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What website building programmes do you use?

by Benjam1n
23 replies
Since a lot of offline marketing revolves around building websites for local businesses etc, I wondered what programmes/template sites/software you guys use for bulding the websites?

I know that there may be some programmers that start from scratch but wondered what people think to template sites, wordpress etc.

Feel free to post links to examples!!
#building #programmes #website
  • Profile picture of the author paulcampbell
    I have only really ever used two technologies. SiteBuildit and Wordpress.

    I started with SiteBuildIt and was glad I did as it's everything-in-a-box with lots of hand-holding and support.

    Think the best way for you to get lots of examples is to look over some of their own resources. They produced a summary of the advantages for local businesses that you might want to look over. There's also a pretty cool video (loads of real examples in there) and further info page for home startups if you want to check them out.

    I moved to Wordpress later once I had advanced in my own skills. I would say that there is more flexibility in terms of lots of WP plugins and the like, but you can use full HTML in SitebuildIt too, so there are no real limitations.

    Can see a place for both - depends on where you are and where you want to go.

    This is a cool comparison of the two (but it is from the perspective of SiteBuildit!)

    Hope these help.

    Good luck with getting the right tools to build your business and make even more money!

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Benjam1n
    Great, thanks for the info, I'll definitely have a read/watch through!

    Have people had good feedback from clients when they have used template sites such as site build it?
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    "You become what you think about most of the time" - Think BIG!!

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  • Profile picture of the author Jelle Kaldenbach
    I really love to use Wordpress.

    It's such a flexible thing and you can build pretty much anything with it. You just make your pages and posts and you can put so many templates, called themes, around it.

    You have a massive choice of Plugins and Themes - almost impossible that you can't find what you're looking for. Besides that, there are some paid themes. Some are very good if you ask me !

    Good luck building your websites!

    ~Jelle
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    We stopped using wordpress over a year ago and will never go back to it, unless I feel like putting up 100 random sites for adsense or affiliate purposes.

    Joomla, Drupal, Magento are the main platforms we use. Currently developing our own custom CMS that will basically be easier and faster than wordpress but it won't be available for anyone to use, just us LOL.

    Photoshop is a necessity no matter what you touch. Wordpress can be great if you don't know what you're doing and don't care about real high quality websites. We don't sell $200 websites where you just throw up a template and put content in and be done, but there is a market for it. It just depends on your hook.
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    • Profile picture of the author MarkSalmon
      I use Wordpress - I absolutely love the freedom and flexibility of Wordpress. Whilst SiteBuildIt is a great system, I found that I couldn't get beyond the first module or two because it is overwhelming. Also it will be expensive if you want to go on and build mutliple sites.

      Whilst Wordpress may take you a while to adapt to, I 100% recommend it - there are thousands of free plugins and developers working to improve it. Most of the top internet marketers are using Wordpress as far as I can tell.

      Find some good video tutorials - the guy who recently launched WP CashCow re Wordpress membership sites as a WSO really knows Wordpress and I think he has a tutorial programme. I have no affililiation to him - I bought WP Cash Cow and was really impressed with the way he taught - nice and clear and concise.

      Hope that helps.

      The Business Renegade
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      You can follow what I am doing to grow my business at http://mark-salmon.com I've been self-employed for 13 years as a business consultant and internet marketer.

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  • Profile picture of the author Lascruces
    I am always using Photoshop and WordPress..But some times I also use Dreamweaver.
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  • Profile picture of the author Buum
    The best for me is Wordpress. However sometimes I need something different like Drupal. Anyway Wordpress can be used in most cases and it's easy to create many kinds of sites using available templates like these from Elegant Themes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Benjam1n
    Thanks for the replies guys.

    Yeh, I have used wordpress a few times on the past but only to create "blog" style sites.

    I havn't looked into yet (but will be later) but wondered how easy it was to configure wordpress sites so that they look like a website rather than a blog. What templates have you used to achieve this?
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  • Profile picture of the author DP55
    I use Photoshop + Dreamweaver. I occasionally use Wordpress but I'd rather have more freedom which is why I opt for Photoshop.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kael41
    Joomla and Wordpress, depending on the market. Many of my "money sites" are still joomla based believe it or not.
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    • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
      Originally Posted by Kael41 View Post

      Joomla and Wordpress, depending on the market. Many of my "money sites" are still joomla based believe it or not.
      Absolutely... Joomla is far more powerful than people realize. They just don't like the tiny learning curve that comes with it!
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      • Profile picture of the author mraffiliate
        [QUOTE=iAmNameLess;5565898]Absolutely... Joomla is far more powerful than people realize. They just don't like the tiny learning curve that comes with it![/QUOTE

        Why do you prefer Joomla over WordPress? I'm on the fence between stay using HTML or WordPress. Your input may sway me toward Joomla
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        • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
          [quote=mraffiliate;5573314]
          Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

          Absolutely... Joomla is far more powerful than people realize. They just don't like the tiny learning curve that comes with it![/QUOTE

          Why do you prefer Joomla over WordPress? I'm on the fence between stay using HTML or WordPress. Your input may sway me toward Joomla
          Far more flexible, more secure, and out of the box it is just better all around. The people that are wordpress cheerleaders usually have never tried another CMS. I have built hundreds of sites with all the CMS's. Joomla has a small learning curve, but if you're thinking about which CMS to use and have never used one, then go with joomla off the bat. You won't regret it. If you need any help or advice on it, let me know.
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          • Profile picture of the author mraffiliate
            [quote=iAmNameLess;5573585]
            Originally Posted by mraffiliate View Post


            Far more flexible, more secure, and out of the box it is just better all around. The people that are wordpress cheerleaders usually have never tried another CMS. I have built hundreds of sites with all the CMS's. Joomla has a small learning curve, but if you're thinking about which CMS to use and have never used one, then go with joomla off the bat. You won't regret it. If you need any help or advice on it, let me know.
            Thanks,

            I started out with FrontPage and learned HTML. I like HTML because I don't have the issues that I have experienced with WordPress. I do love the web based interface with WordPress and all the plugins but you are sort of at the mercy of theme and plugin developers to keep their products current and working properly with new updates of WordPress.

            I am using HTML sites that are over 10 yrs old and are working and ranking fine. HTML, to me, seems to be clean and search engines like it. The problem with starting with and continue using FrontPage "now Expression Web" is that hosting companies are phasing out supporting FrontPage extensions. This is why I'm looking for a new HTML editing software program.

            Most of my local clients use WordPress and most of the time when I start SEO for them, they have messed everything up. They install plugins that interfere with the plugins and widgets that came with the theme they installed. Most times they have pages that are ranked and indexed which look like this: www.clientsite.com/pageid=34583

            I don't develope HTML sites from scratch, but I purchase premade templates and customize them. I don't really see a decline in the number of developers making HTML sites so far which is good and most of the sites I see on the 1st page of the SERP's are still HTML. This might be because a larger number of people who uses WordPress don't know anything about SEO verses those who use HTML.
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            • Profile picture of the author RentItNow
              [quote=mraffiliate;5573690]
              Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post


              Thanks,

              I started out with FrontPage and learned HTML. I like HTML because I don't have the issues that I have experienced with WordPress. I do love the web based interface with WordPress and all the plugins but you are sort of at the mercy of theme and plugin developers to keep their products current and working properly with new updates of WordPress.

              I am using HTML sites that are over 10 yrs old and are working and ranking fine. HTML, to me, seems to be clean and search engines like it. The problem with starting with and continue using FrontPage "now Expression Web" is that hosting companies are phasing out supporting FrontPage extensions. This is why I'm looking for a new HTML editing software program.

              Most of my local clients use WordPress and most of the time when I start SEO for them, they have messed everything up. They install plugins that interfere with the plugins and widgets that came with the theme they installed. Most times they have pages that are ranked and indexed which look like this: www.clientsite.com/pageid=34583

              I don't develope HTML sites from scratch, but I purchase premade templates and customize them. I don't really see a decline in the number of developers making HTML sites so far which is good and most of the sites I see on the 1st page of the SERP's are still HTML. This might be because a larger number of people who uses WordPress don't know anything about SEO verses those who use HTML.

              Mr.A, are you using tables still or css/divs? Trying to get everything into CSS/divs but man is it a learning curve! Been designing since 1995 and still have issues with divs that take me hours to solve.
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              I have no agenda but to help those in the same situation. This I feel will pay the bills.
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              • Profile picture of the author mraffiliate
                [quote=RentItNow;5574260]
                Originally Posted by mraffiliate View Post



                Mr.A, are you using tables still or css/divs? Trying to get everything into CSS/divs but man is it a learning curve! Been designing since 1995 and still have issues with divs that take me hours to solve.

                Yes I'm using tables. I'm getting ready to convert all my sites and get away from the FrontPage extensions. I did try my hand at Microdata rich snippets today which uses divs and it worked out. Just waiting for Google to index the new page and see where it appears in the SERP's

                I am playing around with DreamWeaver and it isn't that bad but it is bulky and not that easy to navigate, not to mention the steep price.

                I looked at Microsoft's Expression Studio 4 which is less in price than DW but a Microsoft rep told me that they have no plans on supporting HTML5.

                I just downloaded Coffee Cup's HTML editor and so far it is my favorite. The cost is way lower than the other two and so that will allow me to purchase more of their programs that I need. I have the free version now that i just downloaded. It has a clean interface and easy navigation.

                I just opened up a theme that was made for FrontPage and I used the "code cleaner" function in Coffee Cup's HTML Editor and it cleaned the code and now I can upload it to my server without having to have FrontPage extensions installed. It is also HTML5 compliant.
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  • Profile picture of the author drlelong
    Wordpress + Genesis Framework will allow you to easily create a variety of different style websites.
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  • Profile picture of the author RentItNow
    Dreamweaver/Fireworks 80% of the time handcoding HTML or PHP. Gives me WAY more control over the site. Call me old school but knowing CSS/PHP/HTML/photo editing is the one skill I know I cannot do without.

    Wordpress 20% of the time BUT i do not like it. I think most templates are too hard to control or make work the way I want. However, saying that I do love widgets and the SEO capabilities of WP.

    Oh, perhaps I should have been more specific. Offline sites for businesses I CERTAINLY do old school. No WP. Only a blog that I use to direct customers to the main business site.
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    I have no agenda but to help those in the same situation. This I feel will pay the bills.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rockrz
    EditPlus - Text Editor, HTML Editor, PHP Editor and Java Editor for Windows
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    • Profile picture of the author Benjam1n
      I'm definitely going to check out Joomla and thanks for all the other responses.

      For those of you that use wordpress, have you found any themes that allow you to create a "website" style site rather than a blog.

      I know of optimize press but I don't want to be paying for all the graphics etc when all I want is a blank template!!
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      "You become what you think about most of the time" - Think BIG!!

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  • Profile picture of the author Triggerkg
    wordpress +ithemes builder.... love them
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  • Profile picture of the author Irvan Mhd
    I usually use notepad, notepad++, frontpage, dreamweaver, and of course photoshop.
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  • Profile picture of the author KenL
    Am I the only one using Xsitepro anymore? I don't know html to save my life and Xsitepro lets me throw up a site pretty quick without having to handcode anything. The new version come with lot's of template to choose from if you don't want to start from scratch. But it's not free like the other ones already mentioned. Really depends what you are looking for and what you money situation is.
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