A new survey has revealed that CRM, search and web analytics are the key elements needed in a successful web content management system (CMS).

The survey, conducted by Sitecore, has revealed that developers, marketers, interactive agencies and IT professionals cite the three as the most important, with web analytics leading the charge at 90%.

“These results highlight the importance of an integrated approach to web content management and customer engagement,” said Michael Seifert, CEO, Sitecore.

“We are no longer seeing sales and marketing tools and web CMS platforms in silos. Our customers see the need for not only presenting the right content and offering advanced search and social media features, but the critical element of tracking website data to manage their sales pipeline with a much sharper radar to yield faster online conversions.”

Other findings included:

• Top drivers for implementing a web CMS solution were – improving productivity (19%), improving customer service (11%) increasing sales leads (10%) and building global brand awareness (10%)

• 73% of survey responses indicated online Search as the top third-party application with Portal (33%) and CRM (20%) following behind

• More than 33% of respondents plan to integrate online video management as part of their 2010 WCM initiatives

• More than two-thirds of respondents use LinkedIn the most for professional use with Facebook and Twitter closely behind, and

• A majority of the respondents (52%) stated that web forms are key components of building an interactive website.