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10 Small Business Web Design Disasters to Avoid...

I don’t get angry easily but I’ll tell you what makes my blood boil–irresponsible, under qualified, even clueless web designers.

Many web designers are talented, skilled and reasonably priced and have the best interests of their clients at heart. But unfortunately there are too many who don’t.

Week after week small business owners call or e-mail me wondering why their expensive website is generating no traffic or leads and not showing up in the search engines.

When I look at their website I often see a site that looks pretty, but is useless. So how do you avoid falling into the same trap?

Here is what you need to know:

1) Ask the web designer to create your website in a Content Management System like Joomla or Wordpress. This will allow you to easily make frequent changes to your site yourself without having to pay $60 or more per hour for every added link or paragraph. Those days are long gone. If the designer balks at this suggestion, run.

2) Ask if they do keyword research to determine what keyword phrases people who want your type of service are searching for. If they don’t you can certainly do it yourself or out source it cheaply. Check Elance.com for a great selection of freelancers.

3) Ask if they do Search Engine Optimization. If so, what is the cost? If they don’t, run. If they are too expensive, shop around. You can do it yourself with a little effort.

4) Do the copywriting yourself or provide an outline and have a professional copywriter do it. The headlines and content need to be focused on customer benefits and they need to contain your keyword phrases. Your headline and content will determine whether visitors leave or stay. Avoid phrases like “welcome” and “we do this” and “we do that”.

5) Ask your designer to go easy on using Java script or Flash as Google can’t recognize or read either.

6) Do not create an “enter” or “intro” page. It will increase your rate of abandonment and the search engines won’t like it. Every extra click discourages visitors.

7) It’s crucial that you have an e-mail marketing program and put an opt-in box on every key page of your site. Ask visitors to sign up for your mailing list and give them something of value to encourage them to comply. This is how you convert visitors to leads. Ask your designer if they will put the opt-in boxes on your site for you.

8) Check references and find out how long they’ve been in business and how reliable they are. Do they have a group of designers or are they solo? You want someone who will respond when you need their help in an emergency, not someone who ignores you for days.  You will need excellent customer service since your business is at stake.

9) Do not let your web designer register your domain name or host your website  unless you have direct access to your domain and hosting accounts and they are in your name.  You don’t want to be “held hostage” should you need to change designers. You’ll need direct access anyway for a number of reasons. You shouldn’t pay more than $10 per year for a domain, and for a simple site, your hosting costs should be no more than $10 to $12 a month.

10) Shop around. Don’t just hire the first person you’re referred to since the referrer may not be aware of some of these pitfalls.

Following these 10 tips will save you hundreds of wasted dollars and will help you create a website that sells.

Janis Pettit is a successful entrepreneur and highly regarded small business growth and marketing expert and coach who has helped hundreds of small and solo business owners worldwide reach their profit and personal goals. Download a free audio: How to Fill the Client Funnel Now (a $47 value) and gain access to free profit strategy videos! http://MaximizeYourProfitsNow.com

web design and web development...

Web Design and web development

http://www.designosoft.com is a web design and web development company in India providing solutions in Web design, web development, Search Engine Optimisation, Web CRM, Brochure Designing, Logo Designing, Flash Web design and web development, SEO, Link marketing, Link management, Flex web development, Content Management in Joomla, custom content management, web development in php and mysql,  website maintenance, Blog writing, Article writing, Content writing, web hosting, windows hosting, Paypal integration, Shopping cart solutions and Payment gateway solutions.

All our solutions are unique and tailor made which suits exactly to your business needs. we assure you that all designs developed by designosoft are unique and creative .

Why us as your web designers

As a web design and web development company we are flexible and affordable towards our clients, we stand to our business motto, as an online marketing company, we have a great faith in online marketing and seo.  Our entire website designing enquiries comes from either reference by our old customer or through search engines. We have not used any marketing means for long time because we strongly believe in what we do and that belief makes us achieve.  With this strong web marketing and designing knowledge we are better equipped to solve your web design and web development needs.  We have the wealth of knowledge and technical know how in making your website a great online success story.

Brochure Designing

A Creatively crafted brochure becomes a marketing weapon and creates business and helps in building your brand and products.

Search Engine Optimisation

Creating a website is easy, but to make visitors visit your website and make them buy your product is a difficult art. We keep pace with the latest trends and turns happening in search engine algorithms and policies, so we use this knowledge in making your website perform in search engines and make it to top for most difficult of key words.  We have the proof to show you that how our own websites perform for the most difficult keywords.

For more informations about us visit our website http://www.designosoft.com

and visit my blog for free tips in web designing and web development and search engine optimisation  http://www.designosoft.com/blog

Web Site Design Companies in Los Angeles...

Finding the right website design companies in Los Angeles can be a time consuming task. So the question is how can you find good and reputable website design companies in Los Angeles? To help you in making an informed choice, we present the following tips:

Analysis

One of the primary aspects of finding good website design companies in Los Angeles is: They need to work with your company or firm in defining the organizational objectives. Hence, even before you start off with a website design firm, you need to first define your website development goals or even a basic idea of how you want to project your website. You need to identify the message you want to convey through your website like promotion of the brand, a particular service or range of products.

Once this is done, you need to identify if you require internet marketing like SEO, Google AdWords or PPC, banner advertising, link building etc. These are some of the important elements that will not only assist you in finding good website design companies in Los Angeles but also help you understand your needs.

You should consider the following while choosing website design companies in Los Angeles:

1.    The goal of the website design project
2.    The target audience to your Website
3.    Anticipated budget
4.    Advertising and promotions

Portfolio

One of the best ways of finding website design companies in Los Angeles is by checking the portfolio. The more diverse the portfolio is; the better it will be for you. Diversity translates into expertise and number of clients translates into experience. You need to check for both. For example: if you find a website design company that offers design in Web 2.0 and development or programming in HTML and CSS only then it means that you don’t have enough options. On the other hand, if another website design company offers web 2.0, HTML, CSS, ASP, ASP.NET, PHP, Flash, and Joomla then you have more options and you can do more with your website.

Another important aspect of the portfolio is the number of satisfied clients. Always make it a point to ask for a list of clients that you can talk to and find out about their experience with the website design company. This will help you to definitely make an informed choice.

Industry Experience

You need to check if the website design companies in Los Angeles that you have short listed have the necessary industry experience or not. For example: If you are from the travel & tourism industry and one of the website design firms on your list has experience in the same industry then it will be an advantage. The advantage lies in the fact that they understand your industry better than other firms and hence be able to deal with various challenges better.

Technology & Tools

You need to check if the website design companies in Los Angeles that you have short listed use state-of-the-art technology or old overrun processes. Technology is an important tool and it drives the internet today. Hence, you need to choose a company that uses technology to fight modern day internet challenges.

For further information, please visit SEO Web site Design in Los Angeles

Using CMS To Enter The Web Design Sector...

Web design has taken on new heights since the number of companies offering web design solution is growing by the day. This does not mean that all the available solutions are viable, but there are a number of options which web site creators can use to deliver some great results for their clients. Whether you want to use web design to create a blog or a website for yourself, or you wish to become a professional web designer and actually make some money out of your passion here are a few tips you could really use. Arm yourself with a lot of patience and start learning cms, php, joomla, and the basics of html.

After you get the basics down you can start improving your skills and broadening your knowledge pool with other web design codes. It is important to start with cms, php, because these are two of the widest spread programming languages in web design today. PHP has come a long way and it no longer stands for ‘personal home page’. Although it is not exactly a walk in the park for those that are just beginning to learn, PHP is one of the most rewarding programming languages available to website creators today. CMS, PHP, and others are used to create the majority of websites that pop up each day. PHP is completely free and it is used to create fully dynamic websites that offer a large improvement over the basic HTML language. CMS, PHP and other equally as important components to web design are the best way to enter the world of website creation or web design. Pages created by using CMS and PHP can also be hosted by using free hosting solutions, although free hosting solutions should only be used for personal websites, or practice websites.

CMS or Content Management System incorporates PHP programming to create and manage the website’s content, documents, images, and more. CMS does not limit to the creation of content, but also allows users to edit the content and manage it at the same time. CMS is virtually the easiest form of creating websites. Users do not have to possess extensive knowledge about programming languages. Web design is now as simple as it can be. CMS is designed in such a way that users can create and sustain their websites without possessing a high level of knowledge.

Content Management Systems integrate a large amount of content that feature large number of templates and numerous options that make it possible for users to create fully customized web sites with the least amount of effort. With this said, starting in the web design world is not as hard as many make it out to be, but there are a few rules that need to be respected. The first one, and one of the most important is to never use free hosting solutions for websites that represent a business or a company. This is a mistake often made even today, and while it might not seem serious, it could lead to that company losing a lot of precious time.

For more resources about free hosting or even about cms php, please review this page http://www.buildportal.com

How To Reduce The Cost Of Web Design...

These are hard economic times and people are facing a cost crunch.  For a newbie internet businessman there are many things he has to spend on.  The cost of designing a web page is a heavy expense.  One is tempted to cut costs here, and this is natural.  However, do not take your website casually.  A good website is essential for your business.  It is one of the foundations of your internet business.  It is the equivalent of a bricks and mortar building, your shop in case you were carrying out your business on the land.  However, we chance upon many websites on the web that show signs of suffering due to paucity of funds.

The good news is that you can reduce the cost of web design, without taking away from the quality.  Here are some tips that can help you

1. First of all you need to be absolutely familiar with the specifications of your website.  Find out the specifications, get a budget from your designer and stick with it.  Very often, at the developing stage, features may be added or some changes may be incorporated that change the specifications.  This changes the cost of the web site.  Moreover do not allow delays.  Keep discussing details with your designer, keep to the schedule.  Remember that delays mean that money that you could have been earning if the website was up and running is being lost and delays will add to the cost of your web page.

2. Keep your website simple.  Simple websites take less time to load and are economical.  Complicated designing may look wonderful and please the viewer, but they add to the expense.  Simple designs can also be pleasing to the eye.  You do not need a website with too much designing to sell your product.  Simple websites do business too.  All you need is a professional looking site with good copy.

3. Use SEO.  Do not compromise on that.  Your website should be optimized for search engines.  So this should be your number one priority.  You actually save costs when you do it right the first time.  Many website owners go in for a redesigning of their websites when at first they fail to attract traffic.  So they end up paying more.  An optimized website has a better chance of success.

4. Get yourself freebies.  Open sources like Joomla and Drupal are free of charge and are wonderful for an E commerce website.  This will save you big money.  Wherever you can, find a free product that can be used.  You should take initiative and research the net for such sources.

5. Have enough lead time.  If you want stuff in a hurry, designers will charge you more.  You may end up with a rushed job that will give you a lot of headache later.  Give your designer a reasonable schedule, and then ensure that he sticks to it.

6. Do your research before selecting the designer for your site.  Shortlist a few agencies that match your budget, research them and then give the one that suits you best the project.

website design bournemouth can be one of many ways to get your business listed online. If you are interested in web design bournemouth please visit our website.

Web Design and SEO in South Africa, Lichtenburg, N...

Web Design, SEO, and Traffic Article.

DIY Website design

Step 1 – Download Joomla, Drupal or Wordpress.

Step 2 – Type content in your favourite word processor. You can later modify content off-line and just copy and paste the new content of your website.

Step 3 – Copy content into your pages (Remember your feedback, order or contact form) – With Joomla, you can create an online form.

Step 4 – If your want to earn revenue, paste the affiliate or adsense code into your website where you want them to appear. (Have a look at Google Adsense, Offerforge and Trafficsynergy) – I like to use affiliate programs that has a bullet-proof tracking system.

Step 5 – Import your analytics code in the pages you want to track. Register at google.com/analytics

Step 6 – Create your meta tags. (Remember Title, Heading, Keyword Content, Description and Robots) – Download the WEB CEO version from lichtenburg.info if you are not sure. They offer a Free software version for you to check and create meta tags.

Step 7 – Test your website in all the different screen resolutions 800 * 600, 1048 * 768 etc. Test your website in all the types of browsers – Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Netscape.

Step 8 – Decide on a hosting service provider and choose domain name and hosting option (Php and MySql must be enabled) – Remember the target audience – If it is world wide, register a .com domain or just in south africa, register a .co.za domain. Your hosting service will provide you with the ftp settings. 

Things to look at when choosing a hosting provider

Do they offer php, mysql, FrontPage server extensions, the total web space, sub-domains, server uptime (Must be 99%), control panel, number of email addresses and ImportantTelephonic Support or a messaging or support system – This must be included in your hosting option - 

You can now start comparing the prices – I have just mentioned the important features what I use.

Step 9 – Publish your website via ftp. (I use filezilla.org)

Step 10 – Go to your Google adwords account and create your ad. You can also download the Adwords Editor which will enable you to work off-line on you campaigns.

Step 11 – Run your ad at R5 per day budget. (Total budget of R250.00 to start it off = (50 days campaign) – This will give you about 500 targeted visitors if your ad is setup correctly. [KEYWORDS] – Be specific. Don’t waste your website traffic. Target customers specifically surfing for your product or service.

Step 12 – Go to your Google analytics account and setup your website, goals and funnels – The final goal usually the checkout page of your website. This will enable you to make changes to your website according your website visitors behavior.

Step 13 – Log into your webmaster tools account – setup your website and verify your website – IMPORTANT – Submit your SITEMAP. This utility will enable you to view how visitors landed on your site, what images Google indexed etc.

Step 14 – Setup Google Alerts. – Once a term is typed into the search bar of Google, you will receive an alert as it happens. I have one set up for my name for instance. Each time I am Google’d for reason, they notify me.

Step 15 – This is where the hard work begins. Start building relevant high page rank links to your site and submit to search engines.

HIGH QUALITY RELEVANT LINK BUILDING AND ARTICLE SUBMISSION WILL IMPROVE YOUR SITE PERFORMANCE AND PAGE RANK – THIS IS A ONGOING PROCESS FOR ANY WEBSITE. IT CAN TAKE UP TO 1 month or 5 years. DEPENDING ON HOW YOU GO ABOUT IT.

Tip : If your want to submit to relevant directories TYPE IN THE GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE :

Submit Url “KEYWORD” //where keyword is the keyword of your site. 

Example for SEO – I will type :

Submit URL SEO

If you find directories – Only submit to directories with a page rank higher than 3. If you do not know how to check the page rank, install the Google Toolbar and choose enable check page rank when installing it. On every page, the Google toolbar will show you the page rank on the top in your current browser.

Web CEO Used by more than 440,000+ businesses in 124 countries

Web CEO

is a world leading software toolkit for search engine Optimisation and site promotion. Web CEO helps you significantly increase search engine traffic, implement the latest search engine strategies and win by having all SEO tools in one handy suite.

Author

Renier Knoetzen is a local web designer, affiliate marketer, primary school teacher and internet marketer in a small town in the North West Province of South Africa. He provides PC advice, Lichtenburg Web Design and Newsletter management services for the local as well as international clients (when appointed). On Lichtenburg.info you will find all of his freelance work as a web designer.

Website Link : http://www.lichtenburg.info

 

 

 

 

Author
Renier Knoetzen is a local web designer, affiliate marketer, primary school teacher and internet marketer in a small town in the North West Province of South Africa. He provides PC advice, Lichtenburg Web Design and Newsletter management services for the local as well as international clients (when appointed). On Lichtenburg.info you will find all of his freelance work as a web designer.
Website Link : http://www.lichtenburg.info

Use Joomla in Web Design & Website Hosting...

I was recently asked by a potential client why I recommended Joomla! to be used for building their website. Let me explain the benefits of using Joomla versus using anything else, and by anything else I mean comparing building a website using some type of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, such as Frontpage or Dreamweaver, or building a website with a comparative type of software package. Joomla! is a Content Management system, which means that it is built to ensure that website pages can easily be maintained and updated. This includes for example, adding new pages or removing pages. This is the main advantage above building a website in straight forward HTML that would normally be the end product of using some type of HTML editor.But why Joomla? Why not something else like a Microsoft based product or another commercial product? Joomla is Open Source, which means that there are no licensing fees payable, that you have often pay for a Microsoft product or a commercial product Because Joomla is Open Source, there is a huge pool of community resources available to provide support or go to www.master-web-graphics.com

The Joomla community is huge worldwide as well as in local countries – there are often local user groups which are very well supported often even in small countries such as South Africa. There is an enormous pool of people supporting the product. The forum on the Joomla.org site has over 200 000 members all providing support and input into making Joomla! a better product. There are millions of sites worldwide (about 10 Million if you do a guestimate using Google) that runs on Joomla. It is therefore extremely popular and widely used which also means that it will never be difficult to find developers and people to support it.Because it is so popular, it also means that by now there have been quite a few books written about Joomla! from various perspectives to assist both the developer as well as the end-user. Some other good reasons to use Joomla!One of the most attractive features of using Joomla! is the fact that is so very easy to extend its functionality. You can build anything from a brochure website to a full-featured shopping cart or interactive membership site. This is because there are over 3500 add-ons and plugins available to extend its functionality. This ranges from shopping carts, image galleries, video plugins, forums, blogs, project management tools, etc etcThe Joomla templating system also makes it easy to change the look and feel of your site without having to redo the whole site from scratch you can visit www.impacts-audio.com

You can literally change the whole graphic design/look of the site in a matter of seconds while retaining the content. There are also over 2000 templates, most of them free, available to change the look and feel of your site.But again, why Joomla! Why not Wordpress, for example?I have to admit, Wordpress is also extremely popular and Wordpress also makes it extremely easy to add new pages. Wordpress also has numerous free templates available and it makes Wordpress an extremely attractive option to build websites quickly and easily but it must always be kept in mind that Wordpress is essentially a blogging platform. Although it also has numerous plugins available to extend its functionality, it just does not have the raw power with regards to its underlying infrastructure to allow it to easily plug in something like a shopping cart, for example.So what is the catch? It can’t be all roses?Having worked with Joomla! for a couple of years (and before that, with its predecessor, Mambo) I can tell you exactly what the shortcomings areJoomla’s membership capabilities fall far short of what they could be. There is very limited support for various access groups and access levels.Because it is so popular, it attracts a lot of attention and Joomla! sites get hacked – quite often. The only solution for this is to be aware of your server security settings and to upgrade regularly to stay abreast of the latest Joomla! security updates.Joomla! might be a bit top-heavy for smaller sites, although it still remains the tool of choice for even my smaller sites – it does leave room for expansion later without having to upgrade to a different tool or product!Joomla!’s native search engine friendliness in the older versions leave a lot to be desired, although this has received attention in the latest upgrade. Despite this drawback, most of my Joomla! sites perform well in the search engines due to judicious use of various plugins to rectify this shortcoming.Altogether, Joomla! is an excellent tool to build websites that are easy to create, easy on the eye and easily extendable.

Joule is a Very Powerful Web Site Design Software ...

Joule is a very powerful web site design software tool. This program is an open source code, so there is no charge for acquiring and using the software. Now that, you must admit, is a tremendous deal. You will surely agree after you take some time and review Jolla.

It is almost unbelievable, if not ludicrous and irrational, that the developers of this software freely give it away. for more detail go to:www.magic-mini-site.com.But, that is the impetus behind open source code- to share with the public. Truly a design to help empower those that do not have the financial wherewithal to acquire high end software and compete with large corporations.

Noting that Jolla is openly downloadable for public use or what is commonly referred to as shareware makes its professional design even more incredible. Creating a high quality software program is a major challenge for any corporate team of developers. Because Jolla was developed by a group of web designers and programmers outside of that corporate shadow, the group responsible for Jolla’s development had few limitations on creativity. The melding of minds in the group resulted in a very powerful software program that is used by individuals and companies alike.

Review the Jolla “Core Team” members and their credentials at joomla.org.

In my opinion, this is the best (no charge) web designing software available. Its popularity has brought other programmers to develop custom modules that can be loaded with Jolla for further enhancement. These enhancements make this already superb web site and design software that much more powerful and flexible.

Add-ons, or extensions as they are known in the Jolla community, are continually being developed and upgraded by programmers outside of the main core group. Typically when a new module is developed it will be made available to others at a reasonable price. Like the main program, the add-ons are suitable for small to large company web sites.

If you are concerned about support, there is a great many forums that you can read and review for teaching issues. Of course, the best forum is the main community support system associated with the web site- forum.joomla.org/.for more detail go to: www.magic-mini-site.com. In many cases, you do not have to make a post in the forum because it is likely your question has already been asked and answered.

There are more than a few joule templates created by third parties. Please do not discount the fact that the templates were created by programmers other than the original joule developers. You will find the templates extremely beneficial to your Joule website development needs. These are full website templates ready to load- including graphics.

Well, load it up and give it a spin. You may find that Joule will replace all of your old website design software programs. For loading the program, you can check with your web hosting company. Many offer a preloaded script or tool that makes loading Joule a five minute breeze.

Be patient when learning the many different settings and uses of the program. Sometimes the add-on modules require a little extra time for installation. However, your overall experience with this mightily equipped program will no doubt be an impressive one.

Flash web design is the gateway leading visitors t...

Designing plays a significant role in the World Wide Web. The matter is that creative and striking website does entice traffic towards it. And, to own extra-ordinary and appealing website your website must be designed by professionals who are experts in the field.

You must be aware that generally visitors do not spend more than 30 seconds on a website. Therefore, you must ensure that your site must be equipped with elements that can make the best use of the 30 seconds. For this, your website cannot rule out the importance of dynamic web pages. In this regard flash web design can go a long way.

Websites have taken the place of showrooms, and more and more people are queuing up for these modern showrooms for their daily needs. Therefore, your website has got to be appealing only then visitors will be drawn towards your site.

Flash web design is integrated with audio, video, 3D graphics and HTML. It helps in creating and developing animations and interactive images. Therefore, a flash based website can give fully interactive multimedia experience to its visitor.

Flash web design can reduce the amount of text used in website and can give a polished look to the site. This design is extremely useful in online presentations, design tutorial and training modules.

Various flash designs are used to create web sites so that they become appealing. Of late, the custom flash web design has developed to such an extent that it has lead to the downfall of the off shelf web designing methods.

However, critics claim that flash websites do not use standard user-interfaces and that at times flash design is not compatible to the common features of the browser.

Web designing is a complicated process and it does not happen overnight. This process requires a lot of thought. Therefore, you would require inputs of the experts in the field of flash designing.

Above all, the web designer must understand the clients objectives, business, target customers, services etc. before starting to design the website.

Ruby Harrison is expert in design and development, writing articles on web design cost for web designing companies

Use Joomla in Web Design & Website Hosting...

I was recently asked by a potential client why I recommended Joomla! to be used for building their website. Let me explain the benefits of using Joomla versus using anything else, and by anything else I mean comparing building a website using some type of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, such as Frontpage or Dreamweaver, or building a website with a comparative type of software package. Joomla! is a Content Management system, which means that it is built to ensure that website pages can easily be maintained and updated. This includes for example, adding new pages or removing pages. This is the main advantage above building a website in straight forward HTML that would normally be the end product of using some type of HTML editor.But why Joomla? Why not something else like a Microsoft based product or another commercial product? Joomla is Open Source, which means that there are no licensing fees payable, that you have often pay for a Microsoft product or a commercial product Because Joomla is Open Source, there is a huge pool of community resources available to provide support or go to www.master-web-graphics.com

The Joomla community is huge worldwide as well as in local countries – there are often local user groups which are very well supported often even in small countries such as South Africa. There is an enormous pool of people supporting the product. The forum on the Joomla.org site has over 200 000 members all providing support and input into making Joomla! a better product. There are millions of sites worldwide (about 10 Million if you do a guestimate using Google) that runs on Joomla. It is therefore extremely popular and widely used which also means that it will never be difficult to find developers and people to support it.Because it is so popular, it also means that by now there have been quite a few books written about Joomla! from various perspectives to assist both the developer as well as the end-user. Some other good reasons to use Joomla!One of the most attractive features of using Joomla! is the fact that is so very easy to extend its functionality. You can build anything from a brochure website to a full-featured shopping cart or interactive membership site. This is because there are over 3500 add-ons and plugins available to extend its functionality. This ranges from shopping carts, image galleries, video plugins, forums, blogs, project management tools, etc etcThe Joomla templating system also makes it easy to change the look and feel of your site without having to redo the whole site from scratch you can visit www.impacts-audio.com

You can literally change the whole graphic design/look of the site in a matter of seconds while retaining the content. There are also over 2000 templates, most of them free, available to change the look and feel of your site.But again, why Joomla! Why not Wordpress, for example?I have to admit, Wordpress is also extremely popular and Wordpress also makes it extremely easy to add new pages. Wordpress also has numerous free templates available and it makes Wordpress an extremely attractive option to build websites quickly and easily but it must always be kept in mind that Wordpress is essentially a blogging platform. Although it also has numerous plugins available to extend its functionality, it just does not have the raw power with regards to its underlying infrastructure to allow it to easily plug in something like a shopping cart, for example.So what is the catch? It can’t be all roses?Having worked with Joomla! for a couple of years (and before that, with its predecessor, Mambo) I can tell you exactly what the shortcomings areJoomla’s membership capabilities fall far short of what they could be. There is very limited support for various access groups and access levels.Because it is so popular, it attracts a lot of attention and Joomla! sites get hacked – quite often. The only solution for this is to be aware of your server security settings and to upgrade regularly to stay abreast of the latest Joomla! security updates.Joomla! might be a bit top-heavy for smaller sites, although it still remains the tool of choice for even my smaller sites – it does leave room for expansion later without having to upgrade to a different tool or product!Joomla!’s native search engine friendliness in the older versions leave a lot to be desired, although this has received attention in the latest upgrade. Despite this drawback, most of my Joomla! sites perform well in the search engines due to judicious use of various plugins to rectify this shortcoming.Altogether, Joomla! is an excellent tool to build websites that are easy to create, easy on the eye and easily extendable.

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