Leveraging Accurate Analysis for Better Content Management

Keeping today’s online consumers satisfied is a difficult task for corporate Web sites. The pioneering work done by some of the most popular online spaces has meant that consumers now expect similarly interactive, dynamic content on all Web sites. One of the key aspects of meeting this requirement, and managing content effectively to drive traffic, increase prospect to customer conversion and build revenue, is to understanding user behavior: the way that visitors navigate through a Web site and the information they access.

CMS and Analytics: Where the Twain Meets
Content management and assessment of Web results have traditionally been two independent domains serviced by different sets of tools. Online marketers are now beginning to realize the utility in bringing the two together to get measurable and actionable analyses.

A primary reason for the popularity of integration between Web Content Management Systems (CMS) and Web Analytics tools is that Web site creation and management now involves an increasing number of non-technical users. This is thanks to a variety of tools that have simplified the process of creating, editing and publishing content online. Understanding and shaping change efficiently - and in the best interests of the company - is made much simpler for such users when a CMS is linked with good analytics. The data from both are combined to present a more coherent picture of Web site traffic.

Integrating content management and result measurement is also important because it allows Web sites to maximize personalization and accessibility. And of course, there is the advantage of a single interface solution that is easy to set up, access and use without requiring technical assistance.

Integrated solutions offer advantages through:

1. Data Access
   Both the CMS and the analytics program are able to share data between themselves. The shared data can also be blended to provide more sophisticated, actionable reports. Moreover, an integrated solution overlays analytics information on pages, allowing users to access in-context metrics and real-time data. Content changes can be made without having to toggle between systems. Thus, users can:
   
   
   • Receive at-a-glance analyses of traffic data
   • Receive accurate information on areas such as conversions for campaigns and promotions
   • Pinpoint how close or far customers are to conversion and why
     
     
2. Leveraging Information
   For non-technical users without full knowledge of a system’s content IDs, understanding traffic measurements based on HTML titles is difficult since they fail to provide proper context. With an integrated solution, however, users can easily add meaningful page names that are easier to track.
   
   At the other end is the issue of tracking content categories and different kinds of metadata. For Web site managers, it is important to be able to track content by certain authors or under certain categories, which can belong to multiple content groups. By setting custom variables on each page for such categories and extending the CMS to include the defined data in a template, pages can be automatically tagged to feed such data into reports.
   
   Finally, there is also the issue of search engine optimization, and the need for analysis that goes beyond a basic listing of queries and page hits. Here too, the Web analytics program would need access to CMS data in order to provide a meaningful analysis.
    
3. Tag Management
   The link between CMS and analytics can also be leveraged by automating the process of tagging new content added to a Web site. This can be done by aligning content areas in a CMS to analytics content groups, and then extending the CMS to automatically set appropriate content group tags on each page. This ensures that all areas of the Web site are tagged consistently and optimally for analytics tracking, reducing the risk of errors caused due to hand-coding.
   
   
4. Automating Content Position and Display
   At the level of automation, integrating CMS and analytics can actually affect the workflow of content based on certain metric. For example, users can automate the process of elevating the most popular links — most visited, most emailed, etc. — so that such content becomes more easily accessible. This is done by making the CMS tag reports generated by the analytics system at regular intervals, to generate a hierarchy of items accordingly.

Seize the SaaS Advantage
To get the most out of an online presence, companies should also look beyond traditional installed CMS solutions. With the arrival of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models, installed solutions are looking increasingly costly, time-consuming and complex - without offering commensurate advantages. What makes SaaS or hosted CMS solutions all the more attractive is their easy interoperability: the best Web CMS solutions readily and seamlessly integrate with a variety of Web Analytics, email campaign management, CRM and other systems, removing the need for customized solutions.

Leading hosted CMS providers have gone further to forge strategic tie-ups with analytics companies to offer best-of-breed solutions already integrated with their CMS offering. Thus, users now enjoy the advantages of an enterprise-class CMS, combining the best solutions on offer across a range of domains - without any of the hassles and barriers of installed software.

Conclusion
With inputs and revenues from e-Commerce growing at a rapid rate, leveraging analytics for effective content management is critical to success. In the Web 2.0 world, where online content grows more dynamic by the minute, Web content management is a constant, up-to-the-minute responsibility. Marketers cannot ignore the need for a streamlined approach that provides actionable information on visitor behavior and marketing effectiveness, and allows on-the-fly changes to optimize results.