Now you have an idea of what features you’d like, it’s time to talk about the programming and software you’d want behind your website.

Old Websites and Brochure-ware

In the early days of the web and before the advent of Content Management Systems (CMS), most websites were static brochure sites that were created by designers using html code.  Some designers still create these for smaller websites either because they are not familiar with a CMS, or because they are fast to create for simple sites. They are usually done by a single designer. However, even for a small (i.e. 5-10 page website) that is going to support an existing small business, I would not build a
static website.  It will not be seen:

• A dynamic site is greatly favored in terms of search engine rankings.
• Unlike dynamic websites built using a CMS, static sites cannot be updated easily.
• On a static site, you will probably need to have a webmaster make every modification to each affected page by hand.
• This may take days or weeks in turnaround time and can be expensive.
• Even if you don’t have a need today, even the most basic company website may eventually need to have a blog, or an area to post news and updates and the ability to change text / images.
• Therefore, a static website should be avoided if at all possible.

Modern Websites and the cool part of Web 2.0 Philosophy

Web 2.0 describes the dramatic shift of the Internet from broadcasting information to online participation and collaboration like the world’s largest collaborative encyclopedia, Wikipedia, and YouTube.

• Now the audience can provide real-time feedback on websites via comments and even generate the majority of the content in the case of YouTube and Wikipedia, Facebook, Dating sites, publishing sites, social bookmarking sites…
• Web 2.0 is concerned with engagement and interaction.
• Web 2.0 sites are “user-driven” and  treat a website as a continually changing entity (as opposed to a non-changing service) which is being redrawn, reinvented, and changed based on the input of the site’s users and what would add the most value to the online community.
• As the community or network grows,  so does the site’s value in the continuous strive for improvement.
• Often a successful website may accidentally out-value the original underlying business.
• Dynamic content sites rank well on search engines and get traffic
• Dynamic or Interactive  sites can provide a barometer and have market research and data collection value
• Interactive websites give a visitor a reason to give up his contact information, a way to express his or her opinion
• Interactive websites convert visitors to leads and/or sales
• Dynamic content builds a knowledge base to use to decrease the time spent on the phone answering the ‘same old questions’
• We only build dynamic websites

“By the time my clients call me the first time, they have often already decided to buy from me: all I need to worry about is not to screw it up!”    Israel Rothman, Founder of Social Media Systems

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