Info-and-Tools Community Blog

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In case you don’t know, XSitePro is “The Internet Marketer’s alternative to Dreamweaver, Front Page and ExpressionWeb” (their tag line).

I’ve been advised of a limited time deal on XSitePro v2.0 (the latest release) and wanted to let you all know, in case you’re interested. But first I want to tell you a bit about my own experience with XSitePro (XSP) — the good and the not-so-good. I want you to make an informed decision.

First-Hand v1.0 Experience

Initial “Thumbs Up”

In its original version (v1.0), XSitePro created quite a stir by being the first full-featured website development application that was specifically designed for Internet Marketers. It had a lot of features that dealt with the kinds of things Internet Marketers need to deal with all the time. Things like tracking affiliate programs, easily inserting AdSense code, creating “Johnson Boxes”, etc., etc., etc. The other thing that was cool about it was that you really didn’t need to know HTML to create an entire website! One-page sites or complete content sites with complex navigation could all be done using the easy & intuitive user interface.

I bought v1.0 and used it quite a bit. This was back in, oh… late 2006, I think. I was very inexperienced with HTML, and frankly I wasn’t very good at it. So XSP looked like a fabulous idea to me!! I used it to create a few one-page affiliate product promotion sites and a few bigger “content” sites. They worked fine and looked fine. Certainly no worse than most of the sites out there created by “professionals”. All was right with the world.

The Excitement Wanes…

But gradually things started to get not-so-right. I kept building on my HTML knowledge, just because I wanted to understand it. The XSP sites/pages worked, but I didn’t really understand how or why. And as my HTML knowledge grew, I’d think of things I wanted to do to my XSP sites, but couldn’t. Little “tweaks” I wanted to make, etc. The problem was that XSP sites are completely re-generated each time you change them through the user interface. All the settings you input are analyzed and applied, and the application creates the entire website “from scratch” based on your design settings. That’s how it “protects” you from having to know HTML, but it’s also what keeps you from tweaking the HTML if you know what you’re doing.

Now granted, most Internet Marketers probably don’t give a hoot about HTML or the cool little tweaks and code snippets I learned. Most would be VERY content to have the XSP application generate very decent sites that provide info & graphics, “deeper educational material” where required/desired, and point potential customers to related products using their affiliate links. But I guess I just developed a hankering for “slinging some code” and wanted to do more with HTML. I liked being in control of all the little details of the site. So I gradually shifted away from XSP sites to hand-developed HTML sites. Now mind you, these were mostly one-to-three page affiliate sites — nothing really deep or complex. But they worked for me and I enjoyed slinging the code.

Introducing XSP v2.0! The Arrival Was Deafening!

Fast-forward to mid-2008, and here comes XSP v2.0 — along with all the attendant hype of a large-scale new product release. But I have to tell you, some of the changes they made for 2.0 were really cool! And I LOVE the new web 2.0 look of the templates!! They’ve improved a lot of the v1.0 “core functions”, and added some pretty neat new gizmos. There’s a forms wizard, graphical navigation menus, audio/video wizards, enhanced HTML snippet insertion capability (oh yeah), even the ability to schedule pages for publication over time! They’ve also designed in a function that will create a second version of any of your sites in a format suitable for displaying on mobile devices (phones, PDAs, etc.). I have not messed around with any of the “design for mobile” stuff (by hand or by XSP). But I do know that it’s becoming more and more a “wave of the future”. So eventually I’m going to need to get on that bandwagon. Point is, even though I’d become something of an HTML junkie, this new release was pretty tempting. So yes, I bought it. And I played with it. And it’s really quite good. If you’re not into slinging HTML code, it is very, VERY good!

The “Bottom Line” from My Perspective

I’ll be honest with you here (as always). I can’t see using it for all my sites. I’m 99% sure that I’ll still be hand-crafting my mini-sites. Not because XSP can’t do those (it can). I just find it more fun to sling the code on the small sites. And there is a little more structure to developing sites using XSP than I would normally apply on mini-sites. But I can tell you that I will be using XSP v2.0 for any large(r) content sites I develop! Version 2.0 has overcome enough of the “shortcomings” that were inherent in version 1.0 (shortcomings in MY estimation) that I can’t see any problems using it for my larger sites. In fact, I’m sure using it will PREVENT problems!! There are plenty of places to plug in HTML code to satisfy my HTML “urges”. And as I said — I REALLY like the new templates!

Anyway, there you go. My thoughts, feelings and experience related to XSP (v1.0 and 2.0). If you’re going to do primarily mini-sites, and you’re very comfortable with HTML, and you ENJOY spending time doing the coding thing, you probably won’ want it and probably don’t need it. But if you’d rather focus on other aspects of Internet Marketing (copywriting, product development, niche selection, keyord research, yada, yada, yada), then XSP v2.0 would be a great tool to free you up from the technical side of getting your sites up and running. And if you’re planning on developing CONTENT sites, you’ll REALLY want to take a good look at it.

The “Deal”

I said at the top that there’s a deal going on that might interest you. Right now (probably because the frenzy and sales volume have slacked off after the new release launch period), they’re taking $100 off the price. And that’s not $100 off of a $1,000 price tag. That’s $100 off of a $297 price tag! That’s more than a third off! It’s pretty crazy. But it’s a great deal. I honestly don’t know how long this whole discount thing will be going on. They’ve tacked on quite a few decent-looking bonuses as part of this deal too, including 50 more of those cool templates!

More Info

OK, I’ve given you my take on XSP. Here are a few links that will give you more info — from a little to a LOT. I recommend you look at them in this sequence.

• Video Overview (Videos are easy to watch. This one’s not quite 7 minutes long.)
• XSP v2 Brochure (Gives you a good overview of the features & functions of v2.0 — it’s only 7 pages.)
• Feature List (Features are also in the brochure, but this list has more detail and compares against v1.0. It’s about 11 screens of detail).
• Webinar (LOTS of information & insight here, but it’s about 86 minutes long! However, if you’re seriously considering buying, it’s a pretty good investment of your time).

And check out the home page — you can see the bonuses that are part of the package, and order if you’re so inclined.

Keep in mind — they’ve got a 30-day money-back guarantee on this! If you think you MIGHT like to give it a go, just get it and take it for a test drive! Thirty days is PLENTY of time to decide if it’s something you like or don’t. If you don’t like it, just tell them, and you’ll get your money back. I’ve dealt with the management team and the support team from this company for years. They are VERY responsive, reliable and trustworthy. That’s EXTREMELY important to me, and it probably is to you, too.

Let me know what you think! Seriously. I’m very interested in your thoughts about it. Just toss in a comment or two here in the blog.

Thanks!

Scott <><