The Enterprise Content Management Platform

Enterprise Content Management Platform by Contentful 🖥️

Are you looking to launch your Shopify store faster with a enterprise content management platform? You should learn about Contentful!

It’s one of the easiest and fastest solutions to manage, integrate and publish content across the web via multiple online channels.

If you didn't already know, Contentful, the enterprise content management platform has changed the game for many; businesses, digital leaders, content creators, developers, platform owners and project managers.

How so? Well with a 60% increase in eCommerce conversion, a tripled conversion from each online store search, a x5 faster loading speed and a 13% increase in average order value, this technology pays off for the likes of merchants on Shopify.

So, today’s article is dedicated to Contentful - one of the most prized enterprise content management platforms in the field and we are going to take a look at its industry-leading app framework:

Who Are Contentful? 🤷

If you’re wondering who Contentful are, they are the online infrastructure built with business projects in mind.

So, for the brands on Shopify that are looking to build a website with an enterprise content management platform, this platform is a great content managing solution to consider.

In the simplest of terms, Contentful is an enterprise content management platform whose infrastructure allows eCommerce stores on the likes of Shopify to create, manage and distribute content to any of their online channels.

Unlike a CMS, Contentful's enterprise content management platform gives freedom back to the businesses, allowing a brand to create their own content model, giving them the freedom to decide on which content they’d like to manage.

Contentful also provides its users with RESTful APIs so that businesses on platforms such as Shopify can deliver content seamlessly across multiple spaces on the web.

For instance; mobile apps (iOS, Android and Windows) alongside many other platforms which you can imagine (from Google Glass to infinity) are on the list here.

With an uncluttered user interface, Contentful's enterprise content management platform is an extremely efficient tool for creating and managing online content individually or as part of a team.

Moreover, this management solution provides its users with the ability to; assign custom roles and permissions, add validations (depending on the type of content) and media files.

Such formats commonly include; images, documents, sounds and videos.

The Difference Between A CMS and Contentful

What’s the difference between an enterprise content management platform like Contentful and a CMS?

Well, in our opinion here at Karmoon, we believe that content management systems (CMS) are created around one type of content that they have been optimised to display, which for reference is usually a website.

In our experience, we have found that many CMS have become simple web publishing tools as opposed to general content management systems.

Typically, they tend to offer pre-existing content models that narrow down the potential possibilities of a Shopify store so, based on this, we’d say that CMS tend to be coupled towards one presentation layer.

Contentful, on the other hand, is very different as the enterprise content management platform has a three-step process.

First of all, Shopify store owners need to define a content model which is independent of any other presentation layer. It’s important to note that this content model should clearly define what kind of content the business would like to manage.

In the second step, internal and/ or external editors will be able to manage all of their content in one easy-to-use and interactive editing interface.

Then, content is served in a presentation-independent way, which means that content can be taken to create engaging experiences.

Therefore, Contentful's enterprise content management platform is completely adaptable and well in tune with the needs of a business on Shopify.

To keep things simple, we’ve compiled a list of the features that we think make Contentful stand out from the crowd of competitors as a leading enterprise content management platform:

Content Infrastructure:

Contentful’s CDN takes good care of delivering content to your audience on Shopify around the clock.

Flexible Content Models:

With the Contentful enterprise content management platform, there are no predefined content models which means that businesses can create unique content models for their establishment.

Uncluttered UI:

Tested to achieve the best results, Contentful's enterprise content management platform offers its users a beautiful and simple user interface. We think that it’s fair to say that the platform cares deeply about author experience and an uncluttered UI is just one of the areas where this can be seen.

One System:

Last but not least, the platform’s API allows merchants on Shopify to deliver content with the click of a button. Mobile and web amongst other types of platforms can receive the content as soon as it has been published.

Does Contentful Require Written Code? 🙆‍♂️

Contentful is a enterprise content management platform whose interface was designed so that everyone, with or without a technical background, can use it.

If you use Contentful without writing code, you can add and edit content types, and also add and manage actual content within your Shopify store. In other words, you can do the work of an editor or content strategist.

However, to create a website with Contentful's enterprise content management platform, users on Shopifywill either have to code content themselves and load this via Contentful’s API or the choice of working with an agency or freelance developer is always possible.

As contentful is an enterprise content management platform, businesses can update the content of their website, mobile app or any other platform that displays content, but it’s important to understand that while users will need to code to create a website, content can be created and organised without the use of code.

Naturally, this saves masses of time and avoids the hassle of brands having to create their backend to manage content.

In addition to many headless eCommerce platforms and competitors in the industry, Contentful's enterprise content management platform provides many tools that make the task of generating a website or app easier.

However, building Shopify websites, apps and other experiences will require actual programming.

Headless & Decoupled CMS

As our team of Shopify experts have noticed, there is a fair bit of confusion (and contradiction) in regards to the differences between headless and decoupled CMS.

A lot of people are assuming that they are the same thing. However, with the Contentful enterprise content management platform, they’re not interchangeable terms.

As we discussed in our guide to 'Sanity The Headless E-Commerce Solution', headless CMS does not have a frontend or presentation layer. Simply put, there is no built-in option.

Typically when using a headless CMS, Shopify developers can handle the presentation layer in several ways.

From interactive JavaScript frameworks such as React to static website generators like Gatsby and Jekyll, developers can choose what feels best for the web project at hand.

So, what does this look like for developers? In practice, this allows experts to quickly code and design frontend experiences using their preferred language of choice.

As a result, Shopify developers will not be restricted to backend technologies with Contentful's enterprise content management platform, as they will come to rely on APIs to connect the backend functions to frontend delivery.

When headless CMS first made their debut, many developers fell head over heels for its structure.

Frontend developers, in particular, benefited greatly from being free of the conventions and structures of the backend and as you’d expect, developers thrive on the fact that they have full control over the user experience.

However, over recent months, we’ve heard the words “revolutionary” and “game-changing” thrown around quite a lot in regards to going headless.

While we understand the reason behind the hype, like anything it always bodes well to approach unknown territory with research and a level head, because headless won’t be right for every Shopify store.

In all fairness, we were right to do so, because, from a developer’s perspective, one of the biggest issues that we often face when approaching a new project with a headless CMS, or website redesign is that content is often brushed to the side.

So, it’s almost like content is an afterthought, which is something that we are not used to.

In our opinion, building the presentation layer first and adding content later is a practice that may very well come back to bite so, the true strengths of headless are only beneficial if you put your content first.

For us, it’s okay because that’s where our loyalties lie, but other Shopify developers out there may struggle with this concept.

Contentful Misconceptions 🤦‍♂️

There’s a high chance that if you search “Contentful” into Google, you’ll stumble across all kinds of sources that praise the application for being a great option for headless CMS. However, this isn’t quite true.

While we’re sure that the team loves good press, the enterprise content management platform has stated that they do not like to identify as a headless or decoupled CMS, as they offer a lot more and as we’ve suggested throughout this guide, Contentful is a content platform.

Simply put, a content platform is founded on two parts:

A hub where content is stored.

A programming tool for Shopify developers to ship content to any given; website, app or digital device.

See, the enterprise content management platform cannot identify as anything other than a content platform, as all content is turned into code through a structured model. This means that any digital product can be built for any platform.

Moreover, the application is naturally content-driven, which means that Shopify businesses must begin with a content strategy and content model before moving onwards from there.

This approach means that the sight of what you’re trying to achieve is never lost and Contentful's enterprise content management platform puts APIs first, so their powerful solutions were not created as an afterthought.

While many similar headless and decoupled CMS offer APIs for delivering content, Contentful is known for having the industry’s leading management API that allows for engineering teams to organise and manage even the most complex of digital ecosystems on the web.

Powerful APIs are also extremely well documented and we’re pleased to say that Shopify developers will find that straightforward resources and support is available at every step of the creation process.

We think that one of the best features that Contentful has to offer is its support teams. As we’re sure you’ll know, starting and mastering new technology can be a challenging experience, even where the most tech-savvy of individuals are concerned. So, it’s good to know that if you need additional support, the team is there to help 24/7.

Whatever your goals may be, Contentful’s enterprise content management platform is there to help identify the best practices and workflows that fit your business on Shopify.

Here’s a list of the application’s key support options:

Personalised training sessions for your business’ editors and developers.

Round-the-clock options to get in touch with Contentful’s enterprise content management platform support team. This includes the options of; raising a support ticket, chatting on the phone and the ability to message with an expert directly from the web app.

A dedicated Customer Success team will also be on hand to ensure that their infrastructure is serving the goals of your Shopify business. If you need it, they’ll also assist you with using their tools and processes to thrive.

Lastly, the contentful enterprise content management platform provides some of the best documentation and resources.

What Content Can Be Managed?

The short answer to this question is - any. Be it; video, music, images, text, structured documents or code, anything can be appropriately structured and created by multiple editors on your Shopify store.

Which Browsers Are Supported By Contentful? 🤷

For those of you wondering which browsers will support Contentful's enterprise content management platform, you’ll be pleased to hear that the applications run smoothly across all modern desktop browsers.

More specifically, the enterprise content management platform has stated that they are committed to providing support for the two most recent versions of the following browsers on the web:

Google Chrome

Mozilla Firefox

Opera

Apple Safari

Microsoft Edge

It should be acknowledged that in this situation, the functionality may be impacted.

Users can check to see if they are using the latest version of their web browser via browsehappy.com.

Additionally, we’d like to make it clear that Contentful's enterprise content management platform does not currently support mobile browsers.

So, is Contentful's enterprise content management platform the right solution for your online store? Reach out and let us know.

If you’re actively looking to work with a Shopify agency designer or developer to assist you with your business, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch to get started!