Anyone here using Joomla for websites, blogs, etc? I just installed it and would like to get together, preferably in Santiago, and talk about tips, tricks, tactics (and getting started!) in using it...bien frias on me!
- Thread starter DavidZ
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Joomla anyone?
I have used joomla for the website of our wholesale business, and was quite happy with it, but one, very big word of advice, keep your joomla version updated at all times, as joomla is easy to hack, and the playground for a lot of those idiots.
Happened to us, and it was a royal pain in the a.. to get it ok again. Must say though that we got great help from the joomla people
Happened to us, and it was a royal pain in the a.. to get it ok again. Must say though that we got great help from the joomla people
LOL David, there are lots of tricks, help, designs and more on the official site of Joomla to be found. Otherwise give a yell
The programming with Joomla...or Wordpress, Drupal, W3C, OpenCMS or any of the "free website designer" templates...is fairly easy and straightforward.
But it's the graphics, layout, content, security, SEO and basic marketing integration that separates the pros from the amateurs.
A good website with a bad message is probably more effective and memorable than a bad website with a good message. Folks with sel-constructed bad websites usually don't know their website is bad; they are emotionally attached to it because they have their DNA all over it: it's their child, and every parent is biased to the beauty-or lack thereof-of their child.
I guess it all depends on how important your message is and how important the image your website represents is...
It's not the language. It's the implementation. It's the concept. It's the graphic images.
But it's the graphics, layout, content, security, SEO and basic marketing integration that separates the pros from the amateurs.
A good website with a bad message is probably more effective and memorable than a bad website with a good message. Folks with sel-constructed bad websites usually don't know their website is bad; they are emotionally attached to it because they have their DNA all over it: it's their child, and every parent is biased to the beauty-or lack thereof-of their child.
I guess it all depends on how important your message is and how important the image your website represents is...
It's not the language. It's the implementation. It's the concept. It's the graphic images.
Add to that its equally important that your website is easily found by the search engines and that they are highly ranked if you want it to.
What kind of website are you going to build David?
What kind of website are you going to build David?
That's what SEO is: Search Engine Optimization. It's a sub speciality in the web marketing world.
Not every website needs to be optimized the same way.
If you want your website to be basically a brochure that YOU point potential customers toward it's not at all necessary. An example would be a specialty tool or device that one wouldn't randomly google for: we built a website for a US company that makes big industrial rubber cutters that pretty much just a handful of potential customers on the planet-tire manufacturers-would use, and only has 4 competitors in the entire world. They weren't concerned in the least about SEO. They WERE concerned about the psychographics of Purchasing Agents and Buyers in their industry (lots of grey and mid-blues, big tabs, big letters, few smallish words and a focus on low maintenance costs and technical support.)
A totally local website-say a restaurant in Moca-doesn't need to be optimized or marketed the same way a common, brand-driven generic product needs to be, like someone selling Nike sneakers, because they don't need to be ranked high when someone googles "restaurants", but will show up quickly with a localized search like "restaurants Dominican Republic." Big difference is SEO and web marketing.
Before one even begins to decide what kind of website they want, they need to ask themselves some fundamental marketing questions: who are my potential clients, what are their demographics/psychographics, what are my Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, what will my company look like in 18 months and 3 years, how does my web presence reflect that transition, etc., etc., etc.
Just throwing up a website can be a colossal waste of time, energy and money-as Robert said, "a billboard in the desert." In the worst case it can actually hurt your business.
And FWIW: if you spend nothing on your web marketing, the greatest website on the planet will not achieve the results you expect. This is the #1 failure for folks putting out a website. If your budget is $1500, spend $1000 on the actual website and the $500 on web marketing. That will drive much better results than a $1500 website with no marketing. And if you have a cheesy, poorly constructed "free" site or an amateurish "I Did It Myself" site your business-if it's found in the first place-might suffer. If your site looks bad, you look bad. If you don't know your site looks bad...you prolly spend a lot of time wondering "what happened?"
BTW-there seems to be some prevailing opinions among the SEO algorithm geeks that the use of website templates (or, identical programming code the googlebots look at) actually ~lowers~ search engine rank. Original layout and code seems to help rank.
Plug: if you want some competent web marketing assistance, talk with DR1's Robert. He's forgotten more than most will ever know.
He must be feeling better: http://www.dr1.com/forums/892285-post10.html
We chatted yesterday. I told him to enjoy the drugs...
The #1 problem I see in this country with client websites (hotels, tours, restaurants etc) apart from poor rankings etc, is they have no call to action or the designer had no clue how to covert the visitor into a client or potential client.
You can spend as much as you want on a site and marketing, but if it's doesn't convert, then you're ROI will be very poor. Of course, this is a specialized area and I know of only a handful of design firms in this country that consider this important.
I could go on and on about this subject... feel free to post any questions.
You can spend as much as you want on a site and marketing, but if it's doesn't convert, then you're ROI will be very poor. Of course, this is a specialized area and I know of only a handful of design firms in this country that consider this important.
I could go on and on about this subject... feel free to post any questions.
He must be feeling better: http://www.dr1.com/forums/892285-post10.html
We chatted yesterday. I told him to enjoy the drugs...
My first ever surgery... I'll post all the details in a new thread later this week.
Costs, doctors, Hospiten, photos etc.
I'm setting up 3 sites, for my own business...one is primarily a marketing site, one is a blogging/forum type site (don't worry Robert - it's not really DR related!), and the third, a retail site....which will actually be more marketing than e-commerce. I plan on doing the three sites with a similar look-and-feel. The purpose of two of the sites is to direct traffic to the third....
I spent a little over 15 years in graphic design, marketing, business development, the latter 5 years focused on web development, internet integration, portal design, interface/"user experience" optimization, SEO, etc. but I was less and less hands on as the years progressed, especially with the graphics, coding, database stuff, etc.
I understand the value of everything that's been said here and appreciate all the input. A lot of good comments, observations and suggestions...however, I'm looking to talk more about nuts and bolts stuff. I've barely talked about this stuff since changing career paths about 10 years ago, let alone doing any of it, that's why I was hoping to shoot the sh*t with some people who have been using Joomla, as it seems like it could make getting back into this a bit more fun than some of the other apps and platforms out there.
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Joomla is pretty easy to learn and with your background, you'll pick it up easily. I taught myself the basics from the Quick Start manual and other documentation, "Getting Started" etc. You can also follow some tutorials on Youtube.
Lynda.com is also great for all the nuts and bolts. Photoshop, Illustrator, web etc. and Joomla CMS as well. Search | lynda.com
I would be happy to talk to you over Skype and I also recommend LinkedIN for the Joomla group and Facebook.
Also, check out the templates from this group: http://www.gavick.com/
They have ecommerce, forums, blogging and other marketing type templates with some nice extensions to Joomla (slideshow, newshows, jomsocial, etc.)
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Thanks margaret! Ive been playing around with the joomla.org tutorials and samples and lynda.com. I didn't think of checking youtube. There certainly are tons of resources, plenty to keep me busy...
I'll send you my skype info once I'm more immersed in the sites...
I'll send you my skype info once I'm more immersed in the sites...