Startups and small Businesses strive to utilize their limited funds in the best possible way so as to maximize their returns on investment. To keep up with the requirements of an ever-changing market, businesses require technology solutions for increasing their internet presence. Now, with the trend of digital marketing, there are numerous ways a Business can build its presence on the World Wide Web. Small businesses and startups are no exception as they want to reach out to their customers through the internet. In such a situation, open source software can be a very lucrative option for them.

Open source software help the businesses achieve a better ROI on their crucial activities. Generally, the selection of the right fit is done based on one’s requirements. But, not every startup or small business would have time and resources for such research. After working with lots of such CMS packages, I have selected best from each category that a business can use for integrating their essential net presence initiatives.

1. Joomla for Website Development

Every startup and small business needs a website but they face a dilemma about how to go for their first website. Though they are even willing to shell out enough bucks for such a significant resource, choosing the right technology for your website is still a tough decision. One needs to make a list of the features required in the website. But, you are not always sure about what features you would require in your website as your business progresses with time. By no means is it feasible for any business waste time and resources in developing a website which has to be redeveloped again in a year or so. The solution is to use Joomla, one of the most famous open source content management systems. Joomla has a collection of ready to use plugins and templates which can help you build a fully functional and high-design website. Its control panel is easy to use for regular content updates.

2. Start a Blog with WordPress

With an increase in the internet presence of customers, it is important for the businesses to reach to them online. Digital marketing is thus an essential activity for every business. The significance of blogging in increasing the organic reach of businesses has been emphasized time and again by content marketing specialists. Every small business or startup also needs its own blog. WordPress is one of the best blogging platforms, which is an open source solution that offers a wide range of functionalities for your business blogging needs.

3. MyBB the Discussion Forum Solution

Businesses grow on customer loyalty which can be achieved by understanding what the customers want and providing that. But, seeking feedback and suggestions from the customer is not an easy task. To encourage customer interaction, many businesses have started building their own discussion forums online. These forums offer customers an opportunity to discuss their queries and concerns. This helps the business receive significant customer inputs which can be used for improvement. The PHP based MyBB is one such open source forum software package which can be integrated with your website to make a fully functional discussion forum where your current and prospective customers can interact with you.

4. Moodle for Learning / Training Management

Small businesses and startups regularly need training programs for their employees as they are growing their team. In the initial years of inception, these businesses are limited by funds and cannot spend liberally for conducting such development programs. Also, the concept of remote teams is trending nowadays as the startups are keen on hiring people from different locations to meet their human resource requirements effectively. In such situations, having its own learning management software can help a business conduct common training activities. Moodle is one such learning management system which is perfectly suitable for both technical and non-technical users as its interface is very user-friendly.

Conclusion

Ready-to-use CMS packages have been developed by so many domain experts. These packages have undergone updates with time as per changing market needs. They come with attractive front-end designs and user interfaces. The user-friendly control panels ensure convenience in site maintenance. Give your small business a boost with these easy steps now!