Choosing the correct CMS for your business plays a significant role in driving results and creating a positive customer experience. As a trusted web development agency, it’s our responsibility to continuously stay on top of industry developments and new technology so we can continue catering for our client’s varying needs. When recommending a CMS, we always ask ourselves: ‘Why would we use this platform?’. After all, we only want to provide you with the best.

As one of our preferred CMS platforms since 2009, Kentico has helped us to deliver hundreds of powerful websites. We sat down with Richard, our lead UI Architect and Official Kentico Cloud Contributor, to discuss all things Kentico and shed some light on when it’s the right solution for your business.

What is Kentico EMS?

It’s essentially an all-in-one CMS which includes out-of-the-box eCommerce, integration and marketing capabilities. These features allow us to build responsive web solutions for our clients that optimise the customer experience and create impressive results. Over the years, our team of certified Kentico developers have honed their skills using this scalable platform.

From a development point of view, what is the key benefit of using Kentico?

Kentico is a great kick-off point for any project. It includes extensive out-of-the-box features which we can start from and then expand upon these features with bespoke customisations to meet the client’s requirements. If you compare Kentico to what you get when installing a new version of Umbraco or Wordpress, there are a lot more ready to use features helping us to cover a checklist of sorts from the start of each project.

What are the standout features of Kentico from a client perspective? 

The Kentico EMS (Enterprise Marketing Solution) is the most prominent stand out feature. This is an integrated marketing suite that empowers marketers to deliver customer-focused marketing through a range of features such as A/B testing, personalisation, process automation, analytics, lead reporting and email marketing.

This marketing solution gives clients even more options from a development point of view. The CMS and EMS are integrated closely meaning we get even more out of them. As they are essentially part of the same system, it makes it easier to work with and allows us to extend its offerings to fit client requirements.

Tell us more about the importance of selecting the right platform.

There are many factors to consider when it comes to choosing the right platform for your website. We have found keeping an open mind when selecting a CMS is key to this process. Clients often make a decision on which CMS they want to use before approaching their agency of choice. In these situations, it’s important to listen to the people who have the most experience working with these platforms as they will naturally be able to provide valuable insights. Just because a platform exists and you may have heard of it, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for you and your requirements.

We aim to give our clients a choice which is why we don’t offer just one solution. Your platform choice is based on a range of critical factors including how much content you have, what form this content takes, how this content will be delivered, what your KPIs are and what you want from your website.

If your main aim is to increase click-through rates or lead generation and your website has minimal or simple content, then a headless CMS would probably be your best option. But if your website includes complex integrations and requirements then I would recommend Kentico EMS. As a platform, it encompasses a robust system and a range of background features which will help deal with your complexities with ease. Additionally, Kentico EMS is easy for us to extend. We can use the out-of-the-box features and then combine this with bespoke extensions to create the optimum solution for your website. Essentially, your platform choice mainly depends on your project and the objectives.

How do you see our approach to web development changing in the future?

I see the next logical step for web development as breaking free from traditional CMS’ and leaning more towards headless CMS’ such as Kentico Kontent. As a CMS, Kentico will still have its place and be applicable to certain projects that, for example, have complex integration requirements and stringent security or GDPR requirements. But, from a content distribution point of view, Kentico Cloud is becoming a more suited platform to meet the multi-channel content requirements of clients.

By serving content through a headless solution, you’re not tied to one particular CMS platform. Instead, if a website rebuild is ever needed, a headless CMS gives you the advantage of not having to start from scratch. Additionally, you free yourself up to use other best-in-class services such as a separate analytical service, A/B testing platform or marketing platform.

How can Kentico support clients through digital transformation and futureproofing of their website?

Kentico are exceptionally good at maintaining their different versions so users aren’t instantly dropped when a new version is released. Kentico released a relatively short end of date life for Portal Engine meaning these users have no choice but to switch to MVC (model-view-controller). This is something Kentico have been gearing up to for a long time however to give their users enough time to make the switch.

As a platform, Kentico is forward-thinking. They look at the path technology is heading down and take the steps to get there through the addition of new features and versions without inconveniencing their clients. In short, they’re very client minded. It’s a platform you can trust from a future-proofing point of view.

Creating dependable, enjoyable and seamless interactions across the full customer journey is fundamental to online success and your CMS platform plays a key role in this. If you want to learn more about Kentico and find out if it could be the right solution to your website challenges, contact the team today.