How can modern CMS platforms transform manufacturer websites?
Manufacturing Today explores the CMS functionality that can help manufacturers modernize their websites to meet today’s demands.
In our series opener, we identified website-related challenges faced by manufacturers, and noted that for many, their website represents a significant missed opportunity. Now is the time for manufacturers to take control of their digital presence. Today’s content management systems (CMS) are ready to enable teams to quickly publish technical documentation, showcase new products, and respond to market demand — while seamlessly integrating with existing ERP, CRM, and e-commerce systems.
Today’s online visitors are expecting more. We spoke with John Peterson from Brightspot to understand how CMS providers are addressing these challenges. He starts by highlighting that just a few years ago, something like automated translation across global locations would have sounded highly sophisticated. Now it’s regarded as an essential element, or in John’s words – ‘table stakes’ – the baseline requirements for competing. Further table stakes functionality includes intuitive product search/navigation, fast load times and for manufacturing visitors, easy access to technical specs/datasheets. “Manufacturers need their documentation to be clear and accessible online,” agrees John. For an online platform that truly functions as a sales and support tool, controlling and managing documentation is essential. This increases in priority when there are multiple products, with each having instructions on use or customization. While organizing years of documentation sounds a daunting task, providers like Brightspot already supply the functionality to ensure that it can be not just managed, but geared towards existing customers who are using the products. “It can be separate from the core website, which is typically used to attract new clients,” he explains.
Beyond organizing technical content, modern CMS platforms also transform how companies share critical information with stakeholders. According to John, online environmental reporting is an area of growing importance. “These businesses are bringing sustainability reporting to the forefront of their marketing communications, as they want to highlight the evolution they’ve gone through, the targets they have achieved and their future strategies. They want to be seen as ‘environmentally first’ companies,” he says. He gives an example from his own experience. “Historically clients would create an ESG report as a PDF, which is shared with stakeholders and posted somewhere on their website. It might not be easy to find, and it’s probably hard to read as it’s a lot of static pages.
“We have helped customers transform that flat PDF into a dynamic web experience. For one European manufacturer, we created a full impact section, where visitors could easily find all that information, in a searchable format, broken down into specific sections, with much better accessibility.
“AI is driving change in CMS and website development,” he continues, highlighting how CMS with AI functionality can help organizations do more with less. This is not simply creating more content but using configuration technology to create dynamic elements such as virtual showrooms. “We now have manufacturing end users creating 3D previews, enabling visitors to toggle around products to view different angles. On the documentation side, clients have integrated their learning management system and created specific tutorials for specific products, helping buyers problem solve or gain additional benefits from products.”
Multimedia integration
Beyond AI-driven features, modern CMSs also excel at multimedia integration. Dynamic content now integrates elements such as video, GIFs, or even TikTok content. Some older CMSs struggle to integrate even basic images — as companies generate more sophisticated content, they need a system that integrates all these functions seamlessly. They must also ensure content teams can work efficiently without constant technical support.
“This reduced need for technical support is crucial, particularly with the rising demand for website personalization, which is another major driver,” adds John. “Personalization can really improve the customer’s experience through tools such as AI powered conversational widgets or chat bots. It can be facilitated or implemented via integration with the company’s CRM or CDP and drive one-to-one personalization experiences. These firms don’t want to hire a new team to deliver this personalization, but they do want the site to know who is visiting, and what products they might be interested in, based on past purchases, or whatever attributes they are tracking.”
Building on these personalization capabilities, leading platforms typically offer targeted marketing to existing customers, designed to encourage them to upgrade or add another product in the suite. “Related pop-ups, advised add-ons or calls to action can all be directed to create a whole journey that guides an end user from one product to another,” reveals John.
With these sophisticated content and personalization capabilities in place, measuring their impact becomes crucial. The site must perform, and the data gathered from visitors can offer actionable insights. “Everybody is interested in increasing the volume of data that they can get from their site, as ultimately it can direct where investment resources need to be allocated,” John confirms. “While we do still see traditional measurements such as unique visitors, session times, lead conversion rates, and products sold, a new, and significant metric that every company is thinking about today, is their Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) scores.”
To understand this shift, it’s important to know what GEO scores measure: how well web content is positioned to be understood, cited, and recommended by AI-driven search engines and chatbots.
“This is something we’ve been working on ourselves, as well as offering consulting support to customers,” John adds. For organizations lacking in-house experience to understand how emerging technology is influencing site traffic or how audiences are accessing their sites, a modern CMS provider can give essential support. “It’s now extremely important, as people are primarily getting search results from these AI services. It is also rapidly evolving every week,” he notes.
As websites advance, the division of responsibilities is shifting. Marketing teams are assuming greater control over content, campaigns, and customer experience, leaving IT to concentrate on the technical backbone — servers, security, and system architecture. “A decade ago, website decisions were generally made by IT teams and while it affected marketing, they did not have a seat at the table,” John states. “Today you see marketing driving the evaluations and the implementation and becoming the owners of the platform. IT shares their core security and governance requirements, making sure the essential backend strategies are in place, but once those boxes are checked, typically marketing teams are managing the platforms.”
With modern CMS platforms reducing technical barriers, the need for ongoing development work or assistance is removed. “This is why some companies are moving away from the ‘headless’ CMS model towards hybrid solutions. These offer the technical flexibility of a traditional headless CMS, while providing the high degree of self-service they need to manage their web presence.” Brightspot offers both headless and hybrid options and can advise on the best fit for clients’ needs.
While modernizing a website involves multiple considerations — integration, AI capabilities, organizational shifts — CMS providers like Brightspot have the experience and technology to guide manufacturers through each step. The right CMS system can turn a digital presence into a genuine business asset – and the solutions are available to help manufacturers modernize their websites to meet today’s demands. The opportunity is clear, and the path forward is available.
This article is sponsored by Brightspot.
