Create Your Own Website Using a Content Management System

With a web Content Management System [CMS] you can create your own web page, pages, or an entire site. We know that different web design projects have different requirements, as each project is custom, but if you want the freedom of editing your own website then we have a solution for you: Joomla CMS.

With Joomla CMS you don’t have to run software on your computer to create your own web pages, so there’s no need to install editing software like Dreamweaver or an FTP client to transfer your files to a server. Joomla is installed on your server and you can use it by simply logging into your website and editing your text. If you know how to use a word processor you will love Joomla – its WYSIWYG interface makes formatting a breeze.

Many websites remain out of date because their owners can’t afford to hire a web designer to manage their site and they are too busy to learn how to do it themselves. Having a website with stale, old content is the kiss of death when it comes to your placement in search engine results. When the spiders come through your site and they notice nothing has changed, your ranking slides, so it is imperative to update your web pages. With that in mind we train all our clients on how to use their Joomla CMS so they feel confident to edit and renew their web content.

Why we use Joomla

Joomla is our web Content Management System of choice because after having used several CMSs, some even very expensive custom built applications used by other web design firms, we came back to Joomla time and time again.

By using an open source Content Management System we can pass savings on to you, and by using Joomla in particular, we can deliver a robust system that is unparalleled due to over a thousand plug-ins, ranging from simple calendars to real estate listing generators.

Wordpress is another web Content Management System that is used by millions. Primarily used for blogs, it is now gaining popularity in web design circles as a platform for standard looking web sites. We also use Wordpress if a blog or less feature-rich site is required by a client. Out of the box Wordpress is favored by Google, for myriad reasons. If you need a blog Wordpress is the best solution for you. Just like with Joomla CMS, if you can use a word processor like Microsoft Word, you can create your own web pages and edit them too.

A web Content Management System is highly versatile as it is database driven. You can load up your site with content ready to be published at times set by you. Imagine as a small business owner being able to create pages that will be published and/or removed while you are away on a much needed vacation. Say goodbye to worrying about keeping your web site current, say hello to content management.

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Easy Web Editing With a Content Management System

Back in the old days of the Internet regular websites cost a small fortune and with the advent of editing software the floodgates of instant web designers flew open. This can be seen as a good thing or a bad thing: Designers wish their designs would stay as they created them, their clients wish they could save money by editing their website themselves. Now enter the era of the happy medium – the age of the Content Management System.

What is a Content Management System?
A Content Management System, or CMS for short, is software that runs on your web host’s server that allows content [images, text, video e.t.c.] to be added with ease. By separating the content side from the coding side the structure of the site is never compromised thus delivering up a happy web designer; while the content is easy to add and remove without needing a web design degree, so happy clients abound.

There are a lot of CMSs out there and so you can actually dabble in their use quite easily. Over the years a few standouts have held their own and carved a position out for themselves as reputable, scalable products. Joomla and Drupal are great choices but the learning curve for non-developers is steep.

Joomla is my CMS of choice because it has delivered over and over again for all the sites I have built in the last several years. There are so many add-ons for Joomla that you can build highly robust sites quite quickly. But the more complex the sites the harder it is to tie up a cohesive look and feel without doing custom coding. But with the price of Joomla being $0 – yes, it is free – the additional coding time still makes it the most cost effective way to build websites that have a lot of growth ahead of them.

So if you need a website that you plan on editing yourself over time then a CMS is the way to go. It will mean that replicating pages over and over again in Frontpage or Dreamweaver will be distant memories, as will the errors and broken links that were a by-product of such practices. A Content Management System will keep your website’s design nice and neat, and one of the nicest features is that you can have a pipeline of content filled on your database ready to be published on the date you specify – no more having to be by your computer to update your website while you are on vacation. Imagine how freeing that is.

If you have ever used a word processor you will be comfortable using Joomla to edit your web pages. The HTML editor’s toolbars look very much like an older version of MS Office and adding images and even video is very straightforward.

When it comes time to redesign your site the beauty of a Content Management System really shines through. No more downloading all those standard HTML pages and uploading a slew of replacements – simply change the template and style sheets and all your content is magically placed into the new layout. Well from a designer’s perspective it’s not that magical, it takes a while to design and implement a new template, but for the website owner and visitors the switch is instantaneous.

Now that you have had a brief overview of why you should choose a Content Management System over the older way of publishing a website, ask for a CMS to be used for your next web project; and when your site is up and running you’ll wonder how you ever put up with updating your website the old way.

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