Archive for the ‘Content Management Systems (CMS)’ Category

1. 11 WordPress Plugins You’ve Gotta Have
By zubin kutar on Social Media Today

At Q, we use WordPress both as a blogging platform and as a CMS system for select clients. While it seems basic on the surface, WordPress can be really powerful with the right customizations and this is a great list of Plugins that can help you take your blog or WordPress site to the next level.

Takeaways: In addition to showing you just how much WordPress is capable of with the right amount of enhancement, the article closes with a great point about Plugins and SEO. These Plugins won’t get you on the first page in Google search,  but the right ones can help you get close when combined with strong on-site content and off-page SEO.

1. The New Facebook Groups: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
By Ayelet Noff on The Next Web

In the wake of Facebook’s BIG ANNOUNCEMENT of its Groups feature, The Next Web offers a summary of the best and worst of this new feature. Literally. The title misleads the reader because the post only goes on to cover the author’s two biggest gripes about the tool. However, it does serve as a friendly reminder that like everything that emerges on the Internet, and Facebook’s previous BIG ANNOUNCEMENT, Places, it has its pro’s and con’s.

Takeaway: There are certainly some benefits to this feature, but it suffers from two long standing Facebook problems – the spammy nature of updates and privacy issues. Being part of a Facebook group means that you have yet another thing to opt in or out of in terms of email notifications from Facebook, and updating your settings every time Facebook decides to add a new feature is getting a little old for a lot of users. Add to this the fact that no consent is required for someone to add you to a group (unless, yet again, you change this permission through your privacy settings on Facebook), and it’s clear that this feature has room for improvement.

Angela Brown, Marketing Manager

On Tuesday, agencyQ co-sponsored a Web Content Mavens event on content strategy and CMS implementation. The topic was a great fit for us both as a sponsor and as our first outing with the Mavens, so I headed over to the offices of the National Trust for Historic Preservation with one of our project managers. The purpose of the meeting was to define content strategy and execution within a content management framework, and each topic had its own speaker. Harry Chauss of Content Strategy DC represented the strategists and F’Lynne Didenko offered war stories from her role as WCMS Product Manager at Sallie Mae, Inc.

After giving the audience the scoop on Q during the sponsor intros, I spent the remainder of the evening Evernoting away during the presentation (I hope no one thought I was rudely replying to emails instead). Here’s what I came away with.

Kurt Roberts, Q’s VP of Digital Strategy, wrote an article for ZDNet on what to consider when choosing your second, third or fourth CMS. In the article, Kurt notes that as CMS spending continues to grow, there are several factors businesses should keep in mind before selecting a vendor for implementation.

The full article is available on the ZDNet site here.

agencyQ will co-host the next DC Sitecore User Group Meeting with NavigationArts and Siteworx on September 21. This time we’re taking our show on the road to Northern Virginia with an evening of networking and a discussion of the Sitecore Online Marketing Suite at Chima Brazilian Steakhouse in Tysons Corner.

Join us as we discuss the importance of analytics and share some best practices around what and how we can measure our website activity.  We will also explore the new Sitecore Online Marketing Suite and Analytics tool and look at some practical applications for improving business.

The agenda will cover:

• The importance of Analytics: What To Measure and How To Use The Data
• An Introduction to the Sitecore Analytics and Marketing Suite
• Q and A
• Networking

Plus, we’ll feed you! So what are you waiting for? Get the full details and register here.