3 Ways You Can Build and Update Websites Using Data Pushes

It’s no secret that data is getting more and more accessible. Between websites monitoring visitor behavior, determining which products are trending, and learning which topics generate the most interest in a particular industry, businesses collect all sorts of information.

However, although data is getting more and more accessible, it’s not quite at a point where it’s easy to make sense of, or compile into a meaningful format. As a result, many businesses find themselves with data sources that could be used to build information hubs, generate reports, or even create dynamic web content.

The good news is that there are many tools out there that let you take data sources — big and small — and convert them into functional websites, without the need to mess around too much with code.

With this in mind, in this article, we’ll share some of the most effective (and easiest) ways you can build and update websites using data pushes. We’ll also take a look at what sorts of sites you can create using each method.

Converting Data Sources into Dynamic Web Content

Consider this scenario. You have a data source (for example, a job listing feed or a product database from a dropshipping supplier) that you’d like to display on a website that other users can access. Once you map website elements (like content blocks, widgets, buttons and headers) to a parsed, structured version of your data source, it essentially becomes connectable data.

What this means is that you can add more fields to your data source and your website would reflect the updates accordingly.

Another way to look at it is, you can replace any imported data source with a fresh data source (that follows the same format) in order to create an entirely new website. In this way, job listings can take the form of a dynamic job board, and a database of products can become an ecommerce catalog.

Take a moment to think about some of the data sources your organization has access to. Your project management system might provide interesting metrics about the cadence or volume of tasks completed. You may be able to mine your CRM or billing system for boastable statistics regarding anonymized customer activity. Perhaps you collect feedback from users about your SaaS tool that could be turned into dynamic sentiment analysis, or maybe you gather tweets that mention your company or a hashtag you use.

But even if you’re not actively collecting data, you can always use publicly available data sources to extract meaningful information that could benefit your business or catch the attention of your website’s audience. For example, you might use Google Public Data, the U.S. Census Bureau’s rich libraries, or news-related data from FiveThirtyEight.

Here are some of the key benefits on offer with connectable data:

• Instant websites. From a UI/UX design perspective, you’re able to build entire websites instantly, simply by replacing the back-end data source. For example, you could replace the website’s name, widget content, CTAs and images in your data source, and the website would change automatically.
• Prevents churn. Many times, web design clients abandon websites before they’re even published simply because the website’s content management system was too difficult to use. Connectable data allows you to capture your clients’ business information from any reliable source so you can create sites in a few clicks and effectively minimize customer churn.
• Re/designs at scale. Connectable data makes it incredibly easy for web designers and developers to offer redesigns at scale. It also makes it easy to present customers with a few different redesign options and let them choose which one they like best. For those with access to the right database, this can even be a pre-sales opportunity, as it allows ambitious organizations to create prototypes of thousands of websites and offer them to business owners to “claim” for a modest fee.

Simply put, connectable data takes much of the heavy lifting out of designing websites at scale.

How to Build and Update Websites Using Data Pushes

Here, we’ll look at a few different ways you can use connectable data to build and update websites.

1. Using the Sheet2Site Spreadsheet Connector

One of the most cost-effective ways to get started with connectable data is by using Google Spreadsheets.

It works like this: you simply connect whichever data sources you have to a Google Spreadsheet using API code, an add-on or a tool like Zapier.

Once that’s done, you can use Sheet2Site to create a website in just a few clicks.

Pros:

• Gradual learning curve; anyone with basic Google Spreadsheet knowledge can use it to create dynamic websites.
• Great for websites that are content-focused (such as job boards, real estate listings, or curated tweets) rather than design focused.
• Integrates with several tools and platforms including Google Forms, Amazon Affiliate, PayPal, Mailchimp and Google Analytics.

Cons:

• There’s a lot of manual work involved up front.
• You have to manage a Google Spreadsheet to refine, update, and edit your data source.

Combining Google Spreadsheets with the Sheet2Site tool is especially useful for anyone who’s looking to create simple, content-focused websites based around a few different design templates. The platform gives you the option to customize your designs, apply text formatting and font styles, change colors and more.

2. Using Duda’s Libraries and APIs

Duda’s one-of-a-kind Content Import tool and Content Collection Form allow users of the agency-friendly design platform to populate their Content Library with all sorts of information. This essentially becomes your data source.

Then you can create widgets and other site elements (like favicons, buttons, banners, or pop-ups), map them to your data source, and connect them directly to your Content Library — in just a few clicks.

Additionally, you can use Duda’s APIs to connect external, structured data sources to the Content Library. For example, if you use a CRM, billing tool, or directory, you can connect the dataset to Duda via the API. Whenever your dataset updates, its corresponding (connected) widget or web element will reflect the change automatically.

Pros:

• Makes it easy for agencies to take a design-first approach when building websites.
• Allows organizations to upsell services and offer designs at scale.
• Gives you the option to connect an external data set to the Content Library, updating both the data source and the site’s design dynamically.

Cons:

• Creating widgets and templates that will look good no matter what data gets imported is tricky
• Using the API requires a bit of technical know-how.

Duda is a powerful solution for digital agencies and organizations with access to large data sets looking for an easy (and scalable) way to create dynamic websites for clients. The tool’s built-in Content Library and bespoke Content Import tool make it incredibly easy to collect customer information and connect it to a pre-designed and pre-mapped template.

3. Using Headless Solutions Like ButterCMS

For those unfamiliar, “headless” content management systems (CMSs) are back-end only CMSs that essentially serve as content repositories only. They make content accessible via a RESTful API, making it easy for web designers and developers to push it to a website front-end with its own infrastructure.

Headless CMSs are great for web developers looking for a way to create functionality-rich websites from data sources. For example, a headless, API-powered system like ButterCMS is great for building knowledge bases, SEO landing pages, location pages, sites that publish company-wide news and updates, event and webinar pages, and case studies.

Using a headless CMS gives you more flexibility in terms of how you’re able to present data on the front-end. By using modern front-end libraries (like ReactJS or Angular), front-end developers are able to experiment with building highly dynamic web apps, without any risk to the content database.

Another huge advantage of using a headless CMS is website security. When the front-end and back-end are decoupled, it becomes difficult to exploit the website through the back-end since there aren’t any known gateways and it’s mostly hidden from the public.

Headless setups also allow designers to create unique front-end experiences using whichever language and library they prefer. In other words, instead of relying on back-end technologies, they’re able to use APIs to connect back-end functionality to the site’s front-end. For this reason, it’s important to take a content-first approach to design if you decide to use a headless CMS.

Pros:

• ButterCMS offers concierge content migration for users importing data from another CMS.
• You’re able to build websites with any tech stack, since the front-end is decoupled from the CMS.

Cons:

• Some front-end libraries have steep learning curves, meaning you’ll have to spend time learning a new language or hire developers.
• Requires users to integrate with an API to display pages on your website.

Headless CMS solutions are powerful tools that offer a lot of customizability. However, this also means that it requires users to have a some level of coding knowledge — during the setup stages at the very least.

Conclusion

Connectable data makes it incredibly easy for web developers to create dynamically updated websites at scale instantly and boost their bottom line.

Let’s quickly recap some of the main ways you can build and update websites instantly using data pushes:

• Connecting data sources to Spreadsheets. Tools like Google Spreadsheets and Sheet2Site allow users to create content-first websites that aren’t heavily focused on the design side of things. These are great for building job boards and real estate listing sites.
• Using Duda’s connected data feature. Duda allows users to leverage it’s bespoke Content Library feature to map and connect widgets and other site elements to your data source and take a design-first approach to building sites. This is great for visually rich web properties like small business brochure sites, product catalogs, product feature pages and sales pages.
• Using a headless CMS. Users who are more technically inclined might prefer to use a headless, API-first CMS like ButterCMS to generate functionality-focused pages from databases and files. These are great for creating pages with tables of related content, SEO landing pages and event listings.

What sorts of websites or web pages are you thinking of creating using data pushes?