User detail - Thomas Robbins

Thanks and taking on new opportunities

Thomas Robbins — May 29, 2014 — Article

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost five years ago that I left Microsoft to join Kentico. Being part of the tremendous Kentico growth over the last several years has been an incredible journey. The community and partner ecosystem has been an important part of this journey. Also, the many fantastic people I have had a chance to meet and work with at Kentico. Unfortunately, I have made the tough decision to leave Kentico to accept another opportunity.

Get the May edition of the Kentico 8 hands on labs!

Thomas Robbins — May 14, 2014 — Article

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and ideas. I am happy to announce the second release of the Kentico 8 hands on labs manual. With over thirty labs and over 180 pages. It’s packed with lots of Kentico Version 8 hands on examples and information.
If you have any lab ideas or requests please email me.

Getting Started with MVC 5 and Visual Studio 2013

Thomas Robbins — May 13, 2014 — Video Article

Many thanks to the folks at ComponentOne for their willingness to record my session at the recent South Florida Code Camp! It was a great session and a packed room!

Wrap up: Ask the experts – A Kentico Virtual Panel #6

Thomas Robbins — May 8, 2014 — Article

I hope everyone enjoyed the session! As always our experts were fantastic and it looks like they enjoyed themselves. Thanks to everyone on Twitter who asked some great questions. Stay tuned for our next ask the experts!

Bryan Soltis – Ask the experts #6

Thomas Robbins — May 1, 2014 — Video Article

kentico 8

Are you ready for the upcoming Kentico Ask the Experts #6? We catch up with Brian Soltis, Kentico MVP, to hear what he has been up to. More information about Ask the Experts #6 is available here.

Brian McKeiver - Ask the Experts #6

Thomas Robbins — Apr 30, 2014 — Video Article

kentico 8 asktheexperts

Are you ready for the upcoming Kentico Ask the Experts #6? We catch up with Brian McKeiver, Kentico MVP, to hear what he has been up to. For more information about ask the Experts #6 take a look at - http://devnet.kentico.com/articles/announcing-ask-the-experts-6-a-kentico-virtual-panel

Jeroen Furst -- Ask the Experts #6

Thomas Robbins — Apr 25, 2014 — Video Article

kentico 8 asktheexperts

Are you ready for the upcoming Kentico Ask the Experts #6! We catch up with Jeroen Furst, Kentico MVP to hear what he has been up to. For more information about ask the Experts #6 take a look at - http://devnet.kentico.com/articles/announcing-ask-the-experts-6-a-kentico-virtual-panel

Kentico Rocks #7: Kentico 8 in the trenches

Thomas Robbins — Apr 23, 2014 — Video Article

kentico 8 kentico rocks

In this podcast join Brian McKeiver and Bryan Soltis, Kentico MVPs as talk about their first impressions and favorite features of the just released Kentico 8.
Subscribe on ITunes

Kentico Connection 2014 Sydney – Call for content open

Thomas Robbins — Apr 21, 2014 — Featured Article

kentico connection

Kentico Connection 2014 is coming! Whether you are a rock star developer, marketer or have an amazing case study we’d love to hear from you. I am happy to announce opening of the Kentico Connection Sydney call for content!

How to Series: Forms with Kentico 8

Thomas Robbins — Apr 15, 2014 — Video Article

how to

Online forms are one of the best ways to interact and collect information from customers. With Kentico 8 the building of forms is done using a visual designer and then published to your site. In this video we look at how you can build and deploy online forms.

Webinar wrap up: Using MVC with Kentico 8

Thomas Robbins — Apr 14, 2014 — Video Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!

The ASP.NET MVC Framework provides a powerful Model View Controller (MVC) approach to building web applications and provides separation of concerns, control over HTML output, intuitive URLs, and increased testability. We will start by looking at the -what and why of ASP.NET MVC. Then we will explore the various pieces of ASP.NET MVC including routes, controllers, actions, and views. If you are looking to get started with MVC then don't miss this session.

You can find the slides here

Webinar Wrap Up: Simplify integration with Connect and Conquer

Thomas Robbins — Apr 11, 2014 — Video Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!

This webinar will provide a demo of the integration possibilities which are achievable between Kentico EMS and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Valuable customer website behavior data can be gleaned and made available in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. You will see how Connect and Conquer can be configured in a fast and easy way to achieve this.

Feature Series: A/B Testing with Kentico 8

Thomas Robbins — Apr 10, 2014 — Video Article

ab testing feature series

With Kentico A/B testing is a technique of online marketers to optimize pages of a website according to the reaction of visitors. This is done by creating a modified version of the page and running a test. The system then divides traffic between individual page versions and tracks how the changes affect the user experience and activity of visitors. When a visitor navigates to a page that has a running A/B test defined, one of the page variants configured for the given test will be displayed to them. In this video we look at how to create an A/B test with Kentico 8.

Webinar Wrap up: Here Comes Kentico 8

Thomas Robbins — Apr 9, 2014 — Video Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Kentico 8 is here! It includes an amazing list of technical enhancements. Attend this webinar to join Kentico’s CTO, Martin Hejtmanek explore these new Kentico Version 8 enhancements. In this interactive session Martin will show some of his personal favorites and why he thinks they are important for Kentico developers.

Slides available here

Feature series: Shopping Cart with Kentico 8

Thomas Robbins — Apr 9, 2014 — Video Article

shopping cart feature series

The shopping cart is one of the most important parts of your e-commerce site. It helps to organize the information for a successful transaction and ensures that things run orderly and smoothly. The shopping cart as a mediator between the payment processor and websites. A shopping cart that is easy to navigate and flexible enough to offer personalized experiences makes online shopping a pleasant experience for customers. In this video we look at the how to use the shopping cart with the E-commerce sample site in Kentico 8.

How To Series: Adding products with Kentico 8

Thomas Robbins — Apr 8, 2014 — Video Article

how to

Products are the most important objects in your on-line store. They feature the actual products and services that you offer and sell to customers. Your customers can purchase products separately or with options, which may include product accessories and attributes. In Kentico, products exist as product objects associated with product type documents. This means that if you want to present a product on your website, you need to display a product type document with a product object assigned to this document. In this video we look at how you can add products with Kentico 8.

Announcing: Ask the Experts #6 – A Kentico Virtual Panel

Thomas Robbins — Apr 8, 2014 — Article

Join us for our sixth- Ask the Experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel
Date: May 6, 2014
Time: 7 AM PST/10 AM EST/3 PM BST
Location: Everywhere! Google hangouts and Twitter

Check out the event page for more information!

Webinar wrap up: The Online Marketing Solution with Kentico 8

Thomas Robbins — Apr 7, 2014 — Video Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Welcome Kentico 8 and the updated Online Marketing Solution designed to optimizes the digital customer journey by easily delivering actionable data that helps strengthen marketing campaigns, build customer loyalty, and generate higher conversion rates. Join this interactive webinar to learn how the integrated marketing solution provides easy-to-use tools for tracking and optimizing customer journey from discovery to purchase intent to conversion.

How to Series: Editing content with Kentico 8

Thomas Robbins — Apr 7, 2014 — Video Article

how to

Editing page content is one of the most important aspects of maintaining a site. In this tutorial we look at several ways this can be done with Kentico 8. First, we look at Live Site editing that allows page editors to make changes directly on public facing pages. Then we look at editing content through the Administration interface.

Webinar Wrap up: The E-commerce Solution with Kentico 8

Thomas Robbins — Apr 4, 2014 — Video Article

Welcome Kentico 8 and the updated E-Commerce Solution designed to quickly build a consumer-centric online store or donation center that’s easy to navigate and support. Join this interactive webinar to learn how you can win and retain new B2B customers, B2C consumers and non-profit donors, using fully-integrated marketing tools to manage the prospective customer journey and increase customer loyalty.

How to Series: Installing E-commerce Sample Site

Thomas Robbins — Apr 4, 2014 — Video Article

how to

The E-commerce sample site of Kentico 8 contains an amazing amount of features. You aren’t able to access any of these great features unless you get it installed! In this video we look at at how you can install it on your local machine.

Webinar Wrap up: Say hello to Kentico Version 8! Your integrated marketing solution has arrived

Thomas Robbins — Apr 3, 2014 — Video Article

Thanks to everyone that attended
Kentico 8 is your comprehensive pain-free solution that works across multiple channels to provide customer behavior insights, nurture sales leads and strengthen engagement between your B2B and B2C customers. Kentico’s integrated marketing solution optimizes the digital customer journey by easily delivering actionable data that helps strengthen marketing campaigns, build customer loyalty, and generate higher conversion rates. Join Oldrich Januska, Director of Kentico Product Management for this first look at the new Kentico 8.

The Definitive Guide to the Cloud and Kentico

Thomas Robbins — Apr 3, 2014 — Article

Cloud computing is a broad industry term that describes a wide range of services and components. As with any other major development in technology, many vendors have started to push the term Cloud and Cloud computing. Unfortunately, they may be using it for product and deployment options that sit outside of the generally-accepted definition. In order to understand the value of the Cloud, it’s important to first understand the types of available Cloud services. This allows organizations to choose where, when, and how they use Cloud computing.
In this whitepaper we explain the different types of Cloud Computing services commonly referred to as:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Software as a Service (SaaS)

We will illustrate how these services work, and provide some real-world guidance on using Kentico with each flavor of Cloud computing. This whitepaper explores the concept of Cloud computing and provides practical guidance on which flavors of Cloud computing and how Kentico may work best for an organization.

Get the first edition of the Kentico 8 hands on labs!

Thomas Robbins — Apr 2, 2014 — Article

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and ideas. I am happy to announce the first release of the Kentico 8 hands on labs manual. With twenty five labs and over 150 pages. It’s packed with lots of Kentico Version 8 hands on examples and information.

if you have any lab ideas or requests please email me.

How To: Kentico 8 Installation

Thomas Robbins — Apr 1, 2014 — Video Article

how to

Now that you have downloaded Kentico 8 it’s time to install. In this video we look at the requirements and the installation process for Kentico 8.

Using the Firefox Responsive Design Mode

Thomas Robbins — Mar 19, 2014 — Article

It may have taken a while to catch on but responsive design is here to stay. If you haven’t run across it - Firefox has added a few tools to make developing responsive sites a little easier. In the Firefox developer tools is a responsive design mode button. When selected this button provides a window within a window. Essentially, this allows the resizing of a displayed website to offer an experience like you would see it on the device viewport. The benefit is that, this is done without having to resize the main Firefox window. In this blog post we will take a look at how this works.

Introducing MVC Controllers with Visual Studio 2013 and ASP.NET MVC 5

Thomas Robbins — Mar 18, 2014 — Article

In Getting Started with Visual Studio 2013 and ASP.NET MVC 5 we created a new MVC application and took a look at some of the basics. As a quick review it’s important to remember there are three parts to MVC.

Models: Part of the application that handles the application logic and contains classes representing data structure.
Views: Part of the application that handles the generation of HTML responses
Controllers: Part of the application that handles user interaction and incoming browser requests, retrieves model data and specify views

In this blog post we will take a look at Controllers and how they can be used

Getting Started with Visual Studio 2013 and ASP.NET MVC 5

Thomas Robbins — Mar 12, 2014 — Article

The Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern separates an application into three main components: the model, the view, and the controller. The MVC framework is defined in the System.Web.Mvc namespace and is a part of the System.Web namespace. The MVC pattern helps you create applications that separate the different aspects of the application (input logic, business logic, and UI logic), while providing a loose coupling between these elements. The pattern specifies where each kind of logic should be located in the application. The UI logic belongs in the view. Input logic belongs in the controller. Business logic belongs in the model. This separation helps you manage complexity when you build an application, because it enables you to focus on one aspect of the implementation at a time.

Kentico Rocks #6: Kentico 8 is almost here!

Thomas Robbins — Mar 5, 2014 — Video Article

kentico rocks

In this podcast join Brian McKeiver and Bryan Soltis, Kentico MVPs as talk about their impressions and favorite features of Kentico 8.
Subscribe on ITunes

Webinar wrap up: One Size does Not Fit All: Selecting the Right Mobile Strategy

Thomas Robbins — Mar 4, 2014 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended our session and Jeff for a great session!
The key to a successful mobile strategy is aligning user needs with your business goals and evolving mobile technologies. Once you have alignment, the focus turns to determining the right strategy for your business:

•             Responsive website?
•             Mobile website?
•             Native application?

Kentico Rocks #5: Being a Kentico MVP

Thomas Robbins — Feb 28, 2014 — Video Article

kentico rocks

In this podcast join Brian McKeiver and Bryan Soltis, Kentico MVPs as talk about what’s it’s like to be a Kentico MVP and their experiences in the Kentico community.
Subscribe on ITunes

Getting started with MVC 5 and Visual Studio 2013

Thomas Robbins — Feb 27, 2014 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended the session at the recent South Florida Code camp!
The ASP.NET MVC Framework provides a powerful Model View Controller (MVC) approach to building web applications and provides separation of concerns, control over HTML output, intuitive URLs, and increased testability. We will start by looking at the what and why of ASP.NET MVC. Then we will explore the various pieces of ASP.NET MVC including routes, controllers, actions, and views. If you are looking to get started with MVC then don’t miss this session.

Webinar: Simplify integration with Connect and Conquer

Thomas Robbins — Feb 26, 2014 — Article

Join us for a webinar!
Date: March 12, 2014 8AM-9AM PST/11AM-12AM EST/4PM-5PM BST
Register here

Webinar Wrap up: Kentico/Questionmine – Making your videos interactive!

Thomas Robbins — Feb 25, 2014 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended the webinar! Thanks to Questionmine for providing such great information.

Attend a Kentico 8 Launch Webinar

Thomas Robbins — Feb 21, 2014 — Featured Article

It’s almost here! Are you ready for the release of Kentico 8? To help you get ready we have planned a series of fantastic launch webinars. Hope to see you there!

Webinar wrap up: Introduction to Scrum

Thomas Robbins — Feb 20, 2014 — Video Article

Thanks to everyone that attended! Most of all thanks to our fantastic guest speaker Bob Hartman.

Kentico Videocast #1: Sauder.com and BizStream

Thomas Robbins — Feb 19, 2014 — Article

In this first episode we talk with Brian McKeiver, from Bizstream a Kentico gold partner about their work with the Sauder Woodworking Company.

Get the updated February book of Kentico Version 7 hands on labs!

Thomas Robbins — Feb 4, 2014 — Article

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and ideas. I am happy to announce the February release of the Kentico 7 Hands on labs. Now with over 30 labs and more than 180 pages. It’s packed with a lot of Kentico Version 7 hands on examples and information!

This month includes a new lab on building landing pages and additional formatting based on people’s feedback.

Download the PDF from here

if you have any lab ideas or requests please email me.

Let’s catch up – South Florida Code Camp 2014

Thomas Robbins — Jan 29, 2014 — Article

I hope you will have an opportunity to attend the upcoming South Florida Code Camp on February 22, 2014 at beautiful Nova Southeastern University campus. This is always an excellent event and the speakers (check out the agenda here) are amazing! I hope you will take an opportunity to stop by and attend my session on MVC 5!

Quick Tip: Visual Studio 2013 Line/Region Move

Thomas Robbins — Jan 28, 2014 — Article

One of the new productivity features I ran across in Visual Studio allows the use of the keyboard to move lines and regions in your code. This makes it easier than having to do a copy and paste operation. In this post we will look at how to use this feature.

Wrap up: Ask the experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel #5

Thomas Robbins — Jan 24, 2014 — Article

I hope everyone enjoyed the session! As always our experts were fantastic and it looks like they enjoyed themselves. Thanks to everyone on Twitter who asked some great questions. Stay tuned for our next ask the experts!

Webinar: One Size does Not Fit All: Selecting the Right Mobile Strategy

Thomas Robbins — Jan 23, 2014 — Article

Join us for a webinar!

Date: February 19, 2014
Time: 8am PST/11am EST/4pm BST

Register here

Quick Tip: Visual Studio 2013 Using Navigate To

Thomas Robbins — Jan 22, 2014 — Article

One of the new productivity features in Visual Studio 2013 is called Navigate To. This productivity feature allows you to search for objects, definitions, or references in your solution without having to open the Solution Explorer. Unlike the old Navigate dialog box this new way allows a preview of your code. In this post we will take a look at how to use the Navigate To feature.

Web Designers vs. Web Developers [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jan 21, 2014 — Article

If you don't work in the tech industry, many don't know the difference between web designers and web developers. In fact there are many differences from qualifications, to job duties. In reality the two don’t always have a lot in common. I readily admit this infographic by wix.com has some old data but the top portion makes me laugh every time I see it! Any personal characteristics you think are missing?

Getting Ready for Ask the Experts #5 with Jeroen Furst

Thomas Robbins — Jan 16, 2014 — Article

Hanging out with Jeroen Furst, A Kentico MVP from IBL-Software. We talked about what he’s been up to as we get ready for the next ask the experts session!

Looking for more information on Ask the Experts #5 click here

Quick Tip: Visual Studio 2013 Using Map Mode

Thomas Robbins — Jan 15, 2014 — Article

One of the new productivity features in Visual Studio 2013 is an improvement in the scroll bar called map mode. This productivity feature makes it possible to see a map of your code directly in your scroll bar. This makes it easier to see the big picture of the current file and click to access a specific area. Not only will this help to make navigation easier but it simplifies code refactoring by giving easier access to various sections of any code file. In this post will take a quick look at map mode is turned on and used.

Get the updated January book of Kentico CMS Version 7 hands on labs!

Thomas Robbins — Jan 14, 2014 — Article

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and ideas. I am happy to announce the January release of the Kentico 7 Hands on labs. Now with over 30 labs and more than 150 pages. It’s packed with a lot of Kentico CMS 7 information!

In addition to new labs, I continued to make formatting changes based on people’s feedback.

Download the PDF from here

if you have any lab ideas or requests please email me.

Getting Ready for Ask the Experts #5 with Brian McKeiver

Thomas Robbins — Jan 9, 2014 — Article

Hanging out with Brian McKeiver, A Kentico MVP from BizStream. We talked about what he’s been up to as we get ready for the next ask the experts session!

Looking for more information on Ask the Experts #5 click here

Getting Ready for Ask the Expert #5 with Bryan Soltis

Thomas Robbins — Jan 8, 2014 — Article

Hanging out with Bryan Soltis a Kentico MVP and the Director of Technology and Research at Bit-wizards. We talked about what he has been up to as we get ready for the next ask the experts session!

Looking for more information on Ask the Experts #5 click here

Webinar: Introduction to Scrum

Thomas Robbins — Jan 7, 2014 — Article

Join us for a special webinar!

Webinar: Introduction to Scrum
Date: February 11, 2014
Time: 8:00am PST/9:00am MST/11am EST/4pm BST
Register here

The Secrets of a Killer Blog Post [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Dec 24, 2013 — Article

No matter what industry you blog in, you can guarantee that you have competitors. With an estimated 2 million posted every single day, you want to avoid being considered just noise. This infographic from WhoIsHostingthis.com shows some of the secrets of creating a killer blog post. According to the infographic is all about grabbing the reader’s attention. Anything you think may be missing?

Announcing: Ask the Experts #5 – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel

Thomas Robbins — Dec 18, 2013 — Article

Join us for our fifth- Ask the Experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel
Date: January 22, 2014
Time: 8 AM PST/11 AM EST/4 PM BST
Location: Everywhere! Google hangouts and Twitter
Check out the event page for more information!

Get the updated book of Kentico CMS Version 7 hands on labs!

Thomas Robbins — Dec 17, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and ideas. I am happy to announce the December release of the Kentico CMS 7 Hands on labs. Now with over 30 labs and almost 150 pages it’s packed with a lot of Kentico CMS 7 information!

Marketing Automation on CMS Connected!

Thomas Robbins — Dec 10, 2013 — Article

I always appreciate the opportunity to talk with the folks at CMS Connected! Especially when we talk about marketing automation and happenings around the CMS community.

Webinar: Kentico/Questionmine – Making your videos interactive!

Thomas Robbins — Dec 10, 2013 — Article

Join us for a webinar

Date; February 12, 2014
Time: 8am PST/11am EST/4pm BST

Register here

Agile development – Who’s hiring and who’s hirable [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Dec 5, 2013 — Article

Yoh and job site CareerBuilder have produced a great infographic that shows if you are a software engineer skilled in agile development, be very, very, very happy. You’re in high demand. According to this infographic agile developers are getting above average salaries and being pursued in startups, development shops, and established enterprises such as Microsoft, IBM, and Northrop Grumman.

Why you need marketing automation

Thomas Robbins — Dec 4, 2013 — Article

Marketing automation solutions are designed to support marketing professionals as they create, run and evaluate campaigns. It's important to remember that automation programs are designed to support a company's marketing staff, not replace it. With automation marketing professionals free up time to focus on more productive tasks. Instead of wading through confusing website search data and trying to calculate conversion statistics from social media sites, marketing team members can instead focus on nurturing quality leads. Putting the focus back on actual interaction with potential clients can have major advantages where sales and revenue are concerned. Here are my top 5 reasons why you should consider marketing automation. Anything I may have missed?

Kentico Rocks #3: Upgrade tips and tricks

Thomas Robbins — Nov 26, 2013 — Article

In this podcast join Brian McKeiver and Bryan Soltis, Kentico MVPs as talk about their experiences with upgrading Kentico CMS and best practices they’ve learned over the years.

Subscribe on ITunes

17 Linkedin Profile Must Haves [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Nov 21, 2013 — Article

Linkedin is one of the premier locations for managing your professional identify for networking with other potential employers. I’d be surprised if anyone reading this didn’t have an account. However, because it’s an online profile, it tends to get a bit sloppy. Maximize Social Business, created this infographic listing 17 Linkedin profile must haves. It’s the little details like adding a professional photo and using your full, professional name can bring a lot more coverage.

The Definitive Guide to the Cloud and Kentico CMS (updated)

Thomas Robbins — Nov 20, 2013 — Article

Cloud computing is a broad industry term that describes a wide range of services and components. As with any other major development in technology, many vendors have started to push the term Cloud and Cloud computing. Unfortunately, they may be using it for product and deployment options that sit outside of the generally-accepted definition. In order to understand the value of the Cloud, it’s important to first understand the types of available Cloud services. This allows organizations to choose where, when, and how they use Cloud computing.

In this whitepaper we explain the different types of Cloud Computing services commonly referred to as:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Software as a Service (SaaS)

We will illustrate how these services work, and provide some real-world guidance on using Kentico with each flavor of Cloud computing. This whitepaper explores the concept of Cloud computing and provides practical guidance on which flavors of Cloud computing and Kentico CMS may work best for an organization.

The Adoption of Cloud Services is Growing in the Enterprise [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Nov 19, 2013 — Article

Based on a Gartner study it’s clear that the cloud has become mainstream for storing data and managing systems. Enterprises are starting to rely heavily on the use of cloud with over 90% either investigating, implementing or monitoring a cloud service today.

Get the updated book of Kentico CMS Version 7 hands on labs!

Thomas Robbins — Nov 13, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and ideas. I am happy to announce the November release of the Kentico CMS 7 Hands on labs. Now with over 20 labs and 100 pages it’s packed with a lot of Kentico CMS 7 information!

In this edition I made some minor formatting changes and also included a new lab on creating an advanced workflow for auto-posting to your social media accounts.

Get the updated Kentico Connections 2013 Mobile Application

Thomas Robbins — Nov 8, 2013 — Article

Are you attending Kentico Connections 2013 or just want to see what’s going on? Well I hope you will take a look at the updated Beta of the Kentico Connections 2013 Mobile app! Based on the attendees feedback this year we went with an HTML 5 mobile application code optimized for the webkit-based browsers found on the IOS and Android devices.

Visual studio quick tip – using regular expressions in search

Thomas Robbins — Nov 6, 2013 — Article

How much time do you spend picking or searching through your code? Looking for things and trying to remember where stuff is. I was talking with someone the other day and realized that they weren’t aware they could use regular expressions within Visual Studio search. In this blog post I’ll take a quick look at how this is done.

Data never sleeps [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Nov 5, 2013 — Article

Next time you run a Google search think about the fact that it’s just one of 2 million that Google will receive that minute. In the same amount of time, Facebook users post about 684,478 pieces of content. Even crazier is that online shoppers spend an average of $272,070 every minute! That over $391 million every day! DOMO created this infographic, which shows just how much data is generated every minute. It’s pretty amazing to see the amount of data created across some of the key platforms.

Get up to speed with Windows Azure and Kentico CMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Oct 31, 2013 — Article

Looking for more information about Windows Azure and Kentico CMS7? We have over seven hours of conference videos from Windows Azure and Kentico CMS 7 virtual conference you can use to get up to speed quickly.

Get the big book of Kentico CMS Version 7 hands on labs!

Thomas Robbins — Oct 29, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and ideas. I am happy to announce the update and release of an updated version of Kentico CMS 7 Hands on labs. With over 15 labs and 90 pages it’s packed with a lot of Kentico CMS 7 information!

Insights on Social Media Worldwide [infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Oct 24, 2013 — Article

Nobody should argue that marketers have taken to social media. Social media has become an incredibly important part of marketing success. The more time we spend on social media the more businesses are able to study who we are and what we like. This infographic from IDG provides some fantastic data on the importance of social media and its promotion of brand marketing.

Guide to Web Testing Using Kentico CMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Oct 22, 2013 — Article

If you've ever wondered why your digital marketing efforts haven't panned out, the fault may be in your lack of testing. Successful digital marketers live and die by the meticulous testing and tweaking of every aspect of their digital campaigns, until they find the combination of words, backlinks, media, and tone that draws the biggest returns. If you treat every marketing campaign as an experiment, you may find the success you've been missing. There are two basic forms of testing used in digital marketing analysis, and both have something to offer any individual or company looking for the best way to sell their products or services.

Best Practices: Making the Most of Your Tests

Thomas Robbins — Oct 16, 2013 — Article

A test is only as good as the practices behind it. To make sure you're getting the most out of your A/B and multivariate testing, I have put together three best practices. Anything else you would add?

Testing Matters – Don’t forget

Thomas Robbins — Oct 15, 2013 — Article

In 2012, Adobe conducted a Digital Marketing Optimization Survey that questioned participants on their best practices for increasing online conversions. Sadly, their responses to question on testing revealed that it simply isn't a priority for many marketers. Over half of the respondents admitted that they perform little to no A/B or multivariate testing while creating a campaign or developing a website. Only 10 percent of survey respondents said they commonly use testing to improve their campaigns.

A quick guide to understanding web testing

Thomas Robbins — Oct 10, 2013 — Article

If you've ever wondered why your digital marketing efforts haven't panned out, the fault may be in your lack of testing. Successful Internet entrepreneurs live and die by meticulous testing and tweaking every aspect of their digital campaigns. Until they find the combination of words, backlinks, media, and tone that draws the biggest returns. If you treat every marketing campaign as an experiment, you may find the success you've been missing. There are two basic forms of testing used in digital marketing analysis. Both have something to offer any individual or company looking for the best way to sell their products or services.

Ranking factors and Rank Correlation 2013 [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Oct 9, 2013 — Article

It’s a question everyone asks. What do web pages that are well positioned in Google have in common and what distinguishes them? To help answer this question Searchmetrics examined the 30 top search results for 10,000 keywords, analyzing over 300,000 websites to create this infographic. The infographic highlights great information about the power of backlinks, social, and content. Backlinks are a huge factor in helping page ranks. Also, the study found that site speed is also incredibly important.

MVP Chat #1: Who enjoyed Kentico Connections?

Thomas Robbins — Oct 8, 2013 — Article

In this new podcast show we welcome Brian McKeiver and Bryan Soltis, Kentico MVPs as they talk about Kentico CMS and thing going on in the developer world. In their first show they talk about the fun they had at Kentico Connections and what they learned.

Do you speak digital marketing with Kentico CMS 7?

Thomas Robbins — Oct 2, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended the fantastic J Boye Group after Kentico Connections. As requested you can find my slides below

Who’s not online and why

Thomas Robbins — Oct 1, 2013 — Article

I know it’s hard to believe in today’s world that there are still people not online. But it’s definitely still the case. According to this recent study by Pew Internet of May 2013 15% of American adults ages 18 and older do not use the internet or email. Here are some of what I think are the more important highlights.

Webinar wrap up: Introduction to UI Personalization with Kentico CMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Sep 26, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!

UI personalization allows the creation of a simplified user interface. It’s a great way to create personalized and extensible user experiences that empower people to get things done. System administrators are able to remove tabs, menu items, actions and parts of UI pages that aren’t needed. This allows users to not be overwhelmed by loads of unnecessary options. System administrators are able to deploy intelligent user interfaces. In this session we will examine how this feature is used within Kentico CMS 7. We will cover the basics of technical implementation, design concerns, extensibility and security. In this webinar we looked at how to implement the basics of UI personalization on your Kentico CMS 7 site.

Who’s minding your cloud? [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Sep 25, 2013 — Article

Security is an extremely important issue. Even though cloud computing is just as safe as traditional system when it comes to vulnerabilities and security holes. It’s important to remember that the nature of cloud computing, the public cloud gives lots of people access to the data. Regardless, according to this infographic by CA Technologies the cloud continues to grow but security continues to be an open questions.

The mobile revolution continues

Thomas Robbins — Sep 24, 2013 — Article

Thanks to Janus Boye and a great CMS Experts session here in Seattle!

Welcome to modern marketing! Desktops, mobile phones, Digital signage, TV’s, tablets, netbooks, mini-tablets… the list of connected devices your customers are using to consume your marketing never stops growing! The modern marketing world is a myriad of screen sizes and effective calls to action. What are the best choices? The landscape of consumerism has changed in a few short years allowing our customers more choices for reading, watching, communicating, socializing, shopping, and making purchase decisions.

Get the updated Kentico Connections 2013 Mobile Application

Thomas Robbins — Sep 18, 2013 — Article

Are you attending Kentico Connections 2013 or just want to see what’s going on? Well I hope you will take a look at the updated Beta of the Kentico Connections 2013 Mobile app! Based on the attendees feedback this year we went with an HTML 5 mobile application code optimized for the webkit-based browsers found on the IOS and Android devices.

Get the application from your mobile device by going to:
http://bit.ly/KenticoConnections

Kentico Technical Learning – Introduction to UI Personalization with Kentico CMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Sep 17, 2013 — Video Article

content management kentico cms 7 ui

UI personalization allows the creation of a simplified user interface. It’s a great way to create personalized and extensible user experiences that empower people to get things done. System administrators are able to remove tabs, menu items, actions and parts of UI pages that aren’t needed. This allows users to not be overwhelmed by loads of unnecessary options. System administrators are able to deploy intelligent user interfaces. In this session we will examine how this feature is used within Kentico CMS 7. We will cover the basics of technical implementation, design concerns, extensibility and security. In this webinar we looked at how to implement the basics of UI personalization on your Kentico CMS 7 site.

Wrap up: Ask the experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel #4

Thomas Robbins — Sep 17, 2013 — Article

I had a lot of fun and hope everyone that joined did as well! As always the experts were fantastic and it looks like they enjoyed themselves. Thanks to everyone on Twitter and those who submitted questions ahead of time! Stay tuned for our next ask the experts!

Getting Ready for Ask the Experts #4 with Jeroen Furst

Thomas Robbins — Sep 11, 2013 — Article

As we get closer to Kentico Ask The Experts #4 I caught up with Jeroen Furst, Kentico MVP to talk about what he has going on.

Three responsive design concepts

Thomas Robbins — Sep 10, 2013 — Article

Responsive design is definitely one of the most talked about industry topics. As I covered in this Introducing Responsive Design post, it’s an approach to web design that adjusts to the user across varying browser sizes. The popularity of responsive design has grown exponentially with the increasing number of tablets and smartphones and users accessing the Internet with these devices. This has made it essential that developers think about all the ways their information is viewed. This article covers just three questions I often get asked. What others would you add?

Getting Ready for Ask the Experts #4 with Brian McKeiver

Thomas Robbins — Sep 5, 2013 — Article

As we get closer to Kentico Ask The Experts #4 I caught up with Brian McKeiver, Kentico MVP to talk about what he has going on.

Help Kentico Win the 2013 Community Choice Awards

Thomas Robbins — Sep 4, 2013 — Article

I am happy to announce that with your support Kentico has been nominated for the 2013 Community Choice Awards sponsored by Dev Pro. You can find Kentico nominated for Best Content Management, e-Commerce Package and Best Vendor Support. Please take a moment and go here to help cast your vote for Kentico.

Getting Ready for Ask the Expert #4 with Bryan Soltis

Thomas Robbins — Sep 3, 2013 — Article

Hanging out with Bryan Soltis a Kentico MVP and the Director of Technology and Research at Bit-wizards. We talk about his thoughts around the last Ask the Experts session, Kentico Connections and what he’s been up to as we get ready for the next ask the experts session!

Get the Updated Kentico Connections 2013 – Mobile App Beta

Thomas Robbins — Aug 26, 2013 — Article

Are you attending Kentico Connections 2013 or just want to see what’s going on? Well I hope you will take a look at the updated Beta of the Kentico Connections 2013 Mobile app! Based on the attendees feedback this year we went with an HTML 5 mobile application code optimized for the webkit-based browsers found on the IOS and Android devices. This update includes the first our social services!

Get the application from your mobile device by going to:
http://bit.ly/KenticoConnections

Video: MMT Digital Presents Kentico

Thomas Robbins — Aug 22, 2013 — Article

Kentico Gold Partner MMT Digital has a fantastic video that looks at some of their work!

Announcing: Ask the Experts #4 – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel

Thomas Robbins — Aug 21, 2013 — Article

Join us for our fourth- Ask the Experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel
Date: September 12, 2013
Time: 7 AM PST/10 AM EST/3 PM BST
Location: Everywhere! Google hangouts and Twitter

Webinar wrap up: How To Propel Your Website Past Your Competition

Thomas Robbins — Aug 14, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!

If you are planning out your digital strategy you need to think beyond your website and embrace the whole customer experience. Today, marketers are trying to figure out how to attract the right people into their website with targeted and consistent content while converting them into the sales and marketing processes. Don’t miss this webinar by Galvin Technologies and Kentico show what companies need to do to propel their website past the competition while increasing revenue.
This webinar will cover:

How to increase conversion rates with targeted content
Strategies you can implement now to beat your competition
Stop ignoring “Big Data” and use it.
Why your website is critical to your sales processes

Get the Kentico Connections 2013 – Mobile App Beta

Thomas Robbins — Aug 13, 2013 — Article

Are you attending Kentico Connections 2013 or just want to see what’s going on? Well I hope you will take a look at the Beta of the Kentico Connections 2013 Mobile app! Based on the attendees feedback this year we went with an HTML 5 mobile application code optimized for the webkit-based browsers found on the IOS and Android devices.

Get the application from your mobile device by going to:
http://bit.ly/KenticoConnections

How To Propel Your Website Past Your Competition

Thomas Robbins — Aug 9, 2013 — Video Article

on-line marketing

If you are planning out your digital strategy you need to think beyond your website and embrace the whole customer experience. Today, marketers are trying to figure out how to attract the right people into their website with targeted and consistent content while converting them into the sales and marketing processes. Don’t miss this webinar by Galvin Technologies and Kentico show what companies need to do to propel their website past the competition while increasing revenue.

Webinar: Kentico Technical Learning – Introduction to UI Personalization with Kentico CMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Aug 8, 2013 — Article

Date: September 17, 2013
Time: 8-9AM PST/11-12PM EST/4-5PM BST

Register here

Webinar: How To Propel Your Website Past Your Competition

Thomas Robbins — Jul 31, 2013 — Article

Join us for an exciting webinar sponsored by Galvin Technologies!

Date: August 7, 2013
Time: 8AM PST; 11AM EST, 4PM BST
Register here

The Definitive Guide to the Cloud and Kentico CMS

Thomas Robbins — Jul 30, 2013 — Article

Cloud computing is a broad industry term that describes a wide range of services and components. As with any other major development in technology, many vendors have started to push the term Cloud and Cloud computing. Unfortunately, they may be using it for product and deployment options that sit outside of the generally-accepted definition. In order to understand the value of the Cloud, it’s important to first understand the types of available Cloud services. This allows organizations to choose where, when, and how they use Cloud computing.

Wrap up: Website “Build It” workshop – Kentico EMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Jul 24, 2013 — Article

Chad Heinle, a Senior Consultant from High Monkey Consulting, shared the steps we followed to build our own website in Kentico EMS 7. This workshop will first review the planning and requirements stage and the creation of an Information Architecture and wireframes. The majority of the webinar will be focused on the build process and the implementation of Kentico EMS 7. In addition to seeing the public facing and CMS Desk views of HIGHMONKEY.COM, Chad Heinle will be doing some live site building on a Kentico demo site. Everyone is welcome to attend; however, this workshop is primarily intended for webmasters, site builders, page and site designers, and content editors. There will be some discussion about the details of how things are built but this workshop is not a “deep dive” into code or custom development.

This “build it” workshop will give you an overview of what goes into building a website using the Kentico EMS platform and some best practices to consider for your next website build.

What is the Google Penguin Update?

Thomas Robbins — Jul 23, 2013 — Article

SEO is such an important ingredient for any website success and we shouldn’t forget that Google sets the rules. While Bing is starting to move up the search traffic list, most traffic still continues to be delivered by Google. When Google updates their rules we need to pay attention. If you’re not familiar, Google rule changes are delivered in the form of an update to the algorithm that regulates the ranking of a given page against a search query. The Google Penguin 2.0 update was released on May 22nd. With this update, Google continues to target black hat SEO techniques.

Getting started with Personalization

Thomas Robbins — Jul 18, 2013 — Article

Like anything with modern marketing, personalization means you focus on understanding your customer intent through engagement. This also includes focusing on context and letting context help to drive relevance for visitors. Here are several things to keep in mind as you develop your personalization strategy.

Website “Build It” Workshop – Kentico EMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Jul 17, 2013 — Video Article

on-line marketing

Chad Heinle, a Senior Consultant from High Monkey Consulting, will be sharing the steps we followed to build our own website in Kentico EMS 7. This workshop will first review the planning and requirements stage and the creation of an Information Architecture and wireframes. The majority of the webinar will be focused on the build process and the implementation of Kentico EMS 7. In addition to seeing the public facing and CMS Desk views of HIGHMONKEY.COM, Chad Heinle will be doing some live site building on a Kentico demo site. Everyone is welcome to attend; however, this workshop is primarily intended for webmasters, site builders, page and site designers, and content editors. There will be some discussion about the details of how things are built but this workshop is not a “deep dive” into code or custom development.

Personalization 101: Types of personalization

Thomas Robbins — Jul 17, 2013 — Article

A non-personalized website typically presents the same content regardless of the user’s profile, personal preferences, clicking behavior and it is typically a static experience in that all users get the same content. Typically navigation and search are the main ways for users to extract information from the site. A personalized website in many ways is the exact opposite experience. It will still have a navigation structure and search facility but the main difference is that the experience can be changed based on a number of factors. The best personalization tools rely upon a multitude of technologies to help companies personalize interactions and hone their marketing offers. Let’s examine some of the ways that personalization can be implemented. The two main types of personalization available today are 'Prescriptive Personalization' and 'Adaptive Personalization'.

Personalization 101

Thomas Robbins — Jul 16, 2013 — Article

It wasn’t that long ago that all marketing was personal. I remember following my mother into the grocery store or bank and everyone addressing her by name. I can also remember my father dropping a stack of targeted direct mail pieces on the kitchen table. With the dawn of email and websites a strange thing happened. Marketers began relying on mass marketing techniques that allowed the delivery of a single message across these new digital channels. This initial evolution of technology made personalized messages obsolete. Today, that’s not the case. We expect our websites to act intelligently and to maintain our privacy, just like the best sales people. Let’s take a look at the basics of personalization when developing personalized digital engagements.

Design with impact: A guide to webpage Anatomy [InfoGraphic]

Thomas Robbins — Jul 11, 2013 — Article

Graphitas created an excellent infographic to illustrate the impact of page positioning. This definitely has some great information!

Video: Common questions for Windows Azure and Kentico CMS

Thomas Robbins — Jul 10, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended the Azure Kentico Conference! You can find all the session videos available here.

Session description:
Got questions? Well the Kentico Cloud development team has answers! Join this session to see the most common questions and answers. Of course… make sure to bring your own questions!

Speaker: Kentico Cloud and SaaS Development Group

Video: Advanced development with Windows Azure

Thomas Robbins — Jul 9, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended the Azure Kentico Conference! You can find all the session videos available here.

Session Description:
Are you an experienced Windows Azure developer or architect looking to understand advanced development techniques when building highly scalable applications and services using the Windows Azure platform? Then don’t miss this session!

Speaker: Bryan Soltis, Kentico MVP and Director of Technology and Research at Bit-Wizards

Video: Best Practices for Kentico CMS and Windows Azure

Thomas Robbins — Jul 3, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended the Azure Kentico Conference! You can find all the session videos available here.

Session Description:
Are you looking for practical, immediate and usable real answers examples and scenarios? Then don’t miss this session as we look at the best practices for managing and running Kentico CMS on Windows Azure.

Speaker: Dominik Pinter, Group Product Manager/SaaS and Cloud

Video: Deployment options for Kentico CMS on Windows Azure

Thomas Robbins — Jul 2, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended the Azure Kentico Conference! You can find all the session videos available here.

Session description:

What is the best deployment option for your Kentico CMS installation on Azure? Kentico Installation Manager (KIM), Power shell, Webmatrix to name a few. It depends on your requirements! In this session we will look at the various deployment options available for your Kentico CMS environment.

Speaker: Bryan Soltis, Kentico MVP and Director of Technology and Research at Bit-Wizards

Wrap up: Ask the experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel #3

Thomas Robbins — Jun 27, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended our third installment in our Ask the Experts Sessions! Stay tuned for our next Ask the Experts Session.

Video: Get set.. Introduction to Windows Azure Development

Thomas Robbins — Jun 26, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended the Azure Kentico Conference! You can find all the session videos available here.

Session description:
Got Visual Studio? Your almost there! In this session we will look at how to prepare your development environment for Windows Azure. This includes required components and setting up your Microsoft Windows Azure account. Don’t miss this session to learn how to build a killer “Hello World!” application.

Speaker: Brian McKeiver, Kentico MVP and Partner/Senior Developer at BizStream

Video: Are you ready? Introduction to Cloud Computing and Windows Azure

Thomas Robbins — Jun 25, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended the Azure Kentico Conference! You can find all the session videos available here.

Session description:
Windows Azure is an internet scale cloud computing and services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services which can be used individually or together. It gives developers the choice to build web application; applications running on connected devices, PCs or servers; or hybrid solutions offering the best of both worlds. Don’t miss this session to learn what cloud computing is and what Windows Azure provides.

Speaker: Vince Mayfield, CEO Bit-Wizards

Common questions for Windows Azure and Kentico CMS

Thomas Robbins — Jun 20, 2013 — Video Article

azure kentico virtual conference windows azure

Got questions? Well the Kentico Cloud development team has answers! Join this session to see the most common questions and answers. Of course… make sure to bring your own questions!

Speaker: Kentico Cloud and SaaS Development Group

Advanced development with Windows Azure

Thomas Robbins — Jun 20, 2013 — Video Article

azure kentico virtual conference windows azure

Are you an experienced Windows Azure developer or architect looking to understand advanced development techniques when building highly scalable applications and services using the Windows Azure platform? Then don’t miss this session!

Speaker: Bryan Soltis, Kentico MVP and Director of Technology and Research at Bit-Wizards

Best Practices for Kentico CMS and Windows Azure

Thomas Robbins — Jun 20, 2013 — Video Article

azure kentico virtual conference windows azure

Are you looking for practical, immediate and usable real answers examples and scenarios? Then don’t miss this session as we look at the best practices for managing and running Kentico CMS on Windows Azure.

Speaker: Dominik Pinter, Group Product Manager/SaaS and Cloud

Deployment options for Kentico CMS on Windows Azure

Thomas Robbins — Jun 20, 2013 — Video Article

azure kentico virtual conference windows azure

What is the best deployment option for your Kentico CMS installation on Azure? Kentico Installation Manager (KIM), Power shell, Webmatrix to name a few. It depends on your requirements! In this session we will look at the various deployment options available for your Kentico CMS environment.

Speaker: Bryan Soltis, Kentico MVP and Director of Technology and Research at Bit-Wizards

Go…Running Kentico CMS on Windows Azure

Thomas Robbins — Jun 20, 2013 — Video Article

azure kentico virtual conference windows azure

Now that we have Visual Studio and our Windows Azure account let’s install Kentico CMS! So many choices – Virtual Machine, Cloud Services, Website, Kentico +. In this session we will look at the various options and how this is done.

Speaker: Thom Robbins, Chief Evangelist Kentico CMS

Get set.. Introduction to Windows Azure Development

Thomas Robbins — Jun 20, 2013 — Video Article

azure kentico virtual conference windows azure

Got Visual Studio? Your almost there! In this session we will look at how to prepare your development environment for Windows Azure. This includes required components and setting up your Microsoft Windows Azure account. Don’t miss this session to learn how to build a killer “Hello World!” application.

Speaker: Brian McKeiver, Kentico MVP and Partner/Senior Developer at BizStream

Are you ready? Introduction to Cloud Computing and Windows Azure

Thomas Robbins — Jun 20, 2013 — Video Article

azure cloud kentico virtual conference windows azure

Windows Azure is an internet scale cloud computing and services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services which can be used individually or together. It gives developers the choice to build web application; applications running on connected devices, PCs or servers; or hybrid solutions offering the best of both worlds. Don’t miss this session to learn what cloud computing is and what Windows Azure provides.

Speaker: Vince Mayfield, CEO Bit-Wizards

Webinar wrap up: Usability Testing for the Greatest User Experience

Thomas Robbins — Jun 18, 2013 — Article

Thanks to High Monkey for this fantastic webinar!

How do you really know if you’re website’s user experience is great if you haven’t witnessed actual users using it? And how do you know that your new website is going to be great if your users aren’t the ones driving the decisions? The answer to both of these questions is, you don’t. Be wary of a web designer that offers all of the answers before ever talking to your users. Every organization and its users are unique in some way, and with usability testing you can gather the insights you need to take out the guess work and start designing human focused websites.

Google’s 200 Ranking Factors [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jun 13, 2013 — Article

I can’t imagine the work that went into this. But a great job by Backlinko and SingleGrain for putting together this infographic that attempts to dissect Google’s ranking algorithm. It walks through domain factors, page level factors, site-level factors, backlink factors, user interaction, additional indicators and social signals. Whether you believe everything is completely correct it’s a very comprehensive list that you can review and think about as your optimize your content.

Harnessing the content beast – Content marketing in the multiscreen world

Thomas Robbins — Jun 12, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended the webinar!

Desktops, mobile phones, Digital signage, TV’s, tablets, netbooks, mini-tablets… the list of connected devices your customers are using to consume your content never stops growing! Unfortunately, this doesn’t match your marketing budget. When it comes to serving content in today’s world it’s a myriad of screen sizes and effective calls to action. What are your choices? The landscape of consumerism has changed in a few short years allowing our customers more choices for reading, watching, communicating, socializing, shopping, and making purchase decisions.

This webinar will examine the core concept and practical strategies for creating effective and responsive content in the multi-screen world we live in.
Register now to gain actionable insights and learn:

Practical strategies to determine the appropriate screen sizes for your content marketing materials.
Building effective calls to action for multiple screens.
Practical strategies to use when building your content marketing plan in today’s multi-screen world.
Decision strategies for deploying content effectively.
Possible frameworks available
How best to integrate this approach with your marketing plan.

Microsoft Webinar Wrap up: Taking your CMS to the Cloud with Kentico CMS

Thomas Robbins — Jun 11, 2013 — Article

Thanks for Microsoft in sponsoring this webinar for us!
Windows Azure is an amazing evolution in cloud computing! This evolution requires changes in how we deploy and manage our applications and sites. What are the architecture patterns you need to think about? How do you install? How do you manage your site? These are just a few of the questions that we often hear from our customers. In this webinar Thomas Robbins, Chief Evangelist for Kentico CMS will cover how to use Kentico CMS in Windows Azure. Once you have your site up we will cover how you can manage your site using both the Kentico CMS tools and the tools available from Windows Azure.

Webinar: Website “Build It” Workshop – Kentico EMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Jun 6, 2013 — Article

Join us for an exciting webinar!

Date: July 17, 2013
Time: 8-9 AM PST/11-12PM EST/4-5 PM BST
Register here

Kentico developer wanted - Interested in an African adventure?

Thomas Robbins — Jun 5, 2013 — Article

ExplainerDC (www.explainerdc.com.gh) is Ghana’s leading web development, internet marketing and web hosting company, established in 2001. We service more than 100 clients in Ghana and abroad such as Vodafone, The UN and Société Générale. Our projects range from corporate websites to information portals and marketing campaigns. We have also set up several e-ventures together with partners, such as YellowPages (www.yellowpages.com.gh) and RackAfrica, the first carrier-neutral data centre in West Africa (www.rackafrica.com).

Usability Testing for the Greatest User Experience

Thomas Robbins — Jun 5, 2013 — Video Article

design testing ux

How do you really know if you’re website’s user experience is great if you haven’t witnessed actual users using it? And how do you know that your new website is going to be great if your users aren’t the ones driving the decisions? The answer to both of these questions is, you don’t. Be wary of a web designer that offers all of the answers before ever talking to your users. Every organization and its users are unique in some way, and with usability testing you can gather the insights you need to take out the guess work and start designing human focused websites.

Why RWD alone doesn’t generate the best mobile experience [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jun 4, 2013 — Article

What’s the best business case for using Responsive Web Design(RWD)? It’s a question I often hear asked. Our technology partner 51Degrees.mobi put together what I think is an interesting infographic and provides an interesting test you can take here to help consider this.

What’s your thought?

Video: Getting Started with Kentico+

Thomas Robbins — May 22, 2013 — Article

Kentico+ provides a variety of benefits:

Provides a pay as you go model that allows customers to pay only for the cloud storage they actually use.
Kentico+ allows you to focus not only on building websites but also in helping you achieve higher campaign ROI. With Kentico+ you can scale into the cloud and easily deliver high performance websites.
Tap into a the quick response of Kentico support or leverage any of the over 1, 200 Kentico partners in over 80 countries

In this video we take a look at setting up your Kentico+ instance and how easy it is to get your site started.

Kentico CMS Podcast #21 – Talking about Kentico SaaS with Dominik Pinter, Group Product Manager

Thomas Robbins — May 21, 2013 — Article

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Dominik Pinter, Group Product Manager for Kentico SaaS and Cloud as he talks about himself and the cloud and the new Kentico+ offering.

Microsoft Video: Kentico CMS with Thomas Robbins

Thomas Robbins — May 17, 2013 — Article

Thanks to the Channel 9 folks for hosting me in this great video that shows Kentico and Windows Azure!

2013 The Year Of Responsive Design [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — May 16, 2013 — Article

Nobody should argue that the market continues to add what seems like a limitless stream of mobile devices to the market. How you make your site engage with these devices is the question we should be asking. This infographic by Uberflip provides some great basic data and information about Responsive design. While I don’t always think Responsive Design is the answer, it is an essential part of the technology landscape today. I thought this was very well done introductory infographic about Responsive Design that presents the information in an easy to follow format and very straight forward.

Webinar: Harnessing the content beast – Content marketing in the multiscreen world

Thomas Robbins — May 15, 2013 — Article

Join us for an exciting webinar hosted by the Customer Engagement Technology World

Date: June 6, 2013
Time: 02:00 PM- 03:00 PM EDT

Register here

Are you ready for Cloud Computing?

Thomas Robbins — May 14, 2013 — Article

How do you know if cloud computing is right for your organization? Even though cloud computing is everywhere, is being offered by all major technology players, and all agree you need it, never forget definitions continue to vary. It’s important for anyone looking at the cloud to find the right balance of cost to benefit, availability, scalability, and capacity to drive the best decision. Understanding these in addition to your organizations risk profile is essential to determine if cloud computing and associated services are right you.

Getting Started with Kentico+

Thomas Robbins — May 13, 2013 — Video Article

on-line marketing

Kentico+ provides a variety of benefits:

Provides a pay as you go model that allows customers to pay only for the cloud storage they actually use.
Kentico+ allows you to focus not only on building websites but also in helping you achieve higher campaign ROI. With Kentico+ you can scale into the cloud and easily deliver high performance websites.
Tap into a the quick response of Kentico support or leverage any of the over 1, 200 Kentico partners in over 80 countries

In this video we take a look at setting up your Kentico+ instance and how easy it is to get your site started.

Microsoft Webinar: Taking your CMS to the Cloud with Kentico CMS

Thomas Robbins — May 9, 2013 — Article

join us for an exciting Microsoft sponsored webinar featuring Kentico!

Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 8:00 AM PST/4:00 PM BST
Duration: 1 hour(s)
Register here

Kentico CMS Podcast #21 – Talking about Kentico SaaS and the cloud with Dominik Pinter, Group Produc

Thomas Robbins — May 7, 2013 — Video Article

podcast saas

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Dominik Pinter, Group Product Manager for Kentico SaaS and the cloud and a speaker at the upcoming Azure Kentico Conference to discuss the cloud and Kentico+.

Announcing: Ask the Experts #3 – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel

Thomas Robbins — May 7, 2013 — Article

Join us for our third Ask the Experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel
Date: June 25, 2013
Time: 8 AM PST/11 AM EST/4 PM BST
Location: Everywhere! Google hangouts and Twitter

Cloud Computing - Understanding Service Models

Thomas Robbins — May 2, 2013 — Article

In the post Cloud computing 101: Service models we started looking the basics of the cloud service models. It’s important to think of them as a logical model. Infrastructure sits at the bottom, platform in the middle and software at the top of the stack. Let’s take a look at these in more depth.

Webinar: Usability Testing for the Greatest User Experience

Thomas Robbins — May 1, 2013 — Article

Join us for an exciting Webinar!

Date: June 5
Time: 8-9 AM PST/11-12 PM EST/4-5 PM BST
Register here

Announcing the Azure Kentico Virtual Conference - Registration open!

Thomas Robbins — Apr 30, 2013 — Article

We hope you feel that the worldwide Kentico community is a fantastic place for support and education on any technical topic. Kentico is incredibly excited about the shift to the cloud and Windows Azure and couldn’t think of any better way to show that excitement than to spread the word virtually and provide some great content. This is your chance to either participate or become part of our first ever Azure Kentico Virtual Conference. Yes, you heard that right! You can sit in the comfort of your home, office or favorite coffee shop and be part of the audience and learn about Windows Azure and Kentico CMS. If you have something to say you can step up to present your session and be part of the learning experience!

Webinar Wrap up: Questionmine/Kentico EMS – making video actionable

Thomas Robbins — Apr 25, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!
By 2015, 90% of web traffic will be video (Cisco). That’s cool... but what do you know about who is watching YOUR videos? How are you customizing your prospects' website experience based on their engagement with your videos?

Watch this webinar to learn how Questionmine and Kentico have teamed up to help Savvy marketers who demand to know more than just "who clicked on my video?"

At the most basic level, Questionmine provides video hosting and a killer set of video analytics integrated into your Kentico EMS installation. When these two are combined they create instantly ACTIONABLE marketing data. For example, easily allowing customization of website content and marketing efforts based on an EMS activity like the length of time a video was viewed.

For marketers that want to take their videos to the next level, the Questionmine Kentico EMS integration allows you to:

Generate leads by adding lead capture forms at any point in a video.
Qualify leads by adding questions that appear during the video.
Customize website content and marketing efforts based on how prospects and leads answer questions during videos.
Drive Ecommerce by including call to action buttons during video such as "Buy Now" or "Add to Cart".

Cloud computing 101: Service models

Thomas Robbins — Apr 24, 2013 — Article

Personally, I believe that cloud computing is the next stage in the Internet’s evolution. The cloud will eventually provide the way that everything from computing power to computing infrastructure, application business process to personal collaboration is delivered as a service wherever and whenever you need it.

Cloud computing 101: What is the cloud?

Thomas Robbins — Apr 23, 2013 — Article

Cloud computing is a significant step in the evolution of the Internet. Cloud computing is an evolutionary step that combines the power of the Internet, outsourcing, increased bandwidth, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), mobility to just name a few.

Webinar Wrap up: Why community management is not enough today – Starting with social care

Thomas Robbins — Apr 17, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Social Media Customer Service, commonly called Social care, is becoming the next generation for customer engagement. With more than 1 billion people globally using Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, the volumes of customer complaints and inquiries posted online are growing rapidly. This webinar organized by Kentico, in cooperation with Brand Embassy a global Social care platform provider introduced how businesses can easily identify, engage and analyze dissatisfied customers on the social web. In just one hour you will be prepared to start with social care for your business.

Questionmine/Kentico EMS – making video actionable

Thomas Robbins — Apr 16, 2013 — Video Article

kentico ems on-line marketing

By 2015, 90% of web traffic will be video (Cisco). That’s cool... but what do you know about who is watching YOUR videos? How are you customizing your prospects' website experience based on their engagement with your videos?

Watch this webinar to learn how Questionmine and Kentico have teamed up to help Savvy marketers who demand to know more than just "who clicked on my video?"

Wrap up: Ask the experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel #2

Thomas Robbins — Apr 16, 2013 — Article

Ok, so I had a lot of fun and hope everyone that joined did as well! As always the experts were fantastic and it looks like they enjoyed themselves. Thanks to everyone on Twitter that asked some great questions. Stay tuned for our next ask the experts!

Why community management is not enough today – Starting with social care

Thomas Robbins — Apr 11, 2013 — Video Article

on-line marketing

Social Media Customer Service, commonly called Social care, is becoming the next generation for customer engagement. With more than 1 billion people globally using Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, the volumes of customer complaints and inquiries posted online are growing rapidly. This webinar organized by Kentico, in cooperation with Brand Embassy a global Social care platform provider will introduce you to how businesses can easily identify, engage and analyze dissatisfied customers on the social web. In just one hour you will be prepared to start with social care for your business.

Cloud Computing Fact or Fiction [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Apr 11, 2013 — Article

A very interesting infographic from Devry University that helps to explain the basics of cloud computing, and clear up some of the common misunderstandings I know I have heard.

Cloud Computing – The IT Solution for the 21st Century [Infogrpahic]

Thomas Robbins — Apr 10, 2013 — Article

Cloud computing is having a tremendous impact on the IT industry. I suspect many people reading this post are already cloud based technologies in their personal and professional lives. This infpographic by Multy Shades is using the term fifth generation of the computing industry. Cloud computing is clearly establishing itself as the next biggest leap in the transformation of the usage of computers at the work place.

Video: Kentico CMS 7 & Windows Azure Installation

Thomas Robbins — Apr 10, 2013 — Article

Windows Azure is Microsoft’s answer to the cloud and Kentico CMS has been a close partner in leveraging this cloud platform. For developers Windows Azure provides a fantastic opportunity for building and deploying applications like Kentico CMS. In this video we take a look at how you can download and install Kentico CMS on Windows Azure using publishing and leveraging the Kentico Installation Manager.

Are you ready to learn about Marketing Automation?

Thomas Robbins — Apr 9, 2013 — Article

Version 7 introduced some amazing new features. In my personal opinion one of the most powerful is Marketing Automation. Marketing automation is used to manage automatic targeting, timing and content of your outbound marketing messages in response to the behavior and actions of site visitors. For marketers this drastically simplifies the planning and delivering of marketing messages to specific segments.

Ask the experts #2 is almost here!

Thomas Robbins — Apr 4, 2013 — Article

It’s just about a week away and I hope I’ll see you there!

Date: April 10, 2013
Time: 8 AM PST/11 AM EST/4 PM BST
Location: Everywhere! Google hangouts and Twitter

For more information and to submit your questions please find the form.

Updated HOL: Kentico CMS 7: Custom table: Creating and Display available now

Thomas Robbins — Apr 3, 2013 — Article

This is an updated lab. Thanks to everyone that provided feeback.

Kentico CMS provides custom tables as a way to store and manage custom data. Technically, they are SQL tables and coupled stored procedures. Once a custom table is created and contains data, the next step is to provide a display for site visitors. In this lab we will add a custom table and then use the Basic Repeater web part to display it on a page. We will also look at how to use the Kentico CMS API to add and edit an existing item.

Webinar Wrap up: Exploring jQuery Mobile

Thomas Robbins — Apr 2, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!
jQuery Mobile is a unified, HTML5-based user interface system designed for all popular mobile device platforms. Built on top of the jQuery and jQuery UI foundation the mobile framework is built with progressive enhancement in mind.

In this interactive webinar we looked at:

What a mobile framework is
Integrating Kentico CMS into your jQuery mobile applications
How to design mobile applications using progressive enhancement
Understand how HTML, CSS and JavaScript work together to build mobile applications
Learn how to write a mobile web application using jQuery mobile

Kentico CMS Podcast #20 – Talking about Kentico E-Commerce for Version 8 with Petr Vozak, Group Prod

Thomas Robbins — Mar 28, 2013 — Article

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Petr Vozak, Group Product Manager for Kentico CMS E-Commerce as he talks about himself and E-Commerce within Kentico CMS 7 and what is planned for Version 8.

Kentico CMS 7 & Windows Azure Installation

Thomas Robbins — Mar 27, 2013 — Video Article

design kentico cms 7 windows azure

Windows Azure is Microsoft’s answer to the cloud and Kentico CMS has been a close partner in leveraging this cloud platform. For developers Windows Azure provides a fantastic opportunity for building and deploying applications like Kentico CMS. In this video we take a look at how you can download and install Kentico CMS on Windows Azure using publishing and leveraging the Kentico Installation Manager.

In preparation for this video you should already have a Windows Azure account. If you’re looking for additional information on tooling, Microsoft provides them on www.windowsazure.com.

Getting ready for Ask the Experts #2 with Jeroen Fürst

Thomas Robbins — Mar 27, 2013 — Article

Hanging out with Jeroen Fürst, a Kentico MVP and Lead Develoepr with IBL Software. We talk about his thoughts around the First Ask the Experts session and what he's been up to as we get ready for the next ask the experts session!

Webinar wrap up: Building Websites People Can Actually use

Thomas Robbins — Mar 26, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended this webinar!

This fast paced webinar will take you through the stages of how a website gets built the right way - based on a solid Information Architecture ('IA') and delivering what users actually need from a website. With hundreds of websites and over 18 years of web design and development experience behind him, your presenter, Joel Baglien, of High Monkey Consulting will break down the entire process and best practices that should be followed when creating or redesigning a website and implementing the Kentico Content Management System .

Webinar: Why community management is not enough today – Starting with social care

Thomas Robbins — Mar 21, 2013 — Article

Join us for an exciting webinar on

Date: April 11, 2013
Time: 8am PST/11AM EST/4PM BST

Register here

Day 4: Marketing Automation: Extending our process

Thomas Robbins — Mar 20, 2013 — Video Article

marketing automation tutorial

In this fourth video we extend our marketing automation we created to include sending an email. Once the marketing automation process is complete, we look at the entire process example from having a user sign up and becoming a contact to delivering them an email as part of the marketing automation process.

Day 3: Marketing Automation: Defining Steps

Thomas Robbins — Mar 20, 2013 — Video Article

marketing automation tutorial

In this third video we begin to build our Marketing Automation process within Kentico EMS. We take the online form that we created in the previous video and connect this into a Marketing Automation process. We look at how to create triggers and steps and how they are used within a marketing automation process. Once the marketing automation process is built we look at how the online form we built can be used to create a contact within EMS and then make them part of a Marketing Automation process.

Day 2: Marketing Automation: Sign up

Thomas Robbins — Mar 20, 2013 — Video Article

marketing automation tutorial

In this second video we build the online form that is needed for the sign-up of our Marketing Automation process. We look at how this on-line form is built and then connected into EMS contacts. Once the form is built we test and then deploy it to our website to see how it can be used to collect contact within Kentico EMS.

Marketing automation - intro

Thomas Robbins — Mar 19, 2013 — Video Article

marketing automation tutorial

Are you ready for marketing automation? Version 7 introduced some amazing technologies. The question is how can I use it within Kentico EMS? That is a great question and one that I thought I would help to answer. What better way to do that than to actually have you sign up for a marketing automation to learn about building marketing automation! This video provides an introduction to the Marketing Automation Video Series.

Getting Ready for Ask the Experts # 2 with Brian McKeiver

Thomas Robbins — Mar 19, 2013 — Article

Hanging out with Brian McKeiver, a Kentico MVP and the Partner/Senior Developer at BizStream. We talk about his thoughts around the First Ask the Experts session and what he's been up to as we get ready for the next ask the experts session!

Looking for more information on Ask the Experts #2 click here
Also, if you can attend please let us know here

Announcing the Digital Marketing University!

Thomas Robbins — Mar 18, 2013 — Article

I am happy to announce that the Digital Marketing University is opening its doors. I hope you will take an opportunity to stop by for a visit.

Click here for a vist!

Kentico CMS Podcast #20 – Kentico E-Commerce for Version 8 with Petr Vozak, Group Product Manager

Thomas Robbins — Mar 14, 2013 — Video Article

e-commerce podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Petr Vozak, Group Product Manager for Kentico CMS E-Commerce as he talks about himself and E-Commerce within Kentico CMS 7 and what is planned for Version 8.

Kentico Technical Learning: Exploring jQuery Mobile

Thomas Robbins — Mar 14, 2013 — Video Article

jquery mobile

jQuery Mobile is a unified, HTML5-based user interface system designed for all popular mobile device platforms. Built on top of the jQuery and jQuery UI foundation the mobile framework is built with progressive enhancement in mind.

Building Websites People Can Actually Use

Thomas Robbins — Mar 14, 2013 — Video Article

design

This fast paced webinar will take you through the stages of how a website gets built the right way - based on a solid Information Architecture ('IA') and delivering what users actually need from a website. With hundreds of websites and over 18 years of web design and development experience behind him, your presenter, Joel Baglien, will break down the entire process and best practices that should be followed when creating or redesigning a website and implementing the Kentico Content Management System .

Webinar: Questionmine/Kentico EMS – making video actionable

Thomas Robbins — Mar 13, 2013 — Article

Join us for an exciting webinar on:

Date: April 16, 2013
Time: 8 AM-9 AM PST/11 AM-12 PM EST/ 4 PM-5PM BST

Register here

The Economics of Content - Opinions needed!

Thomas Robbins — Mar 12, 2013 — Article

Content marketing has emerged as a powerful vehicle for buyer engagement, thought leadership, and demand generation. Aberdeen Group is launching a new research project to identify Best-in-Class practices across the content marketing lifecycle – from content development, management, and distribution, to analytics and optimization. Their analysis will quantify the value of content in the marketing mix, helping identify the new economics of content marketing. We’re pleased to support this great research and hope you will as well.

The State of Cloud Storage in 2013 [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Mar 12, 2013 — Article

An exabyte of data is an astounding number! According to this graphic by Nasuni this is what is being stored in cloud. Even more interesting is the rest of the infographic. It covers a set of data they ran during November 2012 that shows Azure as the number 1 platform. Love it or hate it – the data is definitely interesting!

Getting Ready for Ask the Experts #2 with Bryan Soltis

Thomas Robbins — Mar 7, 2013 — Article

Hanging out with Bryan Soltis a Kentico MVP and the Director of Technology and Research at Bit-wizards. We talk about his thoughts around the First Ask the Experts session and what he’s been up to as we get ready for the next ask the experts session!

Looking for more information on Ask the Experts #2 click here

The Demographics of Social Media Users – 2012

Thomas Robbins — Mar 6, 2013 — Article

Everyone wants to use social media but the problem is how? Maximizing marketing spend and impact is something every CMO demands. A late 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project (available here) shows some great data that may help.

The Kentico MVP Program

Thomas Robbins — Mar 5, 2013 — Article

Innovative people that participate and contribute their time, ideas and resources are the cornerstone of the worldwide CMS and .NET communities. This spirit has played an important industry role and Kentico wants to help continue to foster this type of community spirit. The Kentico MVP Award is designed to recognize individual who are part of this community. A Kentico MVP is an engaged community advocate who listens and promotes CMS and.NET

How Safe is Cloud Computing? [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Feb 28, 2013 — Article

With the shift to the cloud there are questions that we should be asking. This infographic by Memset, contains several of the main elements that you need to consider for cloud computing safety. Ultimately, the cloud is as safe as the way you set yourself up. Where is the data going to be held? Can you trust your staff? Can your systems deal with Denial of Service attacks?

Webinar Wrap up: Responsive Design: Beyond the Buzz

Thomas Robbins — Feb 26, 2013 — Article

Thanks to Scott Noonan, CTO of Boston Interactive for this webinar.

Scott Noonan’s presentation on Responsive Design aims to break through the typical buzz around the topic and explore just what this trend means. Tailored for an audience of marketing professionals, the presentation provides the information to determine if responsive design is best for your business and how to be successful when taking on a responsive project.

About Scott: Scott Noonan has been the CTO at Boston Interactive since 2001. With 30+ years of software development, Scott has spent 15 years as a professional in the web/CMS space. Scott has been featured as a speaker as several technical seminars, most recently including his role as the keynote speaker as Percussion’s annual user seminar.

Webinar: Building Websites People Can Actually Use

Thomas Robbins — Feb 21, 2013 — Article

Join us for an exciting webinar!

Date: Wed, March 13, 2013
Time: 8AM PST/11AM EST/4PM BST
Duration: 60 Minutes

Register here

Webinar: Kentico Technical Learning: Exploring jQuery Mobile

Thomas Robbins — Feb 20, 2013 — Article

Join us for an exciting webinar:

Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2013
Time: 8am PST/11AM EST/4pm BST

Register here

Are You a Marketing Hero? [Infograhic]

Thomas Robbins — Feb 19, 2013 — Article

Direct Marketing News asked their readers to share how the role of marketers is changing, what they are doing and what they didn’t expect they would have to do. They used the responses to create this fascinating infographic on what a marketer does. From what I can see the tasks covered are pretty close to what I see on a daily basis as I talk with marketers. Also, my favorite response is to the question - what’s your most important task? Strategy still rules as the number #1 task! What do you think?

Responsive Design: Beyond the Buzz

Thomas Robbins — Feb 12, 2013 — Video Article

mobile responsive

Thanks to Scott Noonan, CTO of Boston Interactive for this webinar.

Scott Noonan’s presentation on Responsive Design aims to break through the typical buzz around the topic and explore just what this trend means. Tailored for an audience of marketing professionals, the presentation provides the information to determine if responsive design is best for your business and how to be successful when taking on a responsive project.

Wrap up: Multichannel Marketing – Connecting with the New Channels

Thomas Robbins — Feb 12, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended the Charleston AMA Luncheon last week!

Session Description:
Today’s customers engage with your organization through a growing variety of channels. Your website is just one of them – don’t forget social media, mobile and e-mail. Understanding the customer journey across these channels is essential to the success of any marketing organization.

Is your website ready for Responsive Design?

Thomas Robbins — Feb 11, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended my session at the South Florida Code Camp! As promised here is the slide deck.

Massive flat screen TVs, desktop, mobile phones, tablets, netbooks, mini-tablets... Server side device detection is not the only approach available when it comes to servicing the myriad of screen sizes your users could be on. We’ll take a look at responsive web design and the core concepts of making a UI responsive, what tools and frameworks are available now and how best to integrate this approach for your website.

Why Kentico CMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Feb 9, 2013 — Video Article

kentico cms 7 on-line marketing

Kentico CMS is an enterprise Web Content Management and Customer Experience Management System that provides a complete set of features for building websites, intranets, community sites and e-commerce solutions on the Microsoft ASP.NET platform; on premise or in the cloud. In this video we take a look at why Kentico CMS 7 should your choice.

Announcing: Ask the Experts #2 – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel

Thomas Robbins — Feb 7, 2013 — Article

Join us for our second Ask the Experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel
Date: April 10, 2013
Time: 8 AM PST/11 AM EST/4 PM BST
Location: Everywhere! Google hangouts and Twitter

Kentico CMS Podcast #19 – From Brochure to Funnel with Kentico EMS(Ben Cash, BlueKey Web Solutions)

Thomas Robbins — Feb 6, 2013 — Article

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Ben Cash, Owner and Creative Director of BlueKey Web Solutions a Kentico gold partner as he talks about his marketing experiences and best practices in taking customers from brochure to funnel.

Google Chrome Developer Tools - Overview

Thomas Robbins — Feb 5, 2013 — Article

In this previous post we looked at how to use the Google Chrome Developer Tools to change user agents. That just scratches the surface of the available tools within Google Chrome. In this post we’ll take a look at the broad set of tools available. Please keep an eye out for additional posts that we will look further at how these are used.

The Anatomy of Content Marketing [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jan 31, 2013 — Article

I hope everyone agrees that modern marketing is about the currency of content. This infographic by Content + I think does a great job providing an overview of the anatomy of content marketing and it’s advantages.

Webinar Wrap Up: Future Web Design – Mobiles, Tablets, TVs and Glasses

Thomas Robbins — Jan 30, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended and a special thank you to James Roswell Founder & CEO of 51Degrees.mobi for his presentation!

20% of web traffic in Europe and North America is now coming from mobile devices. Smart TVs and Glasses will soon add to the variety of devices accessing web sites. Web sites must now recognize different devices and do so in a way that is future proof and supports their varied characteristics. Responsive web design is only part of the solution. Find out how to create a future proof roadmap for your web site.

Join me at the AMA Charleston Marketing Association luncheon!

Thomas Robbins — Jan 29, 2013 — Article

The Charleston, South Carolina American Marketing Association has been kind of enough to invite me to speak at their February luncheon.

When: Thursday, February 7, 2013
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Location: Charleston Marriott, 170 Lockwood Blvd

Wrap up: Ask the Experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel #1

Thomas Robbins — Jan 25, 2013 — Article

Wow -That was a lot of fun! Ok well everything but our initial stream problem. Sorry, still learning Google Hangouts! As always the experts were fantastic and it looks like everyone enjoyed themselves. Thanks to everyone on Twitter that asked some great questions.

Well you asked for it – Are you ready for another?
Stay tuned for the date and time of the next Ask the Experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel…

Kentico CMS Podcast #19 – From Brochure to Funnel with Kentico EMS with Ben Cash, Owner and Creative

Thomas Robbins — Jan 24, 2013 — Video Article

kentico ems podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Ben Cash, Owner and Creative Director of BlueKey Web Solutions a Kentico gold partner as he talks about his marketing experiences and best practices in taking customers from brochure to funnel.

Webinar Wrap Up: Bureau of Internet Accessibility - Make the Internet accessible to all users

Thomas Robbins — Jan 24, 2013 — Article

Thanks to everyone that joined our webinar!

Kentico has partnered with the Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BoIA) to help make the Internet accessible to all users. The Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BoIA.org) offers Free Web-based accessibility analysis using Section 508 standards, WCAG 2.0 standards and checks for broken links with the option of adding unlimited on-demand scans. Their service allows you to easily address compliance concerns for prospects and clients. Additionally, they have a unique twist on how you can use their free accessibility scans as a lead generator. Join this webinar to see how you can make your Kentico CMS site inclusive to all users.

Future Web Design – Mobiles, Tablets, TVs and Glasses

Thomas Robbins — Jan 23, 2013 — Video Article

devices mobile

Thanks to James Roswell Founder & CEO of 51Degrees.mobi for his presentation

20% of web traffic in Europe and North America is now coming from mobile devices. Smart TVs and Glasses will soon add to the variety of devices accessing web sites. Web sites must now recognize different devices and do so in a way that is future proof and supports their varied characteristics. Responsive web design is only part of the solution. Find out how to create a future proof roadmap for your web site.

Slides are available here

Are you ready for the Ask the Experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel?

Thomas Robbins — Jan 23, 2013 — Article

It’s almost time for our first Ask the Experts - A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel!

Date: January 24, 2013
Time: 8 AM PST/11 AM EST/4 PM BST
Location: Everywhere! Google hangouts and Twitter

More information available here

jQuery Mobile – Pages and Dialogs

Thomas Robbins — Jan 22, 2013 — Article

In this blog post let’s continue taking a look at the basics of jQuery Mobile. One of the best ways to approach a new jQuery mobile application is to think of it as individual pages. The page based metaphor allows a quickly built applications or prototypes. In this blog post we’ll take a look at using Pages and Dialogs for your application.

Bureau of Internet Accessibility - Make the Internet accessible to all users

Thomas Robbins — Jan 17, 2013 — Video Article

accessibility design

Kentico has partnered with the Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BoIA) to help make the Internet accessible to all users. The Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BoIA.org) offers Free Web-based accessibility analysis using Section 508 standards, WCAG 2.0 standards and checks for broken links with the option of adding unlimited on-demand scans. Their service allows you to easily address compliance concerns for prospects and clients. Additionally, they have a unique twist on how you can use their free accessibility scans as a lead generator. Join this webinar to see how you can make your Kentico CMS site inclusive to all users.

The Benefits of Business Blogging [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jan 17, 2013 — Article

I admit it’s an oldie but many times we forget the reasons why a business should blog. I think Gadarian Digital put together a nice top ten list of things that we all should stop and review once in a while.

JQuery Mobile List Views

Thomas Robbins — Jan 16, 2013 — Article

Lists are one of the most basic browsing experiences. They are a very simple and efficient way to display data. With jQuery mobile they are also incredibly flexible in how they can be styled and adapt to different screen sizes. In this blog post we will look at a few examples of how you can create list views with jQuery mobile.

Just getting started with jQuery Mobile?
Start with this article on Introducing jQuery Mobile.

Google Chrome Developer Tools Changing User Agents

Thomas Robbins — Jan 15, 2013 — Article

Google Chrome has quickly become one of my favorite browsers. A lot has to do with the pretty amazing set of included developer tools. With mobile applications quickly being able to change the user agent string has been really a nice way to test various looks. In this blog post I wanted to share a quick tip for how this can be done.

It’s all about Online Video [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jan 9, 2013 — Article

According to this infographic from Bonomotion Simple Video Solutions, for businesses, video makes everything better. Nobody should argue that video is becoming an important part of the engagement mix. This infographic has some great data that shows why video should be an important part of any marketing strategy.

Kentico CMS Podcast #18 – Talking about Responsive Web Design with Adam Reece, Senior Web Designer f

Thomas Robbins — Jan 8, 2013 — Article

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Adam Reece, Senior Web Designer for BizStream a Kentico gold partner as he talks about his experiences with a recently completed Responsive design project and also provides some great best practices techniques to keep in mind.

Adding Voicemail to your website

Thomas Robbins — Jan 8, 2013 — Article

I ran across a very interesting and what I thought was a fantastic engagement mechanism! Speakpipe.com is currently in Beta but definitely worth taking a look at!

Kentico CMS Podcast #18 – Talking about Responsive Web Design with Adam Reece, Senior Web Designer f

Thomas Robbins — Jan 4, 2013 — Video Article

podcast responsive

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Adam Reece, Senior Web Designer for BizStream a Kentico gold partner as he talks about his experiences with a recently completed Responsive design project and also provides some great best practices techniques to keep in mind.

Webinar: Responsive Design: Beyond the Buzz

Thomas Robbins — Jan 3, 2013 — Article

Join us for an exciting webinar

Title: Responsive Design: Beyond the Buzz
Date: February 12, 2013
Time: 8am PST/11am EST/4pm BST
Register here

Getting Started with ASP.NET MVC 4 Mobile Development and Jquery

Thomas Robbins — Jan 2, 2013 — Article

In this previous article we looked at jQuery Mobile and how it can be used to build mobile applications. Of course there is more to the story. Model-View-Controller (MVC) is probably one of the most quoted patterns in the web programming world in recent years. I am sure that anyone working in anything related to web application development has heard or read the acronym hundreds of times. In this post we will take a look at the architectural patterns for MVC and how ASP.NET MVC 4 combines the power of MVC and jQuery Mobile.

Kentico CMS Podcast #17 – Talking about Responsive Web Design with Steve Adams, Senior Web Developer

Thomas Robbins — Dec 27, 2012 — Article

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Steve Adams, Senior Web Developer for Bit-Wizards a Kentico gold partner as he talks about his experiences with a recently completed Responsive design project and also provides some great tools and resources to learn more.

Take a look at his great list of resources for Responsive Design here.

Webinar Wrap up: Kentico Technical Learning - Responsive Design with Kentico CMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Dec 26, 2012 — Article

Thanks to everyone that joined!

It’s not hard to see that your laptop computer isn’t the only piece of hardware that has a web browser. The web is on your phone, your tablet, your laptop and even your television. Web pages that take the multi-platform world into account are using Responsive Web Design (RWD). As we saw in a previous webinar, this is a set of techniques and ideas that look to adapt layouts based on the environment of the user’s browser. In this webinar Thom Robbins, Kentico CMS Chief Evangelist drilled into the tools and technologies for building a responsive site.

Webinar: Bureau of Internet Accessibility - Make the Internet accessible to all users

Thomas Robbins — Dec 20, 2012 — Article

Join us for a webinar

Title: Bureau of Internet Accessibility - Make the Internet accessible to all users
Date: January 17, 2013
Time: 8AM PST / 11AM EST/4 PM BST

Register here

Announcing: Ask the Experts – A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel

Thomas Robbins — Dec 19, 2012 — Article

Join us for our first Ask the Experts - A Kentico CMS Virtual Panel!
Date: January 24, 2013
Time: 8 AM PST/11 AM EST/4 PM BST
Location: Everywhere! Google hangouts and Twitter

Webinar Wrap up: From Brochure to Funnel: Strategies for Increasing Website Conversions

Thomas Robbins — Dec 18, 2012 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Ben Cash, veteran Internet marketing consultant and owner of BlueKey Web Solutions, hosts a webinar on transforming your website from an online brochure into a marketing and conversion tool for your business. Learn how to analyze your target audiences, create more effective conversion funnels, and glean actionable insights that will produce measurable results.

For slides please contact Blue Key Web Solutions

Kentico Technical Learning - Responsive Design with Kentico CMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Dec 18, 2012 — Video Article

mobile responsive

It’s not hard to see that your laptop computer isn’t the only piece of hardware that has a web browser. The web is on your phone, your tablet, your laptop and even your television. Web pages that take the multi-platform world into account are using Responsive Web Design (RWD). As we saw in a previous webinar, this is a set of techniques and ideas that look to adapt layouts based on the environment of the user’s browser. In this webinar Thom Robbins, Kentico CMS Chief Evangelist drilled into the tools and technologies for building a responsive site.

The New Face of SEO: How SEO has Changed [InfoGraphic]

Thomas Robbins — Dec 17, 2012 — Article

We all know that Search Engine Optimization {SEO) is the process of affecting the visibility of a web page in a search engine’s natural or un-paid search results. What’s interesting and something often neglected is the new face SEO post Panda and Penguin updates which is well presented in this infogrpahic by Fuzz One.

Inbound Marketing Summit – Interview

Thomas Robbins — Dec 13, 2012 — Article

The Inbound Marketing Summit 2012 in Boston was a fantastic event! I had an opportunity to sit down with the Pulse Network at the conference to discuss my presentation Enterprise Websites – Connecting with the New Channels.

Kentico CMS Podcast #17 – Responsive Web Design with Steve Adams, Bit-Wizards Senior Web Developer

Thomas Robbins — Dec 13, 2012 — Video Article

podcast responsive

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Steve Adams, Senior Web Developer for Bit-Wizards a Kentico gold partner as he talks about his experiences with a recently completed Responsive design project and also provides some great tools and resources to learn more.

Take a look at his great list of resources for Responsive Design here.

Mobile marketing on the rise [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Dec 12, 2012 — Article

Marketers should definitely keep a close eye on the rising mobile trends according to this recent infographic from Microsoft Tag. Did you know that half of all searches are performed on mobile devices? By 2014, the mobile internet will overtake desktop internet usage. 91% of the internet are using mobile to socialize compared to only 79% of desktop users. Great information!

Introducing CSS 3 Media Queries

Thomas Robbins — Dec 11, 2012 — Article

In the Introducing Responsive Design post we explored the basic concepts of a responsive website. We saw there were three major components; fluid grid layouts, CSS 3 media queries, and fluid images and media. In this post we will look at CSS 3 media queries and how they can be used for designing responsive web sites.

From Brochure to Funnel: Strategies for Increasing Website Conversions

Thomas Robbins — Dec 11, 2012 — Video Article

conversions on-line marketing

Ben Cash, veteran Internet marketing consultant and owner of BlueKey Web Solutions, hosts a webinar on transforming your website from an online brochure into a marketing and conversion tool for your business. Learn how to analyze your target audiences, create more effective conversion funnels, and glean actionable insights that will produce measurable results.

For slides please contact Blue Key Web Solutions

Webinar wrap up: Kentico CMS 7- Security improvements

Thomas Robbins — Dec 10, 2012 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Kentico takes security seriously and security improvements are an important part of any new release. Password expiration and policy enforcement, are just a few of the new security improvements in Kentico CMS 7. in this interactive and demo filled session we looked at the new security improvements in Kentico CMS 7.

Introducing JQuery Mobile

Thomas Robbins — Dec 6, 2012 — Article

Using HTML and CSS to build a mobile oriented user interface is one of the more powerful features of HTML 5. Unfortunately, because of the complexity it may take some time to build even a simple user interface. This is where a web development framework like JQuery mobile can help to get the job done. This type of mobile framework is a packaged collection of interactive elements and code tools. In this blog post well take a look at why we would want to use a mobile framework like JQuery mobile and then build a simple application to illustrate the power of these types of frameworks.

Webinar: Future Web Design – Mobiles, Tablets, TVs and Glasses.

Thomas Robbins — Dec 5, 2012 — Article

Join us for a webinar

Date: January 23 2013 8-9 AM PST/4:00-5:00PM BST
Register here

Video: Enterprise Websites – Connecting with the New Channels

Thomas Robbins — Dec 4, 2012 — Article

Thanks to the Pulse Network for a great recording of my recent session at the Inbound Marketing Summit 2012.

Engagement Marketing – Solutions that move that needle

Thomas Robbins — Dec 3, 2012 — Article

Robb Bean, Vice President and Interactive Director with Burns Marketing and Kentico CMS Gold Partner provided a fantastic talk at Gilbane on their recently completed Kentico EMS implementation for Daimler Trucks North America Freightliner division.

Introducing Fluid Grid Layouts

Thomas Robbins — Nov 29, 2012 — Article

In the previous post, Introducing Responsive Design we explored the basic concepts of a responsive website. We saw there were three major components; fluid grid layouts, CSS 3 media queries, and fluid images and media. In this second blog post we will look at the basics of fluid grid layouts and how they are used for designing responsive sites.

Have you seen Kentico CMS Training for 2013?

Thomas Robbins — Nov 28, 2012 — Article

In case you haven’t seen it we posted the training dates for 2013 and encourage you to take a look at them here!

Kentico CMS Podcast #16 – Talking about EMS with Manoj Shah, Digital Services Director for Pull Digi

Thomas Robbins — Nov 27, 2012 — Article

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Manoj Shah, Digital Services Director for Pull Digital a UK based Kentico gold partner as he talks about his experiences with the Kentico CMS Enterprise Marketing Solution and his experiences across several of their projects.

Webinar: Kentico Technical Learning - Responsive Design with Kentico CMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Nov 26, 2012 — Article

Join us for a webinar

Date: Dec 18, 2012 8:00-9:00 AM PST/ 4:00-5:00 PM BST
Register here

Kentico CMS Podcast #15 – Talking about EMS with Jonathan Healy, Development Director Netconstruct

Thomas Robbins — Nov 26, 2012 — Article

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Jonathan Healy, Development Director of NetConstruct a UK based Kentico gold partner as he talks about his experiences with the Kentico CMS Enterprise Marketing Solution and his experiences across several of their projects

Kentico EMS 7 - Power to the Marketer!

Thomas Robbins — Nov 21, 2012 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended my session on Kentico EMS 7 - Power to the Marketer!

Introducing Responsive Design

Thomas Robbins — Nov 20, 2012 — Article

It’s not hard to see that your laptop computer isn’t the only piece of hardware that has a web browser. The web is on your phone, your tablet, your laptop and even your television. Web pages that take the multi-platform world into account are using Responsive Web Design (RWD). This is a set of techniques and ideas that look to adapt layouts based on the environment of the user's browser. Responsive Web Design is often associated with terms like fluid design, elastic layout, rubber layout, liquid design, adaptive layout, cross device design, and flexible design to name a few. This is the first of several blog posts that will look at how you can use Responsive Web Design.

How much do small businesses spend on social media? [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Nov 19, 2012 — Article

According to a VerticalResponse survey of 462 small businesses on how much time they spend on social media activities:

Small businesses are spending more time on social medial media, and many are struggling with the added workload
Small businesses are focusing on Facebook and Twitter while adoption on Pinterest and Google+ remain slow
Small businesses are realizing the value of content but again time is an issue
Small businesses are finding value in paying for social media.

Check out the following infographic for more information.

New Research Report: Mobile Health 2012

Thomas Robbins — Nov 16, 2012 — Article

According to a new report by Pew Internet 85% of U.S. adults own a cell phone. Approximately half of those own smartphones which expand their mobile internet access and enables mobile applications. Well what are they doing with this mobile power?

Creating a Campaign Programmatically in Kentico EMS

Thomas Robbins — Nov 15, 2012 — Article

Hello everyone my name is Brian McKeiver, Co-Owner of BizStream and Kentico MVP. As some of you may know, Thom Robbins is busy this week at the Kentico Partner Conference in Sydney, Australia. So my fellow Kentico MVPs and I are taking over this blog in his absence. By the time he gets back he may not even recognize it!

My Background

Before I knew about Kentico CMS I was your typical ASP.NET Developer. I was very happy creating my own web applications and websites from scratch. I even had some pretty decent reusable code libraries and modules developed by myself and my team at BizStream, that made making web applications relatively easy. Then I laid my eyes on Kentico CMS. I was blown away at how easy it was to quickly deliver fully functional websites that looked great. Now Ihave been using the Kentico platform for over 4 years and couldn’t be happier. At BizStream we have delivered more than 40 Kentico websites, and our clients absolutely love using it.

Top 5 Things When Deploying Kentico CMS to Windows Azure

Thomas Robbins — Nov 14, 2012 — Article

It’s not every day you get to hack into the Kentico Chief Evangelist’s blog and post whatever you like. Oh the havoc I could spread! Seeing how I’ve already written up some lovely SQL injections, copied a few thousand Trojan horses DLL's, and pretty much ruined Thom’s credit in every way, here’s a bit of useful information for anyone deploying Kentico CMS to Windows Azure.

Calculating Lifetime Value [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Nov 13, 2012 — Article

Lifetime value is an incredibly important to marketers to predict the net profit they may be able to attribute to the relationship with a customer. This infographic from KissMetrics provides a great overview of the term.

Kentico CMS Podcast #16 – About EMS with Manoj Shah, Digital Services Director for Pull Digital

Thomas Robbins — Nov 9, 2012 — Video Article

kentico ems podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Manoj Shah, Digital Services Director for Pull Digital a UK based Kentico gold partner as he talks about his experiences with the Kentico CMS Enterprise Marketing Solution and his experiences across several of their projects.

Take a look at one of their case studies: Chaucer Direct

Kentico CMS Podcast #15 – Talking about EMS with Jonathan Healy, Development Director Netconstruct

Thomas Robbins — Nov 9, 2012 — Video Article

kentico ems podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Jonathan Healy, Development Director of NetConstruct a UK based Kentico gold partner as he talks about his experiences with the Kentico CMS Enterprise Marketing Solution and his experiences across several of their projects.

One of their EMS Case Studies is available here: Kingspan Insulated Panels

Understanding the ROI of Content Development and Marketing

Thomas Robbins — Nov 8, 2012 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended my sessin at Customer Engagement Technology World!

Engaging customers and prospects is no longer a single channel, one-way communication. Marketers must engage more deeply and communicate in multiple ways. Content marketing provides materials that target customers and make them stop, think and behave differently through delivering high quality relevant and valuable information with the goal of driving profitable customer action. Producing consistent and useful content is a competitive strategy to outpace your competition. However, simply engaging is no longer enough. Marketers must be able to track and measure the quantitative impact of their efforts, clearly demonstrating the link between their programs and business results. The failure of many marketing campaigns is not related to a lack of effort or creativity – it often relates to a lack of structured analytical thinking about the purpose and objectives.
Attend this session and learn how to:

Identify business objectives: Why does the campaign exist? What is its ultimate business purpose?
Define measurable goals for content
Define goals for each objective: What are the specific things the campaign must do accomplish the business objectives?
Define key performance indicators (KPI) for each goal: What metrics will be used to measure progress toward each goal?
Define thresholds for success and failure: What are the target values for each KPI?
Understand the content lifecycle and what is required to scale and optimize the right content to the right channel and measuring impact.
Focus on strategies that allow more effective connections with various stakeholders across a number of social channels, drive conversations, and influence customers.

What’s the margin of error?

Thomas Robbins — Nov 7, 2012 — Article

As a marketer understanding data and being able to craft it into a meaningful and accurate story is a job requirement. We tend to live into a world of data overload and the margin of error deserves a better understanding than the typical single tiny line you see on most slides. The margin of error is a statistic that expresses the amount of random sampling error in a set of survey results. The larger the margin of error, the less confidence you should have in the polls reported results. Remember, data surveys represent only a portion of the audience population and the margin of error naturally occurs whenever a population is not completely sampled.

Webinar: From Brochure to Funnel: Strategies for Increasing Website Conversions

Thomas Robbins — Nov 6, 2012 — Article

Join us for a special marketing webinar:

Date: Dec 11, 2012 8:00-9:00 AM PST/ 4:00-5:00 PM BST
Register here

Video response: Sage 50 – Integrated E-Commerce with Kentico CMS

Thomas Robbins — Nov 5, 2012 — Article

Love the video response by Discover IT on their Sage 50 Integration with Kentico CMS available on YouTube.

As social media comes under scrutiny with the Facebook IPO implosion, and despite the economic conditions, Forrester forecasts over 10% annual E-Commerce growth through 2016. But, effective back-end integration is becoming a key requirement for successful web stores. This session describes what was involved, using Kentico's facility to implement custom logic, to achieve REAL-TIME (shopper, pricing, stock, credit, order) integration of a Kentico E-Commerce store with a Sage 50 Accounts system.

What’s an LMS? [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Nov 1, 2012 — Article

According to this infographic from Tellonline The value of a Learning Management System (LMS) is pretty clear. Personally, I can report first hand the explosive growth of the e-learning market and continue to be amazed.

Kentico CMS Podcast #14 – Talking about EMS with Brian McKeiver, Partner /Senior Developer and Kenti

Thomas Robbins — Oct 31, 2012 — Article

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Brian McKeiver, Partner/Senior Developer with BizStream and Kentico MVP as he talks about his experiences with the Kentico CMS Enterprise Marketing Solution and his experiences across several of their projects.

Video: Enterprise Web sites – Connecting with the New Channels

Thomas Robbins — Oct 30, 2012 — Article

*** Recorded at IMS Boston 2012 ***

Today’s customers engage with your organization through a growing variety of channels. Your website
is just one of them –don’t forget social media, mobile and e-mail. Understanding the customer journey across these channels is essential to the success of any marketing organization. In this session we looked at the key recommendations you need to consider as you get started in multichannel engagement.

The Three Essential Content Strategy Questions

Thomas Robbins — Oct 30, 2012 — Article

marketing

Developing a content strategy is a combination of art and science. A well-developed content strategy understands the audience, then selects topics and finally defines an editorial calendar.

Kentico CMS Podcast #14 – About EMS with Brian McKeiver, Partner/Senior Developer and Kentico MVP

Thomas Robbins — Oct 29, 2012 — Video Article

kentico ems podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Brian McKeiver, Partner/Senior Developer with Kentico CMS Gold Partner, BizStream and Kentico MVP as he talks about his experiences with the Kentico CMS Enterprise Marketing Solution and his experiences across several of their projects.

Links from the show
Get the Kentico CMS 7 Developer Preparation guide at http://bit.ly/RsEQ84
Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital Case Study available here

Enterprise Web sites – Connecting with the New Channels

Thomas Robbins — Oct 27, 2012 — Video Article

on-line marketing

*** Recorded at IMS Boston 2012 ***

Today’s customers engage with your organization through a growing variety of channels. Your website is just one of them – don’t forget social media, mobile and e-mail. Understanding the customer journey across these channels is essential to the success of any marketing organization. In this session we looked at the key recommendations you need to consider as you get started in multichannel engagement.

Enterprise Web sites – Connecting with the New Channels

Thomas Robbins — Oct 25, 2012 — Article

What a great conference the Inbound Marketing Summit 2012 was! Thanks to everyone that attended my session.

Kentico CMS 7 – 15 Minute Overview

Thomas Robbins — Oct 25, 2012 — Article

Kentico CMS is an enterprise Web Content Management System and Customer Experience Management System that provides a complete set of features for building websites, intranets, community sites and e-commerce solutions on the Microsoft ASP.NET platform on premise or in the cloud. It supports mobile websites, SEO, document management, online marketing tools, multilingual websites, multisite management and it ships with over 40 modules, 340 configurable Web parts and source code available.

Kentico CMS customers can expect a highly flexible platform with a uniquely easy-to-use user interface. It’s currently used by more than 15,000 websites in 87 countries. The clients include Microsoft, Guinness, Vodafone, O2, Orange, Brussels Airlines, Mazda, Ford, Subaru, Isuzu, Samsung, Gibson, ESPN, DKNY, Abbott Labs, Medibank, Ireland.ie and many others.

Enterprise Cloud Adoption By the Numbers [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Oct 24, 2012 — Article

Cloud Connect teamed up with the Everest Group to conduct the first of its kind research project around enterprise cloud adoption. The results are summarized in the following Infographic and look at how businesses are currently using cloud computing as well as how they are planning on using it moving forward.

Kentico Connections 2012: Kentico CMS Looking forward to Version 8

Thomas Robbins — Oct 24, 2012 — Article

Using special technology we were able to record this short clip of Petr Palas, Kentico CEO and Founder. During a secret strategy session with top executives he lays out the future direction of Kentico CMS.

Bit-Wizards Presents The 360 Degree Website!

Thomas Robbins — Oct 22, 2012 — Article

A 360 degree website is an online business, not just a website. It allows you to drive repeat sales with email marketing and analytics, gather leads through a built-in customer relationship management, integrate your e-commerce with your accounting and inventory systems, and allow people to share your content through social media.

Webinar wrap up: Learning Management Solutions using Kentico – the CPD Academy

Thomas Robbins — Oct 18, 2012 — Article

cpd e-learning lms

Thanks to everyone that attended!

In this webinar we will look at how the Kentico platform can provide a powerful learning management tool with the CPD Academy. CPD Academy is an integrated set of tools that delivers a powerful learning management system (LMS). In the webinar we will look at the features of the product, discuss the technical aspects of its production and look at the commercial opportunities that it presents to the Kentico Partner community. The event is a must for all those who seek to make more of their Kentico knowledge and who take a proactive approach in sharing new opportunities with their Kentico clients.

Kentico Connections 2012 - More Secret Videos Obtained

Thomas Robbins — Oct 18, 2012 — Article

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

Smart search is one of the most widely used modules of Kentico CMS. Version 7 extends this module to include simplified development, faceted search, textbox filter types, search results extensions to name just a few. Join this session to take a deep dive on the Smart Search module.

Kentico Connections 2012 - More Secret Videos Obtained

Thomas Robbins — Oct 17, 2012 — Article

Thanks to recently borrowed and declassified video technology we have been able to make several secretly recorded videos available from Kentico Connections 2012. I am currently in negotiations to recover even more – so please stay tuned!

Bitwizards- Your 360 Degree Website

Thomas Robbins — Oct 17, 2012 — Video Article

interview

A 360 degree website is an online business, not just a website. It allows you to drive repeat sales with email marketing and analytics, gather leads through a built-in customer relationship management, integrate your e-commerce with your accounting and inventory systems, and allow people to share your content through social media.

Learning Management Solutions using Kentico – the CPD Academy

Thomas Robbins — Oct 17, 2012 — Video Article

cpd academy feature

In this webinar we will look at how the Kentico platform can provide a powerful learning management tool with the CPD Academy. CPD Academy is an integrated set of tools that delivers a powerful learning management system (LMS). In the webinar we will look at the features of the product, discuss the technical aspects of its production and look at the commercial opportunities that it presents to the Kentico Partner community. The event is a must for all those who seek to make more of their Kentico knowledge and who take a proactive approach in sharing new opportunities with their Kentico clients.

Updated Guide: Getting Started with Content Marketing Available Now

Thomas Robbins — Oct 16, 2012 — Article

marketing

Let’s be honest, the world of traditional marketing may not be dead, but it’s on life support. Consumers simply aren’t paying attention and the plethora of new platforms has made the modern marketer’s job even tougher. Content marketing may be just the answer you need to help connect with your target customer. This Getting Started guide is targeted at modern marketers looking for a better way to connect and interact with their audience using Content marketing.

Webinar: Kentico CMS 7 - Security improvements

Thomas Robbins — Oct 16, 2012 — Article

Date: Dec 5, 2012 8:00-9:00 AM PST/ 4:00-5:00 PM BST
Register here

Kentico Connections 2012 - More Secret Videos Obtained

Thomas Robbins — Oct 15, 2012 — Article

Thanks to recently borrowed and declassified video technology we have been able to make several secretly recorded videos available from Kentico Connections 2012. I am currently in negotiations to recover even more – so please stay tuned!

Deep Dive - Smart Search

Thomas Robbins — Oct 13, 2012 — Video Article

content management feature kentico cms 7 kentico connection smart search

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

Smart search is one of the most widely used modules of Kentico CMS. Version 7 extends this module to include simplified development, faceted search, textbox filter types, search results extensions to name just a few. Join this session to take a deep dive on the Smart Search module.

Webinar Wrap Up- Responsive Design with Kentico CMS 7 – Are you ready?

Thomas Robbins — Oct 12, 2012 — Article

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Massive flat screen TVs, desktop, mobile phones, tablets, netbooks, mini-tablets... Server side device detection is not the only approach available when it comes to servicing the myriad of screen sizes your users could be on. Join ecentricarts inc. in this webinar covering responsive web design. They will be looking into the core concepts of making a UI responsive, what tools and frameworks are available now and how best to integrate this approach with the new Kentico 7 features for mobile.

Get the Reviewer’s Guide for Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution Version 7!

Thomas Robbins — Oct 11, 2012 — Article

This evaluation guide, targeted at industry thought leaders and marketing managers, details the features and benefits of Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution (EMS), the integrated customer experience management platform introduced in the latest release of the Kentico Content Management System (CMS). The guide begins with an introduction to Kentico EMS and continues with a detailed examination of the value and features the Enterprise Marketing Solution provides. The evaluation guide also includes a useful feature matrix that allows readers to understand the capabilities available in each edition of the Kentico platform. After completing this guide, readers will understand why organizations should choose Kentico EMS for their marketing programs and how to utilize Kentico EMS for planning, managing, executing and measuring marketing efforts. This guide does not require readers to have any specific technical skills or previous experience with Kentico products. If, however, readers are familiar with Kentico, they can still benefit from this content.

Kentico Connections 2012 - More Secret Videos Obtained

Thomas Robbins — Oct 11, 2012 — Article

kentico connection

Thanks to recently borrowed and declassified video technology we have been able to make several secretly recorded videos available from Kentico Connections 2012. I am currently in negotiations to recover even more – so please stay tuned!

Macros Made Easy with Kentico CMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Oct 10, 2012 — Video Article

content management kentico cms 7 kentico connection macros

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

Imagine not only simple macros but more complex code structures – Personalization and variants to name just a few. Join this session to understand how Kentico CMS 7 makes macros even easier.

Using Kentico EMS to drive our business – Pull Digital (case study)

Thomas Robbins — Oct 10, 2012 — Video Article

kentico cms 6 kentico connection kentico ems on-line marketing

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

Kentico Gold Partners, Pull Digital share how they use Kentico EMS to drive their business.

Kentico Connections 2012 - More Secret Videos Obtained

Thomas Robbins — Oct 10, 2012 — Article

marketing

Thanks to recently borrowed and declassified video technology we have been able to make several secretly recorded videos available from Kentico Connections 2012. I continue to negotiate to recover even more – so please stay tuned!

Responsive Design with Kentico CMS 7 – Are you ready?

Thomas Robbins — Oct 10, 2012 — Video Article

kentico cms 7 mobile responsive

Massive flat screen TVs, desktop, mobile phones, tablets, netbooks, mini-tablets... Server side device detection is not the only approach available when it comes to servicing the myriad of screen sizes your users could be on. Join ecentricarts inc. in a webinar covering responsive web design. They will be looking into the core concepts of making a UI responsive, what tools and frameworks are available now and how best to integrate this approach with the new Kentico 7 features for mobile.

Slides available here

Webinar: Learning Management Solutions using Kentico – the CPD Academy

Thomas Robbins — Oct 9, 2012 — Article

cpd e-learning lms

Date: October 17^th 8- 9am PDT/4:00 - 5:00 PM BST
Registration available here

Sage 50 - Integrated E-Commerce (case study)

Thomas Robbins — Oct 8, 2012 — Video Article

api e-commerce kentico cms 6 kentico connection sage 50

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

As social media comes under scrutiny with the Facebook IPO implosion, and despite the economic conditions, Forrester forecasts over 10% annual E-Commerce growth through 2016. But, effective back-end integration is becoming a key requirement for successful web stores. This session describes what was involved, using Kentico's facility to implement custom logic, to achieve REAL-TIME (shopper, pricing, stock, credit, order) integration of a Kentico E-Commerce store with a Sage 50 Accounts system.

Learning Management with Kentico and CPD Academy (case study)

Thomas Robbins — Oct 8, 2012 — Video Article

content management cpd academy e-learning lms

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

July 2012 sees the launch of the CPD Academy - an LMS product using custom modules to provide a quality, ready to roll learning environment on the Kentico platform. This session takes a look at Tellonline's work with Kentico in E-Learning with companies like Heinz and Associated British Foods. Also, how Kentico Partners can maximize marketing and sales opportunities in e-learning without the need to adopt new technologies and an insight into the future of CPD Academy and the market opportunities it represents.

Business Meets Technology (technical)

Thomas Robbins — Oct 8, 2012 — Video Article

content management kentico cms 6 kentico connection

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

This session reflects a typical day at the office where Jeroen Fürst, Kentico MVP, demonstrates a finished website to a customer, only to discover that there are still some last minute requests to be implemented. Witness the creation of out-of-the-box features, via the flexibility of Kentico’s portal engine.

QLICT - Custom development (case study)

Thomas Robbins — Oct 8, 2012 — Video Article

api kentico cms 6 kentico connection

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

Evident has recently completed the development of www.qlict.nl using Kentico as a base platform . It's an excellent project to demonstrate what you can do with the Kentico CMS platform and how you can reuse and extend standard functionality with custom code.

Managing Kentico Projects: Lessons Learned (case study)

Thomas Robbins — Oct 8, 2012 — Video Article

content management kentico cms 6 kentico connection

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

Join Gold Partners, Distinction, as they share common mistakes, pitfalls and best practices for managing and delivering Kentico solutions.

NetConstruct - EMS implementation (case study)

Thomas Robbins — Oct 8, 2012 — Video Article

case study kentico cms 6 kentico connection kentico ems on-line marketing

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

How did we convince an international market leader that Kentico was the right solution for them when they initially thought it wasn’t? Some of the challenges we faced when implementing Kentico EMS and dealing with a multi-divisional, multi-geography company will be explored. The end result: a web presence that has achieved high praise and industry recognition.

Migrating a site to Kentico CMS – Best practices and Tips (technical)

Thomas Robbins — Oct 8, 2012 — Video Article

design kentico cms 6 kentico connection website migration

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

Migrating an existing site to Kentico CMS can be a daunting and challenging task. Join Bryan Soltis, Kentico MVP, as he discusses the migration process and best practices along the way. Bryan will cover several areas of development, including data migration, page template creation and design, and personal experience with tips along the way to ensure a smooth transition.

Kentico CMS 7 – Enterprise Business Value

Thomas Robbins — Oct 8, 2012 — Video Article

kentico cms 7 kentico connection kentico ems on-line marketing

*** Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 – Prague ****

Interested in seeing what business value for Kentico CMS 7 looks like? This session takes a look at a few of these using Kentico CMS 7.

The Business Marketers Guide to Instagram [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Oct 8, 2012 — Article

marketing

Instagram is definitely a hit! Personally, I haven’t been a big user of it but I know a lot of people that are. This infographic from Marketo provides an overview of Intagram and also a quick guide on how to run a marketing campaign.

Multichannel Marketing with Kentico EMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Oct 3, 2012 — Article

marketing

Thanks to everyone that attended Kentico Connections!

Today’s customers engage with your organization through a growing variety of channels. Your website is just one of them –don’t forget social media, mobile and e-mail. Understanding the customer journey across these channels is essential to the success of any marketing organization. In this Kentico Connections 2012 session we took a look at how this is done with Kentico EMS 7.

Cloud mobility for Small Business [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Oct 1, 2012 — Article

marketing

As someone who works remotely I found this Infographic from Technology News Hub really interesting. Allowing work remotely will increase overall productivity by 22% is fascinating. Increasing the adoption of mobile and cloud technology is really an essential part of this.

Get the Kentico CMS 7 Developer Preparation Guide!

Thomas Robbins — Oct 1, 2012 — Article

certification

To sufficiently prepare for the Kentico CMS Certified Developer Exam, please study the Preparation Guide thoroughly in conjunction with the product documentation, Developer’s Guide, and other resources available online at http://devnet.kentico.com. Passing the Exam requires not only this “head knowledge” and academic understanding of the product’s features and functionality, but it also requires practical experience and a high-level of familiarity with the product itself.

To pass the Exam and be recognized as a Kentico expert, it is expected that you have extensive experience in the following:

Designing, developing, and implementing Kentico CMS web sites
ASP.NET development and the intricacies of the .NET Framework
Creating data-driven web user interfaces
Writing programmatic code in Microsoft Visual Studio

If you pass the Exam and gain acknowledgement for being a Certified Kentico Developer, then you have successfully proven your skills and set yourself apart from the everyday developer. Earning your certification is a mark of approval and distinction that builds your credibility, makes you more marketable, and gives you a competitive advantage over the other developers you will encounter in your career.

For more information about the benefits of being a Kentico Certified Developer, please download and view the Kentico Certified Developer datasheet at http://www.kentico.com/getattachment/Training/Developer-Certification/Certified_developer_datasheet.pdf.

Kentico CMS Podcast #13 – Talking about EMS with Rob Bean, Vice President and Interactive Director

Thomas Robbins — Sep 28, 2012 — Article

marketing

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Robb Bean, Vice President and Interactive Director with Burns Marketing as he talks about their recently completed Kentico EMS implementation for Daimler Trucks North America Freightliner division.

Get the NEW Kentico EMS Quick Start Guide - Marketing Automation

Thomas Robbins — Sep 27, 2012 — Article

Get the brand new Kentico EMS Quick Start Guide for Marketing Automation!

What makes someone leave a website? [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Sep 26, 2012 — Article

marketing

Let’s face it getting people to your website is hard enough. But then having them leave is even worse! In this infographic from Kiss Metrics they look at some of the common reasons people leave your site. Personally, bad navigation is one of my biggest pet peeves!

Kentico Connections 2012 - Additional secret video recordings uncovered

Thomas Robbins — Sep 25, 2012 — Article

kentico connection

Thanks to recently borrowed and declassified video technology we have been able to recover additional secretly recorded videos available from Kentico Connections 2012- Denver.

Kentico CMS Podcast #13 – Talking about EMS with Rob Bean, Vice President and Interactive Director

Thomas Robbins — Sep 25, 2012 — Video Article

kentico cms 6 kentico ems marketing podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Robb Bean, Vice President and Interactive Director with Burns Marketing as he talks about their recently completed Kentico EMS implementation for Daimler Trucks North America Freightliner division.

Migrating a site to Kentico CMS – Best practices and Tips (technical)

Thomas Robbins — Sep 25, 2012 — Video Article

design kentico cms 7 kentico connection website migration

***Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 ***

Migrating an existing site to Kentico CMS can be a daunting and challenging task. Join Bryan Soltis, Kentico MVP, as he discusses the migration process and best practices along the way. Bryan will cover several areas of development, including data migration, page template creation and design, and personal experience with tips along the way to ensure a smooth transition.

Marketing Automation Overview with Kentico EMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Sep 25, 2012 — Video Article

kentico cms 7 kentico ems marketing automation on-line marketing

***Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 ***

Marketing automation streamlines sales and marketing organization by replacing high touch repetitive processes with automated solutions. Watch this video to see an overview of this new feature of Kentico EMS 7 and learn how to automate your marketing department.

Marketing Automation Demo with Kentico EMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Sep 25, 2012 — Video Article

kentico cms 7 kentico connection kentico ems marketing automation on-line marketing

*** Secretly recorded at Kentico Connections 2012***

Marketing automation streamlines sales and marketing organization by replacing high touch repetitive processes with automated solutions. Watch this video to see a live demo of this new feature of Kentico EMS 7 and learn how to automate your marketing department

Making the move to Windows Azure – Building a Kentico Windows Azure Practice (case study)

Thomas Robbins — Sep 25, 2012 — Video Article

cloud design kentico cms 7 kentico connection windows azure

***Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 ***

So you know Kentico CMS, but want to understand how to leverage Windows Azure and the Cloud to increase options for your customers. Vince Mayfield, CEO of Bit-Wizards and Microsoft Virtual Technology Specialist for Windows Azure will explain Windows Azure and how to sell it and make a profitable business practice to produce highly available and highly scalable web sites with Kentico CMS deployed on Windows Azure.

Introducing the NEW Kentico Connections - Prague Mobile Application

Thomas Robbins — Sep 24, 2012 — Article

kentico connection

Everything you need to have a great Kentico Connections - Progue show or feel like you are at the show!

Kentico Connections 2012 – Secret video recordings obtained!

Thomas Robbins — Sep 24, 2012 — Article

kentico connection

Thanks to recently borrowed and declassified video technology we have been able to make several secretly recorded videos available from Kentico Connections 2012. I am currently in negotiations to recover even more – so please stay tuned!

Announcing Version 7 Training and Certification!

Thomas Robbins — Sep 24, 2012 — Article

Are you ready for Version 7? I am happy to announce that starting October 2012, that both the Kentico CMS Certified Training and the Kentico CMS Certified Developer Training has been updated for Version 7.

Bounce rate demystified [Infographics]

Thomas Robbins — Sep 21, 2012 — Article

marketing

This is a question I have been asked many times including last week at Kentico Connections. Here’s a great infographic that helps to answer the question courtesy of Kissmetrics.

The new role of the Chief Marketing Technology Officer [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Sep 21, 2012 — Article

How many companies have a Chief Marketing Technology Office? According to this infographic from Social Fish With all the changes in the industry this new hybrid position is becoming a driving force.

Integrate the World with Kentico CMS (technical)

Thomas Robbins — Sep 21, 2012 — Video Article

api kentico cms 6 kentico connection

***Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 ***

So many choices for developers to integrate with Kentico CMS! In this session Brian takes a look at some of these options. Using the integration bus, REST services, tips for WCF services, using the new auto publish features in Kentico CMS 7 to social networks, using the Kentico CMS API outside of Kentico, and some general tips, tricks and best practices.

Interim Health Care - Kentico CMS (case study)

Thomas Robbins — Sep 21, 2012 — Video Article

case study interview kentico connection

***Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 ***

Interim HealthCare® (www.InterimHealthCare.com) is the nation's leading home care, hospice and medical staffing company and includes a national network of more than 300 independently owned and operated franchise locations. With a shifting of their business model from provider / franchisor to exclusively a franchisor, Interim was in need of rethinking their online marketing strategy, as well as rebuilding their outdated technology infrastructure. In this secretly recorded session we will look at how BlueKey helped them to build an integrated solution leveraging Kentico CMS.

Bell Media - multi site platform (case study)

Thomas Robbins — Sep 21, 2012 — Video Article

case study interview kentico connection

***Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 ***

Ecentricarts inc. recently launched a new website for Bell Media. Built with Kentico CMS 6, the first site (www.flow935.com) features: Best practices from over 50+ Kentico sites developed by ecentricarts inc, a reusable site template that the client can use for multiple radio station sites (up to 100+ sites in the works) , Custom form controls to extend Kentico CMS, Content staging extensions, A few evil but necessary hacks. In this secretly recorded session, they look at the design, development, training, and operational challenges we faced and solved using the Kentico platform.

Bacardi - a Global Marketing Platform (case study)

Thomas Robbins — Sep 21, 2012 — Video Article

case study interview kentico connection

***Secretly Recorded at Kentico Connections 2012 ***

BlueModus architected and support the launch of bacardi.com, the new flagship digital portal for Bacardi built on the Kentico platform. Designed to allow 15+ worldwide markets to build their sites, share content, build and integrate custom initiatives, and interact with social services and content providers. In this secretly recorded session, they looked at the design, development, training, and operational challenges we faced and solved using the Kentico platform.

Introducing the NEW Kentico Connections Mobile Application

Thomas Robbins — Sep 15, 2012 — Article

mobile website

Everything you need to have a great show or feel like you are at the show!

Kentico CMS 7 - Customer Experience Management (CXM) For Everyone

Thomas Robbins — Sep 14, 2012 — Video Article

cxm kentico cms 7 kentico ems on-line marketing

Kentico CMS is an affordable Web Content Management and Customer Experience Management solution providing a complete set of features for building websites, community sites, intranets and on-line stores on the Microsoft ASP.NET platform. It supports WYSIWYG editing, workflows, multiple languages, full-text search, SEO, on-line forms, image galleries, forums, groups, blogs, polls, media libraries and is shipped with over 70 configurable modules. It's currently used by more than 15,000 websites in 84 countries. The clients include Microsoft, McDonald's, Vodafone, O2, Orange, Brussels Airlines, Mazda, Ford, Subaru, Isuzu, Samsung, Gibson, ESPN, Guinness, DKNY, Abbott Labs, Medibank, Ireland.ie and others.

Kentico CMS 7 Feature Series: Device Profiles

Thomas Robbins — Sep 10, 2012 — Article

marketing

With Kentico CMS 7 device profiles are an important part of building and viewing mobile websites. They enable the categorization of similar devices and provide an easy and intuitive way to manage mobile devices within a site. Device profiles also allow mobile preview within CMS Desk. Once device profiles are enabled within Site Manager you can then change the default view port of CMS Desk for a live preview of iPad, iPhone, Android or other devices.

Kentico CMS 7 Feature Series: MVT Testing

Thomas Robbins — Sep 10, 2012 — Article

marketing

Multivariate (MVT) testing is the process of market testing multiple variables at one time. In simple terms, it can be thought of as numerous A/B tests performed on one page at the same time. A/B tests are usually performed to determine the better of two page variations, while MVT testing is used to determine the better of two content variations on a page. In this video we look at how to create an MVT test with Kentico CMS 7.

Kentico CMS 7 Feature Series: Advanced Workflow

Thomas Robbins — Sep 10, 2012 — Article

workflow

With Kentico CMS 7 advanced workflow is available as part of the Enterprise marketing solution and is designed to provide enhanced features for the creation of workflows. Any site that has several editors usually needs the ability to approve content before publication. The advanced workflow module with features like branching based on macro conditions, user choices, automated actions and timed actions brings more advanced features to websites.

What’s the minimum amount of emails your customers expect?

Thomas Robbins — Sep 9, 2012 — Article

marketing

How often do you struggle with sending to many emails to customers? Why not change the question – What’s the minimum amount of emails your customers expect? Customers are far from tolerant of anything that appears as spam. Fall into that category and you may lose the customer forever! Here are my three basic emails you SHOULD send your customers.

When should I post this? [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Sep 9, 2012 — Article

marketing

We all struggle with what’s the best time to post something to Facebook or Twitter to get the best results. Great infographic from Raka creative based data provided by http://bit.ly

Kentico Feature Series: Advanced workflow

Thomas Robbins — Sep 6, 2012 — Video Article

feature kentico cms 7 kentico ems workflow

With Kentico CMS 7 advanced workflow is available as part of the Enterprise marketing solution and is designed to provide enhanced features for the creation of workflows. Any site that has several editors usually needs the ability to approve content before publication. The advanced workflow module with features like branching based on macro conditions, user choices, automated actions and timed actions brings more advanced features to websites.

Kentico Feature Series: MVT Testing

Thomas Robbins — Sep 6, 2012 — Video Article

ab testing feature kentico cms 7 kentico ems mvt testing

Multivariate (MVT) testing is the process of market testing multiple variables at one time. In simple terms, it can be thought of as numerous A/B tests performed on one page at the same time. A/B tests are usually performed to determine the better of two page variations, while MVT testing is used to determine the better of two content variations on a page. In this video we look at how to create an MVT test with Kentico CMS 7.

Kentico Feature Series: Device profiles

Thomas Robbins — Sep 6, 2012 — Video Article

device profiles feature mobile website

With Kentico CMS 7 device profiles are an important part of building and viewing mobile websites. They enable the categorization of similar devices and provide an easy and intuitive way to manage mobile devices within a site. Device profiles also allow mobile preview within CMS Desk. Once device profiles are enabled within Site Manager you can then change the default view port of CMS Desk for a live preview of iPad, iPhone, Android or other devices.

Responsive Design with Kentico CMS 7 – Are you ready?

Thomas Robbins — Sep 5, 2012 — Article

webinar

Join us for a webinar:
Responsive Design with Kentico CMS 7 – Are you ready?
Date: October 10, 2012
Time: 8-9 AM PDT, 4-5PM BST

Register here

Get Your Kentico CMS 7 Quick Start Guides!

Thomas Robbins — Sep 4, 2012 — Article

quick start

Get the updated Kentico CMS Quick Start Guides for Version 7!

How loading time affects your bottom line [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Sep 4, 2012 — Article

marketing

We all should agree that loading time has a direct impact on site experience. According to this infographic from Kiss Metrics customers tend to care more about speed than all the bells and whistles. What’s your opinion?

Webinar wrap up: Kentico CMS 7 – Achieving Marketing Success

Thomas Robbins — Sep 3, 2012 — Article

marketing on-line

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Marketing automation, visual designers, enhanced social media integration, SEO enhancements, and banner management are just a few of the new ways to achieve marketing success with Kentico EMS 7. This webinar looked at how to achieve marketing success using Kentico CMS 7.

Opinions Needed: What is your top content marketing challenge?

Thomas Robbins — Aug 30, 2012 — Article

marketing

Have an opinion or question you want answered? This is your opportunity to give an opinion and get some information. Take a minute to provide your answer, get your friends to answer and see the results!

Have a question you want answered? Email me your burning questions here.

RE: Weekly Marketing Question #5: which strategies do you plan to publish and distribute content?

Thomas Robbins — Aug 30, 2012 — Article

marketing

Thanks to everyone that participated! Interesting that social media is the only one everyone agrees to do!

Webinar wrap up - Kentico CMS User Group Presents: Here Comes Version 7!

Thomas Robbins — Aug 30, 2012 — Article

webinar

Thanks to everyone that attended!

It’s almost time for Version 7! It’s an amazing list of productivity and feature enhancements. Attend the Kentico Online User group to hear Kentico CTO, Martin Hejtmanek. In this session Martin showed some of his personal favorites and why he thinks they are important for Kentico users and developers.

Kentico CMS Podcast #12 – About CPD Academy, a learning management system built on Kentico CMS

Thomas Robbins — Aug 30, 2012 — Article

podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Alex Johnson, Senior developer of Tell Online and CPD Academy as he talks about how he came into the technology field. He also talks about the technical architecture of the CPD Academy, the fantastic learning management system that is built on Kentico CMS. Also, be sure to check out our previous podcast on the CPD Academy available here. For more information take a look at the quick demonstration video available here.

Kentico CMS 7 – Achieving Marketing Success

Thomas Robbins — Aug 30, 2012 — Video Article

content management kentico cms 7 kentico ems marketing automation seo social networking

Marketing automation, visual designers, enhanced social media integration, SEO enhancements, and banner management are just a few of the new ways to achieve marketing success with Kentico EMS 7. This webinar looked at how to achieve marketing success using Kentico CMS 7.

Slides available here

The effectiveness of infographics as a marketing tool [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Aug 28, 2012 — Article

infographic marketing

We all love good infographics! Turns out there may be a scientific reason for this according to this infographic by NMS. The speed of processing visual information is much faster than written information. A good infographic definitely gets the point across by delivering both!

New EMS Quick Start Guide Available!

Thomas Robbins — Aug 27, 2012 — Article

campaign content marketing conversion e-mail marketing kentico kentico ems lead scoring marketing segmentation

Get your new EMS Quick Start Guide on Marketing Personas

Kentico CMS Podcast #12 – About CPD Academy, a learning management system built on Kentico CMS

Thomas Robbins — Aug 27, 2012 — Video Article

cpd academy e-learning lms podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Alex Johnson, Senior developer of Tell Online and CPD Academy as he talks about how he came into the technology field. He also talks about the technical architecture of the CPD Academy, the fantastic learning management system that is built on Kentico CMS. Also, be sure to check out our previous podcast on the CPD Academy available here. For more information take a look at the quick demonstration video available here.

10 things your customers wish you knew about them [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Aug 22, 2012 — Article

infographic marketing

Understanding your customers and building a loyal customer base is essential for any company. According to Help Scout here are 10 research studies that reveal the things your customers wish you knew!

Have you signed up for the remaining Kentico CMS 7 Ramp Up webinars?

Thomas Robbins — Aug 22, 2012 — Article

webinar

With only two remaining Kentico CMS 7 Ramp up webinars available have you signed up?

Whitepaper: Content Staging with Kentico CMS

Thomas Robbins — Aug 20, 2012 — Article

cms content staging kentico

This whitepaper explores the features, design and best practices for utilizing the Kentico CMS content staging module. This document focuses exclusively on content staging and does not provide an in-depth analysis of other Kentico CMS features or the Kentico CMS platform, except where necessary to provide context.
After completing this white paper, the reader should understand:

The purpose of content staging
Example business scenarios for leveraging the technology
The business case for implementing content staging
Configuration of the Kentico CMS content staging module
Architecture, design and implementation best practices

Webinar wrap up – Kentico CMS 7 Mobile web development

Thomas Robbins — Aug 17, 2012 — Article

kentico cms 7 mobile website webinar

Thanks to everyone that attended! Don’t forget there is more to come!
August 28 - August 28, 2012 | Kentico CMS User Group Presents: Here Comes Version 7!
August 30 - August 30, 2012 | Kentico CMS 7 – Achieving Marketing Success

Weekly Marketing Question #5: which strategies do you plan to publish and distribute content?

Thomas Robbins — Aug 16, 2012 — Article

marketing

Have an opinion or question you want answered? This is your opportunity to give an opinion and get some information. Each week we’ll introduce the marketing question of the week. Take a minute to provide your answer, get your friends to answer and see the results!

Have a question you want answered? Email me your marketing questions here.

Weekly Marketing Question #4: How often do you run A/B or MVT tests on your home page?

Thomas Robbins — Aug 16, 2012 — Article

marketing

Thanks to everyone that participated! Really interesting to see such a polarized results

Kentico CMS Podcast #11 – Hanging with Chris Butler and Chris Haff from mTribe mobile applications

Thomas Robbins — Aug 16, 2012 — Article

mobile website mtribe podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Chris Butler, CEO and Chris Haff, CTO from mTribe applications as they talk about how they came into the technology field. They also talk about building mobile applications for the event space that feature GPS tracking, lead retrieval, QR code, real time transactions, social media and more all using Kentico CMS on the back end!
Take a look at some of the screenshots.

Kentico CMS 7 – Mobile web development

Thomas Robbins — Aug 16, 2012 — Video Article

kentico cms 7 mobile

Mobile development is requirement for any modern websites. Kentico CMS has always been an innovator with their support of mobile devices. Learn how version 7 extends support for mobile developers and dynamic sites. In this webinar we'll look at how the power of mobile comes to Kentico CMS 7.

Slides available here

Webinar wrap up- Kentico CMS 7 – Making the cloud even easier!

Thomas Robbins — Aug 15, 2012 — Article

cloud cms kentico webinar

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Don’t forget there is more to come!
August 16 - August 16, 2012 | Kentico CMS 7 – Mobile web development
August 28 - August 28, 2012 | Kentico CMS User Group Presents: Here Comes Version 7!
August 30 - August 30, 2012 | Kentico CMS 7 – Achieving Marketing Success

Kentico CMS Podcast #11 – Hanging with Chris Butler and Chris Haff from mTribe mobile applications

Thomas Robbins — Aug 15, 2012 — Video Article

mobile website podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Chris Butler, CEO and Chris Haff, CTO from mTribe applications as they talk about how they came into the technology field. They also talk about building mobile applications for the event space that feature GPS tracking, lead retrieval, QR code, real time transactions, social media and more all using Kentico CMS on the back end!

Take a look at some of the screenshots.

Get the updated Kentico CMS Cookbook!

Thomas Robbins — Aug 13, 2012 — Article

marketing

Welcome to the Version 1.1 of the Kentico CMS cookbook! I have to send a huge thank you to everyone that either downloaded, read, or provided feedback. We have made some minor formatting changes, added 5 new recipes, updated to include support for Kentico CMS 7.

If you would like to contribute or have any comments or recipe requests please don’t hesitate to email me or complete the following form.

How to do Keyword Research [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Aug 12, 2012 — Article

infographic marketing

Keyword research is an important part of any website’s search engine optimization and an important search engine optimization (SEO) tool. It helps to drive web traffic to your website, especially those pages with highly searched keywords. Also, providing content relevant, unique, fresh, and extremely useful to the reader’s increases the success of any keywords. Content and keywords always help each other from the SEO perspective. Keyword research also will help in optimizing the web page and get it in the top search engine results page.

A nice infographic from Promodo that shows the keyword research process.

Announcing the Kentico CMS – Twitter List

Thomas Robbins — Aug 12, 2012 — Article

kentico twitter

There are some incredible Kentico CMS Twitter users. The problem has been trying to find them! Well hopefully this makes it easier. I have started to curate a list of those fantastic Kentico CMS users.

Webinar wrap up: Kentico CMS 7 – Connecting with the Sales Cloud

Thomas Robbins — Aug 9, 2012 — Article

sales force webinar

Thanks to everyone that attended our first Kentico CMS 7 webinar!

Don’t forget there is more to come!
August 14 - August 14, 2012 | Kentico CMS 7 – Kentico CMS 7 making the cloud even easier!
August 16 - August 16, 2012 | Kentico CMS 7 – Mobile web development
August 28 - August 28, 2012 | Kentico CMS User Group Presents: Here Comes Version 7!
August 30 - August 30, 2012 | Kentico CMS 7 – Achieving Marketing Success

Kentico CMS Podcast #10 – About CPD Academy, a learning management system built on Kentico CMS

Thomas Robbins — Aug 8, 2012 — Article

cpd academy podcast simon budd tellonline

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Simon Budd, Managing Director of TellOnline as he talks about how he came into the technology field. He also talks about CPD Academy, the fantastic learning management system that is built on Kentico CMS. Take a look at the quick demonstration video available here.

Kentico CMS 7 – Connecting with the Sales Cloud

Thomas Robbins — Aug 8, 2012 — Video Article

design kentico cms 7 kentico ems salesforce

The Sales Cloud by SalesForce.com is the world’s #1 sales application. Isn’t it time your marketing and sales teams have the full picture? Combining the power of Kentico EMS with Sales Force makes sense in today’s world and Kentico CMS 7 delivers!

Slides available here

Updated HOL: Kentico EMS 7: Campaigns

Thomas Robbins — Aug 7, 2012 — Article

ab testing campaign cms hol kentico kentico cms 7 kentico ems lead scoring

Executing successful campaigns is an essential part of any marketing organization. Campaigns are a way to engage and interact with your customers. They provide an ideal mechanism to generate sales leads and collect customer information. This set of exercises is intended to show the process of creating a document based campaign for the Services page that collects customer information using an online form. Then using the collected customer information we will then score the leads for later use by the sales department.

Kentico CMS Podcast #10 – About CPD Academy, a learning management system built on Kentico CMS

Thomas Robbins — Aug 7, 2012 — Video Article

cpd academy e-learning lms podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Simon Budd, Managing Director of Tell Online as he talks about how he came into the technology field. He also talks about CPD Academy, the fantastic learning management system that is built on Kentico CMS. Take a look at the quick demonstration video available here.

Breakdown of a Person’s Google Results

Thomas Robbins — Aug 2, 2012 — Article

infographic marketing

Admit it – we all have Googled ourselves. According to BrandYourself only 2% of people actually own their entire first page of Google! Some fascinating tips to making yourself look better.

Creating the right mobile experience for your website [V-Cast]

Thomas Robbins — Aug 2, 2012 — Article

mobile website

Going mobile is a given today. But what things should you think about? In this v-cast we take a look at 4 must have tips for creating the right mobile experience for your website

Weekly Marketing Question #4: How often do you run A/B or MVT tests on your home page?

Thomas Robbins — Aug 2, 2012 — Article

marketing

Have an opinion or question you want answered? This is your opportunity to give an opinion and get some information. Each week we’ll introduce the marketing question of the week. Take a minute to provide your answer, get your friends to answer and see the results!

Have a question you want answered? Email me your marketing questions here.

Weekly Marketing Question #3: Which social media buttons drives internet traffic to your website?

Thomas Robbins — Aug 2, 2012 — Article

marketing

Thanks to everyone that particpated!

Creating the right mobile experience for your website

Thomas Robbins — Aug 1, 2012 — Video Article

design kentico cms 7 marketing mobile website

Going mobile is a given today. But what things should you think about? In this v-cast we take a look at 4 must have tips for creating the right mobile experience for your website.

Kentico CMS 7: Feature Series - Twitter Web Parts

Thomas Robbins — Aug 1, 2012 — Article

cms kentico kentico cms 7 twitter

What may seem like a simple technology has become a worldwide phenomenon with a projected 200 million active users. Many companies are looking to Twitter as a key part of their integrated marketing campaigns and a key source of real time customer connections. With Kentico CMS Twitter web parts provides an easy way to integrate your site with the micro-blogging platform. With an extensive and well documented API, Kentico CMS provides a set of out of the box web parts that make Twitter integration as easy as possible.

Get the Hands on lab here

Kentico CMS 7: Hands on lab: Integrating Twitter

Thomas Robbins — Jul 31, 2012 — Article

cms hol kentico twitter

Technically, Twitter is a micro blogging platform that limits real time comments (tweets) to 140 characters. What may seem like a simple technology has become a worldwide phenomenon with a projected 200 million active users. Leveraging this platform many companies are looking to Twitter as a key part of their integrated marketing campaigns and a key source of real time customer connections. With an extensive and well documented API, Twitter looks to make site integration as easy as possible. In this lab, we will add Twitter functionality to the Kentico Corporate sample site. This will enable site users to tweet and engage about the things they find on your site and enable site owners and administrators to extend their reach. In completing this set of labs you will perform the following tasks:

Add the Twitter feed web part
Add the Twitter follow button web part
Add the Twitter tweet button web part
Update the Home page template

Feature Series: Twitter web parts

Thomas Robbins — Jul 31, 2012 — Video Article

feature kentico cms 7 twitter web part

What may seem like a simple technology has become a worldwide phenomenon with a projected 200 million active users. Many companies are looking to Twitter as a key part of their integrated marketing campaigns and a key source of real time customer connections. With Kentico CMS Twitter web parts provides an easy way to integrate your site with the micro-blogging platform. With an extensive and well documented API, Kentico CMS provides a set of out of the box web parts that make Twitter integration as easy as possible.

Get the Hands on lab here

Are you a “Connected Viewer”?

Thomas Robbins — Jul 30, 2012 — Article

marketing

Based on new research available from Pew Internet, over half of adult cell phone owners use their phone while watching television. The research shows that the solitary TV screen is being replaced by multi-screen interactivity.

Why are more and more businesses moving to the cloud? [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jul 30, 2012 — Article

cloud infographic

As reported by Yorkshire Cloud the cloud is one of the quickest growth areas of the IT sector. The cloud is becoming hard to ignore!

An inside look at the social consumer [INFOGRAPHIC]

Thomas Robbins — Jul 27, 2012 — Article

infographic marketing

Social media is a huge driving force in any purchasing funnel and has an impact on how consumers make decisions. The following infographic takes a look at high and low sharers and their purchasing decisions.

Weekly Marketing Question #3: Which social media buttons drives internet traffic to your website?

Thomas Robbins — Jul 26, 2012 — Article

marketing

Have an opinion or question you want answered? This is your opportunity to give an opinion and get some information. Each week we’ll introduce the marketing question of the week. Take a minute to provide your answer, get your friends to answer and see the results!

Have a question you want answered? Email me your burning questions here.

Weekly Marketing Question #2: What social media outlet do you invest the most marketing dollars in?

Thomas Robbins — Jul 26, 2012 — Article

marketing

Thanks to everyone that participated!

Kentico CMS 7: Feature Series - On-site editing

Thomas Robbins — Jul 25, 2012 — Article

cms kentico on-site editing

With Kentico CMS on-site editing provides a way to work with the content of a website on the Live site. This allows editors to make changes to page content and manage documents directly. All actions within on-site editing are available in CMS Desk. On-site editing is simply a different way to edit the website and offers productivity benefits in many instances. In this video we will take a look at how it can be used.

What’s your Twitter marketing plan?

Thomas Robbins — Jul 25, 2012 — Article

marketing twitter

Technically, Twitter is a micro blogging platform that limits real time comments (tweets) to 140 characters. What may seem like a simple technology is a worldwide phenomenon with a projected 200 million active users. Leveraging this platform many companies are looking to Twitter as a key part of their integrated marketing campaigns and a key source of real time customer connections. It’s free, has a lot of people using it and indexed by search engine - what could be bad about that? Well, like any marketing activity make sure you have a measurable plan!

Updated HOL: Kentico CMS 7: Custom table: Creating and Display available now

Thomas Robbins — Jul 24, 2012 — Article

cms hol kentico kentico cms 7

Kentico CMS provides custom tables as a way to store and manage custom data. Technically, they are SQL tables and coupled stored procedures. Once a custom table is created and contains data, the next step is to provide a display for site visitors. In this lab we will add a custom table and then use the Basic Repeater web part to display it on a page. We will also look at how to use the Kentico CMS API to add and edit an existing item.

Feature Series: On-Site Editing

Thomas Robbins — Jul 24, 2012 — Video Article

feature kentico cms 7 on-site editing

With Kentico CMS on-site editing provides a way to work with the content of a website on the Live site. This allows editors to make changes to page content and manage documents directly. All actions within on-site editing are available in CMS Desk. On-site editing is simply a different way to edit the website and offers productivity benefits in many instances. In this video we will take a look at how it can be used.

Have a recipe for the Kentico CMS Cookbook?

Thomas Robbins — Jul 23, 2012 — Article

cms cookbook kentico

The First Edition of the Kentico CMS Cookbook was really well received with over 2,300 readers so far! Community participation is essential and we want your recipes! Please take a few minutes tio complete the following form and become part of the next Kentico CMS Cookbook

What colors mean in different cultures [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jul 23, 2012 — Article

infographic marketing

Online marketing is worldwide and the best marketing is emotional. But, every culture associates colors with different ideas and emotions. This infographic from visual.ly helps to understand this.

Webinar: Getting More from your Website - Creating a Unified Business Platform

Thomas Robbins — Jul 20, 2012 — Article

bit-wizards cms kentico webinar website

Awesome webinar from Bitwizards!

Date: August 1, 2012
Time: 1:00 -2:00 PM Central Time

Register here

Five Steps to Online Marketing Success [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jul 18, 2012 — Article

marketing

Your customers are looking for great relevant content. From Start Ranking Now comes some great ideas to feed your content beast!

Weekly Marketing Question #2: What social media outlet do you invest the most marketing dollars in?

Thomas Robbins — Jul 17, 2012 — Article

marketing

Have an opinion or question you want answered? This is your opportunity to give an opinion and get some information. Each week we’ll introduce the marketing question of the week. Take a minute to provide your answer, get your friends to answer and see the results!

Have a question you want answered? Email me your burning questions here.

Weekly Marketing Question #1: What channels do you currently use to publish and distribute content?

Thomas Robbins — Jul 17, 2012 — Article

marketing

Thanks to everyone that particpated!

Visual Studio 2012 and Kentico CMS 7

Thomas Robbins — Jul 17, 2012 — Article

cms kentico kentico cms 7 visual studio

The success of Kentico CMS is rooted in so many different areas. One of the most important I think is our continued deep support and relationship with Microsoft and Visual Studio. I am glad to announce that once again working with Microsoft Kentico will sim-ship support of Visual Studio 2012 and Kentico CMS 7!

What is the new Windows Azure?

Thomas Robbins — Jul 13, 2012 — Article

infographic windows azure

As reported by the Redmond Recap Windows Azure was revolutionized by the announcing in the recent Meeting Windows Azure event from June 2012. The post includes a fantastic graphic of the features currently available in Windows azure.

Do you know your brand?

Thomas Robbins — Jul 11, 2012 — Article

marketing

A brand is simply a name, symbol or other feature that uniquely identifies your product. That’s a really simplistic definition, as branding is so much more. It’s important to understand that successful brands are built by customers, not companies. A brand is represented by tangible elements, like typefaces, logos and colors. These are combined with intangible elements like messages and product promises. When combined together these create consumer perceptions. As marketers, we push customers in a desired direction, but consumers create brands through experience and emotion.

Webinar wrap up: Kentico EMS+

Thomas Robbins — Jul 10, 2012 — Article

kentico kentico ems kentico+ webinar windows azure

Kentico EMS+ is your cloud powered Customer Experience (CXM) solution. Built on the secure and scalable Windows Azure cloud platform and leveraging the industry leading Kentico Enterprise Marketing solution. Kentico EMS+ allows you to easily add more storage and servers on the go without adding complexity. How do you manage and implement a website using Kentico EMS+? In this webinar, Dominik Pinter, Technical Leader Kentico CMS shows how to manage and develop your website with Kentico EMS+.

Cloud reality check 2012 [InfoGraphic]

Thomas Robbins — Jul 9, 2012 — Article

cloud infographic

According to the latest Rackspace cloud research IT teams from mid-sized UK and US businesses polled still spend over half (56%) of their time on server management and troubleshooting and only 28% on strategic, ‘value-add’ activities. Despite the widespread availability of cloud and managed hosting, many organizations are clinging to physical servers, leaving in-house IT teams struggling with troubleshooting and capacity planning amid demands from their bosses to do more for less.

Weekly Burning Question #1: What channels do you currently use to publish and distribute content?

Thomas Robbins — Jul 9, 2012 — Article

marketing

Have an opinion or question you want answered? This is your opportunity to give an opinion and get some information. Each week we’ll introduce the burning question of the week. Take a minute to provide your answer, get your friends to answer and see the results!

Have a question you want answered? Email me your burning questions here.

The science of bragging and boasting

Thomas Robbins — Jul 5, 2012 — Article

marketing

Science has proven one of the most basic of modern marketing principles. Talking about ourselves brings the same sensation as food or money. Consider the power of case studies to name a few of the possibilities.

Marketing automation by the numbers [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jul 5, 2012 — Article

infographic marketing

The marketing automation industry is impacting small and large business and provides marketers the ability to impact to impact revenue, and the potential growth is virtually unlimited. Will be great to see Kentico CMS 7 entering this market!

True Colors: what your brand colors say about your business [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jul 3, 2012 — Article

infographic marketing

Color is an important part of all brands. Research has found that different colors provoke difference reactions. What do your colors say about your company?

Via Marketo

The Deciding Factor: Big Data and Decision Making [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jul 3, 2012 — Article

infographic marketing

The Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed over 600 business leaders, across the globe and industry sectors about the use of Big Data in their organizations. The research confirms a growing appetite for data and data-driven decisions and those who harness these correctly stay ahead of the game. The report provides insight on their use of Big Data today and in the future, and highlights the advantages seen and the specific challenges Big Data has on decision making for business leaders.

Report available here

Key findings:

75% of respondents believe their organizations to be data-driven
9 out of 10 say decisions made in the past 3 years would have been better if they’d had all the relevant information
42% say that unstructured content is too difficult to interpret
85% say the issue is not about volume but the ability to analyze and act on the data in real time

Kentico CMS Version 7 Webinars

Thomas Robbins — Jul 1, 2012 — Article

cms kentico kentico cms 7 webinar

Looking for Kentico CMS Version 7 information? Then look no further! Sign up for the webinars that make sense for you and your team!

New Guide: Getting Started with Content Marketing Available

Thomas Robbins — Jul 1, 2012 — Article

content marketing marketing

Let’s be honest, the world of traditional marketing may not be dead, but it’s on life support. Consumers simply aren’t paying attention and the plethora of new platforms has made the modern marketer’s job even tougher. Content marketing may be just the answer you need to help connect with your target customer. This Getting Started guide is targeted at modern marketers looking for a better way to connect and interact with their audience using Content marketing.

How to optimize your landing pages [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jun 27, 2012 — Article

infographic marketing

Effectively optimizing your landing pages is an ongoing process. Ran across a very nice Infographic provided by Invesp.

The Definitive Guide to Critical Campaign Metrics

Thomas Robbins — Jun 24, 2012 — Article

campaign marketing online marketing

Online marketing is always evolving. Engaging customers and prospects is no longer a single channel, one-way communication. Marketers must engage more deeply and communicate in multiple ways. However, simply engaging is no longer enough. Marketers must be able to track and measure the quantitative impact of their efforts. Leaders want more than soft metrics like brand equity; modern marketers must be able to show the link between their programs and business results. It can be overwhelming – moving between tools, managing spreadsheets, This paper, targeted at marketing leaders and professionals seeking a better way to manage and monitor their efforts focuses on several of the key organization metrics that should be captured to optimize their digital marketing campaigns.

It’s all about the images [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jun 21, 2012 — Article

infographic marketing

Images do make everything better online as reported by the MDG Blog. Visual optimization is becoming even more important in how people see your site and brand.

New EMS Quick Start Guide Available!

Thomas Robbins — Jun 20, 2012 — Article

campaign content marketing conversion e-mail marketing kentico ems lead scoring marketing segmentation

Get your new EMS Quick Start Guide on Content Marketing!

Get your copy of the Kentico CMS Cookbook

Thomas Robbins — Jun 19, 2012 — Article

cms cookbook kentico

A cookbook is a common kitchen reference that contains a set of recipes. Recipes contain instructions and a list of ingredients that when combined together hopefully produce a unique taste sensation. Chefs the world over use them as a base to deliver a fantastic culinary experience that tantalizes the taste buds and makes you want more. I don’t expect that Kentico CMS will provide the actual cooking feature anytime soon. But, the intent of this first edition cookbook has the same idea, to provide high quality recipes that any chef can use to deliver tantalizing and useful websites

Updated HOL: Custom Table: Create and Display Available Now

Thomas Robbins — Jun 18, 2012 — Article

cms hol kentico

Thanks for the feedback from everyone!

A mobile storm in the cloud [Infographic]

Thomas Robbins — Jun 18, 2012 — Article

cloud infographic marketing

As reported on the Engine yard blog, there are 3 billion more smartphones on earth than there are humans. As a result of smartphone adoption, app consumption has grown with businesses are now prioritizing mobile application development. By 2015 they project development projects targeting smartphones and tablets will outnumber native PC projects by a ratio of 4:1. Cloud computing has enabled developers and business to focus on application innovation.

Kentico CMS Podcast #9 – Talking about LearnKenticoCMS.COM with Greg Steirer and Stephen Jester from

Thomas Robbins — Jun 13, 2012 — Article

5 nova podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Greg Steirer and Stephen Jester from 5 Nova as they talk about how they came into the technology field. They also talk about learnkenticocms.com, the fantastic on demand video learning library that offers visual learning when you need it.

Kentico Connection – Call for Content

Thomas Robbins — Jun 13, 2012 — Article

conference kentico connection

Kentico Connection 2012 is coming! Regardless of whether you are a Kentico rock star or just have something to say, we'd love to hear from you!

Are you engaging the fence sitters in your marketing?

Thomas Robbins — Jun 13, 2012 — Article

marketing

The Free Dictionary defines a fence sitter as a person who won’t take side in a controversy. In marketing, fence sitters are often overlooked part of a marketing strategy and something that everyone should be concerned.

Kentico CMS Podcast #9 – About LearnKenticoCMS.COM with Greg Steirer and Stephen Jester from 5 Nova

Thomas Robbins — Jun 11, 2012 — Video Article

kentico cms 6 podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Greg Steirer and Stephen Jester from 5 Nova as they talk about how they came into the technology field. They also talk about learnkenticocms.com, the fantastic on demand video learning library that offers visual learning when you need it.

Two New Kentico CMS Training Classes Available

Thomas Robbins — Jun 10, 2012 — Article

cms kentico training

I am happy to announce the dates for the new CA03: Kentico E-Commerce Essentials and CA04: Kentico CMS Security Essentials training classes.

The impact of the Cloud and adoption – Predictions for today and tomorrow

Thomas Robbins — Jun 8, 2012 — Article

cloud infographic

As reported by a story available on Technology News hub based on a survey by market research firm Loudhouse, most chief Information officers now report lower concerns about security, reliability, transparency of cost, and integration than they did in 2009 and are choosing to make cloud based solutions a part of their operating model.

Satisfied with search engines and have a negative view of personalized search?

Thomas Robbins — Jun 6, 2012 — Article

Well you may not be alone, according to a report by Pew Research.

65% say it’s a bad thing that search engines collected information your searches and then used to rank future search results, because it may limit the information get online and what results you see. An astounding 73% of respondents said they would not be okay with a search engine keeping track of their searches and using that information to personalize your future search results because they feel it is an invasion of privacy.

Webinar: Kentico Technical Learning: Kentico EMS+

Thomas Robbins — Jun 6, 2012 — Article

cxm kentico kentico ems kentico+ webinar

Join us for this webinar on:
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM PDT
Register here

Get Your EMS Quick Start Guides!

Thomas Robbins — Jun 5, 2012 — Article

campaign e-mail marketing kentico kentico ems lead scoring segmentation

Looking for some information on getting started with Kentico EMS? The Quick Start Guides are a great place to start.

4 things never to do on your business blog [Slideshow]

Thomas Robbins — Jun 4, 2012 — Article

blog marketing

There is lots of information about how to build your business blog but it’s also important to keep in mind the things you shouldn’t do and that will ultimately hurt your business credibility.

Announcing the Kentico CMS 6 Certified Developer Exam!

Thomas Robbins — Jun 1, 2012 — Article

cms kentico

Thanks to everyone who participated in the BETA exam process and a special congratulations to the many new Kentico CMS 6 Certified Developers! I am happy to announce the release of the Kentico CMS 6 Certified Exam.

Whitepaper available: Success by the Numbers

Thomas Robbins — May 24, 2012 — Article

marketing online marketing whitepaper

Marketing is evolving. Engaging customers and prospects is no longer a single channel, one-way communication. Marketers must engage more deeply and communicate in multiple ways. However, simply engaging is no longer enough. Marketers must be able to track and measure the quantitative impact of their efforts.

7 tips to build your Email lists

Thomas Robbins — May 21, 2012 — Article

e-mail marketing marketing

Nobody should argue that Email marketing is important. I ran across a report from the Email Experience Council (eec) of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and Econsultancy that I thought was interesting. Among the data was the following.

“The study found that, despite the challenges posed by the spread of social and mobile media, email continues to grow. Agencies report that 60 percent of their clients are in fact increasing their email usage. At the same time, 75 percent of marketers described competition from social media as “somewhat” or “very” challenging, and 69 percent said they believe that young people are abandoning email as a primary channel. 65 percent also report that they have problems getting email budgets that the channel deserves. “

You can read the full article here

How well do you know your customer?

Thomas Robbins — May 15, 2012 — Article

marketing

Do you know your typical customer? Can you define their key behavioral characteristics? Putting a face on your customer with personas helps to identifying their needs and wants and is one of the best ways to optimize your inbound channels. A persona is simply a fictitious character that embodies a segment of your target audience.

What’s in your marketing portfolio?

Thomas Robbins — May 14, 2012 — Article

marketing

Recently I I’ve been talking with a variety of people around their marketing portfolios. It’s no surprise that PPC campaigns using Google and even Bing are everywhere. PPC is one of the ways to drive qualified leads for conversion to your site. However, like any marketing tactic, it’s one thing in a successful marketing portfolio. PPC is effective but can be expensive. Let me restate that another way – it’s not the only thing that you should be doing to successfully market your site.

Is the Cloud important for CMS?

Thomas Robbins — May 12, 2012 — Article

cloud cms conference j.boye conference windows azure

Another great J Boye conference down. Thanks to everyone that attended and thanks to the J Boye folks for a fantastic conference.

BitWizards + Mapex Technology Showcase

Thomas Robbins — Apr 27, 2012 — Video Article

design kentico cms 6 windows azure

Great story of how Bitwizards, a Kentico Gold Partner developed an amazing solution for Mapex the MyDentity Custom Drum Builder using Kentico and Windows Azure.

More information on this solution is available here.

Who’s attending the J Boye conference this year in Philadelphia?

Thomas Robbins — Apr 26, 2012 — Article

j.boye conference

J Boye is always a fantastic conference. It is always one of my favorite conferences to attend - It’s coming up and I hope to see you there!

Calling all BETA Testers: Kentico Certified Developer Exam V6

Thomas Robbins — Apr 16, 2012 — Article

cms developers kentico

The Kentico Certified Developer Exam for Version 6 is ready to go BETA and we need testers for the week of May 21, 2012. Interested?

Announcing the 2012 MVP Awards

Thomas Robbins — Jan 19, 2012 — Article

award mvp

Wow! It’s hard to believe it’s been a year. I thought MVP Awards were tough last year – it was even tougher this year! The submissions we received and the things people are doing continues to amaze me.

December Kentico Developer Newsletter

Thomas Robbins — Jan 3, 2012 — Article

developer newsletter

Thanks to everyone that contributed!

Announcing the updated eBook: Mobile Development using Kentico CMS 6

Thomas Robbins — Dec 18, 2011 — Article

cms ebook kentico kentico cms 6 mobile website

I am pleased to announce that the updated thirty page eBook on developing mobile application with Kentico CMS 6 is available as a free PDF download from here.

Kentico CMS Podcast #8 – Talking about Bind Tuning with Beatriz Oliveira, Creative Director

Thomas Robbins — Dec 2, 2011 — Article

bind tuning podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Beatriz Oliveira, Creative Director for Bind Tuning as she talks about how she came into the technology field. She also talks about theming Kentico sites using their dynamic web based solution. Well worth checking out – http://kentico.tuning.bind.pt/Home.aspx

Kentico CMS Podcast #8 – Talking about Bind Tuning with Beatriz Oliveira

Thomas Robbins — Dec 1, 2011 — Video Article

kentico cms 6 podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Beatriz Oliveira, Creative Director for Bind Tuning as she talks about how she came into the technology field. She also talks about theming Kentico sites using their dynamic web based solution. Well worth checking out – http://kentico.tuning.bind.pt/Home.aspx

Kentico Technical Learning - Using wire framing to architect great Kentico sites

Thomas Robbins — Dec 1, 2011 — Video Article

design kentico cms 6 wire frames

James Cannings (CTO, MMT Digital - Kentico Gold Partner) talks about how they use wire framing tools in order to develop UI \ UX in parallel with transparent planning on page templates with the client. The talk will look at how wireframes are used to discuss the use of widgets, web parts, different widget\webpart zone layouts and the use of custom document types at an early stage as well as the use of wireframes in the development of bespoke Kentico modules. The talk will focus on the Axure RP Pro wire framing software although the concepts apply to any tools that you care to use.

November 2011 Kentico Developer Newsletter

Thomas Robbins — Nov 29, 2011 — Article

developer newsletter

Thanks to everyone that contributed to this month's newsletter

Webinar Wrap Up: Introducing Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution Your 360 Degree Customer Solution

Thomas Robbins — Nov 29, 2011 — Article

cxm kentico kentico ems webinar

Thanks to everyone that attended the webinar!

How well do you really know your customers? Customer experience includes everything from awareness to advocacy of your product or service. Isn’t it time to get to know your customer?

Most Customer Experience Management Solutions promise results. Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution is instant marketing results and customer insight. With KEMS you will deliver campaigns quickly and provide marketing and sales with useful and actionable data to get to know your customers. Isn’t it better to focus on driving traffic and optimizing customer experience than configuring web pages?

Join us for an exciting look at how you can use the Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution (KEMS) to drive your sales and marketing teams.

Introducing Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution Your 360 Degree Customer Solution

Thomas Robbins — Nov 23, 2011 — Video Article

content management kentico ems

How well do you really know your customers? Customer experience includes everything from awareness to advocacy of your product or service. Isn’t it time to get to know your customer?

Most Customer Experience Management Solutions promise results. Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution is instant marketing results and customer insight. With KEMS you will deliver campaigns quickly and provide marketing and sales with useful and actionable data to get to know your customers. Isn’t it better to focus on driving traffic and optimizing customer experience than configuring web pages?

Immortals Movie Mobile Web App

Thomas Robbins — Nov 23, 2011 — Video Article

mobile web app

How To: Installing Kentico CMS 6

Thomas Robbins — Nov 18, 2011 — Video Article

how to installation kentico cms 6

Now that you have downloaded Kentico CMS 6 it’s time to install. In this video we look at the requirements and the installation process for Kentico CMS 6.

New Hands on Lab: Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution – Campaigns

Thomas Robbins — Nov 15, 2011 — Article

ab testing campaign hol kentico kentico ems lead scoring

Thanks for everyone’s feedback and our first Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution hands on lab is now available for download!

EMS Overview Wrap Up

Thomas Robbins — Nov 14, 2011 — Article

cms kentico kentico ems

Thanks to everyone that attended our recent EMS seminar in the UK!

Webinar: Introducing Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution Your 360 Degree Customer Solution

Thomas Robbins — Nov 14, 2011 — Article

ab testing campaign cms cxm kentico multivariate testing webinar

Please join us for a fantastic webinar on
Date: Nov 23, 2011
Time: 2pm UK, 9am EST
Register here

Webinar: Simplifying Sales Tax Through Automation

Thomas Robbins — Oct 31, 2011 — Article

avalara webinar

Does the national debate on Internet sales tax reform leave you feeling, well – a little anxious? Is your company prepared to manage and remit sales tax for all states where you do business? With audit penalties averaging $23,000, you can't afford to be wrong when it comes to sales tax – and we’re here to help.

Please join us Dec. 7th for an educational webinar for Kentico users.by Avalara
Register here

Kentico Technical Learning - -Using wire framing to architect great Kentico sites

Thomas Robbins — Oct 31, 2011 — Article

cms kentico webinar

Please plan to join us for a fantastic webinar:
Date: November 30, 2011 - Date change!
Time: 4pm UK, 8am PST, 11am EST
Register here

October Kentico Developer Newsletter

Thomas Robbins — Oct 31, 2011 — Article

developer newsletter

Thanks to everyone that contributed this month!

Portfolio – Kentico GO for the iPhone & iPad

Thomas Robbins — Oct 21, 2011 — Article

cms kentico kentico go

With the new Kentico Go you can log into your Kentico CMS website from your iPhone or iPad to perform some essential maintenance tasks.

Looking for your early feedback on the new Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution!

Thomas Robbins — Oct 18, 2011 — Article

feedback kentico kentico ems

One of the things that I love about Kentico is that what our customers think is so incredibly important. With the release of Kentico 6 and the new Enterprise Marketing Solution it’s time to get some of your early feedback!

Focus Group Initiation: Kentico CMS Deliver Now! Methodology

Thomas Robbins — Oct 6, 2011 — Article

cms kentico methodology

This is your invitation to participate in an online Focus Group for the Kentico CMS Deliver Now! Methodology. The Deliver Now! Methodology is designed to help customers and partners avoid potential pitfalls in any Kentico CMS project and benefit from lessons learned from over 7,000 active websites in 84 countries. Based on the feedback we have received, this methodology has gained traction with our customer and partner base across the world.

Bit-Wizards releases new Kentico Windows Phone 7 App

Thomas Robbins — Oct 6, 2011 — Article

bit-wizards mobile app

Congratulations to the team at Bit-wizards! A very cool mobile app!

Wrap Up: Kentico CMS: A Case Study in Building for Today’s Web

Thomas Robbins — Sep 22, 2011 — Article

case study cms kentico

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Kentico CMS Podcast #7 – Talking with Vitezslav Janecek and Kentico CMS 6

Thomas Robbins — Sep 19, 2011 — Article

cms kentico kentico cms 6 podcast

In this episode Thom Robbins is joined by Vitezslav Janecek, Senior Developer with Kentico CMS. He talks about himself and how he came into the technology field. He also talks about Kentico CMS 6 and the new Kentico Enterprise Marketing Solution (EMS) product that he and his team worked on.

Have you seen the Kentico CMS 6 videos available!

Thomas Robbins — Sep 19, 2011 — Article

cms kentico kentico cms 6 video webinar

We’ve been busy with videos and webinars! Have a look at some of what’s coming!

Webinar Wrap up: Extending Kentico to meet any creative or technical demands

Thomas Robbins — Sep 19, 2011 — Article

cms kentico webinar

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Webinar Wrap up: Lap Around: Windows Azure and Kentico CMS 6

Thomas Robbins — Sep 19, 2011 — Article

cms kentico kentico cms 6 webinar windows azure

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Webinar Wrap up: Kentico Online CMS User Group Presents: Here Come’s Version 6!

Thomas Robbins — Sep 19, 2011 — Article

kentico kentico ems webinar

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Webinar: Kentico Technical Learning: Extending Kentico to meet any creative or technical demands

Thomas Robbins — Sep 15, 2011 — Video Article

design kentico cms 5.5 r2 webinar

James Cannings (co-founder and CTO of Kentico Gold partner MMT Digital) works through some practical examples of how they have extended Kentico using the flexible framework provided by the CMS to achieve creatively complex websites that are easy for non-technical users to manage. The talk will also look at how bespoke Kentico "modules" can be created to easily integrate websites into 3rd party systems.