Website Design

[Steve Blentlinger, SBB Enterprises & Sentimental Dreams]

I was wondering if anyone has developed their own website for their own business?
I designed and built my wife's business website www.sentimentaldreams.com using a CMS (Content Management System) called Joomla, www.joomla.org. It is very easy to learn how to use if you are willing to take the time to learn some basics of web design. It looks very professional and for the most part is open source and free to use.

Even if you do not do the design yourself, I would recommend finding a person/company that will take the time to teach you as they build your site. This information is invaluable to any business, especially if an online presence is required.
Does anyone else have useful advise/experiences to share about developing a website for their businesses?

[Tom Russo]

I built the Millennial Living website using another popular CMS called Drupal. It took me 8 months to convert the content on my old static website in MS Frontpage to Drupal.

I learned an awful lot in that time. First and foremost, there is a high learning curve and "easy to learn and use" doesn't necessarily mean that you can do it. There is no reason to use either Drupal or Joomla in my opinion unless you have tons of content and want high end features that go well beyond what blogs provide.

The distinciton between blogs and websites is also blurring so don't get so hung up on the terms. I personally think that blog software like WordPress, Typepad or Ning will get you where you need to be. If you need added features you can always go with Joomla or Drupal later on when you are making the big bucks.

When deciding on your initial software you must really factor in your level of tech knowledge, how much time you have to maintain the site, what design templates are available and of course price. In the case of Drupal, it is open source and free. However, modules need to updated at least once a week and versions do change and require updating. The Drupal Community is great, but these tasks can consume you. So if you are not technically oriented, I would not go with this system even though .

Design is another important consideration before choosing a software system. The themes available in Drupal are ho hum. I am no designer, but my concern for functionalty and scalability overrode my concerns about the vanilla drupal themes. That's why I went with Drupal.

I used a free drupal theme for the current site. The author of that theme just completed some customization for a small fee and advertising space on my site and I will release that soon.

If anyone has questions, please let me know. Would be happy to advise you so you don't get lost in this software maze.