In the summer of 2024 we introduced you to Kentico’s newest version – Xperience by Kentico. This hybrid-headless DXP (digital experience platform) is full of the features you know and love, and Kentico continues to invest in expanding the capabilities and power of this popular .NET Core CMS.
As a Kentico Gold Partner for over a decade, ZAG Interactive is certainly no stranger to building sites in this content management system, and has found that 250+ site builds later, our clients continue to be excited about how this platform supports custom experiences that deliver against their goals, from increasing user engagement to making sites easy to manage.
ZAG is now building all of our newest Kentico sites in Xperience by Kentico (aka XbyK), so let’s dive into some of the features of XbyK, and why we’re so excited about it.
Custom widgets, components and content modeling
Marketers and agencies tend to think of website designs in terms of page layouts such a home page, a category page or a product detail page. But when you are building a modern site, the reality is that most pages are a combination of multi-use widgets and components, strategically assembled in way that creates an engaging, intuitive user experience for visitors, while keeping site management a breeze too.
During the initial stages of each redesign project, our strategists and designers develop fully custom designs – comprised of widgets and components that support each client and user goal. Our developers then build these custom widgets and components against defined requirements, while giving the administrator maximum flexibility within the brand to ensure a cohesive site experience. Need a testimonial widget on a product detail page? No problem. Want those testimonials centrally stored so they can be reused across many pages? We’ve gotcha. Xperience by Kentico makes it easy to set up effective content models for efficient content management, thinking about what you want out of your website now – and how you will need to use it for years to come.
Content personalization to maximize conversions
Most modern websites are built to deliver against specific conversion goals. While there are still many “brochure websites” out there, strategic placements for story-like brand experiences, most of the sites ZAG builds need to provide people with the right information at the right time - in the easiest possible manner. This is where content personalization can be very helpful. Strategic marketers develop very specific personas and communication plans based on business or visitor goals, defining select actions that will qualify a user as part of that audience. Xperience by Kentico allows for specific widgets (e.g. promotions, resources, etc.) to be personalized so that they can deliver relevant content to those personas.
For example, if you’re looking to refinance your home, you might visit a mortgage refinancing page or even a mortgage rates page of a bank or credit union website. With personalization implemented, the next time you go to that financial institution’s home page, select promotional areas , relevant resources and other popular content components will be personalized to deliver you information relevant to refinancing your home instead of the default messaging for non-personalized visitors.
At its core, content personalization allows for a more relevant site experience – one that time and time again proves to support increased conversions. Why? Because it just makes sense to customize a page to known visitor’s interests rather than the “one size fits all” approach sites naturally have to take when catering to an audience of thousands. Content personalization is available in the Advanced license level of Xperience by Kentico.
XbyK Marketing features
Xperience by Kentico continues to be helpful for marketers – who are the folks primarily managing the site for many businesses and organizations. Here are some of the many built-in marketing features ZAG delivers through Xperience by Kentico. Note that some of these are specific to how ZAG builds all of our sites and may not come natively “out of the box”.
- Content hub for central storage of all assets (e.g. images, PDFs, videos) and reusable, shared site content (e.g. promotions, testimonials, FAQs)
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Meta tag fields for SEO
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Vanity URL support
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Built-in XML sitemap
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Canonical fields (by default ZAG customizes our builds so that all pages have self-referencing canonicals – an SEO best practice)
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URL redirect support (available in all ZAG builds but not natively from Kentico)
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Email builder (coming in December 2024)
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Marketing automation (available with the Advanced license)
Monthly refreshes
Kentico releases a refresh every single month, adding even more value to the product and helping you better manage your website. This means no “upgrades” are needed as long as site owners or their partner agencies apply these refreshes on a regular basis.
View the Xperience by Kentico product roadmap to better understand what the team is working on right now, what is planned in the near future (e.g. next 4-6 months) and what is planned longer term. This roadmap is being continuously refined based on Kentico partner feedback and is constantly evolving.
ZAG would love to talk with you about ways to enhance your digital presence. If you’re looking for a new website that meets your business goals and visitor expectations, and positions you well for the future, let’s talk about how Xperience by Kentico may fit your needs.