Tools for digital magazines

Tools to manage and publish content

Content management systems (CMS)

The most critical tool for managing content is the content management system (CMS), which centralises publication and serves as the "single source of truth" for any other distribution platforms you use. Depending on your company’s size and needs, you may opt for a fully custom CMS solution or a more standardised platform.

In recent years, the rise of headless CMS solutions has shifted the landscape, replacing the all-in-one, monolithic systems that were popular over a decade ago.

Benefits of headless CMS

The main advantage of headless CMS is that it decouples the content from the visual presentation layer, allowing you to centralise content management without needing to manually copy and paste it across multiple platforms.

Some of the most popular headless CMS platforms today include:

• Contentful
• Umbraco
• Prismic
• Sanity
• Strapi

After trying most of these platforms, my personal recommendation is Sanity, though your choice will depend on your specific requirements. It’s also worth considering Drupal, which allows for quick creation of API endpoints and can function as a headless CMS.

What about WordPress?

Many people wonder why WordPress, the most popular CMS on the market, is not recommended here. The reason is that WordPress combines content and design within the same structure, particularly after the incorporation of the Gutenberg editor. This makes content distribution across platforms more complex, as you’ll need to process and clean the content before distributing it elsewhere. Additionally, WordPress aligns more with monolithic systems, which can become inefficient for handling large volumes of information.

WordPress may work well for small projects, but for larger enterprises with significant traffic and content needs, performance and security issues make it less ideal. These challenges often result in higher maintenance and infrastructure costs.

Tools to manage advertising

Internal control

While many advertising platforms offer extensive customisation, there are times when you need more control over how ads are displayed. Adding an intermediate layer between your website and the ad server can help you activate or deactivate ads, enforce specific themes, and manage other parameters efficiently, saving you time and effort.

Ad servers and platforms

Based on extensive experience, Google Ad Manager stands out as the best solution for managing ads. Here’s why:

• Standardisation: If you’re working with an agency like Publicis, Google Ad Manager makes it easy to audit metrics and share access.
• Fraud protection: It offers built-in protection against bots, fraud, and attacks.
• Cross-platform compatibility: It supports ad placements on various platforms, including mobile apps, TV, and video content.

Tools to manage your audience

Subscriptions

When it comes to implementing a subscription system, tools like Chargify, Recurly, Zuora, Pabbly, and ChargeOver are often popular choices. While these can be effective for quick implementations, they may pose scalability issues as your business grows.

A better approach would be to integrate a robust payment platform such as:

• Lemon Squeeze
• Adyen
• Stripe
• Braintree

All of these platforms offer recurring payments and come with APIs and webhooks for seamless integration with your tech stack.

Authentication

In today’s fast-paced digital world, no one wants to fill out long forms to sign up for a service. This is why integrating a single sign-on (SSO) system is critical.

Services like Firebase and Supabase are part of comprehensive suites offering storage and other functions. They also provide SSO and two-factor authentication (2FA), which improves security and user experience.

Another excellent option is Clerk, which focuses specifically on authentication and integrates seamlessly with frameworks like React, Next.js, Remix, and Gatsby. It’s highly recommended for its ease of use and reliability.

Tools to manage communications

Sending emails

For marketing automation, Klaviyo is one of the most powerful tools available, offering email, SMS, and push notification functionality. Klaviyo’s strength lies in its ability to integrate with other platforms and automate campaign rules, such as:

• Sending automated messages to users who deactivate auto-renewal within the first 24 hours, encouraging them to renew.
• Sending promotions automatically when a subscription is about to expire.

If you don’t need advanced marketing automation features, Campaign Monitor is a simpler and more affordable alternative, offering easy API integration and fewer email clipping issues.

Other options include SendGrid and Mailgun, which offer lower costs but require more development work. Mailchimp is another popular choice for small subscriber lists but may encounter issues with larger lists and potential spam problems.

Analytics tools

Analytics is the foundation of any content strategy, and several tools are essential for gathering meaningful insights:

• Google Analytics 4 (GA4): The industry standard for tracking website traffic, user behaviour, and audience segmentation.
• Google Search Console: Offers critical insights into your site’s performance in search results, URL errors, and more.
• Google PageSpeed Insights: Though not a traditional analytics tool, it provides valuable data about your site’s load times and usability.
• Hotjar: Tracks user behaviour and presents it visually through heatmaps and session recordings, allowing you to identify areas of improvement in your design.
• Matomo: A paid alternative to GA4, marketed as privacy-friendly, though GA4’s new privacy features make this less of a unique selling point.
• Amplitude: A highly rated analytics platform that offers A/B testing, session recordings, and advanced data insights.

Additional SEO tools

Though not strictly analytics tools, these SEO suites are invaluable for optimising content and improving search rankings:

• Ahrefs: A comprehensive tool for keyword research, SERP analysis, backlink monitoring, and more.
• SE Ranking: A versatile platform for local SEO, content marketing, and competitor analysis.

Final thoughts

Choosing the right tools for managing content, advertising, audience interactions, and analytics is critical to building a successful digital platform. Whether you’re looking to streamline content distribution with a headless CMS, optimise subscription payments, or gather deep insights through analytics, the tools you choose should align with your business goals and scale as you grow.

Image credits: Freepik