This is not an exhaustive list and not all CMS' will offer above features. However with such a wide variety of systems available, you should ensure you take some time to find one that is right for your business.

What about pricing? This will largely depend on size of your website, number of users that will be updating it through CMS and amount of functionality you require.

As a (very) rough pricing guide; CMS' suitable for SME's range from as little as £350 per user to as much as £30,000. For larger businesses, enterprise level CMS' start at around £30,000 and go right up to around £250,000.

With such a huge variety of systems and pricing; it is highly recommended that you look around and get some advice before purchasing one.

Where can I get one? You can get in touch with CMS supplier if you know which is right for you. Alternatively, you can get in touch with a software company or consultant such as us - we'll be happy to advise you on best way forward. Happy updating...

This article is copyright Fire Without Smoke Software 2003. Permission must be sought from www.fwoss.com or info@fwoss.com for any reproduction.

There is also a possibility that service will require you to keep some branding on site telling people that you used their tool. This is more common with free site builders – which pay for themselves by putting ads on your site. If your goal is to build a business web site, it’s really not worth sacrificing your professional image by getting something free, which screams CHEAP.

The biggest downfall to using a site builder and doing it yourself is that it really isn’t quite as easy as they say it is, to do it right. A tool can make things happen – but if you don’t know what to make happen, it is either a useless tool or a dangerous one. There is a learning curve to knowing how to present information online, as well as for using site builder. In other word, fuller featured tool; more there is to learn. If you aren’t familiar with color theory, use of typography, information architecture, layout and design, you can potentially make something that will hurt your business more than help it. So, unless you are already computer and web savvy, figuring out all features within your web hosting and site builder package can be time consuming and frustrating.

Fortunately, there are ways that a small business can take advantage of these new options and still create a functional and professional web site. One way is simply to take time to research available tools, and find one that has most features and flexibility, meeting your functional requirements. The internet is a massive library of “how to” information, where you can literally teach yourself anything – and with enough time spent, you could potentially learn how to layout information, what colors and fonts work well together, how to conduct your marketing online and optimize site for search engines. Another approach would be to hire a professional designer simply to get you “off ground” by handling administrative set up of your new site package, creating look of site and developing initial structure. That person could also teach you how to manage content and make changes yourself going forward. This middle ground approach ensures that your site benefits your business and puts a good image forward, while taking advantage of “pay as you go” budgeting and easy content management features of a site builder.

The first step for a small business owner thinking about having a web site needs to be an honest assessment of how much time, money, talent, patience and computer savvy he or she has, with a clear understanding of available options. Once this is determined, any small business which needs to be online can be.

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© Eileen Parzek, SOHO It Goes! 2003

Eileen 'Turtle' Parzek is a veteran web designer and an online marketing & communications consultant who has been working from home and virtually since 1995. Her first business, Turtle's Web, was responsible for approximately 250 web projects. Her current business, SOHO It Goes! (www.soho-it-goes.com) functions as an online marketing department for small businesses and organizations.