Ektron CMS400.NET v7.6 was released late last month, focusing mainly on a number of improvements intended to help sites built with the content management system improve their placement in search engines. In addition, other enhancements include centralized multisite support and optional e-commerce functionality for its enterprise offering.

Earlier this year, Gartner's MarketScope for Web Content Management called Ektron's CMS400.NET a "high-quality offering for lower-budget needs," and gave the solution one of the report's two "Strong Positive" ratings. That's high praise, and certainly earned them some attention they might not have gotten otherwise.

It appears that Ektron didn't stop and rest on its laurels, though, as it has made a number of key enhancements intended to keep it squarely in the front of the pack.

In particular, the importance of SEO (search engine optimization) features can't be understated, and any CMS or blogging tool that doesn't include a strong feature set for efficiently adding metadata and creating readable URLs will find itself quickly left behind. CMS400.NET v 7.6 makes a lot of improvements in that area, both by automating clean URL structure and naming, to adding tools that can help check a site to ensure that it's search-engine friendly.

In terms of improvements for handing multiple sites, CMS400.NET v 7.6 add two keys features -- a central dashboard for managing multiple sites simultaneously, and e-Sync functions, which promise to allow changes made to one site to be replicated to other sites as needed.

Check out Ektron's site for more detail on CMS400.NET v 7.6. Ektron has made their name and built a sizable customer base by offering a lot of value for a fairly reasonable price, and it looks as if its newest version carries on the tradition.