored both in more detail below.<h3>Swiftype Site Search</h3>Swiftype Site Search provides all the tools you need to deliver more relevant search results for your website users. It's simple to set up and use, and has some dynamite out-of-the-box features, including:<ul><li>Autocomplete: Guide users to the content, answers, or products that matter most with real-time results – right as they type.</li><li>Search Refinements: Dynamically expand on simple search, allowing your users to refine results by attributes such as date, price, author, location, or content type.</li><li>Comprehensive Documentation: Swiftype has clear and simple guides that can help you build the perfect search experience. You'll have all the materials you need to become a master of high value search experiences.</li><li>Advanced Search Algorithm: Powered by AI/ML, Swiftype Site Search is built on an advanced search algorithm that delivers relevant results for even the most complicated queries.</li></ul><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-site-search-features.png" /><ul><li>Search Controls and Analytics: Site Search surfaces the most important data points and performance indicators for your search. It also gives you the tools to take action and improve performance, including patented technologies that allow you to tweak your search engine’s output globally or on a per-query basis.</li></ul><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/search-controls-and-swiftype-analytics.png" /><ul><li>Developer Tools: One of Swiftype’s strengths is its ability to appeal to marketers with a no-code experience. But it also provides a robust, developer-friendly API for creating custom record schemas, indexing data in real-time, embedding search into any user interface (such as a website or CMS), and programmatically tracking events. You can view the API documentation <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/documentation/site-search/overview">here</a>.</li><li>Real-time Search Analytics: Swiftype allows you to see what your users are searching for, clicking on, and engaging with as it happens – so you have more actionable insight about their behaviors. With its powerful real-time search analytics, you can track the highest performing content on your website or app, assess which autocomplete queries are most popular, and learn what content was most commonly chosen from autocomplete suggestions.</li></ul><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/real-time-search-analytics.png" /><ul><li>Tracking conversions and autocompletes: Search conversions tell you where your users go after performing a search.</li></ul><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/tracking-conversions-and-autocompletes.png" /><ul><li>Find out What Users Aren’t Finding: Swiftype shows you common searches that return no results – so you can optimize your content strategy. Swiftype’s custom result ranking feature lets you add results to these search terms to help visitors find more of what they’re looking for.</li></ul><h3>Swiftype App Search</h3><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-app-search.jpg" />While Site Search provides a powerful solution without a steep learning curve, Swiftype App Search goes deep with developers. You get access to a robust set of APIs that allow you to customize your search experience – all backed by the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.elastic.co/elastic-stack">Elastic Stack</a>.Swiftype App Search harnesses the power of Elasticsearch, built on the constantly improving foundation that Elastic provides. It includes features like typo-tolerance, stemming, bigram and phrase matching – as well as search customization capabilities like Curations, Weights, Boosts and Synonyms.Together, these tools help you fine-tune relevance based on your business objectives in conjunction with data from App Search’s Analytics platform.Other key features include:<ul><li>Real-time Analytics: Measure how users interact with your search engine and track everything in real-time, revealing unique insights into user behavior.</li><li>Relevance Tuning: The App Search Dashboard makes relevance tuning as simple as point-and-click. Make customizations in the web-based interface and preview their impact in real-time – all with no code.</li><li>Schemaless Indexing: App Search supports dynamic schemas and real-time reindexing. Simply send JSON to the API and Swiftype analyzes it for whatever search application you build.</li></ul>You can see the full list of App Search features <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/app-search/features">here</a>.<h3>How to Add Swiftype Site Search to Your Website</h3>One of Swiftype’s main selling points is its ease of installation – and based on our experience, it delivers as billed.Swiftype’s website claims it takes as little as five minutes, and for the essentials, that was pretty much spot on. The tools were a quick study, and the interface is clean and lightweight, making it pleasant to work in.To set up Swiftype on your website, you first need to <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/users/sign_up">create your account</a>, then an Engine (short for “Search Engine”). After beginning your Site Search trial, enter your website's URL when prompted.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-create-engine.png" />Once the scan is successful, provide your Engine with a name and select its default language. You can choose from over 13 different languages, including English, French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and German. For the full list, see Swiftype’s documents on <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/documentation/site-search/crawler-configuration/language-optimization">language support</a>.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-choose-engine-language.png" />The final step is adding the search experience to your website. Once you click on the Installation button, you’ll need to configure the design of your Search Field and Result Container. From there, you can choose how to style your results, configure autocomplete, and tune an array of options.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-style-your-results-and-other-configurations.png" />Once you have the basic configuration in place, you’ll receive an embeddable JavaScript snippet. Place that snippet on each webpage to enable the search. The snippet will look like this:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-javascript-snippet.png" />And that’s it. If you’re savvy and committed, it can take just a few minutes – and that’s pretty slick.<h3>How to Add Swiftype Site Search to Your CMS</h3>Content management systems often miss the mark on their own search capabilities. By adding Swiftype, you can instantly improve a CMS experience and add your CMS content automatically using Swiftype’s <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/documentation/site-search/tutorials/add_search_to_any_cms">Site Crawler</a>.On the more advanced end, you can even set up callbacks that can be used to hook into content, alerting Swiftype that new content is available to index.While the installation process is relatively straight-forward – and works well for most CMS platforms based on their documentation – there are a few more steps involved. But Swiftype offers some great <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/documentation/site-search/tutorials/add_search_to_any_cms">step-by-step guidance</a> to build out the experience.<h3>Customer Support</h3>Swiftype offers broad customer support, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.g2.com/products/swiftype/reviews">according to the reviews</a>, it offers one of the best experiences around.Swiftype Standard and Pro support is focused on making sure your Swiftype Engine is working as expected – and is fully available. To that end, they offer:<ul><li>Analysis of the state of your engine</li><li>Actions you can perform to stabilize or tune your engine</li><li>Pointers to Swiftype documentation or forums if your question is outside the scope of the platform itself</li></ul>Elastic reported their response time and hours below:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-customer-support-plans.png" />In addition, they provide a lively community of support for Swiftype users. With the community forums, you can get your more in-depth questions answered.<h3>Pricing</h3>Swiftype has two separate plans for Site Search and App Search. The Site Search plan starts at $79/month and App Search starts at $49/month.Site Search:There are three plans for site search: Standard, Pro, and Premium.The standard plan gives you all the core search features and analytics, as well as multilingual support.With the Pro plan, your website gets crawled twice a day instead of once per week. Additionally, you get cross-domain search and PDF/document indexing.The Premium plan is their enterprise-level search and security.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-site-search-plans.png" />App Search:Just like the Site Search plans, Swiftype’s App Search plans offer Standard, Pro, and Premium Packages.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-app-search-plans.png" /><h3>Conclusion</h3>While good navigation is important, people always seek the path of least resistance. That’s why site search is so essential: it enables more control over intent, allowing a user to search for specific content quickly and easily – and even discovering new stuff along the way. In that sense, it’s another layer in your personalization strategy.While Swiftype is easy to set up, marketer- and developer-friendly, and offers a broad range of tools, it’s not the cheapest solution on the market. But if you’re looking for a platform that makes search a more strategic part of your experience, Swiftype is at the top of the list. It offers unmatched control and scalability, and brings more power and presence to site search as a strategic asset. With world-class customer support to boot, it’s really a solid platform on every level.You can start a <a target="_blank" href="https://app.swiftype.com/signup?product=ss">free</a> trial today. Acid-washed jeans not included.<h3>About Swiftype</h3><a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/">Swiftype</a> is a search and index company based in San Francisco, California, that provides search software for organizations, websites, and computer programs. Notable customers include AT&amp;T, Dr. Pepper, Hubspot and TechCrunch. Swiftype's site search can be used for faceted search, full text search, real-time search, and concept search queries. The company's plans offer on-demand and live recrawls and indexing of websites. Other features include drag-and-drop result customization, real-time analytics and adjustable weights. In an effort to further grow outside of site search, Swiftype introduced an enterprise search service in February 2017.<h3>About Elastic</h3><a target="_blank" href="https://www.elastic.co/">Elastic</a> builds software to make data usable in real time and at scale for search, logging, security, and analytics use cases. Founded in 2012, the company develops the open source Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Kibana, Beats, and Logstash), X-Pack (commercial features), and Elastic Cloud (a SaaS offering). Elastic is used by organizations including Cisco, eBay, Goldman Sachs, NASA, Microsoft, Mayo Clinic, The New York Times, Wikipedia, and Verizon to power mission-critical systems.

Swiftype Review: Add Powerful Elastic Search to Websites, Apps and CMS Platforms

Contentstack, a headless Content Experience Platform (CXP), has <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/company/press/partnership-with-gatsby-to-build-fast-enterprise-mach-enabled-websites">announced</a> a strategic partnership with Gatsby – a modern React-based, open source framework for creating high-performance websites and applications. The partnership will enable customers to leverage the combined power of both platforms to build high performance, blazing-fast websites to deliver personalized, omnichannel experiences at scale.
The partnership between Gatsby and Contentstack is the latest in a year of significant moves across the CMS landscape, including the <a href="/episerver-to-acquire-optimizely-the-worlds-leading-experience-optimization-platform/">recent purchase of Optimizely by Episerver</a>. As competition continues to increase, platforms are seeking more strategic avenues – including partnerships – to position their offerings.
For Contentstack, Gatsby represents a powerful channel of opportunity for accelerating website performance with a headless CMS that is purpose-built for omnichannel experiences. The partnership offers an enterprise-class, cloud-native solution to provide the best possible speed, security and flexibility for creating digital experiences.
<h3 id="going-headless">Going Headless</h3>
Over the last few years, headless CMS platforms have become far more prevalent, evolving from template-based platforms to API-driven and decoupled systems. Unlike traditional content management systems where the content is tied to the frontend, headless CMS platforms separate the content from the presentation – allowing creators to pull, store, and display their content any way they want, using the frameworks or programming languages they prefer.
As an API-first headless SaaS platform, <a href="/contentstack-introducing-headless-cms/">Contentstack</a> is at the intersection of content management and digital experiences, enabling business and IT to “remove the silos” and more easily collaborate. Their microservices architecture provides an extensible framework for scaling across endpoints, from websites to devices to frontend apps, giving content creators more control over an expanding world of channels and services.
Gatsby also takes a headless approach to content, leveraging modern web technologies such as React, GraphQL, and Javascript to provide a faster frontend experience powered by a headless CMS. The result is a dynamic, lightweight website that improves the user experience without compromising control from the CMS layer.  
"In today's digital world, speed matters – losing customers to a slow, low-performing website is not acceptable," said Peter Fogelsanger, Global Head of Partnerships at Contentstack. "Ensuring that the storytelling from the content creators is delivered to customers quickly and seamlessly is critical to every company's success. This partnership with Gatsby makes it possible. Businesses can bring together their marketing and development teams to deliver blazing fast websites and applications with the best, most up-to-date digital content for their customers."
Together, Contentstack and Gatsby are providing a complete solution for improving website performance and unifying both marketing and development teams. By adopting the MACH (Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless) approach delivered by both platforms, businesses can now create faster, more scalable websites that enhance the customer experience.
"Working with Contentstack allows marketing and content to harmonize with the development team," said Linda Watkins, Vice President of Partnerships at Gatsby. "When both business and technical teams are enabled by a microservices-based architecture, the agility in adapting and improving customer experiences is a game changer. Gatsby Cloud enables businesses to integrate seamlessly with Contentstack's API to manage content and control publishing. Our joint customers can more easily deliver the best digital experiences and truly stand out from their competition."
As part of the partnership offering, joint customers will have access to an API-connector between the Contentstack and Gatsby technology platforms. Contentstack <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/docs/developers/sample-apps/build-a-sample-website-using-gatsby-and-contentstack/">offers</a> a tutorial, providing step-by-step instructions on how to create a website using Gatsby and Contentstack. Gatsby also has an exclusive <a href="https://www.gatsbyjs.com/guides/contentstack/">guide</a> for integrating Gatsby with Contentstack.
<h3 id="about-gatsby">About Gatsby</h3>
<a href="https://www.gatsbyjs.org/">Gatsby</a> is a web development framework that brings together all the best, modern ways to build on the web. Specifically designed to help frontend engineers leverage the advantages of cloud native architecture, Gatsby provides the most collaborative, secure, and performant way to build websites with access to a broad ecosystem of tools and enhancements via easy to setup integrations. Used by Fortune 500 companies including ButcherBox, Capital One, DraftKings, IBM, and Impossible Foods, the company is backed by Index Ventures, CRV, Trinity Ventures, Dig Ventures, Mango Capital, Fathom Capital, and prominent angel investors.
<h3 id="about-contentstack">About Contentstack</h3>
<a href="https://www.contentstack.com/">Contentstack</a> is a headless SaaS Content Experience Platform (DXP) that enables enterprises to manage content across all digital channels. The preferred API-first CMS for SAP customers, Contentstack was designed from the ground up for large-scale, complex, and mission-critical deployments. Contentstack is a founding member of the MACH Alliance, an industry organization that advocates for an open and best-of-breed enterprise technology ecosystem that is Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native and Headless.

Contentstack and Gatsby Announce Partnership to Power Ultra-Fast Websites with Headless CMS

When it comes to SEO, there are a number of tools that can help improve your website’s performance. And that’s the problem: you often need multiple resources to manage a comprehensive SEO strategy, and few platforms offer complete solution with the right mix of features.
While Siteimprove has built a strong reputation around their industry-leading <a href="https://siteimprove.com/en-us/accessibility/">accessibility scanning and monitoring solution</a>, their SEO platform boasts some powerful enterprise features for enhancing search while simplifying the overall management.
We took a fresh look at Siteimprove SEO to see what gives it an edge – and how their all-in-one platform can help power your search and Digital Presence Optimization (DPO) strategies.
<h3 id="the-impact-of-covid-19-on-seo">The Impact of COVID-19 on SEO</h3>
The Coronavirus pandemic has unquestionably changed the way we live. But it’s also dramatically elevated the value of SEO.
With more people working from home, streaming video content, and ordering goods online, internet usage has increased exponentially. While businesses have begun to reopen in most places, the effects of COVID-19 have had a profound and lasting impact on digital experience.
From events to food service to hospitality, almost every industry has been forced to transform their operations. As businesses continue to become more reliant on digital strategies, SEO is playing an even bigger role for driving leads and competing online.
<h3 id="seo-made-simple">SEO Made Simple</h3>
Digital professionals already know how challenging it is to manage a successful SEO strategy. With dozens of tools flooding the already overloaded <a href="https://chiefmartec.com/2020/04/marketing-technology-landscape-2020-martech-5000/">MarTech landscape</a> – from analytics to keyword research to linking – the choices can feel overwhelming.
Siteimprove SEO helps cut through this complexity by combining the most essential tools in one place and integrating their capabilities. This makes the SEO job less cumbersome while providing more actionable insight and value.
We’ve already mentioned Siteimprove’s best-of-breed accessibility platform. These features go hand-in-hand with SEO, as accessibility is built on structured website tagging and labeling. Search engines love these components, so fixing your accessibility means improving your SEO. It’s relatively easy to add Siteimprove’s accessibility scanning and monitoring to help flag ADA compliance violations.
<h3 id="an-all-in-one-platform-for-optimizing-search">An All-in-One Platform for Optimizing Search</h3>
While no platform can bring everything together in one place, Siteimprove gets pretty close. Here are some key features worth noting:
On-Page Diagnostics 
Siteimprove incorporates 66 unique SEO checks, including scans for missing meta descriptions, spelling mistakes, broken links, poor readability, and links to unsafe domains. Based on all the checkpoints, it then calculates your SEO score, measured on a scale of 0-100.
There are four separate categories: Technical, Content, User Experience, and Mobile Standards. Each category gets its own score with their total making up the overall score. The scoring system allows users to easily identify what needs to be improved and where they should direct their efforts. This makes managing and understanding your SEO much easier. The following ranges give an indication of how your website is doing:
- Red: 0-49 (poor)
- Orange: 50-89 (average)
- Green: 90-100 (good)
A score of 90+ will place your website in the top 5% of all websites, according to Google’s performance metrics. Making your score higher will improve your SEO, user engagement, and user experience – thus increasing conversions.
Keyword insights 
The Keyword insights feature allows for advanced keyword discovery and monitoring. Through a direct integration of <a href="https://search.google.com/search-console/about">Google’s Search console</a>, Siteimprove SEO helps you learn how Google’s search engine sees your website and which queries make your website appear in search results. With Keyword Insights, you can identify keywords that drive traffic to your website and see their search volume, estimated traffic, competition level, and even a specific keyword’s potential ranked from low to high.
Search Engine Analytics 
With Siteimprove, you can see where your visitors are coming from and how engaged they are with your content. Search Engine Analytics provides statistics on visitors from search engine referrals, their county, and even the devices they use. With all the data at your fingertips, you can enhance your digital strategies and focus your campaigns based on incredibly useful metrics.
Backlink checks 
Backlinks are hyperlinks that live on other websites that lead back to your website. Backlinks are an important part of any SEO strategy, as search engines use backlinks as an indicator of your domain authority (essentially how popular or important your website is). With backlink checks and analysis, you can see which sites are publishing links back to you, and identify links that boost your ranking or even put it at risk.
Duplicate Content Finder 
Duplicate content is a problem almost every web or content manager faces. Google and other search engines work hard to index pages with distinct information, and duplicated blocks of content can be seen as manipulating SEO to win more traffic. Even if duplicate content includes things like printer-only versions of pages, the search engines can’t always tell which version to display. Consequently, your page may rank lower or even be excluded from search results. While canonical tags can be used to combat this, it’s good to avoid the problem in the first place.
With Siteimprove, you can search and identify duplicate content, compare the percentage of similarity between pages, and provide page view statistics. Armed with this data, you can take action to remove or properly tag your duplicate content and improve your rankings.
Content Optimization 
With Siteimprove, you can map specific keywords to where they should appear in your content. You can even get recommendations on how to optimize your overall content for keywords.
Accessibility 
As we already mentioned, Siteimprove is well-regarded for their accessibility solutions. But improving your SEO can help support your overall accessibility – and adding Siteimprove’s scanning and monitoring tools can help give you a clean bill of health around violations.
Siteimprove’s scanning and monitoring tools check your website for a range of accessibility issues and compile scoring based on WCAG 2.0 ratings for A, AA, or AAA standards. If you have a big site, you can use automated accessibility checks to simultaneously test hundreds of pages. You can then generate actionable reports that allow you to remediate any issues and track your improvements for regulatory or governance requirements.
<a href="https://siteimprove.com/en-us/accessibility/">Click here</a>  to learn more about Siteimprove’s accessibility solutions.
<h3 id="integration-with-cms-platforms">Integration with CMS Platforms</h3>
Siteimprove works seamlessly with most content management systems. It offers a set of pre-built plugins for specific platforms, as well as integrations developed in collaboration with CMS vendors. There are also a number of community plugins that have been developed and supported by third parties. Siteimprove does feature an <a href="https://api.siteimprove.com/v2/documentation">API spec with complete documentation</a> for building custom integrations.
<h3 id="pricing">Pricing</h3>
Along with their suite of SEO tools, Siteimprove offers multiple enterprise products through a subscription-based model. While they don’t offer pricing on their website, you can contact their sales team to develop a custom quote around your organization’s needs and goals.
You can also get a free demo of the software <a href="https://siteimprove.com/en-us/request-a-demo/">https://siteimprove.com/en-us/request-a-demo/</a>
<h3 id="about-siteimprove">About Siteimprove</h3>
Siteimprove offers the world's most comprehensive cloud-based Digital Presence Optimization (DPO) software. The Siteimprove Intelligence Platform provides eye-opening insights that empower more than 7,500 teams to create higher quality content, drive better traffic, measure digital performance, and work towards regulatory compliance—all from one place. We are also proud to offer best-in-class technical support, academy courses, services, and technology integrations.

Siteimprove SEO Provides All-In-One Capabilities for Enhancing Search Performance

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