Group test: what's the best website-management software?

5. Actinic Catalog 9.0

• Reviewed on: 20 May 08
• RRP: £469 inc. VAT
• Rating:

For the majority of users looking to run a single web shop and who want more features than the standard stores offered by many ISPs, Actinic Catalog 9.0 is an excellent piece of software. Unless you need advanced payment and authorisation procedures (in which case Business is recommended), this will do everything that you need.

4. Homepage Maker 6 Ultimate

• Reviewed on: 21 July 08
• RRP: £69.99
• Rating:

Homepage Maker 6 is a perfectly decent web editor, even if it’s a little hard to get too excited about it. It’s not a program for professionals, for which NetObjects Fusion 11 costs more than twice as much, but takes advantage of new technologies such as Ajax to create truly dynamic sites. For beginners, however, the bundled templates and Web 2.0 tools will be very appealing.

3. Actinic Express 2.0

• Reviewed on: 5 March 09
• RRP: £56 setup fee, £23/month inc VAT
• Rating:

There are cheaper alternatives to Actinic Express, but they also generally require considerable more know-how in terms of setting up and configuring software. With this service, by contrast, you could be online and running a complete store in a couple of hours – and even if you do not have a merchant account there are plenty of options to get you started that are very simple to implement.

2. Mr Site Takeaway Website Standard Version Two

• Reviewed on: 7 April 09
• RRP: £34 inc VAT
• Rating:

Mr Site Takeaway Website Version Two is feature-rich, but the level of customisation is restricted because the templates themselves cannot be changed. Mr Site Takeaway Website is good value for money, since you get a domain name, one year of hosting, and an easy to use website creator for a reasonable price.

1. 1&1 MyBusiness Site review

• Reviewed on: 17 June 09
• RRP: £11.49/month
• Rating:

It’s important to bear in mind what this type of application does not offer, for the more experienced of web designers, namely full control over scripting and programmable elements of a site. But for a small business user, however, who knows nothing about web production and cannot afford expensive bespoke services, this is a great way to get a good-looking presence online.