"A successful website does three things:
It attracts the right kind of visitors
It guides them to the main services or products you offer
It collects contact details for future ongoing relation." - Mohamed Saad
When embarking on the quest to building successful websites, developers and website builders face various challenges such as:
Crafting the site without coding
Designing a good structure and making it appealing to visitors
Adding specific modules and features
Fixing bugs and disrupted features
Connecting your brand new website to services like Google Analytics
Sailing through the rough waters of web development can be tricky at times. However, you shouldn't be discouraged. There are plenty of tools and techniques that can help you navigate website creation more skillfully, and this article will guide you through leveraging some of them. More specifically, we'll focus on Drupal web development and outline some essential tips for crafting more successful Drupal websites.
What types of websites can you create with Drupal?
If your new to using this CMS, then you might be asking what Drupal can do for you. Well, Drupal is an excellent choice for almost any type of project:
Personal or business websites
E-commerce sites
Blogs, portfolio, art, social networking websites
Forums and news sites, etc.
As you can see, Drupal is a versatile software that can address a wide range of needs and requirements. You only have to know how to use it to your advantage.
Keep reading and get more familiar with the world of Drupal web development.
3 Elements to Consider When You Start
1. Drupal modules. From managing user accounts to organizing basic content, Drupal offers a wide range of functional modules. It's important to remember that Drupal is known for its fantastic customization capabilities. Take advantage of the suitable modules to build personalized sites that match the needs of your visitors.
"Optimizing for impact means creating software that works for everyone. In recent years, our community has prioritized accessibility for users with disabilities, and features like lazy loading of images that help users with slower internet connections. Drupal's priority is to continue to foster diversity and inclusion within our community so all voices are represented in building an Open Web." - Dries Buytaert, founder of Drupal.
2. Web hosting allows all your site content to be seen anywhere at any time. There are some key factors to consider when choosing your web hosting service:
- loading speed: consider a host that loads faster than the current average, 850 ms.
- uptime score: look for hosts that provide high uptime scores, preferably above 99.5%.
- customer support: collaborate with a host that provides high-quality, responsive, and reliable support.
- cost: choose a host that you can afford and count on for reliability and professionalism.
3. Environment. Drupal web development is a complex process that requires focusing on functionality, appearance, or code integrity. Many elements contribute to successful side building and the environment that revolves around your Drupal project is one of them. Good environments can foster growth and are usually dependant on the following factors:
- How big the project is. This allows you to plan more efficiently, especially when dealing with multi-project environments.
- The size of your company. This is related to the growth of your business and is underpinned by elements like discipline, culture, management, knowledge, etc.
- How skillful your team is. Having a highly experienced team that is reliable and efficient is essential when it comes to the environment.
How to maintain your Drupal website
Proper website maintenance can be challenging. Here are some aspects to pay attention to.
Status report
This is a feature provided by Drupal that monitors your site's health. It checks folder permissions, disruptive modules, or libraries. The Status Report feature also helps with debugging technical support issues, providing excellent support for your maintenance practices.
Cron
This is an automated task that your Drupal website runs on periodically. It performs scheduled duties like cache clearing, sending emails, or reminders, and it doesn't involve any manual intervention. This tool also performs routine maintenance for the System Module and checks for available updates.
Caching
In Drupal web development, there are two modules for caching:
The Internal Dynamic Page Cache Module that aims to accelerate site speed.
The Internal Page Cache Module which caches pages for anonymous users in the database.
Deployment
Drupal deployment allows users to move content from one Drupal site to another. More precisely, when editing your Drupal site, it is helpful to use different environments to modify or test your content without harming the live site's performance. The changes are then deployed through an automated process.
When it comes to Drupal website maintenance, it often saves a lot of resources to hire a Drupal agency to do it for you.
Optasy can help you navigate the sea of challenges that come with your Drupal project. Be it your digital strategy, web design project, or maintenance services, count on us and leave your worries behind!
Photo credit: Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash.
Raluca Olariu / Mar 23'2021
Drupal web development can be challenging sometimes—depending on the knowledge of the one performing it. On one side, this popular content management system provides amazing opportunities for customizing websites to meet the specific needs of brands, boosting web traffic, and business recognition.
On the other hand, Drupal web development requires skilled developers and site builders that master the art of the Drupal project. We, at Optasy, know that Drupal web development can be challenging and keep many developers up at night. That's why we crafted this article to help you on your journey with Drupal.
More exactly, this post covers five mistakes to avoid when redesigning your Drupal website. It will help you gain key insights into the technical, creative, operational, financial, and strategic decisions that you have to consider through your Drupal web development journey.
Let's roll up our sleeves and start learning from the mistakes of others.
But first, how do you identify when it's time for a website redesign?
Your website is not mobile-responsive. To avoid losing credibility and value, your website has to be optimized for a wide range of devices. Since 52% of all website traffic comes from mobile nowadays, optimizing your Drupal website for mobile is a must.
Navigation on your website is slow. Online visitors are now expecting seamless digital experiences at the tip of their fingers. A poorly functional website will chase them away and affect your brand's credibility.
Your website is more than five years. As the digital landscape is changing at a rapid pace, a complete revamp for your Drupal website is necessary from time to time.
Now that you have a clearer picture of whether you should plan a redesign project for your Drupal website or not, it's essential to understand what you should avoid doing in this process.
#1 Mistake
Skipping the analysis of your existing website.
To solve an issue, you must be aware of it in the first place, right? The most successful companies are proficient at analyzing and identifying challenges in their workflows and proactively search for ways to overcome them.
To evolve you must focus on your vulnerabilities and clearly define your weak spots. Only then, you can gain a sharper perspective of your destination.
Key questions to ask yourself when analyzing your current Drupal website are:
How many visitors is my website attracting?
What's the average loading speed of my site?
Is the bounce rate too high?
Where does my website rank on SERPs?
#2 Mistake
Redesigning without a clear purpose.
Like all things in life, your redesign strategy should have a well-defined goal (or goals). You can't build a lasting plan without first outlining its primary purposes. With that in mind, here are the main questions that can help you craft precise objectives:
Where do you want your Drupal website to be in the next six months?
How will the new versions of my pages help me reach my goals?
What digital tools do I need in order to accomplish my objectives?
When drawing your redesign plan, you need to know why you are doing it and then align your site updates with your marketing goals.
#3 Mistake
Not establishing analytics benchmarks.
Now that you've gained a clearer perspective of your Drupal redesign plan and goals, it's time to start focusing on setting metrics related to the performance of the old version of your website. Google Analytics is a reliable resource that can help you with this, by providing these types of benchmarks:
Visits that actually lead to sales conversions
How much time users spend on site, overall visits, and banner click-through rates
Lead generation
When it comes to SEO, these are the metrics you should try to benchmark:
Website traffic
Organic traffic-generating pages
Inbound links
Conversion rates
#4 Mistake
Not investing enough resources in a robust content strategy.
Content is still king. Around 70% of companies actively invest in content marketing. Why is content marketing so important?
Because it answers your audience's questions. It helps businesses build trust and generate more high-quality leads.
That's why you should redesign your Drupal website with content in mind and consider the pain points of your audience when crafting your content strategy.
What does a content strategy for the website look like?
Defined goals and target audience
Analytics & SEO review
Content inventory & audit
Style guidelines and publishing strategy
Omnichannel/cross-platform considerations
SEO strategy and metadata standards
#5 Mistake
Ignoring your competition.
Competitive intelligence refers to the ability to gather, analyze, and leverage insights related to your competitors in order to better understand the market and make stronger strategic decisions.
How to get started with competitive intelligence?
Step 1: Know your competitors. Determine which are your top five direct competitors and then your indirect, aspirational, and perceived rivals.
Step 2: Collect your intel. This might be the most time-consuming part of the competitive intelligence process. At this point, you want to take the time to explore your competitors' online presence, products, websites, social media posts, teams, content, etc.
Step 3: Craft your competitive analysis. Once you've gathered your intel, you should focus on breaking down the data and organize the findings such as trends or key insights so that you can easily communicate them throughout your enterprise.
Step 4: Turn competitive intelligence into results. Make your data actionable and leverage it to benefit your overall business tactics.
Wrapping up
Having these key insights on board when you start your Drupal redesign project will help you navigate the whole process a lot easier.
Optasy can also support you in getting more out of your Drupal website with top-notch Drupal web development, maintenance, and support offerings—whether you want to build or upgrade your Drupal site.
Have a look and contact us if you want to accelerate your digital transformation.
Image credit: mohamed_hassan on Pixabay.
Raluca Olariu / Mar 15'2021
Choosing Drupal as your content management system (CMS) is a big step in your digital journey, and it will transform the way you deliver web experiences. In order to make the most out of Drupal's unique capabilities and features, you need to install suitable modules for your website.
Don't know where to start? You're in luck. In this article, you'll discover which modules the best Drupal designers pick for user-friendly sites and optimized experiences. It's time to start expanding the functionality of your Drupal website and enjoy its full potential.
Paragraphs
This must-have module is an author-friendly extension that empowers content authors and editors to create flexible and structured content effortlessly. The extension pre-defines complex elements and allows content to be added as individual paragraphs such as text blocks, pictures, quotes, popup elements with links, etc.
With the paragraphs module, you have complete control over the fields you want to compose and their appearance. The drag and drop functionality allows for greater flexibility and streamlined workflows. The best Drupal developers use this module to improve and facilitate the content-editing process.
Advantages
Standard fields are more flexible
Content-editing is more user-friendly
Nesting is infinite
The level of customizing multiple fields is more complex
Disadvantages
The set up of this module must be made by a developer
"You want to enable your developers to easily deliver content to different devices, channels, and platforms. This means that the content needs to be available through APIs. This is aligned with Drupal 8's roadmap, where we are focused on web services capabilities." - Dries Buytaert, founder of Drupal
Webform
This essential Drupal Module is hard to ignore, given its robust and versatile functionality. Any website needs a contact form, survey, or feedback questionnaire. The Drupal 8 Webform module is the ultimate interface for creating customizable and extendable forms, used by the best Drupal designers to transform the form-building experience.
Advantages
Flexible, easy to use interface
Builds e-mail handlers, exporting options, and multi-step forms
Highly customizable and extendable module
Can export data to spreadsheets for further analysis
Disadvantages
Hard to operate, this module needs complex Drupal knowledge
Drupal GraphQL
The best Drupal developers choose this module to generate GraphQL schemas and display Drupal entities with GraphQL client applications. In other words, this technology enables you to quickly obtain content from your Drupal site and send it to front-end applications.
Advantages
Transfers the power to the front-end to request data
Reduces the time spent on requesting data by grouping queries together
Automatic caching system
Disadvantages
The GraphQL module is still limited in functionality
Display Suite
This module is best known for its easy-to-use interface that acts as a handy tool to build page layouts. As a practical display module, it permits users to arrange content with intuitive templates, and the drag and drop fields allow for greater versatility.
Advantages
Flexible, resilient layout module
Provides custom layouts and easy-to-use templates
Helpful template suggestions for website builders
Disadvantages
The Display Suite module has some minor functionally bugs and user experience flaws
Security Kit
When it comes to security, the best Drupal developers know that it has to be one of the top priorities when developing a Drupal website.
Drupal is said to be the most secure CMS on the market, and the Security Kit module has been developed to support that statement.
By leveraging this module, Drupal users can mitigate the risks of exploitation of various web app vulnerabilities. This all-in-one security module lets users configure, tweak, and create several options that decrease the risk of attacks on your Drupal website.
Advantages
Content security policy implementation
Prevents multiple kinds of cyber threats, including man-in-the-middle and eavesdropping attacks
Provides support for setting up HTTP headers
Disadvantages
Can be quite complex to operate for beginners
The best Drupal developers have this Drupal security module in their toolbox to help them protect their digital assets.
“The reason Drupal has been successful is because we always made big, forward-looking changes. It’s a cliché, but change has always been the only constant in Drupal. The result is that Drupal has stayed relevant, unlike nearly every other Open Source CMS over the years. The biggest risk for our project is that we don't embrace change”. - Dries Buytaert, founder of Drupal
Captcha Module
Another Drupal module that was built with security in mind is the Captcha module, comprised of a challenge-response test. Its primary purpose is to determine whether or not the user is human, thus hindering form submissions from spambots.
By differentiating between real users and automated ones, the Captcha module protects websites from fraud and abuse.
Advantages
Detects potential hackers and prevents online services abuse
Protects registration forms on websites
Makes online shopping more secure
Disadvantages
The module may fail in some browsers
It may prove to be challenging for website visitors, especially for people with disabilities
Tends to annoy site guests
How to leverage the full potential of your Drupal experience
Drupal's power lies in its unique customization and personalization capabilities. While implementing the above modules might work for the more experienced developers, it can prove to be quite challenging for beginners or non-technical Drupal users.
Here's where an experienced Drupal agency like Optasy can help. Optasy is an in-house team of Drupal experts that supports Drupal web development projects aimed at delivering best-in-class web experiences.
Take a look at our services and discover what the best Drupal developers can do for the success of your digital business.
Image credit: kreatikar on Pixabay.
Raluca Olariu / Mar 12'2021
Entering the world of Drupal web development can feel like diving into the unknown for many business owners. Once they've figured it out with the help of a developer or a Drupal development agency, the business runs smoothly for a little while.
However, building and optimizing a website is like buying a new house—it's functional at first, but things break down and need repairing and regular care in time.
Since spring is just over the corner, what better moment to start cleaning, improving, optimizing, and refreshing your website? Whether you do it in-house or hire an agency that offers Drupal maintenance services, it will work wonders and could actually double your potential market value.
But first, it's essential to understand why a regular maintenance plan is critical, how to tell when you need Drupal Maintenance, and what does Drupal maintenance include. This article will answer these questions.
Why you should stick to a regular Drupal maintenance plan
If you've already entered the world of digital marketing, you know that the journey towards attracting and retaining customers doesn't end with web development and deployment. Change is a permanent constant in life, and businesses have to adapt to this ever-changing dynamic.
Security
A few years ago, website maintenance was optional. Building a static website that you could leave unattended for the entire year was perfectly normal.
Today, as the digital landscape has expanded and become more prone to security vulnerabilities, Drupal support is imperative for maintaining a healthy security posture.
Although Drupal is known for being the most secure CMS, this only applies if your Drupal website is regularly optimized with security updates and patches. The Drupal community and Drupal security team continuously build security patches, fixes, and upgrades, and Drupal users need to be in the loop about these updates. In other words, keeping up with the news and module updates in Drupal security is vital in order to avoid breaches.
Constant Drupal core module updates can boost website protection and secure it against cyberattacks and threats.
Fixing errors
To ensure that your website performs well and meets the needs for speed and agility that the modern digital user demands, fixing bugs and errors is a top priority.
These malfunctions may happen for multiple reasons—rushed coding and deployment, inadequate testing, or miscommunication. They may affect your site's performance and loading speed or even alter your Drupal website’s functionality.
And since users don't want to spend more than four seconds waiting for websites to load, not paying attention to repairing bugs could cost you customers.
This price is too big to pay, and it's worth considering Drupal maintenance services as part of your website strategies.
Keep your content fresh with new features
Another reason why Drupal maintenance matters is related to scalability. Drupal websites can grow together with your business goals. Constant feature and module updates allow Drupal users a high level of customizing capabilities that helps businesses keep up with the changing needs of the customer.
With Drupal 8, integration is much more affordable, so if you haven't migrated yet, you might want to contact a Drupal agency to help you decide whether an upgrade is the right choice for your business.
The user behavior has dramatically shifted in the last year, which is why content optimization, new features, and enhancements allow brands to stay fresh and align to this changing environment.
SEO optimization
Ranking high on Google and other search engines is crucial for your website to stay relevant. An excellent Drupal maintenance team has SEO experts that provide Drupal SEO audits and optimization.
“Good SEO work only gets better over time. It’s only search engine tricks that need to keep changing when the ranking algorithms change.” – Jill Whalen
How to tell when you need Drupal maintenance
If you're not yet convinced that you need Drupal support and maintenance services for your website, here are some indicators that you can't postpone it any longer without hurting your business:
Your website is slow, and you have received complaints about its loading speed.
Your web traffic has dropped considerably.
You experience more security breaches.
Your content and design are outdated.
Links, buttons, or forms are not working.
These are some of the red flags of poorly maintained websites. If you recognize these warning signs as part of your website, it's definitely time to start planning your maintenance strategy.
What do Drupal maintenance services and support include?
A useful maintenance model covers:
Security and module updates
Third-party integration support
Regression testing
Bug diagnosing, fixing, and testing
Hosting infrastructure maintenance
Hack, malware, down recovery
Partner with the right Drupal maintenance and support agency
When thinking about hiring a Drupal maintenance team, you need to consider your needs. At Optasy, we cover a wide range of website maintenance requirements and can create a customized maintenance and support plan to support your website's specific needs.
How does this sound to you? Have you made up your mind whether it is worth investing in Drupal maintenance services or not?
If yes, then contact a reliable, dedicated support partner like Optasy and see how our Drupal maintenance services and Magento development maintenance support services can keep your website up and running.
Photo credit: geralt on Pixabay.
Raluca Olariu / Mar 02'2021
The Coronavirus pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and shifted the world to an online-based environment. In this context, driven by the need to go digital, many companies have started to focus more on their web development capabilities and take steps to improve their online presence.
The challenges encountered on the path to building and optimizing a website that attracts and engages users are not few.
What are the most frequent web development challenges?
One common difficulty when planning a web development project is defining one’s goals clearly. "What are my intended prospects?, "What kind of experience I want to provide my users with?", "How do I want my brand to be perceived in the long-term?".
These are all valid questions that, if not addressed properly, can end up damaging your web presence.
Another aspect of web development that keeps many decision-makers up at night is choosing the right tech stack. From programming languages, servers, frameworks to software development tools, deciding which tech stack is the best fit for your needs can be tricky and, if not planned correctly, considerably expensive.
Web development challenges during implementation are not to be ignored either. Site builders, front-end developers, and module developers often struggle to provide personalized user experiences, create catchy visuals, and optimize everything for mobile devices or tablets.
And, of course, everyone who takes part in the web development process knows about scalability and how companies struggle to build scalable, lasting web applications in a competitive digital environment.
How can you address these web development challenges?
This has been the dark side of the article. Now comes the positive, which outlines what it takes to successfully address the challenges mentioned above.
There are many ways in which you can start to build more robust web strategies, but we're going to approach just one today: the Drupal solution.
As one of the most popular content management systems (CMS)s, Drupal is known for its top-notch web development features and future-ready modules that make developers’ lives much more comfortable.
Why should you choose Drupal for your web development projects?
1. Security
Drupal has a proven history of being the most secure CMS and application framework. The Drupal Security Team is actively working towards improving Drupal's capability to remain resilient to critical internet vulnerabilities.
With Drupal, administrators have granular user access control over who manages website content and how. Drupal's platform supports strong password policies, industry-standard authentication practices, and single sign-on systems.
Another feature that helps businesses secure their content and websites, and overcome security issues, is Drupal's Form API which secures data validation and blocks malicious data entry. With Drupal limiting the number of login attempts made from the same IP address, preventing brute-force password attacks is much more manageable.
“You want to enable your developers to easily deliver content to different devices, channels, and platforms. This means that the content needs to be available through APIs. This is aligned with Drupal 8's roadmap, where we are focused on web services capabilities. Through Drupal's web service APIs, developers can build freely in different front-end technologies, such as Angular, React, Ember, and Swift, as well as Java and .NET. For developers, accomplishing this without the maintenance burden of a full Drupal site or the complexity of configuring standard Drupal to be decoupled is key.” - Dries Buytaert, founder of Drupal.
2. Mobile optimization
With 74% of users more likely to return to mobile-friendly websites, you want to ensure that you follow a mobile-first approach. Drupal 8 was built with mobile optimization in mind, and it enables the development of responsive sites that meet the need for mobile.
Drupal follows best practices of responsive web design approach thus providing streamlined and reliable content experiences for mobile users.
3. Scalability
When we discussed the challenges of today's web development landscape, scalability was amongst the most complex. Fortunately, Drupal can scale with your needs and efficiently support content-rich websites. Drupal's ability to manage a large number of content and visitors and handle continuous web traffic means flexibility and high-quality user experiences.
4. Content translation workflows
When Drupal 8 announced four new core translation modules, it meant better opportunities to improve the digital experience. Drupal's multilingual support offers:
90+ available language packages
Streamlined configuration and content translation workflows
An intuitive interface language of administrators and content producers
“Thanks to the Drupal 8 Multilingual Initiative, translation is not an afterthought in Core anymore. And thanks to the clean APIs that were designed with this in mind, we are able to improve every day the functionalities for our clients in our integration with Drupal 8. While with other CMS we devote time constantly to integrate with contributed modules or alike, we can focus on new functionalities as this APIs make us compatible with most contrib modules out of the box without any extra effort on our side.” - Penyaskito, Drupal contributor and developer at Lingotek
How to harness the power of Drupal for web development?
Depending on the size of your business and industry, there are several ways in which you can leverage Drupal at its full potential. You can learn to do it yourself, employ a freelance developer, or hire an agency that offers Drupal web development services.
While the first two options may be more cost-effective at first, in the long run, hiring an agency that supports a holistic web development strategy is the smartest move.
As an open-source software solution, Drupal provides flexibility and has been optimized for a better user experience. Still, when handling more customized projects and modules, the development process can get tricky. With an agency, you don't have to worry about these aspects and can focus on other vital parts of your business.
Here, at Optasy, we provide holistic Drupal web development services, adding digital value to your business. Whether it is custom module development, AI implementation, Drupal migration, or any other Drupal feature integration, Optasy helps you build your future-ready website.
Photo credit: mohamed_hassan and coffeebeanworks on Pixabay.
Raluca Olariu / Feb 26'2021
Drupal is one of the most popular content management systems (CMSs), with 2.4% of all websites using Drupal for web and mobile app development. Why is Drupal a favorite option for many developers and development agencies, you may ask?
Many clients and companies choose Drupal due to the multiple competitive advantages and digital assets that it provides, such as:
Top-notch, highly-personalized customer experiences
Future-ready API architecture that supports scalability
Robust functionality and intuitive modules
High digital security standards
To maximize the potential of Drupal for web development, design projects, or software development, it is advisable to get in touch with a Drupal agency that can help you accelerate your digital growth.
Why Should You Hire a Drupal Agency?
A more valid question would be, "Why not?". There are plenty of reasons why hiring a Drupal agency to support your web development efforts is a smart strategy.
Drupal agencies provide professional services that cover the whole web development process (developers, designers, SEO experts, QA engineers).
Your web development project will be handled by a dedicated, highly focused team, which raises the quality of work.
Drupal agencies provide website maintenance and support, including continuous security updates, fixing bugs or downtime, website audit, or SEO optimization.
Given the high level of market competition, Drupal services providers use the latest technological tools for streamlined and optimized web development.
There are many options available, and finding the right partner might get time-consuming and stressful. The purpose of this article is to provide a list of top Drupal agencies and Drupal web design agencies that offer high-quality services for developing and maintaining websites. Take a look - maybe you'll find the best fit for your company's needs.
MindInventory
This Drupal development agency provides services that cover web, software, mobile development, and web design. The company has a market experience of 10+ years and is currently addressing industries like business services, fitness, or health. MindInventory has a 4.5-star rating and is known for its high commitment to quality, efficiency, and attention to detail.
As a Drupal development agency, MindInventory can help you maximize your digital efforts with the help of experienced, tech-savvy Drupal developers that aim to deliver best-in-class web experiences.
Optasy
Optasy is an on-site built-in Drupal web development agency working with this CMS for more than ten years. As a full-service software provider, Optasy offers a wide range of Drupal services that involve the latest web technologies to satisfy the need for digital innovation.
Let's delve into the primary services they provide:
Create a reliable, goal-oriented digital strategy.
Build eye-catching visual designs.
Create highly-personalized and optimized websites.
Deliver user-friendly mobile and app development.
Optasy is that kind of Drupal agency that can transform your business, support your digital efforts, and future-proof your development.
Trasaterra
This Drupal agency is recommended for being cost-effective and highly proficient in developing media, marketing, and advertising websites. Trasaterra is specialized in branding and interaction with a focus on user experience and building long-term customer relationships.
Among well-known companies and clients that have collaborated with Trasaterra for web development and design services are CNBC, The New York Times, or The Winter Show.
Konstant Infosolutions
The services offered by this Drupal agency are software, mobile app, and web development. Konstant Infosolutions has been lauded not only for their project management skills and functional designs but also for how they approach performance-oriented strategies.
The US-based Drupal agency focuses on investing and developing mobile apps, eCommerce, IoT, AR/VR, cloud integration, and more.
Unified Infotech
From 2010, this Drupal development agency creates optimized digital experiences by transforming how companies relate to website design, development, and mobile optimization. The company's focus is on providing customer-centric services that fuel digital growth and build successful business relationships.
Unified Infotech is a smart choice for companies interested in developing and optimizing their Drupal websites with a functional design and impactful content.
To conclude, Drupal development companies and agencies offer plenty of benefits for web and mobile app development. From improved workflows, designs, and digital marketing services, to mobile-optimized websites and better web experiences for customers, Drupal agencies can genuinely take your digital business to the next level.
See how Optasy, a leading Drupal development agency, provides support in developing, optimizing, and maintaining a future-ready Drupal website.
Photo credit: kreatikar on Pixabay.
Raluca Olariu / Feb 24'2021
The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) opens a multitude of opportunities in different industries. According to a recent study, nine in ten leading businesses have already started to invest in artificial intelligence.
For instance, Robotics at Google is paving the way for future-thinking strategies and business models. AI is already performing repetitive tasks in the healthcare ecosystem, diagnosing and treating various medical conditions.
Nevertheless, in the web landscape, AI also provides an abundance of use cases. It's no secret that modern mainstream website development has lately focused on creating a customer-facing front-end presence and integrating front-end with enterprise back-office operations.
One of the leading content management frameworks for creating such enterprise websites, Drupal, is a pioneer in embracing digital innovation. Drupal web development includes multiple modules for implementing AI, helping digital businesses build and sustain a more AI-centric mindset.
This article highlights how integrating AI into Drupal web development can provide new digital growth opportunities and lay the foundation for future-oriented businesses.
Benefits and use cases for AI in Drupal web development
Drupal architectures have been long used to build next-gen digital and personalized experiences. One way developers can use artificial intelligence integrations in Drupal frameworks is in the form of chatbots. By supporting cognitive computing abilities that simulate human thought processes, Drupal's Chatbot API module provides:
An additional flexible layer that connects your Natural Language Processing (NPL) with your several personal assistants, thus increasing the intuitiveness of your website
A streamlined conversational experience whenever your users need it
The possibility to avoid writing new code when translating conversations from one interface to another
The aim of leveraging AI in chatbots is to increase sales revenue with better predictions. AI techniques like data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and behavior analysis empower chatbots to accurately predict reactions and responses to users’ queries.
When it comes to the personalization of web content, artificial intelligence is a winning tool. By analyzing a user's digital persona, profile, activity, and intent, AI and machine learning algorithms can enhance content recommendations and deliver highly targeted insights that match a user's preferences.
“In keeping with our deep integrations to Web Content Management, Content Management Systems, and Marketing Automation platforms, our Drupal 8 connector is the latest example of Cloudwords building integrations that speed and scale a company's global marketing engagements with personalized experiences in any language”, revealed Richard Harpham, former CEO at Cloudwords Inc.
Cloudwords for Multilingual Drupal module enhanced by artificial intelligence
Cloudwords integrations for multilingual websites are a real game-changer. Drupal's multilingual module is efficiently supported and quickly streamlined through Cloudwords’ powerful workflow automation and project management features. The whole process of serving content in multiple languages to the market is facilitated by Cloudwords' CAT tool that utilizes AI and machine learning to increase productivity.
Azure Cognitive Services API
The Azure Cognitive Services API Drupal module helps developers augment Drupal websites by adding speech, facial recognition, visual, and emotion detection features. More precisely, there are four submodules worth taking a look at:
Azure Emotion API - This tool connects Microsoft Face API to your website and recognizes one or more people’s emotions in a picture. This allows for more intelligent, engaging, and discoverable applications.
Azure Face API - Just like the Emotion API, this module integrates with the Microsoft Face API solution that can detect and recognize human faces. Face API identifies gender, age, or hair color, and it can compare similar faces and group their pictures.
Azure Computer Vision API - This module can aid in moderating content. It uses tags and descriptions to analyze the content on images, allowing you to apply restrictions on adult or inappropriate content.
Azure Text Analytics API - Used for NPL, this module provides sentiment analysis, key phrase extraction, and language detection.
Better personalization and direct targeting with Acquia Lift Connector
This module integrates tightly with Drupal, allowing developers to make the most out of their Drupal skills and knowledge. It combines content and customer data into a single tool, enabling marketers to scale their web personalization efforts and increase their conversions. Among the most popular features, we can find:
A drag-and-drop user interface for content targeting
Unified content and customer profiles
Real-time, adaptive segmentation
A/B testing and behavioral targeting
How's the future looking for Drupal web development powered by AI?
The future of Drupal websites that integrate AI-based modules looks promising. It is predicted that every digital user will have a unique ID that will store behavior insights like clicks, time spent on each page, or searches. By leveraging AI and machine learning, companies will be able to automatically tailor and personalize web content to each user's individual needs.
Modern tools like AI and ML have a lot to offer when integrated with Drupal CMS, opening new opportunities to implement rich modules with futuristic features. Personalization and performance are unprecedented and efficiently support complex digital ecosystems through features like voice controlling and user behavior analysis.
A few decades ago, artificial intelligence was thought of as a technological power that will end up destroying the world as we know it. Today, AI is not seen as being so hostile. On the contrary, businesses have started to embrace and leverage the possibilities offered by Ai, and Drupal web development is a powerful example of how technology can revolutionize the world of business.
The full potential of AI-integrated Drupal modules is far from being explored, although digital-centric companies are already harvesting the benefits of investing in modern technologies. The journey towards uncovering more digital assets that can sustain revolutionary web development strategies continues. Stay tuned!
Have you started implementing AI modules into your Drupal website? Optasy can help you accelerate the path to revolutionizing your Drupal web development capabilities with AI-powered tools that support digital growth.
Image credit: geralt on Pixabay
Raluca Olariu / Feb 18'2021
Ready to compare the features of 5 other best headless CMS in 2020?
We've got them ready for you to just dive in and:
survey the key reasons why you'd choose one over the other
discover each one's main use cases
narrow down your options
… and pick the one that matches your requirements.
What Is the Best Headless CMS in 2020?
5.6. Directus
An open source tool for managing and delivering content across an entire network of platforms and devices.
And here are some of the top reasons for choosing Directus:
it provides your editorial team with an easy to use admin app for managing content
it can be in the cloud or self-hosted
it provides API for your development team to fetch content
5.7. Netlify CMS
One of your top 10 headless CMS options, an open source one, that you get to add to any static site generator of your choice.
A React single-page application that provides you with an easy to use UI, playing the role of a… wrapper for your Git Workflow.
Basically, when using Netlify CMS your content gets stored in your web app's git repository (as markdown files), close to your codebase.
"How does a Netlify CMS Gatsby setup work?"
It's pretty straightforward:
You enter your content via that user-friendly interface, then Gatsby uses it to come up with the right pages for your web app.
Why would you use it?
it fits both large and small-sized projects, with fewer pages to create, to add content to, to edit, and to manage
you get to review/preview your content and make changes in real-time, and even control entries status in editorial workflow mode
it provides you with an easy-to-use UI, with just 3 tabs: workflow, media, and content
you're free to use it with any static site generator
you get to extend its functionality: add your own UI widgets, editor plugins, customized previews, etc.
5.8. GraphCMS
An API-first content management system, a GraphQL-native one, that allows you to distribute content across multiple digital platforms.
And not just anyhow, but… within minutes.
Your developer team gets to create content APIs in no time, whereas your content team gets all the tools they need for a smooth editor experience.
Source: capterra.com
GraphCMS vs Contentful: Main Differences
GraphCMS
works best for enterprise and mid-market companies, enabling them to build highly scalable applications
GraphQL is its underlying technology: an open source query language for APIs, that's been growing more and more popular among developers
Contentful
targets top global brands, helping them distribute digital content experiences across complex networks of markets and channels
REST is its underlying technology: a programming paradigm for distributed systems
And here are 2 good reasons for choosing GraphCMS as your go-to headless content management system:
you get a CMS that's client-side and JAMstack compatible
you get to tap into the benefits of a JAMstack approach to development (JavaScript & Markup & API)
5.9. Cosmic
A cloud-hosted headless content management system that provides you with both GraphQL and REST APIs.
But what makes Cosmic one of the best headless CMS in 2020?
Why choose the Cosmic Headless CMS?
it ships with features like content modeling, media management, localization, and webhooks
it grants you a smooth editor experience with its WYSIWYG editor, that you can use to incorporate (by embedding code) third-party services like Typeform and GitHub.
it integrates smoothly with AWS, Slack, Algolia, Stripe, HubSpot
5.10. Kentico Kontent
A cloud-based content delivery API that turns your structured content into content that's easy to be "consumed" by any device or digital platform that you might use as a front-end delivery layer.
Why would you choose it over other great options of headless CMS?
you get an AI chatbot when using Kentico Kontent
it provides webhooks and custom elements that make third-party integrations a lot smoother
you get content management API enabling content consumption
And we've come to… the END of the list of 10 best headless CMS in 2020.
Which one checks the most features off your list?
Now, if you're facing a "Headless Drupal 8 vs Contentful" dilemma, we're here to:
help you identify the one that works best for your business and your requirements
make your headless CMS-based project work
Just drop us a line!
Image by tdfugere from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / Sep 26'2020
Overwhelmed with options?
Are you building your first (e-commerce) headless CMS and you don't know what headless CMS platform to choose?
What are the best headless CMS in 2020, so you can at least narrow down your choices and start... somewhere?
Which system matches most of your feature requirements?
Here's a top 10:
1. But First: What Is a Headless CMS, More Precisely?
Relax, I won't bore you with too many details — we already have an in-depth post on the differences between headless and traditional CMS.
So, if we were to sum up the concept in just a few words, we could say that:
A headless content management system is an architecture where content is separated from the presentation layer (the client-side front-end).
Meaning that you get to create, store, and edit "raw" content (with no design or layout) in the backend and deliver it wherever needed —wearable, mobile app, website — via API.
In short, what you get in a headless architecture is:
a database to store your content in
a dashboard for editing your content
Source: Zesty.io
As for the "head" that serves your content to the end-user :
you're free to build your own front-end, from the ground up
… and even multiple front-ends, if needed, that will all use calls from the API to retrieve and display content
2. … Then What's a Decoupled CMS?
Headless CMS vs decoupled CMS: what's the difference? And why headless over decoupled?
The role that the API plays…
That's what makes the difference (and why you'd want to go for a headless approach):
If, in a decoupled architecture, the API plays the role of an intermediary between back-end and front end, in a headless architecture the API can be used by any of the front-end portions for pulling data.
In other words, a decoupled CMS does come with a built-in front-end delivery layer, that you can rely on, but a headless approach is an API-driven content repository.
Which gives you more flexibility for delivering content to any type of display layer.
… to multiple "heads".
You're free to distribute it wherever it needs to get displayed.
3. Why Choose a Headless CMS? Top 9 Benefits
Before I "divulge" the best headless CMS in 2020 to you, here's a shortlist of the key advantages of using a headless CMS software:
you get to engage your customers with personalized content across an entire network of digital channels, at different stages in their journey
you can deliver richer digital experience, tailored to each channel
you gain platform independence
you're free to choose your technology of choice
you benefit from cross-platform support
you get to manage your content from a central location and distribute it to multiple platforms/IoT-connected devices, in a universal format
you're free to manage all your platforms from one interface
your development team gets to choose the development framework of their choice, integrate new technologies and, overall… innovate
you're free to redesign as often as you need to, without the dread of re-implementing your entire CMS from the ground up
4. … And When Should You Use It? 5 Best Use Cases
How do you know for sure that you need to adopt this approach?
You know it because your scenario describes one of the following use cases for headless CMS:
you're building a site using a technology you're familiar with
you're building a website with a static site generator
you're building a JS-based website or web app
you're building a native mobile app
you're building an e-commerce site and you know that the commerce platform you're using won't… cut the mustard as a CMS; or you need to enrich product info in your online store
5. What Are the Best Headless CMS in 2020? Top 10
"Which CMS should I use?" you wonder.
"The one that meets most of your requirements…"
So, you should start by pinning them down. What features are you looking for in a CMS?
Maybe you need a system that should:
be straightforward and easy to use for the marketers/non-technical people in your team
be built on… Node
be highly customizable and editable for your content team to be able to change overlay text, logo, background video/image
be simple to set up
integrate easily with Gatsby
support multi-site setups
not be tied up to (just) one specific database
provide ease of content entry and rich-text support
provide a granular permission system
provide native support for content types
What are the features that your project couldn't live without?
Now, with that list of "mandatory" features at hand, just drill down through your top headless CMS options in 2020.
Here they are:
5.1. Storyblok
A purely headless CMS that ships with a visual editor, as well.
Why would you go for Storyblok? What makes it one of the best headless CMS in 2020?
it provides the experience of a page builder for all those non-technical users in your team: editors get to manage content via a more user-friendly interface
it grants your developers easy access to the APIs they need
5.2. Prismic
Its major selling point?
It allows you to choose your own language, framework, technology…
And these are the 3 good reasons to go with Prismic as your headless CMS:
it allows you to model your content schema and to add your content
you're free to choose whatever framework that meets your feature needs: React, Vue, Next, Nuxt, Node, Gatsby…
you're free to choose either GraphQL or RESTful API to query content
5.3. Drupal 8 Headless CMS
Another great option is to exploit Drupal's headless capabilities and pair them with the JavaScript framework of your choice.
Here are some of the best reasons why you'd use a Drupal 8 API-first architecture:
Drupal's a mature and enterprise-level headless solution backed by a wide community, used by more than 1 million sites globally; you get to tap into its massive module collection and even create new custom ones to extend your website's functionality
its JSON:API follows the JSON:API specification; developers in your team can start using the API even if they're not experts in working with Drupal
you get to load your GraphQl schemas straight from your Drupal content repository; there's a specialized module for this: the GraphQL module
you get to use all of Drupal's famed features (granular access to content, processes, workflows, modules, etc.) right away; you get them out-of-the-box since the REST API is… rooted deep into Drupal
5.4. Strapi, One of the Best headless CMS for Gatsby.
It's an open-source Node.js headless CMS, a "host it yourself" one, that allows you to build Node.js apps in… minutes.
Why would you use it?
because it generates available RESTful API or uses GraphQL shortly after installation, making data available via customizable API
because it allows your developers to invest all their resources in writing reusable app logic (instead of having to use some of that time to build an infrastructure)
because it's fully JavaScript
because it supports plugins that extend the platform's functionality
because it's open-source: you'll find the entire codebase on GitHub
5.5. Contentful
Looking for a platform-agnostic solution?
A… content delivery network that would enable your development team to manage and distribute (and reuse) content to multiple channels?
Then this is the API-driven headless CMS you're looking for.
Here are 6 other reasons why you'd want to put Contentful on your shortlist:
consistent APIs
easy to set up
you're free to create your own models
easy to use: ships with a robust, non-technical, user-friendly UI
you get to add custom plugins quick and easy
you get to set your own schemas to get displayed the way you want them to, across different apps
Good to know! There's even a Shopify extension available. What it does is connect your online store to your content, stored in Contentful.
And if you'll need help with building, fine-tuning, and integrating your content hub, we're ready to tweak Contentful to your needs.
END of Part 1!
Stay tuned, for there are 5 more candidates for the title of "the best headless CMS in 2020" waiting in line.
Image by Couleur from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / Sep 25'2020