Aren't there Free CMS like WordPress, Zen Cart, Joomla, Typo, etc?

Yep - and they really are free. 

With the utmost respect to their developers, who truly have given the world an amazing product, you still can't avoid the fact that you usually get pretty much what you pay for. Especially since the implementor of the free CMS can do good and bad things with it - you really need to pay a professional to make sure your free CMS is setup right initially.

If you're confident it is, then examine these advantages and disadvantages:


Advantages with free CMS
  • They're free
That represents amazing value for what you get.



Disadvantages with free CMS
  • They're difficult to use
Imagine receiving a free whiz-bang all-in-one hardware tool that is designed to be used for just about every handyman application known to man. Great value! But now you've got to learn how to use the thing... and all you really needed was a hammer and saw... or a screwdriver and pliers... or [just your custom requirements, get the picture?]

  • You have to pay for support services
If you can't find what you need yourself on their documentation or forum, you usually have to pay! We train and support you for free. Fact is you probably won't need it anyway, because our systems are dead easy to use, and only contain as much complexity as you need. 

  • It's almost impossible to stand out of the crowd with an off-the-shelf free system
Think you can compete in the search engines against everybody else who's using the SAME free system you are? ...and has already been trying for years? Think again. Get a custom-built CMS and website, hand coded from the ground up, and you'll see just how quickly Google and the other search engines notice you.

  • They're vulnerable to attack because hackers know how they work
That's why they are constantly being updated, and that poses the burden of keeping up-to-date on you... or you could be hacked and used for spam or graffitied - which is the worst thing that could happen to your SEO campaign, let alone your reputation! Even the best ones aren't easy to update, and you can lose your content if you're not careful. Google has been warning people using out-of-date WordPress versions because of the risk and Google refuses to promote someone who is a potential danger.



Case Study - Assured Health and Safety

This professional client creates their own OHS Documentation Systems and sells them online. They're very clever people. They came to us because they just couldn't get the hang of their Zen Cart installation. Having already 'invested' in their design and contracted hosting with the 'free' Zen Cart provider, they're sticking with the Zen Cart and paying us to use it for them. Hardly what you'd call 'Content Managed'. The Zen Cart system tries to cater for every type of online sale, from posted products, to services, to downloads, to music industry licenses. It's just too complex for the average business.



Case Study - Nicholas Agency

Nicholas Agency (a.k.a. NF) have got a great individual style, but their original web developer used a Joomla installation with the ugliest URLs (web page addresses) we'd seen in a while, and what they really need is rewritten URLs that look good for users and have the right keywords in them for search engines. What's more, the orders they receive put the wrong Trading Name at the top of the order email!

Most devastatingly, they simply were not in Google. Not one page indexed. Why not?
The main file of their Joomla install was redirecting search engine robots from their home page to a 404 Page Not Found.

That means search engines were told there was no such page - and so they left the site without indexing it! 
One basic SEO consultation later and they were very quickly indexed in Google and finally ranking for their business name at least. Problem solved? Nope. We just put fuel back in their Datsun Sunny. Now they need a website with CMS and SEO that's more like a Rolls Royce.



Contact Pioneer Websites today for a free quote on your customised hand-crafted SEO CMS website.

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