Article

A good website is a site that grows your business – full stop. When it comes to marketing sites, it’s not just about looking good. Your site needs to do the work. That means creating smooth, fast, and engaging user experiences and, in doing so, increasing brand awareness, leads, and other conversions. MACH helps you do all of the above. (You can read more about the benefits here.)

If a business has the maturity, appetite, and budget to invest in a fully MACH tech stack – fantastic. However, you can also ease into MACH by adding select components to your custom solution (the mix-and-match approach) or by iteratively moving your site one section at a time. Both are excellent ways to ensure your marketing website is working hard for you. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

The beauty of composable MACH architecture is its flexible, modular approach. Match the software solution to the specific business need. But what are your needs and which solution or solutions should you choose?

When it comes to building marketing websites, we recommend the following:

Netlify Core for Cloud Ops and Hosting

Netlify is best known for its flagship product, Netlify Core. When it comes to DevOps, Netlify Core is a developer’s best friend. It streamlines workflows allowing developers to code, test, and ship super fast. With Netlify Core, businesses don’t need to worry about managing servers. The platform creates a production-ready environment so that developers can skip server setup and get right to coding.

As an added benefit, Netlify Core also provides out-of-the-box tooling to help your marketing and development teams collaborate efficiently and effectively. Deploy Previews automatically create isolated environments to test individual features as they are developed. The Netlify Drawer provides fantastic feedback tools right within the website preview, streamlining feedback cycles between teams.

Contentful for Content Development

When meeting with prospective clients, we are often asked for our CMS recommendations. The fact is, different solutions work better for different organizations. For enterprise businesses or any business seeking a future-proof content management solution, we often turn to Contentful. Why? Contenful’s robust API and headless architecture seamlessly integrate with any frontend framework, allowing you to deliver exceptional omnichannel experiences. And, it’s immensely scalable so that it can grow alongside your business handling ever greater complexity and higher volumes of content over time. Additionally, its robust security features and built-in support for localization make it ideal for global organizations with stringent compliance requirements.

Algolia for Search and Discovery

So much depends on search. It’s how people like to find information. Why click through a bunch of pages and scroll when you can simply type what you’re looking for? Powerful, dynamic search helps visitors connect with the content they want when they want it. That’s where Algolia comes in. Their search and discovery solution is insanely fast, easily customizable, and optimized to drive results. Using Algolia, you can personalize your search and discovery experiences, get actionable insights, run A/B tests, and view analytics from their user-friendly dashboard. It’s the gold standard for search and we use it almost exclusively for client projects.

Ninetailed for Personalization and Experimentation

Want to dramatically increase conversions? Personalization and experimentation are where it’s at. With Ninetailed, you can put your site to work for you, personalizing web experiences to drive engagement and maximize CTRs, lead generation, and sales. Features include easy segmentation of your customer base and the ability to conduct A/B tests, all from within your CMS. The composable platform also provides in-depth analytics so you can make smarter content decisions based on what’s working (or not). Importantly, Ninetailed make personalization and experimentation achievable for even the smallest marketing teams.

Other Recommendations

There are a couple more products that, while not MACH-certified, are must-haves to round out your MACH ecosystem.

Stytch for Authentication

For marketing websites with gated content or member portals, we recommend Stytch. With its highly secure authentication and user verification services, Stytch makes implementing login and registration processes easy. And, their user-friendly features such as passwordless authentication and one-click sign-ins, reduce friction for visitors while improving the overall security of your site. Although not technically certified by the MACH Alliance (yet), Stytch offers a set of cloud-based API solutions with all the flexibility, scalability, and high performance one expects from MACH.

Acclaro for Translation

Acclaro provides first-rate translation and localization services for global brands, and it’s our top pick for enterprise-level marketing sites. With their developer-friendly API, streamlined CMS integrations, and translation automation, Aclaro can speed up turnaround times and ease team-wide collaboration. While they take a tech-forward approach to translation and localization, they also employ an expert team of native speakers and translators – offering the best of both worlds when it comes to accuracy and authenticity.

In Conclusion

What MACH technologies you implement and when really depends on the specific needs of your organization. At Foster Made, we can help you navigate your options and develop a plan to ensure your website performs optimally – not just in terms of speed and functionality, but from a business perspective. Make sure your website is working hard for you – making visitors happy and driving sales and engagement.

To schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call, contact us today!