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Having a presence on the Web has become very important, especially for businesses. If a business doesn't have a Web site, it could lose a lot of potential customers without being aware of it.
While there are many people who post a Web site, it can be expensive to have one designed and built by a professional. Often, a small business will let someone without much experience create it for them, which could create a touchy situation. In many cases the site will look alright and have all the necessary aspects for the business. If you are a doctor, for instance, you might just need a page or two with some text and perhaps a graphic image. Those types of Web sites aren't difficult to create, if you know what you're doing. But you may need more. You might need to set up an online catalogue and perhaps even integrate e-commerce capability. You might need to set up a blog to keep your clients up-to-date on what's happening with your business, or even develop an e-mail list for product announcements. That type of development can be very complex, even for experienced Web designers/developers.
There are options for creating Web sites for those with little or no experience. One of these options is "SiteKreator" (created by NetClime), which incorporates Web 2.0 features. It's available in a personal and business edition. This review will cover the business edition.
In order to review the platform I created a demo Web site for this review. I wasn't able to test everything but I was able to get the feel of the platform and its potential.
In this application the sites are based on templates. At the time of this review, there are 62 templates, divided into 20 different designs. In other words, many of the templates are the same with changes in color. In most situations the selection is good, with more under development. In some instances, depending upon the template, you can change to a different layout without much difficulty. For the demo site, I chose the FutureTech template.
For storage, there are three plans: 200 MB ($95.00/year); 400 MB ($149.00/year); and 1 GB ($199.00/year). For most businesses, these plans should be more than adequate. You can also start small and upgrade later, as your business grows.
The features include built-in text and image editors, the ability to add a blog, discussion forum, image galleries, and mailing lists. If needed, a "members only" area can be created. In addition, the plans also include search engine optimization and site statistics.
The creation process is pretty intuitive, but if you're not technically minded, there's a simple tutorial. Also included are interactive wizards and animated tutorials. Each part of the page is divided into blocks, which are easily accessible to create, add, or edit. It took me awhile to figure out that, in order to make changes to a block, you use the "Properties" link, not the "Edit" link. The "Edit" link is only for cutting, copying, deleting and duplicating.
Adding a blog, discussion forum, image gallery, form or mailing list is as easy as point and click. You'll need to answer a few questions and then the system sets it up for you. It couldn't be much simpler. The blog is actually quite nice, rivaling any of the major blog sites. Many of the templates also include a Google search box.
The image gallery is quite nice. Thumbnails of the pictures are shown with enlarged versions displayed in a popup window. When you create an image gallery, you don't need to add each image separately. You can place them in a ZIP file, upload them (the system provides an easy upload method), and the system will unzip it and place them on the page.
Since all of the technical aspects of the site — i.e., CSS and (X)HTML — takes place behind the scenes, you can focus on your business and what you need on the page. It's not, however, like a drag and drop application. You select where you want information on the page, select the editing icons you need, and proceed from there.
It didn't take long to create the site in my demo. (Remember, this has nothing to do with Web design/programming skills so I had no advantage.) With a little bit of patience, a business can create a fantastic Web presence with little cost. You can also use you own domain name, which helps greatly with your online presence.
In addition, you can integrate many different e-commerce packages (such as PayPal), making it a great solution for an online store.
If you're looking to create a presence on the Web but don't want to spend a lot of money to pay a designer/developer (or don't have anyone in your office who is skilled at Web design), SiteKreator is an excellent alternative. Given a little bit of creativity, you can have a Web site that rivals many a professional site. SiteKreator has a site development blog, along with a roadmap to help you stay current with the changes on the overall site. Several upgrades are planned, such as RSS feeds, the ability to upload custom CSS files, use API-based search and upload SEO-related files in the root folder of the site.
Now, you have no reason to stay off the information highway. Get building ...
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