A Corporate Web Site At An Affordable Price
 by: Neil MacLeod


To have a web site which is flexible, professional in design, can have additional functionality added in wherever is needed, is compliant in web development standards and can be controlled by the owner is no longer a corporate reality but is an affordable reality.

By using open source software the cost of such an affordable website has dramatically reduced. Open source software is free, built by an ethically sound and forward thinking community determined to better the functionality of the Internet. Whilst it is free, one should always try help those helping you by donating to open source software so that everybody benefits.

Just because the software is free, this does not mean that the website is free, the web site designer must still have knowledge of the website system and will be able to add a design and functionality tailored to your requirements. Building a website to deliver what you need is never an easy task.

The benefits of using open source software included affordable design changes without disturbing the content. Regular upgrades to improve the speed and security of the web site, additional modules allow a plug in mechanism for additional functionality to improve the use of the website, web site portability, reduced bespoke programming costs and probably most importantly, a support network which can aide in system issues and troubleshooting.

Easy Design Changes

Most open source software systems provide compliant website standards, this invariably means that the content is separated from the presentation giving two main benefits. The first of these is that the web site can provide slick content to be provided to the search engines and secondly since the design is independent of the content then the design of the whole site can be changed more affordably.

Regular upgrades

These open source software systems just grow from strength to strength, the development team expands, new ideas come into play and the software evolves version after version.

Support forums

Support forums of all levels up for the more popular open source solutions and communities develop within them. Whether you want to know how to do something in an administration panel, need help on best practices or require technical information on coding, more often than not, there is an answer for you on one of the many forums by people willing to share information and help you.

Additional functionality

The core functionality of many of the open source software systems is probably more than most people require. But a huge benefit Is the ability to add additional functionality. If there's something your website needs to do, very likely the more popular open source software has a configurable module or component of some sort with the ability to do it. If it does not then a bespoke coder will be able to do it at an affordable cost, as it is just one part of the site integrating into the central system not a rewrite of everything.

Web site Portability

Being able to move a website between one website company and another without loss of support or "the getting to know the code" time is an excellent facility to have. Because the open source software is known to many of the web design companies, taking a new web site on board would be no problem.

For now and for the future why have the bespoke built web site at a large cost and even larger support costs, as opposed to an affordable flexible system which gives you the power to use the best minds of the Internet at an affordable price, with corporate functionality.

About The Author
Neil MacLeod runs http://www.Web-Studio.co.uk, providing web site and web marketing services in Buckinghamshire. Neil has been building websites since 1999 and is a founding member of http://www.itwebnetwork.co.uk.