Great post. This can be a very powerful selling tool for me. Thank you for sharing!

Seth

The problem, though, is that many people, especially people like dentists, just are not savvy enough to even look for hidden code. Nor do they know how to customize a site through Frontpage or Notepad. They also get taken to the cleaners by “hosting” companies — and have no clue they can move their sites to other hosting companies (nor do they even know how to do it).

The best part – the sites are easy to use with just a little HTML knowledge. They can be edited completely in FrontPage or even Notepad. Change the content, the images, the navigation and its up and running. Host through them or another provider.

Two non-profit sites started with AllWebCo templates….
http://www.kolbehouseministry.org (jail ministry in Cook County, IL)
http://www.tcfchicago.org (peer support after the death of a child)

I’m not affiliated with AllWebCo, just a pleased customer.

Thanks for the Joomla explanation.

Dave, I use Sonora DesignWorks in Amesbury MA for my Website design. I’ve been working with Jim, the owner, since 1998. He’s a great guy and his firm does excellent work. His firm did my DH Communications site and we’ve done a number of other sites jointly.

Joomla is a great CMS and has a very active community which means that is is constantly being worked on and added to.

I think the thing to remember with any content management system (CMS) is that it is a tool. It gives you the ability to do a task; you still need to know what you are doing for your website to be a success- which is where the professional help comes in. Anyone can spend enough time on the internet learning about websites, SEO, ecommerce etc. to create and build their own site, but the time you spent doing that is time away from your core business and opportunities lost.

Another nice thing about Joomla is if you end up not being pleased with your original developer or the hosting they offer, it would be easy to move your site to another provider as long as you have an export of your database. Most “site builder” applications are proprietary and you would not be able to pick up and move your site if necessary.

Hope that helps!

I have been speaking with someone about a site redesign. He uses JOOMLA, which I had never heard of. He would get it up and running, then we’d be on our own to update, etc. (He would be training me, and then available at an hourly rate to help once it’s up and running.) I’ve done some initial research on JOOMLA, but would love any thoughts, advice, etc. This new site is most probably going to involve e-commerce as well.