I don't do as many marketing web sites as I once did. Spending most of my time now on user interface design for RIA (Rich Internet Applications). But I am always keeping an eye out for the best solution to turn out those quick sites that, lets face it, pay the bills.

With the down turn in the economy, businesses are looking for the best value, or as Gary Vanyerchuck might put it, "Start looking for sites that BRING THE THUNDER." How can I leverage the best technology at the best best price to make the most effective marketing solution that is quick, seamless and ready to launch by tomorrow?

Here's is my list of "Top 5 Hosted CMS Solutions for Designers" to get their clients the best web experience, in the quickest turn around time, and at the best price.

1. Word Press

http://wordpress.com/

While Wordpress is more widely known as a blogging platform, the online community has enhanced this solution to be the forefront for marketing web sites. Wordpress.com is a free hosted service that allows the users to use a wide variety of template solutions with limited custom options. The pro account allows for custom domain names, custom CSS style sheets which greatly enhances the design possibilities.

Also for the crews wanting to handle the server-side headaches, WordPress is most commonly known for their open source solution at www.wordpress.org. This is fully customizable and minus you paying for the hosting, it is totally free.

Last note about WordPress is that they they have a fantastic online community for finding absolutely every imaginable resource to enhance your clients online interface.

Pros: Unlimited web community resources, simple interface

Cons: Limited customization without using the open source platform or pro account.

2. SquareSpace

http://www.squarespace.com/

I'll start off by saying the Concepts Squared is completely hosted and managed through SquareSpace. Hands down SquareSpace has totally won my affection. I was lucky enough to connect up with Tyler Thompson, creative director at square space and the creator and founder, Anthony Caselena while in New York last summer. The passion that these guys have for innovation is incredible.

Square space goes above and beyond on user experience. To really dig in to full understand of the depth of the platform it took me a few days of not eating, and staring at a beautiful interface. But if you are looking for a turn-key, slick interface that you would be proud to hand off to your clients to keep their site updated themselves, then just stop reading now, and sign up for Square space. I really wish that they had a referall program.

The platform is a paid service, but the basic package is $8/ month. Don't buy the chai latte on Tuesdays and you have an amazing website the rest of the month.

Lastly, the architecture that Square Space is built on is like none other. Major online players like, Kevin Rose Mark Ecko and Sara Lane run their person blogs from SquareSpace. Even with links from Kevin's blog hitting the digg.com front page, the site did not even blink at the traffic or shutter at the words "Digg Effect." Amazing.

Pros: Completely customizable. The most amazing WYSIWYG editor ever made. SEO friendly, and can handles any traffic you throw at it.

Cons: No white label option. I would love to slap my brand on this. I'd also like to have FTP access for files.

3. LightCMS

http://www.speaklight.com/

Light CMS was my first experience in the hosted CMS realm, and I'll admit they do a great job. I've checked back in recently and they have some really great new features for easily embedding videos, and they are doing more and more to resell to designers as a brandable platform at a reduced rate so that designers can mark up and sell a really great product.

LightCMS is built by the Oklahoma City crew, Element Fusion. Be sure to check out their full suite of online products. SkyCMS (pretty much LightCMS marketed for Ministries) WaterCMS (also LightCMS, but marketed to businesses, IceBurg ( a good competitor for WooForms. I'll have to do a review on web form builders) and Breeze (a great email campaign system. Reviews coming soon). All the elements covered? Where's the fire? Either way great branding and great products.

Pros: Simple, easy to use, priced right.

Cons: Token Scripts manage page content. As a designer and not a developer, the code became very distracting.

4. Business Catalysts

http://www.businesscatalyst.com/

To sign up use this link: http://businesscatalyst.com/PartnerPortal/DesignerSuccess.aspx

promo code: conceptssqured

Business Catalyst is the mothership of CMS. If you are more of an entrepreneur business type, and you love to track sales, conceptualize e-commerce solutions, and manage workflow, clients, and leads, then BC is where its at! I've been using BC for my mid-level businesses that need more than just a marketing site. They also want the all the internet marketing and online business tools that they need in one place.

BC has an incredible list of features: (All included!)

• Easy WYSIWYG
• Customizable templates
• E-commerce
• Email marketing
• Contact management Solution
• Amazing web Forms
• Photo galleries
• Post events and news.
• And their analytics system rivals Google analytics for sure!

Here's the catch! The sign up cost is steep. For a design reseller package, its $995. You get absolutely everything and can set up as many sites as your heart desires, but the Business Catalyst brand stays. For $1995 you can completely brand the site as your own and sell it to your clients as if it were your mastermind solution built from scratch.

If you are seriously considering using business catalysts, let me know! 

Pros: Robust set of features! Business in a box! Rebrandable, easy to sell and easy to run.

Cons: Can be kind of slow on the admin side sometimes. Up front cost high, ton of features scares some clients.

In conclusion. . .

These top 5 hosted CMS platforms are only a handful of the massive market of solutions available for getting your clients set up with a customized content management tool. From my experience, these top 5 stand out, each in a unique way. Wordpress offers unlimited online community resources for great support. SquareSpace is the most amazing user interface and WYSIWYG editor you'll ever experience. LightCMS is all around simple, clean and rebrandable. Finally Business Catalyst is more than just a CMS, its an entire online business in one rebrandable package.

My plans? I'll continue to use SquareSpace for simple portfolio style sites, because its easy to set up, and I'm excited to see how easy it is for clients to use it. For my larger clients looking for the complete online marketing and web management solution, then Business Catalyst is a done deal.

Other Publishing Platforms to take note of:

• http://www.devhub.com
• http://www.movabletype.com
• http://www.cushycms.com/sessions
• http://www.monkdevelopment.com/
• http://www.ektron.com/cms/
• http://www.markupfactory.com/
• http://expressionengine.com/