- Better than nothing (is harder than you think): http://bit.ly/cFiMEs
website
Wordpress, Joomla (Open Source) as a CMS – why wouldn’t you?
This post was last edited by Alex Cohen, on the May 21, 2010 @ 10:43 am
In 2010 many SMEs want to be able to update their website themselves. In the earlier days of web design this wasn’t possible without knowledge of HTML programming or spending a fortune on a content management system.
Nowadays, content management systems (CMS) are king. This post provides an argument as to why you should use a CMS and helps you choose which one. It is written from experience and reflects our opinions.
A CMS gives you, the customer, the ability to update the content on your website through easy to use forms. No editing code, just simply click a few buttons and you can add new pages, change the navigation and add text and images yourself. If you want to be able to update a website and not pay a developer to do it you need a CMS. They are also great for search engines.
Choosing a CMS
The first decision to make is do you use an open source (i.e. free) CMS like Wordpress or Joomla or a proprietary one, built by a company. We’ve seen both and tested both. Despite everything a sales person will say about their proprietary CMS we haven’t seen one yet which matches the capabilities of the open source ones. What’s more you pay for the privilege to use these ‘sub-standard’ systems.
Why open source is better
- Being open source means anyone has access to the source code behind the CMS and can improve it. With the best developers all over the world doing this; thousands of users providing feedback every day and frequent new releases the products are improving all the time
- Not only do you get the CMS for free, developers create plugins for the CMS. A plugin may be a tool to help with search engines or it could be an e-commerce module. This saves you time and money in development costs as you can download the plugins and literally plug them into your website to expand its capability
- CMS platforms are built for search engines to read them, increasing your presence on search engines
If open source is for you, it’s then time to choose a system. Wordpress and Joomla are the market leaders however there are some others. We’ve used both Wordpress and Joomla. We find Wordpress easier to use and is great for blogging. Joomla is more complex but works well for larger websites. You’ll have to do a bit of research to find out more and what’s best for your requirements but it’s well worth it.
With CMS becoming the norm through their reach and affordability, building a website on a CMS platform should be a major consideration when building a new website. For more information or to discuss the options for your new website contact us today.
What will a website become in 2010?
This post was last edited by Alex Cohen, on the March 8, 2010 @ 10:34 am
In 2010 a website will become a tool, a community and a place to interact rather than an online brochure.
Websites started as virtual brochures. 10 years ago this was ok, brochures were static, the web was new and mostly static, businesses had a spent a lot of money having brochures designed so turning this into a brochure website was fine, and it worked.
In 2010 brochure websites will get ignored. Talking about ‘we’ and ‘us’ will get ignored. Sales messages will get ignored. People care about themselves. “What’s in it for me” has never been more important than now. To stand out and be different you need to adapt!
So what can you do?
Think interaction, a hub of communication, one-to-many as well as one-to-one communication: Yes, you still need ‘brochure elements’ to your business, you need to tell prospects what your services or products are and why they should use you. But you need to combine this with blogs and Twitter feeds. You need to allow people to interact with your website from outside your website using tools such as RSS feeds or encouraging Twitter followers.
What is the one thing you want people to do next? A brochure website from 2000 would introduce your company and then expect people to click on the links within the navigation bar to explore the rest of the website. Now people spend less than seven seconds on a website. What do you want them to do next? don’t assume people will find what you want them to find. Look at these websites for examples:
Think lead generation: When someone is looking at your website they are looking at your competitor’s websites at the same time. People will make decisions quickly. You need to convert them. You need to capture an email address and get people’s permission to send them information that is of value to them. What is on your website that is going to make someone want to contact you and work with you? More importantly what have you got that your competitors don’t have?
If your website needs to be brought into the new decade why not look at our Online Presence Proposition.
How much does a website cost?
This post was last edited by Alex Cohen, on the March 8, 2010 @ 10:47 am
Not a week goes by where 1 or 2 people don’t ask us how much does a website cost? This question is as easy to answer as ‘how long is a piece of string?’
A one page template website could cost as little as £300. If you wanted a website like Amazon’s that would cost you hundreds of thousands of pounds! Therefore what you need are some basic requirements, written down in order to fully convey what you are after to your web designer.
The following are some questions you might want to consider:
What is the purpose of your website? To act as a brochure, a sales tool, an information resource or anything else?
How many pages will the website have? Typical pages are a home page, services/products, about and contact. Additional pages may be case studies, news, information or resources. You may want to break down the services/products section if you have lots of services or products, likewise the about section.
How about the content? Will you provide it or do you need it written? You may know your business inside out but can you portray this in written copy so that everyone else understands it too? You may find the skills of a professional copywriter helpful.
Next are images? Will you provide these or do you need them to be sourced?
What other websites do you like? Do your competitors have a great website? Is there a particular website you’ve visited recently that you liked the style or tone of voice of?
How much thought have you put into your brand? Do you have brand guidelines that can be reflected on the website?
How important is search engine optimisation (SEO)? It’s easy to just say yes it’s important without thinking about it. Most websites will have basic SEO – page titles, descriptions, meta tags, sitemaps etc and this will help. To optimise it for keywords like ‘your industry, your county’ (marketing Berkshire for example) could take considerable effort and cost you thousands of pounds. There are cheaper ways of getting on the first page of Google in the short term using tools such as Adwords, this may be worth considering as an alternative option.
Do you want to be able to update the website yourself? Content Management Systems (CMS) are very popular nowadays. They allow you to easily edit content and add new pages.
How about a blog - do you have something interesting to write about? Not only is this another way for people to stay in touch with you but they’re great for search engines.
So, next time you want a new website take some time to consider exactly what You’re after and you can ensure you’ll get an accurate quote, a website you love and one that will wow your customers.
Why not having a website is sometimes better than having a website
This post was last edited by Alex Cohen, on the March 8, 2010 @ 11:04 am
There are many unprofessional websites out there that aren’t designed well, are written badly or just don’t work. The majority of these were made when a company had a tight budget and chose a cheap option to get a website designed, you get what you pay for!
If you sold your services in a shop you’d make sure the shop looks professional, it’s easy for people to find what they need, it’s tidy and you’d make sure there are people there to answer questions. Your website should be no different.
You may have the best people in the world running your company, you may have services that can save companies millions of pounds but if your website says ‘low budget’, ‘unprofessional’ or ‘dated’ that’s what people will believe about your company.
A website that works portrays your brand, is your online shop front and works as a sales tool – both converting people on the site to buy from you or contact you and work for search engines so they can find you for keywords.
If it doesn’t do this (or if it does the opposite) take it down and get a new one built.
To get a free website review send an email to hello@XanderMarketing.com with your website address in it or put your website address in the comments box below. We’ll get back to you soon with our thoughts.
