Many of our clients have a basic knowledge of the internet but lack a solid foundation in areas related to website management. As a result, managing a new website can often be overwhelming for individuals and small businesses. But there are resources that can help. All you need to do is a little research and you will be able to develop a library of helfpul resources and tools that can be used to manage a website.

Online Resources
Search engines can be a great source of information for small issues. Go to Google, Yahoo, or Bing and type in the keywords important to your issue. For example, maybe you have a Joomla-based website and you want to edit the text in the footer on each page. If you enter “edit joomla footer” (without quotes) in Google, then the first web page returned has the instructions that you need. Sometimes, however, you may need more detailed information than a typical search engine might provide.

Bookstores
Online bookstores provide access to a number of great resources. Use the search tool on the bookstore’s website to identify books that might be of interest to you. For example, if you go to Amazon.com and type in “Joomla” (without quotes), then you will find a number of different publications. Make sure to look for the newest publications that have the best reviews. Newer publications are more likely to be up-to-date.

Some of the books on Amazon.com provide a brief glimpse of the text inside. However, sometimes even a brief glimpse is not enough to gauge the usefulness of a publication. If there are only 1 or 2 publications, then choices are limited which makes the buying decision easier. If there are a number of publications available, then the decision is not so easy and buying all available resources is not cost-effective. Try going to your local bookstore to see which publications are in stock. If stock is limited, then you have one more option.

WorldCat and Libraries
Fortunately, there is a way to find and read popular publications without spending any money at all. First, identify publications that you would potentially like to read. You can do this by browsing through Amazon.com. After you make a list of publications, go to WorldCat and see if there are any libraries near you that have this publication. Many people will be surprised at just how many of these resources are available in local libraries. Even if your local libraries do not carry some of the publications that interest you, they may be able to borrow the book from another library using a special system called Interlibrary Loan.

With several options available, finding key resources to help manage a website is relatively simple. Publications are available on different Content Management Systems (CMS), Adobe Products (Photoshop, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, etc.), and software packages such as Word, Excel, Quickbooks, and many, many more.