Ektron Web Content Management Solution
Heavy-duty site creation and management
Big and beefy are prime words to describe the Ektron Web Content Management Solution. This powerful platform comes equipped with features that let you create, deploy and manage your website under one heavy-duty roof. Collaboration tools let designers and developers work in tandem, and all updates can be made directly on the site with the browser-based editor.
Wireframe options assist with organization and layout, as does a visual editing tool that lets you lay out all page components, from lists to multimedia, using an intuitive interface.
Once your site is ready for content, writers get a boost from Smart Forms to assist with complex articles and drag-and-drop options that let them freely insert visuals.
Pros
The ability to fully customize your Web design gets a thumbs-up, as does Ektron’s streamlined content management system. Simple uploading, editing, approvals and publishing keep the workflow speedy and efficient.
Responsive Web design features in the 9.0 version of the platform are another major benefit, ensuring that your design works as well on a mobile device as it does on a traditional computer.
There’s no arguing that Ektron WCMS serves up a potent solution on its own, and it also gives you the ability to integrate with a number of other systems you may be using.
It’s friendly to many marketing automation platforms, analytic platforms and customer relationship management systems.
Cons
Ektron WCMS is definitely geared toward medium to larger enterprises, and smaller businesses might find it a bit of overkill.
Some have moaned that the interface appears a bit dated and that certain tools feel clunky and awkward.
Cases in point include the e-commerce component, in which it’s tough to manage the products, and the internal activity boards and messaging features.
Huddle
Perk-packed collaboration space
Whether your project has a team of 10 or 10,000, you can all stay on the same page with the cloud-based Huddle app.
Huddle allows groups to engage in external collaborative functions, providing an ideal arena for discussions, file sharing and safeguarding the main working copy of your content, so everyone knows they’re editing, dissecting and adding to the right version of your project.
Give team members the appropriate permissions, and they can enjoy access from any device, including smartphones, laptops, tablets and personal computers.
Huddle’s secure file sharing system encrypts all content according to government-grade standards that include ISO 27001 certification and SSAE-16-certified Rackspace data centers.
You can also restrict access to individual work environments, IP addresses and custom domains to prevent editing and viewing of folder contents by unauthorized groups or individuals.
Pros
Huddle is not a full-fledged project management system, but it no longer purports to be. Rather, it’s an intuitive, easy-to-use platform that lets members collaborate from anywhere in the world.
Key features include the ability to instantly upload emailed attachments into a Huddle workspace, intelligent synchronization that sends real-time content to a mobile device whenever a group member updates a project, and tracking capabilities that allow each group member to track who has viewed specific documents and made changes to those documents.
You can stream and share videos, set auto-reminders for upcoming project deadlines, and review the audit trail that tracks every action any group member has made within a file.
A whiteboard feature lets team members collaborate on brainstorming ideas while dashboard widgets let you easily move, arrange and rearrange your home base as desired.
Cons
While Huddle is spot-on with the capabilities it provides, it provides far less of them than other project management tools.
Businesses won’t find the highly focused project approach they do in Basecamp, nor will they find the massive capabilities with which Zoho Projects is armed.
Huddle basically provides a designated area for team members to collaborate with a handful of helpful perks.
To learn about more of the tools being used by content marketing experts in 2016, consider attending the Content Marketing Conference in Las Vegas!