If you're using the Joomla! Content Management System, you have several template choices when creating a new website or facing a website redesign. The Joomla CMS ships with 3 default templates, but most business websites won't find these very useful unless you want to look like hundreds of thousands of other sites already on the web.

With the Joomla! CMS nearing 15 Million downloads in the past 4 years, that's a lot of similar looking sites for those that still use the default template.

So you want your site to look different? You basically have 2 choices.

I'm often times asked by potential clients, "What do I need to do to get my business website started?"

Here's a quick rundown of the top 10 things you should think about when having your first website built or a redesign of your current website.

This is not 1996, and 3 blinking images and your contact information does not make a good website. You or someone in your organization that will maintain the website needs to sit down with the people in charge of the company/organization and a pencil and paper and hash out a few things.

One of the keys to success on the web is creating a website design that customers remember. It's the same principal as building a successful yellow page ad, or choosing the right colors for your business. You need something that sets your business apart from the others while still maintaining a certain level of comfort when viewing your website. You want to be remembered - but not for the wrong reasons.

Website Design ranges from simple HTML coded 'static' pages to database driven dynamic CMS portals. Early on in web development, just about all sites were created using static html to generate words and images on a page that you access over the internet. Today, many websites are created using a database driven CMS or Content Management System.

Here's the bottom line in plain English...