First two decisions when starting a website. (pt 3)

– Robert Kruger 23 April 2010

 

How do you choose the foundation of your next website?

In the early days of commercial websites, web developers built each site one page at a time in HTML. Software like Dreamweaver is still used to write HTML code, but today’s websites are far more sophisticated than the hard-coded generation. Today it is far more common for commercial websites to be built on a dynamic system that separates content from design to simplify the process of updating content.

There are hundreds of different web development choices. You’ll see the terms framework, content management system (CMS), development software, platform, and more used to describe what is essentially the same thing: the server software that provides dynamic, interactive features of a website and facilitate maintenance of content.

Some systems were created to do one particular thing well. For example, WordPress was built to be a blogging tool. It does that one thing very well, but other functionality (e.g., ecommerce) will be challenging. Other systems are more flexible, but don’t include features as ready-to-go.

Clearly I’m biased on this topic. I think Kaleidoscope’s Dialogs is the best web development framework for business websites. In addition to the power and flexibility of the Dialogs platform, there is a company behind the system. Because one software company, Kaleidoscope, wrote the entire code base, Dialogs websites are consistent and secure. One Dialogs developer can easily pick up where another left off. Let me add this: I have believed in Dialogs for many years, even before I joined Kaleidoscope.

So ... keep my bias in mind if you want, but here is a checklist of online business tools that I believe every business will benefit from:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): I’ve talked about this in past articles, but simply put, Google will send you customers if you build your website with SEO in mind. If you don’t, Google will send those customers to someone else.
• Social Networking: Some day, we may all laugh and call social networking the CB radio of this generation, but today it’s hot. Word of mouth has always been the best advertising, and today the mouth is Facebook, Twitter, et. al. To succeed today, you must communicate with your audience the way they choose.
• Content Management System (CMS): If you want to make money, you need the web, and to seriously work the web, you must have immediate easy access to your content. Your content must stay fresh and current, no matter who you are. If you park a few pages of content on the web and never change it, you shouldn’t have wasted your time building a website. A CMS also allows you to present content dynamically, matching visitor interests with content.
• Blog: A business blog ties in with all of the above. Your blog will be your best hope at improving your SEO because it helps your website grow in size and have fresh content every time Google comes to visit. Helpful, meaningful content in your blog can be spread through the social networks. With the right content management tools, a blog can be easy to maintain.

These essential elements should be a part of every website. Choose a platform that makes it easy and cost effective to do it all.

Our web development software, Dialogs, is commonly recommended by agencies to their website customers, but Dialogs is also chosen by site owners based on our features and reliability, and they request that their creative agencies use Dialogs. Let us show you how Dialogs can improve your business. Or let us show your agency. Either way, we’re confident that Dialogs is the best choice for business.