Search Strategies has been using a new CMS for the SMX Sydney website that was developed by Amplify for the past four months, it is an SEO friendly CMS that has been easy to use, below is the latest press release about this great little products latest achievment.
Amplify, a search engine marketing and digital agency based in Sydney, has been recognised for its web 2.0 Content Management System (CMS) that melds ease of use and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) functionality.

Content Management Systems are often the bane of users. They are often complex, technical systems that spurn users, rather than attract them. Amplify’s powerful, yet easy to use CMS, Eleven, is looking to reverse this negative experience.

Amplify’s effort to simplify the website management experience has resulted in Eleven being named as a finalist in the ZDNet Australia & CeBIT 2008 Emerging Innovations Awards.

The inspiration behind Amplify’s new CMS emerged from pure frustration. “We found ourselves pulling our hair out each time we had to optimize an existing website with a CMS in place,” said Amplify CEO Tom Petryshen. “Most content management tools have to be hacked to make them accessible to search engine crawlers.”

In addition, the sheer complexity built into these systems over the years means that they often don’t serve the needs of the very people they are meant to help, the content authors and brand managers.

“Our main focus from the beginning was to avoid developing a ‘Swiss army knife’ or a CMS that did everything”, says Tom. “Rather, we wanted a system that simplified content management and in addition made our lives a whole lot easier when optimising for search.”

The end result is a CMS that really has to be seen in action to be believed. It’s easy to use, yet powerful enough to run Australia’s top travel agency website. With quick access to all the necessary SEO features, it’s a winning combination for businesses wanting to make their online channel more profitable.

The ZDNet Australia & CeBIT 2008 Emerging Innovation program showcases the best examples of emerging innovation from CeBIT 2008 exhibitors that have had a real business impact on the Australian landscape in the last 12 months.

The CMS is being judged on a range of factors including innovation, productivity, ROI, ease of management, risk management or implementation and competitive edge.

Innovation – Amplify’s CMS Eleven simplifies content management by combining contextual editing for quick updates with powerful back-end editing features without compromising functionality. Users can easily edit content, update Meta Data, create a new page, administer user rights, restructure the site or add new templates from a single interface.

Productivity – Eleven’s in context WYSIWYG editor improves productivity by reducing the time it takes to edit, add, and publish content. Eleven’s streamlined interface minimises training for new staff meaning they spend more time optimising content and improving the website rather than leaning how to use system.

Return on Investment – With built in SEO functionality every page you publish is highly accessible to search engines ensuring your website is contributing to your company’s bottom line.

Ease of Management – Eleven’s feature rich, toolbar provides administrators full access to the CMS’s functionality without compromising on power. Eleven’s efficient user interface supports infrequent users, regular authors, or technical administrators regardless of their skill level.

Risk Management – As a SaaS solution, the CMS provides a working backup of the entire website. If there are issues with the web server, Eleven allows clients to publish the entire website to a new server or multiple servers anywhere in the world within hours.

Implementation – Using best practice CSS and XHTML design a new website can be deployed faster than using more traditional website design methods.

Up against a range of industry brands such as D-Link, Siemens, & Netcomm, Amplify is only one of two digital agencies in the running for this year’s award and the only search marketing company.

“We believe we’ve created a better tool and this nomination is a positive sign we’re on the right track,” said Petryshen. “While we’re excited to be recognized though, the real joy comes from seeing our clients exceed their goals and expectations.”

This event is back for 2008, programmed by Search Strategies as a JV with CeBit orginisers Hannover Fairs Australia.

I am currently putting the agenda’s skeleton in place & if you have a topic you would like covered please let us know.

If you would like to be a speaker please have a look at this post & follow the instructions.

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If you are a small to medium business owner looking to improve your on-line return then you can’t miss this years’ enrolment to search school.

SearchSchool is a one-day seminar that will take your through the basics of Search and Search engine optimisation. It will give you tips to immediately improve your online presence and help you build your online traffic.

Sessions will be run by industry experts, who are Australian leaders in Search. SearchSchool is also the ideal place to network and find business solutions to

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