Creating a WebSite is Easy
Creating a basic website is relatively easy however, if you want yours to stand out from the crowd, you may find yourself spending hours, days, months, even years tweaking and fine tuning your html code. For an affiliate marketer for whom time is money, time spent on website development means lost revenue which may ultimately lead to failure. What to do? Find and use a good content management system! There are many content management systems available, but three of the best are WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. One outstanding feature of these solutions is the cost-they are all free!
WordPress
Free blog services include Blogger, using Google, and WordPress, using WordPress.com. For those short on funds, free may be the way to go. However, if you host your own blogsite and use WordPress, you will have a robust and versatile site that can serve as a blog, e-commerce, or content site. There are many free plug-ins for WordPress that greatly expand its capabilities. Support is readily available so even a novice will be able to quickly get their blog up and operational. For me, WordPress is the way to go for an affiliate marketing blogsite.
Joomla
Without delving into too much into its history, Joomla is a re-release of Mambo, a very popular content management system. Joomla currently has two versions, 1.0 and 1.5 which are not completely compatible. Which to choose depends on the affiliate marketer’s primary focus. Version 1.0 is the more mature version and consequently, there are more add-ons and modules available to extend and complement the capabilities of the basic system which is quite robust by its self. Version 1.5 is newer and seems to have an easier to use and understand management system. If you need a full-featured e-commerce site, Version 1.0 would be the better choice at the present because the add-on module Virtue-Mart is not yet compatible with Version 1.5.
You can customize the look of your site with the many free templates available for Joomla. However, you probably will need to modify any template for you own use–logos and slogans for example. So, you will need to understand at least some html and css in order to use it. You could design your own template with the available tutorial, but that would probably take a lot of time away from promotion which is key to an affiliate marketer’s success. So unless you plan on developing templates to sell, which many do, you are probably well advised to find a ready made one that you can modify to your personal taste.
Drupal–Another Useful Solution
Drupal seems to be used primarily for community websites designed so that the members can add their own content and perspectives. Drupal is, in my opinion easier to learn than Joomla, but not as easy as WordPress. Drupal can easily be adapted to a blog or content site and also has many add-on modules available to expand its basic capabilities. Drupal comes with a selection of themes or you easily create your own. Most themes have a central content column and left and/or right sidebar columns. Drupal will remain free but you can expect to see more non-free additions in the future.
Web Host Considerations
Since these content systems use MySQL and PHP you need to find a host that has those capabilities. Many are available, so just make sure the one you select does. Another thing to consider is if you web host has cpanel with fantastico. Installation of all three of these content management systems is a breeze with fantastico. Insist on it! Also, with some hosting companies your can have as many websites as you want with no additional hosting fees. All successful affiliate marketers have numerous sites to product their affiliate products. Free content management and the right hosting company can mean the difference between an your success or failure as an affiliate!
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