This Sitecore CMS review looks at what is Sitecore in order to help you figure out if it is right for your brand and business.
Did you know?
“Sitecore powers more than 32,000 websites across the globe”
Sitecore is a .NET based CMS that was officially founded in 2001. It markets itself as a customer experience management company that offers a CMS and multichannel marketing automation software. Over the years, it has won many awards. In fact, it got its immense popularity after being awarded by CMS critic for best enterprise CMS. It was chosen due to its user-friendliness, flexibility and enterprise-level offering.
Sitecore CMS History & Timeline
- In 1998, Peter Christensen, Jakob Christensen, Thomas Albert, Ole Sas Thrane, and Michael Seifert (Sitecore CEO) cofounded a company called Pentia A/S in Copenhagen, Denmark. This company focused on creating websites built on Microsoft technologies. During those years, experienced developers were required to create and maintain a website. Ole Sas Thrane and Jakob Christensen the cofounders of Pentia A/S decided to automate the process of website content management and turned their invention into a marketable product.
- In 2001, Sitecore (CMS) was founded as a separate business company. Initially it sold CMS to only Danish market but now it is a global provider. The CEO and founder of the company since 2001 – Michael Seifert’s method of collecting human experience analytics data was awarded US Patent 8,255,526 in August 2012.
- In 2011, Sitecore acquired Pectora that offered web publishing solutions.
- In 2013, they acquired the assets of Microsoft commerce server.net. By August 5, 2015, they announced their first ecommerce product.
- As of August 20165, Sitecore is running on version 8.2. It is a platform for content management and contextual marketing.
Here are some sites made with Sitecore:
Sitecore CMS Review, 5 Things that you need to consider
1.SEO
Sitecore is considered one of the best platforms to create SEO optimized websites. It is as SEO friendly as Word Press and Magento. Some of the top features of Sitecore CMS include website traffic conversion insights and user behavior insights that help in producing target content. It can be easily integrated with third-party tools, offers improved SEO, and social media integration. Sitecore being a custom framework can be incredibly flexible and produce highly SEO friendly websites.
2.User Friendly
Now being a .NET based CMS adds a learning curve to Sitecore. A .NET developer can learn this pretty quickly but it won’t be that easy for a non-techie. To set it all up, you would need a certified Sitecore developer or a team to manage the platform. Remember that hiring a Sitecore certified developer would cost some good amount of dollars.
3.Cost
Sitecore is what you call a premium or enterprise CMS. It is quite expensive. From licensing fee to implementation cost, support and resources, it can be too expensive for small businesses. You can get a custom quote from them as per the package you choose.
4.Security
Since, it targets enterprise level customer experience management, they are highly reliable and secured. Utilizing a secured .NET framework, they are highly trusted by some global enterprises such as Canon, Toshiba, and Nestle.
5.Up to Date
Sitecore API is incredibly powerful and it keeps itself updated. It is currently running on its 7th major version, i.e., on .NET 2.0/4.0. The core has been updated to utilize the advantages made in ASP.NET 4.5. Sitecore 8.2 supports all 3 versions – 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1.
Overall Sitecore Review, Ratings and Recommendation
I covered a lot in this Sitecore review so I’ll quickly summarized. If you want a .NET-based CMS and have a Sitecore developer then go for it. We would recommend it to enterprise level businesses that are looking for a pure web content management solution which offers a blazingly fast development time and a very stable platform. If you are a small business or looking to build a blog then we would recommend using WordPress and not Sitecore.
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