[SimpleWebWork.com]

So… You have an idea for your website. You’ve figured out what type of content to add. You’re ready to get started right away.

Now you’re wondering…

“What type of application can I use to quickly build a website that’s easy to navigate and attractive?”

An introduction to content management systems…

A content management system, also known as CMS, is very complex software which holds, and organizes, the content you’ve collected to add to your own website.

Once familiar with the system that you’ve chosen, you can add and edit content quite easily. Content management software allows you to customize the layout, look and feel, articles, documents, Google Adsense ads, affiliate programs, audio and video files, or whatever data you can think of.

Website content management software is a smart way to build from your everyday basic websites to your forums, news portals, weblogs, and much more.

Many content management systems are open source. In a word, open source simply stands for “free”. Whether you’re a newbie or an expert, this is a great way to go.

Some of the most popular open source content management systems include Drupal, Joomla, Mambo, Xoops, Typo3, Geeklog, PHP-Nuke, and Siteframe. Many new ones are becoming available each year.
Note: Choose a hosting service that provides these free CMS tools.
How do you choose the best one for your organization?

Well, that all depends on the goal you’re looking to accomplish with the particular website you are building right now. What is your strategy? Do you want to build a community, or a website that’s news-driven? Drupal can work wonders for that. Or, are you thinking of a portal site? Many people love Joomla.

The best way to choose is to first decide what you want to accomplish with your website business. Then, simply do your research using your favorite search engine. Learn about the different ways each web content management system may help you.

Take a look at the templates (graphic design look and feel), and the extensions (add-on scripts). Are they attractive to you? Do they accomplish your goal?

Now, based on your overall judgment, you should be able to narrow down your choices, and pick one that’s right for you.

What’s great about this process is that it can even help you develop more ideas for your website. Once you start to learn about all the additional benefits that content management systems can provide, you just may have a better gameplan than what you started out with.