Arguably the Most Important Yet Often Overlooked Ingredient in Your Joomla-Powered Website Recipe

Author: Brian Austin

Websites for business, above all, arguably call for speed and reliability. Your website has to be available and perform if you're to meet your business goals. Although many ingredients can come together to create a superb business website recipe, one item on your list is surely now more important today than ever before.

This Week, We've Made Another Important Discovery!

What did we learn? Answer: Joomla powered websites are fantastic ESPECIALLY when you get the recipe right! So exactly, just what do we mean when keep referring to a "recipe"? Essentially, I'm talking about the importance of getting the right mix of components to power and drive your website. What's more, correct setup of the component mix is equally essential.

With the old type of HTML websites most of us had several years ago, in one sense, everything was much simpler. However, to really make a HTML website "fly", for starters, you would need to be:

• Proficient in using HTML, plus ...
• Thoroughly familiar with at least one web design program like Dreamweaver, plus ...
• Able to use a suitable graphics software application like Fireworks.

When excellent web Content Management Systems (CMS) like Joomla became available, once your new Joomla-powered website was set up, you could use an easy to understand WYSIWYG editor to create new web (content) pages, edit existing items, and carry out many more tasks that may have previously called for a web design expert.

So opting to create your web empire using an open source web CMS like Joomla, is - in this author's opinion - an excellent first step. Nevertheless, to really make it all come together, you need an encompassing recipe based on a proven track record.

The Most Crucial Ingredient in Your Joomla Website is Not Your Website

Yes dear reader, you did read that headline correctly. Here's why. Until recently, I never really appreciated how important this "secret" ingredient is. So what am I referring to? Answer: website hosting.

Of course, we focus on our website content, as we should. We focus on creating regular backups, as we should. Nevertheless, without high quality, reliable web hosting, all our website content creation and marketing efforts can be eroded, sometimes instantly; sometimes over time. Website hosting is indeed our Achilles heel (external link)!

For websites that are powered by powerful yet complex web content management systems like Joomla, I believe that choosing a web host experienced in setting up and hosting Joomla websites is much more important than I originally first thought.

Although lots of web hosts have the capability to host Joomla websites, most don't specialize in providing Joomla and that can make all the difference to the speed and reliability of your website.

What's more, with global warming and carbon offsetting more important than ever before, I wanted a web host that I truly believed was actively exploring ways to reduce their (and therefore in turn, our own) impact on the environment. Green hosting is an easy topic to include on a list of features, yet on closer inspection, is much harder to actually prove. That's why, the web host we chose below, ticked all the boxes.

Recently, here at InternetTIPS.com, we decided to move the entire website from what I would term a "general" web hosting company to a specialist Joomla web host.

Joomla Website Recipe Tip 1 - Find a Good Web Host Experienced in Hosting Joomla Websites

Has our website host move made a difference? After one or two initial set-up hiccups, a resounding yes! Without a doubt. Once set up, InternetTIPS.com runs considerably faster. What's more, as a result, we now have a road map to allow for expansion over time.

So for my first tip in a new series of articles to come about creating and running a Joomla-powered website for business: choose a trustworthy, high quality web host that is experienced in hosting Joomla sites.

Who did we choose? Answer: Rochenhost.com (external link) - the same web host that hosts Joomla.org. Visit their website; explore the resources they provide; delve into their discussion forums - and you'll understand why choosing an accomplished, responsive web host is so important.

Joomla Website Recipe Tip 2 - Provide Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URLs

Your website will most likely enjoy better website rankings within search engines and web directories if your website addresses (URLs) are Search Engine Friendly (SEF). For example:

• http://www.internettips.com/domain-names-for-sale/ is better than ...
• http://www.internettips.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=254

To create SEF web addresses for a website powered by Joomla v1.0.x, I recommend that you invest in a third party add-on Component like SEF Advance (external link) from Sakic.net (external link). We've been using SEF Advance here several years now - with good reason.

If You Really, Really Do Want to Build a Credible Web Presence ...

I strongly urge you to consider the following guidelines:

• Start to revalue those essential elements that go together to make your website work - such as the right web hosting (external link), important add-on Components (external link) - as almost like partners, rather than costs. Sure, for any venture, the essentials have a cost, however, for such special constituents, think in terms of value for money first and foremost, and look for savings elsewhere. Most important: don't skimp on the essential service that is your web host.
• Without your essential "partners", your business building website experience can at best be considerably poorer; at worst, your website can falter if the supporting pillars may not be sufficiently reliable to maintain your website.
• Invest in buying the services and add-ons you need. Trusted sources like Rochenhost.com and Sakic.net provide an incredible amount of support and help information. This is done in a way that is information-centric rather than hype-dominated.
  
  With sources that steep themselves in excellence for its own sake, you soon develop a feeling that you, the customer, matter more than any order you may provide.
  
  If you have a problem and still can't find an answer, by buying a service or a product from an outstanding supplier, often a simple email or a quick support ticket can give you the answer you need.
  
  For people in business, time rather than income, really is your most precious asset, for only with sufficient time can you hope to generate the income and lifestyle you may seek. That's why the quality of help and support alone can be worth 10x what the product or service costs!
  
  In fact, this week, yet again, we've been amazed by the speed of response and helpfulness from the two suppliers discussed on this page! That means, you too can benefit from our good fortune.
  

InternetTIPS.com is neither connected with or affiliated to any of the suppliers mentioned in this article. We mention their names and provide their contact details as a "thumbs up" free service to customers, clients and visitors based on our own past experience when creating multiple Joomla-powered websites.

In follow-up articles, we'll provide more essential Joomla website recipe tips.

InternetTIPS.com is a unique, plain English "How to" resource designed to help you create a profitable, interactive Web 2.0 website rich in engaging content, community and commerce.

Brian Austin is a member of both the Society of Authors and the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators. He has over 25,000 hours of extensive experience combining the disciplines of web site design, search engine optimization, and creating remarkable, compelling content interwoven with persuasive writing.

Whether you're an individual, small- or medium-sized business or organization, we can work with you to design, create and populate a "ready-to-go" website that you can be proud of.

Moreover, for no additional cost, clients who order website design services, can also enjoy full access to our member-only area containing a growing vault of downloadable resources including: 9,000 articles, 1,500 marketing strategies, plain English training tutorial videos, software, ebooks and more! To discuss your project, in the first instance, to ensure we don't miss your emails, please contact Brian using our web Contact form.