Which website design software to use?

32 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
  • |
Hey everyone!

Although I've been creeping around the forum for a while, this is my first post

I finally feel ready to build a website and wondered what everyone recommends?

I've looked at a few options, and am leaning towards Xsitepro as it looks to be the easiest for a static website with a lot of content (i'm going to write a ton of articles).

I saw an offer on their facebook page for a half price discount too, but I wanted to get everyone's opinion first. Should I go for it, and try it out while it is cheap? I guess I could get a refund if it's crap.

What else would you recommend? Someone else said Site Sell or something, and I have looked at Wordpress and Joomla, but they look a bit hard.

Sorry for waffling! Any help would be grand.

Ell
#build a website #design #software #website #website design software #xsitepro
  • Profile picture of the author Bryan Zazz
    Originally Posted by ellen1978 View Post

    Hey everyone!
    Although I've been creeping around the forum for a while, this is my first post
    I finally feel ready to build a website and wondered what everyone recommends?
    I've looked at a few options, and am leaning towards Xsitepro as it looks to be the easiest for a static website with a lot of content (i'm going to write a ton of articles).
    I saw an offer on their facebook page for a half price discount too, but I wanted to get everyone's opinion first. Should I go for it, and try it out while it is cheap? I guess I could get a refund if it's crap.
    What else would you recommend? Someone else said Site Sell or something, and I have looked at Wordpress and Joomla, but they look a bit hard.
    Sorry for waffling! Any help would be grand.
    Ell

    Well, it depends a lot on what you want your site to do ...

    A lot of warriors seem to use WordPress.
    But if you're a newbie you may find it a bit tough to learn it.
    Also, knowing PHP helps if you want to tweak it ... or to debug yourself out of a WP hole.
    You might want to give coming fastSalesFunnels a try. I'm trying to push it "out the door" for next Tuesday, but got distracted by a related project for last couple days.

    Anyway, I believe in "having alternatives and choice" - that's why I'm mentioning this here,
    but ultimately you should just check out all your different alternatives at your disposal,
    and then choose the one you like best. I don't believe there is a "one solution fits all" yet.

    If you think about it,
    Ultimately, all such "site engines" pretty much end up doing the same thing:
    spitting out HTML (with CSS and JS for good measure)

    So I'd say what differentiates them is more the "ease of use", pricing, etc.
    WordPress is "free", but not entirely, because you still need to host it on some box,
    and you need that box to have a big pipe to the Internet, and all that.

    Hope this helps, and good luck in your search!
    bryan
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7098334].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author joshuamason
    WordPress is great! it is a little tricky sometimes...basically because there is so much to learn and so much you can do with it. Just try and find a great tutorial to help you learn. And it's great because it's FREE. So many things are not free and if they are, there is a good reason...they SUCK! free is not always good. It comes with expensive headaches. If you need further help learning WP just let me know.
    Signature
    Free eBook on Getting Targeted Traffic ==>http://WebsiteTrafficCode.com<==

    Easy To Use Video Squeeze Page Templates ==>http://VideoSqueezeMachines.net<==

    Secret Tactic That Will Help You Rank and Dominate With ANY Site ==>http://SEOBackLinkDesign.com<==
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7098686].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    1. Which website design software to use?

    2. I have looked at Wordpress and Joomla, but
    Just for the record: WP and Joomla are NOT "design software".
    They both are CMS = Content Management System.

    Don't compare apples and oranges...
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7099141].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Bryan Zazz
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      Just for the record: WP and Joomla are NOT "design software".
      They both are CMS = Content Management System.

      Don't compare apples and oranges...
      even "CMS" does not sound right.
      I believe a better descriptor (just in my opinion)
      would be "site engines",
      because, let's face it, they "run" sites,
      while "content management system: ... well, my local public library
      is also a CMS (content being the books).
      WP does not really "manage" content, it more simply assembles pages
      to send to clients (web browsers), so they don't really do that much "management"
      ... actually "managing" content (by content I mean pages or images)
      with WP is a "pain" once you start to get into the lower hundred (images, pages, etc).

      Hence if WP is a "CONTENT mgmt system" it is not a very good one,
      but as a "site engine" it certainly excels !!

      "design software" ... that would be something more like autoCAD, perhaps ?
      well, design could be a pretty broad term, I agree
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7099267].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author johnben1444
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      Just for the record: WP and Joomla are NOT "design software".
      They both are CMS = Content Management System.

      Don't compare apples and oranges...
      The dude is looking out for a friendly user stuff to design site with many pages of content and if WP and joomla offers that its worthy of been listed. The OP might not be looking at that angle but post like this will draw back his attention.

      The other option is to do it manually, am yet to see a software that deliver 100% on autopilot.

      Hope this helps.
      Signature
      Grow your social media account, Spotify Streams, YT Views & IG Followers & More
      Software & Mobile APP Developer
      Buy Spotify, Facebook Bot & IG M/S Method
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7103145].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    Bryan,

    unfortunately (or fortunately?) it doesn't matter what your personal philosophical approach is... because in the "web literature" WP and all the similar scripts are categorized as CMS.
    And no, your (or my) local library doesn't count!
    :p
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7099314].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Bryan Zazz
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      Bryan,

      unfortunately (or fortunately?) it doesn't matter what your personal philosophical approach is... because in the "web literature" WP and all the similar scripts are categorized as CMS.
      And no, your (or my) local library doesn't count!
      :p
      I agree.
      Perhaps my point there was that the name was not the best "they" (whoever decided on using this specific designation/acronym) could find.

      (And too bad my local library does not count as a CMS,
      obviously I was being a bit too literal there)
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7100152].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author OldLodgeSkins
    Hi,

    You may want to read my latest e-book, which is available for free today and tomorrow on Amazon... It'll offer you another way that's not exactly widely used here on the Warrior Forum (I'm no WP fan at all)... It's based on Joomla 2.5. It's called "professional website creation made easy" and contains a step by step method (129 pages w/ 132 screen-shots) and a ton of tips and tricks. Including security, photo / video gallery, design, forums, ...

    For more details see here How to build your own professional-looking website - Best Website Design - it's a Kindle book but you don't need to own a Kindle to read it, Amazon has a free PC / Mac / mobiles application, just see the comments on that article.

    You have until Thursday 12PM PST (give or take 1 hour) to get it for free.

    Seb.
    Signature
    Do you use Facebook ? Then you can make money just by inviting people to a Facebook group ! It's called the Instant Income System. How cool is that?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7100051].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author imdesigner
    Hands down. Wordpress.. I build about 2 sites/week for clients and after im done showing them how easy wordpress can make their lives. and actually SHOW them now to use it (Even tho they have NO or little computer skills)

    Wordpress hands down. nothing else.. Plug-ins for everything you can imagine. if you can build your own even better. because MOST times plugins will have EXTRA stuff u dont want on your page.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7100076].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Quoia
    Another vote for wordpress, and if you have the time, download GIMP and Inkspace to learns the graphic editing end of things too.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7100442].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author carleywatson
    Joomla and Artisteer are best website designe software.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7102841].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author fghaegele
    Ellen -

    Content management systems such as wordpress or joomla are decent, but if you intend to design the site yourself with html, I do not recommend going that route, unless you plan to do some light modifications, only. However, you can hire a designer to build a custom template, although that'll cost you.

    Want to get started now?

    I suggest opening an account on a Tumblr.com or a Wordpress hosted site. Write some goooood articles. Build an audience.....

    and get ahold of me later!

    Starting a self hosted blog with no momentum, no design can be a daunting task. Getting started with the free platforms are the best way to go!
    Signature
    Take A Break. Play A Puzzle: Merlin's Puzzles
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7102995].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Code Conquest
      Originally Posted by fghaegele View Post

      Ellen -

      Content management systems such as wordpress or joomla are decent, but if you intend to design the site yourself with html, I do not recommend going that route, unless you plan to do some light modifications, only. However, you can hire a designer to build a custom template, although that'll cost you.

      Want to get started now?

      I suggest opening an account on a Tumblr.com or a Wordpress hosted site. Write some goooood articles. Build an audience.....

      and get ahold of me later!

      Starting a self hosted blog with no momentum, no design can be a daunting task. Getting started with the free platforms are the best way to go!
      Bad idea. Don't do this, I've heard that it's a nightmare to switch from a free hosted site to a self hosted site.

      You're going to have to set up your site sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner.

      Setting up design is not as hard as you may think. Set up WordPress on your website, install a free theme and you're ready to go.

      If you need help with any of that, I have some articles to help you on my blog in the link below.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7103826].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author ellen1978
        Hi again everyone!

        Thank you so much for all your feedback, and sorry if I used the wrong terminology @Istvan Horvath

        I actually went ahead and bought XSitePro yesterday for $97 on that deal from Facebook. So far, I am find it really easy for importing lots of the articles I have already written using an import feature - so I have a 300+ page website already, with pages scheduled to go live using the scheduler over the next few months :-)

        I was a little put off wp because there seems to be two camps of user. One who is experienced with php and web design who raves about wp, and the others are people like me who don't know a jot about php, and who keep talking about issues with security and the plugins and scripts slowing stuff down, not to mention the additional costs.

        I also don't want my site to look like everyone elses using free themes or templates either, so the templates didn't bother me (I didn't find them to be quite so bad as you thought though Karen! lol)

        I'm working through the tutorial videos at the moment to see if there's anything else cool I can use, but then after that I guess now I'll just have to wait and see how well my site performs in the search engines once I've optimized it.

        I read some more posts on warrior about xsitepro, and a lot of people were saying that it outperforms wp as a static content site, which is what I wanted, so maybe I should update this post once I've uploaded the site and started getting some results?

        I was thinking of trying wp for a blog though? Maybe I could do two sites and test them against each other haha.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7104931].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author JohnGood
          Hi Ellen,

          I am a long standing web page coder that moved up from writing web pages using text editors. I have gone for XSitePro as it seems to be the only web designer that seems to have been written by internet marketers for internet marketers. Every other solution I have seen out there have been written by programmers that have not got the first clue about what an internet marketer needs.

          If you are wanting to link XSitePro with a Blog, then it will be easy to install the blog in to a sub-folder and add links from your XSitePro web site to the blog sub-site.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7105706].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author Bryan Zazz
            Originally Posted by JohnGood View Post

            Hi Ellen,
            I am a long standing web page coder that moved up from writing web pages using text editors. I have gone for XSitePro as it seems to be the only web designer that seems to have been written by internet marketers for internet marketers. Every other solution I have seen out there have been written by programmers that have not got the first clue about what an internet marketer needs.
            If you are wanting to link XSitePro with a Blog, then it will be easy to install the blog in to a sub-folder and add links from your XSitePro web site to the blog sub-site.
            Well then, how come almost all marketers I read on the warrior forum talk about WordPress in one way or another, while this is probably the 1st thread where I hear about a tool called XSitePro? (or maybe the 2nd, I may have browsed through without noticing it). Seriously, never heard about it before, and I've been around for some years now (too many, unfortunately)

            Not to say bad things about this WSitePro tool, it may be a great tool , I really don't know. I simply wonder why I never heard about it before.

            But anyway, the most important thing is not the tool, but to "act", and "act now",
            so any tool which helps you do that is better than "do nothing".
            Hence, good choice Ellen. I hope it will bring you to where you want to be, and if not, you can always switch to something else. Having choice is always good...

            Best of luck!!
            bryan
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7107057].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author fghaegele
          Originally Posted by ellen1978 View Post

          Hi again everyone!

          Thank you so much for all your feedback, and sorry if I used the wrong terminology @Istvan Horvath

          I actually went ahead and bought XSitePro yesterday for $97 on that deal from Facebook. So far, I am find it really easy for importing lots of the articles I have already written using an import feature - so I have a 300+ page website already, with pages scheduled to go live using the scheduler over the next few months :-)

          I was a little put off wp because there seems to be two camps of user. One who is experienced with php and web design who raves about wp, and the others are people like me who don't know a jot about php, and who keep talking about issues with security and the plugins and scripts slowing stuff down, not to mention the additional costs.

          I also don't want my site to look like everyone elses using free themes or templates either, so the templates didn't bother me (I didn't find them to be quite so bad as you thought though Karen! lol)

          I'm working through the tutorial videos at the moment to see if there's anything else cool I can use, but then after that I guess now I'll just have to wait and see how well my site performs in the search engines once I've optimized it.

          I read some more posts on warrior about xsitepro, and a lot of people were saying that it outperforms wp as a static content site, which is what I wanted, so maybe I should update this post once I've uploaded the site and started getting some results?

          I was thinking of trying wp for a blog though? Maybe I could do two sites and test them against each other haha.
          Your analysis about the two WP camps is spot on!

          I agree that if you know nothing about coding, you end up with a cookie cutter design. And, unless you go with a barebones setup, performance will be a real downer.

          The average page load time for most WP sites are over 3-5 seconds per page. You can expect a bounce rate of over 50% as well as a drop in search engine rankings. The faster site with similar content will almost always rank higher.

          Performance is everything. It's reliability, and a better overall user experience.


          Don't even waste your time configuring a duplicate site w WP. X-site will win every time.


          Good luck!
          Signature
          Take A Break. Play A Puzzle: Merlin's Puzzles
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7106094].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author Michael71
            Now that's for SURE not true.

            If you put social media plugins and massive pictures/plugins into your WP then loading times go up... mainly because of 3rd party scripts.

            If you would have any clue about frontend performance optimizing you would know that EVERY website, yes... even WP, can be loading very fast.

            The more plugins you install the slower it will load.

            With W3 Total Cache and the knowledge of how to use it I can make your blog loading fast...

            It's all about knowledge, not about dynamic websites or static websites.

            Originally Posted by fghaegele View Post

            Your analysis about the two WP camps is spot on!

            I agree that if you know nothing about coding, you end up with a cookie cutter design. And, unless you go with a barebones setup, performance will be a real downer.

            The average page load time for most WP sites are over 3-5 seconds per page. You can expect a bounce rate of over 50% as well as a drop in search engine rankings. The faster site with similar content will almost always rank higher.

            Performance is everything. It's reliability, and a better overall user experience.


            Don't even waste your time configuring a duplicate site w WP. X-site will win every time.


            Good luck!
            Signature

            HTML/CSS/jQuery/ZURB Foundation/Twitter Bootstrap/Wordpress/Frontend Performance Optimizing
            ---
            Need HTML/CSS help? Skype: microcosmic - Test Your Responsive Design - InternetCookies.eu

            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7148747].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Karen Barr
    I strongly suggest you stay away from XSitePro, which provides awful code and templates that are stuck in a 10-year timewarp.

    Wordpress is free, easy to learn and there are literally tens of thousands of free themes for it so that you can choose any design you like.

    Another strong advantage is that Google loves Wordpress sites, so you get some great SEO benefits.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7103109].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author timmor29
    Originally Posted by ellen1978 View Post

    I finally feel ready to build a website and wondered what everyone recommends?

    I've looked at a few options, and am leaning towards Xsitepro as it looks to be the easiest for a static website with a lot of content (i'm going to write a ton of articles).

    What else would you recommend? Someone else said Site Sell or something, and I have looked at Wordpress and Joomla, but they look a bit hard.

    Ell
    If you're looking for an easy, cheap way to create a website, I recommend EXAI. Wordpress and Joomla are harder to use and are unnecessary especially if you're just looking to create a static website. With this website builder you can easily create a really nice website and its content management system allows for easy editing so you can quickly upload any new article you write.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7147246].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author thom08
    If you are not experienced the best way would be buying some ready to use template for example from themeforest.

    If you prefer to create your website on your own you may try Adobe Dreamweaver.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7147291].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mikeye
    If you're building a website not a blog, XSitePro is a good choice for IMers. You may also try 90 Second Website Builder. I personally use that one. Very easy to use. You can just drag and drop all functions or components. For blogs, WordPress is the choice.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7148561].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author karthick pacific
    CoffeeCup Visual Site Designer
    Serif WebPlus
    Web Easy Professional
    NetObjects Fusion
    Evrsoft First Page
    HTML-Kit Tools
    AceHTML 6 Pro
    UltraEdit
    TopStyle
    BestAddress HTML Editor

    The above are some of the best web design softwares
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7153736].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author henrywinsett
    There are several web designing software available on the web which will help in creating an attractive website. Just to keep you informed , Wordpress and Joomla are not web design software but are well known Content Management System which will help to create a website without having coding knowledge. Joomla and Wordpress are both free and easily available on the web. You can easily learn both CMS as easily and as fast and for more help you can visit their official website.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7189815].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author seowonder56
    It depends on what type of site you want to develop, if you want to develop static site you should go for photoshop and html and if you want to make dynamic you have to do additional php or other languages
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7194760].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ctsindia
    It is not just about quickly putting up a website. You have to also consider that your website should get a good search engine rank. Further, you must use a CMS that builds a secure site that is not hack prone.

    OpenSource CMS have their own minuses. Hiring a professional developer may help get your website to deliver results.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7194944].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author maxaurelius
    Wordpress hands down. For actually designing the website graphics I use adobe photoshop, and CSS styling.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7196806].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Jonas Glad
    NotePad++ is great. :p
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7199875].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author deionjoe
    Website design software - in particular, choosing the right tools - is an important part of the website creation process. Before you begin to build your website, it is first important to think about what elements you want, because that will influence what software you require.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7201335].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Kevin McNally
    XsitePro for a newbie is a good choice I think as you can have a website online within 24 hours, other programs such as Dreamweaver have bigger learning curves. You can also run a blog in another folder on your domain if you want.

    I hear people thinking that wordpress has seo benefits but is there any evidence for that ? Indeed if you install too many seo plugins with the recent updates it may harm your rankings.

    Think about all the top websites in the world , how many use wordpress ? I use wordpress also but I am not sure it has SEO benefits compared to a html editor.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7202044].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MikeAbraham
      All depends on what you are wanting to do i suppose and how competent you are.

      For a brochure site, If you had basic skills in html and css, go with Notepad++ and free graphic tools such as Gimp and/or Inkscape.

      If no experience you could set up a standard Wordpress site very quickly and pretty simple to get to grips with.

      Wordpress = Blogging Platform (and probably the best)
      Joomla = CMS (my favourite and a good shout at being the best in cms)

      But like mentioned earlier these are not Web Design programs. So would need a template or a design Initially.

      Mike
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7208663].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author rob1985
    I like webplus x6. Only just started using it but seems quite cool. Newbie friendly too.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7452996].message }}

Trending Topics