It used to be the case that websites were simple text documents that you downloaded to view on your Prodigy or AOL browser. Then again, you also used to be able to have dinner and watch Saved By The Bell by the time it actually downloaded, but the World Wide Web has come a long way since then. Websites are no longer restricted to being online versions of pamphlets. In fact, they run the gamut from expansive social networking services like Facebook, which has many millions of users, to small personal websites that receive maybe 5 visitors a month.

Websites used to be as simple as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) code embedded in a single file per page. While this was great for simplicity, it didn’t do much in the way of functionality. The pages could only display one static set of information per page. In today’s current version of the internet, one web page can display a variety of different information depending on what the user inputs. These types of websites are known as dynamic websites because they dynamically generate the web pages each time a visitor visits a page, using a set of data that is retrieved from a database.

Here is an example of the way a static HTML page works:

1) You type “www.example.com” in the address bar of your web browser, and your web browser sends a request to the server of “www.example.com” for the contents of the web page.

2) Your web browser downloads the content of the home page at “www.example.com” in the format of an HTML document.

3) Your browser reads this document, and then displays it in your web browser as a web page.

The way a dynamically generated page works is a little different. Let’s take this blog as an example. This blog runs on a popular blogging platform called Wordpress. The Wordpress software uses a combination of PHP code and a mySQL database in order to dynamically generate web pages. PHP is a server-side scripting language, which means that all the processing is done on the web server, as opposed to a client-side script like Javascript that runs on your local machine. The short explanation of mySQL is that it stores data on a database server, which can be retrieved through a series of “queries”. If you would like to know more, you can read about it here: mySQL

Here is an example of the way a dynamically generated web page works:

1) You type “www.webii.net/blog” in the address bar of your web browser, and your web browser sends a request for the contents of the web page.

2) The page “index.php” runs its PHP code on the web server, which includes mySQL queries for information from the database. This includes a query of the “latest posts” which Wordpress stores in the mySQL database. The “index.php” file finishes running its code, and it outputs the result in HTML.

3) Your web browser reads the HTML output of the PHP file, and then displays it in your web browser.

Either way, your browser still receives and displays HTML information, but the manner in which it is retrieved is very different. The “index.php” file can put out different results depending on the user input. When you click on the “about” link in our blog’s navigation bar, you are actually calling the exact same “index.php” file, but this time the page is dynamically generated to display the “About” information that is stored in the mySQL database. Neat, huh?

Dynamic websites are not for every one. If you simply need to display a couple of pages of text and images, then sometimes bare bones HTML pages can suffice. If you need something better for your organization or business (or even just your personal website), dynamically generated web pages can be designed to give multi-tiered security access, allow you to update your web page from anywhere on the web, and many other powerful features that can turn an otherwise uninspired website into a full blown online presence, a tool to help you get things done.

ISES Austin Blog Design

Have you heard? Blogger, a popular community blogging tool, has discontinued FTP support.  What does this mean? It means that you will no longer be able to publish your Blogger blog directly to your website – you will be forced to migrate to a “blogspot” address instead.

Never fear, there are other options.  Your web developer can install a blog software like Wordpress in your website hosting space, and even design a custom theme to match the blog styles with your website or other marketing materials.

WEBii has quite a bit of experience designing customized blogs.  Feel free to ask us if you don’t know where to start.

Do the images on your website have alt tags?  If they do, are the alt tags something like abc123.jpg?  A very basic yet helpful search-friendly design practice is to include alt and title tags in each of your graphics to better describe what they are.  This tells visual impairment devices what those pictures are, and it tells search engines what they are. If the alt tag is “Austin event planning company” instead of “abc123.jpg”, your website is recognized as more relevant to its actual subject matter.

Recently I replied in a discussion forum asking the question, If you could only have one marketing expense for your business what would it be. Naturally, I replied with a great website! Reflecting on this more, what I should have said was, A good professional web designer.

When you hire a professional web designer / web developer, you are getting more than just a beautiful website design; you also gain the knowledge of that professional, which may include web marketing strategies, what types of layouts work best, what types of features your typical customer desires to see, how to make your website more efficient, what practices to avoid that might annoy your web audience, how to design the website with clean code that will attract search engines, and how to convert your visitors to customers.

There are a lot of neat “do-it-yourself” tools out there, but taking on an important marketing project for your company on your own – without all that expert knowledge – could actually hurt you.  What if you unknowingly use a photograph that was copyrighted?  What if you try to add some simple features and the code you used exposes your site with a major security bug?  What if you implement a feature that your mom thought was cool, but your ideal customer hated?

All of these headaches can be avoided if you spend your dollars wisely, on an established professional web design company.

Here’s a quick tip for a first time e-commerce project.  If you plan to support real-time automated credit card transactions, you will be setting up a merchant banking account with a payment gateway (such as Authorize.net, LinkPoint, YourPay, etc.).  If this is a new merchant account or a new gateway service, at some point the bank will want to do an approval process of your website.  What they usually want to see is a posted return policy, a posted privacy policy, and SSL security in place.  So prepare all of these things as early in the development process as possible.

A creative and effective way for your business to help out non-profit organizations and charities is to use your company’s online resources.  Consider some of these ideas:

• If you don’t already have e-commerce features on your site, you can easily set up a pay pal account to accept online donations without having to purchase complex a shopping cart system.
• If your site currently incorporates e-commerce, add an option at check-out to include a donation into the purchase total.
• Use your social media outlets to share your support of your organization and let others know how they can help.
• Link your organization’s website to your own site and social networks to help out their SEO.
• Have an online contest.  For example, whenever your company’s facebook page reaches 1000 fans, you will donate $X to Organization X.

By using these and other tactics, you will not only be supporting a good cause, but you’ll be building your online presence and improving your site’s SEO in the process!

Despite that the average American is dreaming more about their upcoming vacation than their business, December is a time when website owners seek out opportunity to drive sales.  And it isn’t too late to take advantage of the holiday buying frenzy.

Things you can do to make money with your web site this holiday season:

• Add a new product variation to your online store – Shirt now available in teal!
• Make “kit” suggestions and sell them as a bundle package – How about a mug to go with those coffee beans?
• Suggest some creative cross-sell items for people to notice when they are shopping -While you are looking at this hot cocoa mix maybe you’d be interested in a new pair of fuzzy slippers?

Thinking of adding a photo gallery to your web site? There are a plethora of great gallery management tools available these days, some for quite a low cost or even free.

Sometimes the free tools are enough to get someone by for a while, such as Google’s Picasso or Photo Bucket.  These member-based photo communities are handy for sharing some portfolio samples or showcasing a recent event.  The typical drawbacks of free tools are:

• The gallery is separate from your web site (linked to a third-party).
• If they are community-based, visitors to your photos can detour to another member’s albums.
• There may be a limitation to how many images you can store in your free account.
• Audiences may perceive this kind of third-party tool as less professional/amateur.

If you are thinking about integrating a photo managing tool into your CMS web site, consider this option for Joomla.  One affordable option, JoomGallery, is quite easy for the novice website owner to self manage, plus it comes equiped with several wish list features – even picture ratings.  This comes in handy for a nightclub that showcases photos of its patrons dancing online, and allows the visitors to participate with comments and ratings online.  While other organizations may use the basic features and find ongoing photo additions a breeze.

You need “link juice” to increase your site’s ranking in the SERPs.  Here are a few easy, free link building tactics that can be used by any business owner!

• Donate your services to a good cause or have an event that will draw media attention.  Remember to take lots of pictures and video for posting on social media outlets!
• Write expert articles for an industry newsletter as a guest writer or even become a regular columnist.
• Run a comprehensive search of mentions of your company on the web and if you are not linked, ask for one!
• If you’ve received sincere thanks and praise from a client, ask them to post a link to your site on their personal website or profile.
• Be sure you are linked in the directories of all chambers or business organizations you’re a member of.
• Exchange links with business partners and referral partners.  Make sure you are “fans” of one another.

With the wonderful flexibilities of css (style sheets), we are able to create attractive backgrounds with minimal coding and without compromising a the efficiency of a web site.  Adding an elegant background element can help the web site to stand out from the crowd, or it can even send a message about what your web site is trying to achieve.

You might include a very simple pattern in the background like this example, and allow the pattern to stretch with the browser so it “fills up” the space on various computer screens.

Or, you might use a vibrant image that relates to a product you are selling.  Some sites about entertainment events (like films) format the background to look like a movie screen or the back of an invitation, for example.  Suddenly, you aren’t in an ordinary web site – you are part of an experience.

You can even get creative with your Twitter background, as shown in WEBii’s Twitter Profile.