Free website systems to start online business
If you don't have thousands to invest into your new online business idea but still want to get your site up and running at low cost, check out my list of free website software that will help you create site that is cool looking, easy to update and with all the web 2.0 goodies ;)
Free cheese only in trap? Not this time!
These examples of website software (let's call them CMS, from Content Management System) are from open source world - that means you can download them for free, install on your own (step by step graphic installing), and use them as you like and for whatever business you like! Why they are free? Because thousands of developers like to play with code and even more thousands of users and IT people believe that best things in life are for free and community built ;)
OK, there you go, the sweet and short list of free Content Management Systems to kick-start your business idea online:
Definitely the most popular CMS today. You can build simple site, or portals and shops, or social networks.
Installation is fast and easy, only five steps and your site is ready to customize, add or remove modules, enter text and images, and change design templates (they are thousands out there!).
Positive:
free to download, no registration,
thousands of free site designs,
thousands of plugins and extensions,
huge forums with fanatic community,
stable development, regular new versions
Negative:
does not have built in SEF option, requires plugin
adding new article or new menu item - takes time to learn..
It works and looks just like Digg! Create site where people can vote and comment your topics, links or products.
Installation is easy, just enter required settings and click 'next' until finished.
Positive:
free to download,
lots of free site designs,
lots of plugins and extensions,
good forum with support community,
built in SEF option,
stable development, regular new versions
Negative:
the configuration of some crucial parts of site is difficult for absolute beginner,
some SEO features are not that easy to configure,
requires you to register on Pligg forum in order to download it for free
This blogging platform is intended for blogging, but with the right design template and customization you can turn it into great business site!
Installation is the easiest i've ever seen! Only one step and you can log on and start to customize and create your content.
Positive:
free to download,
hundreds of free site designs,
hundreds of plugins and extensions,
good forums, huge support community,
built in flexible SEF option,
extra stable development, regular new versions
Negative:
some SEO features will work only with plugins,
One of the most popular CMS today. Build sites, portals, online shops, etc.
Installation is easy, the configuration is not that easy.
Positive:
free to download, no registration,
hundreds of free site designs,
hundreds of plugins and extensions,
huge forums with support,
stable development, regular new versions
Negative:
takes time to learn how to do this and that..
Also a blogging platform, but again you can use your imagination and turn it into perfect business site. And yeah, it's not an open source, it's a piece of software "free for personal use".
Installation is easy enough, a graphic installer with step by step things to click and enter.
Positive:
free to download,
free site designs,
many plugins and extensions,
growing support community,
built in flexible SEF option,
stable development, regular new versions
Negative:
some SEO features hard to get working,
kinda in 'beta' phase, some things don't work as expected until you find what and where must be configured.
(www.plone.org)
These two are worth trying.
ModEX is going to be a hit if the development continues and community keeps involving. The best feature it has it is easy editing mode of any content via AJAX interface.
Plone is a monster that has many features. The adding of new content like pages and articles was very easy and intuitive. The main reason you should not start with this software is
that it requires a lot of resources from hosting machine (in other words, you need dedicated hosting to run it the best possible way).
Well, i hope this gives you some ideas where to start and it definitely shows you that you can start e-business only with 20 bucks - 10 for the domain, and 10 for the hosting!
Free cheese only in trap? Not this time!
These examples of website software (let's call them CMS, from Content Management System) are from open source world - that means you can download them for free, install on your own (step by step graphic installing), and use them as you like and for whatever business you like! Why they are free? Because thousands of developers like to play with code and even more thousands of users and IT people believe that best things in life are for free and community built ;)
OK, there you go, the sweet and short list of free Content Management Systems to kick-start your business idea online:
Joomla
www.joomla.orgDefinitely the most popular CMS today. You can build simple site, or portals and shops, or social networks.
Installation is fast and easy, only five steps and your site is ready to customize, add or remove modules, enter text and images, and change design templates (they are thousands out there!).
Positive:
free to download, no registration,
thousands of free site designs,
thousands of plugins and extensions,
huge forums with fanatic community,
stable development, regular new versions
Negative:
does not have built in SEF option, requires plugin
adding new article or new menu item - takes time to learn..
Pligg
www.pligg.comIt works and looks just like Digg! Create site where people can vote and comment your topics, links or products.
Installation is easy, just enter required settings and click 'next' until finished.
Positive:
free to download,
lots of free site designs,
lots of plugins and extensions,
good forum with support community,
built in SEF option,
stable development, regular new versions
Negative:
the configuration of some crucial parts of site is difficult for absolute beginner,
some SEO features are not that easy to configure,
requires you to register on Pligg forum in order to download it for free
WordPress
www.wordpress.orgThis blogging platform is intended for blogging, but with the right design template and customization you can turn it into great business site!
Installation is the easiest i've ever seen! Only one step and you can log on and start to customize and create your content.
Positive:
free to download,
hundreds of free site designs,
hundreds of plugins and extensions,
good forums, huge support community,
built in flexible SEF option,
extra stable development, regular new versions
Negative:
some SEO features will work only with plugins,
Drupal
www.drupal.orgOne of the most popular CMS today. Build sites, portals, online shops, etc.
Installation is easy, the configuration is not that easy.
Positive:
free to download, no registration,
hundreds of free site designs,
hundreds of plugins and extensions,
huge forums with support,
stable development, regular new versions
Negative:
takes time to learn how to do this and that..
Movable Type 4
www.movabletype.comAlso a blogging platform, but again you can use your imagination and turn it into perfect business site. And yeah, it's not an open source, it's a piece of software "free for personal use".
Installation is easy enough, a graphic installer with step by step things to click and enter.
Positive:
free to download,
free site designs,
many plugins and extensions,
growing support community,
built in flexible SEF option,
stable development, regular new versions
Negative:
some SEO features hard to get working,
kinda in 'beta' phase, some things don't work as expected until you find what and where must be configured.
MODx and Plone
(www.modxcms.com)(www.plone.org)
These two are worth trying.
ModEX is going to be a hit if the development continues and community keeps involving. The best feature it has it is easy editing mode of any content via AJAX interface.
Plone is a monster that has many features. The adding of new content like pages and articles was very easy and intuitive. The main reason you should not start with this software is
that it requires a lot of resources from hosting machine (in other words, you need dedicated hosting to run it the best possible way).
Well, i hope this gives you some ideas where to start and it definitely shows you that you can start e-business only with 20 bucks - 10 for the domain, and 10 for the hosting!
P.S. there are some more good website building systems, sorry if i've forgotten something important, remind me in comments!
This article belongs to categories:
Content Management Systems , Online Publishing0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Free website systems to start online business.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.superxm.com/mt-tb.cgi/27
5 Comments
Leave a comment
Advertising
Bitweaver is a grep CMS (wiki) based on tikiwiki, but developed for speed and scalability, and includes Image Galleries, Blogs, New Articles, Forums, and personalized user pages, etc...
I use it for my personal auto repair site, and have been extremely happy every since.
http://www.FixExpert.com
The Automotive Repair Site
Hello Nakamura,
I am trying to contact you regarding superxm.com. You've got a great blog with a great design and I just have a few brief questions about the blog.
If you could, please contact me at: tchristensen AT logoworks.com (replace the "AT" with "@").
Thank you,
Tanner
Thanks Joseph, i will take a look at Bitweaver, i've seen it before, but have forgotten what it's like. Must have a lot of improvements in latest versions.
Hello,
About plone: its more designed for commercial hosting, you need to have a dedicated plone host.
There are a couple of good, inexpensive, plone hosts out there, but very very few good free ones.
Upside to plone: very extensible
Downside: you need to be a plone dev to modify it..
Kirrus
(A trainee web designer working in plone)
exactly, Plone is a monster to play with and develop lots of stuff if you know how to do and have time for it.