AZ Web Application Development - A Guide to Success

Web Site Scripts - Web Development

2007-11-26T19:56:00.004-08:00

Web developing is becoming a booming industry nowadays. More and more people are attracted to PHP and ASP scripts to simplify or modify their existing websites as well as new development projects. Webmasters now prefer dynamic websites, which can take their own decisions and work out according to the situations, which arises.

There was a time when we used to play around with static HTML pages, but now those days are gone. Even a newbie who steps on the internet to become a webmaster or a web developer knows the importance of Server side languages. The main reason of writing this article was to bring in new tips and help the newbies to learn the languages, which are burning the charts right now. The most valuable resource that can be found on the internet is the google itself. And when you want to look for tutorials and tips or are having problems in remembering some particular function then php.net is the place to look at.

You can also find many resources like free scripts, tools and tips on scripts repositories like http://www.hotscripts.com, http://www.firescripts.com and other Web Scripts database which has listings of php scripts, asp scripts, cgi scripts and java scripts too.

To get started download some rebook on your favorite scripting language and install a local server on your PC to save your time. It surely pays off.

Admin of http://www.firescripts.com

Why Use Professional Web Site Designers For Your Next Web Development Project?

2007-11-26T19:56:00.003-08:00

Probably you know someone who has created a web site all by himself or herself. So if they can do it why use a professional at all? Can't you create your own business or organization's web site in your spare time and without the services of a professional web site designer? The answer is probably, yes. But following are some reasons why it may not be a wise idea for you.

Many non-professionals use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page creating software. While this kind of software is nice in that it's similar to working with a word processing program, many of these programs don't write "valid" HTML code. The problem with invalid HTML code is that while the page may look fine on some browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc.), it may not look even acceptably good on some other browsers or even on different versions of the same browser. HostTycoon designs web pages that WILL validate according to W3C validations specifications. (Try using the W3C Validation Service to test a web site that a non-professional has designed and see the results.)

For most of us, time is a precious commodity. Is it better to take the time away from your business and other activities to learn how to create and maintain an effective web site? You need to decide if you have the time to follow through on these necessary parts of web site design:

- Learn HTML coding (it requires more than just wysiwyg web editing software) - Learn how to use the various software packages needed to: - create and edit web pages - scan or otherwise create graphics - optimize graphics - upload pages to the host - run telnet sessions - decipher raw log files to analyze traffic to your web site. - Learn good web design principles - design your pages so they load quickly, are easy to navigate and do well in Search Engine queries - Learn where to go and how to obtain a domain name - Learn what to do with the web pages once they are created - where they go and how to get them there. - Obtain several types of browser software to test your web pages for browser compatibility/validity.
Tip! Set reasonable goals for the web development effort. Don't try to implement all ideas all at once.

Saving money is the main reason most would consider designing their own web site. But by designing their own, are they really saving? It's takes a substantial monetary investment to purchase the necessary software to create a professional looking web site. It also takes a considerable amount of time to learn how to use the various programs effectively. Many business owners don't have that kind of time to spare and are usually better off investing their time in what they know best - running their business.

When a professional web designer is hired the customer receives the benefits of their business experience, artistic talent, technological skills and the expertise to help you establish a effective, highly visible presence on the Internet. They will work with you to analyze your competitions' web presence - their strengths and weaknesses. Using that research they will construct your web site based on your business strengths and the weaknesses of your competition. Your web pages will be built to load quickly, be user friendly, appeal to your target audience and encourage repeat visits.
Tip! Moreover the companies which have not yet published their sites will launch it in very near future. So the scope of business in Web development sector is very high.

HostTycoon (http://www.hosttycoon.com) is a web design, web hosting & IT services company. We are a creative and very cost-effective business solutions provider for medium businesses and organizations.

Offshore Web Design and Development - Use Great Opportunities

2007-11-26T19:56:00.002-08:00

Sooner or later every small or medium business owner realizes that he needs a web site for his business. And almost everybody wants to have great web site for affordable price because usually web site design budget is quite limited.

There are few ways to find the best solution.

* Somebody prefers to design the site by himself - but it takes much time and labor, distracts from the general business, and let be frank - you have seen many of such "DIY" - web sites -they lack professional touch and look unfinished or overworked.
* Somebody decides to hire a professional web design company but in case of limited budget he has to say "good-buy" to many features he wants to see on the web site, because web design companies are also businesses and they can't work for "thank you very much" only.

So what to do when you want to have great web site but your web design budget is limited?

Think about IT-outsourcing and offshore web design and development!

There are many web design companies in other countries, mostly of Eastern Europe and East-Southern Asia that operate with small budgets and offer great web design works How it is possible? There are different economical factors which condition on low internal expenses of the companies in these countries so they can do the same volume of work but for lower price than it costs in USA, Canada, UK, Western Europe or Australia. So offshore web site design and development helps to keep prices at least 3-5 times less.

You can say "Yes, this is cool that I can save my money but how they will do the work if I am here in USA but they are in Ukraine, for example?" Easily! In our age of Internet this is not a problem at all! Practice proves that for web site design project it's enough to have communication through email, instant messenger (ICQ, AOL, MSN) or IP-phone.

You can say "How can I trust somebody whom I have never seen before and most likely will not ever see?" Actually this question must the web design companies ask, not you, because there are many of IT-outsourcing companies and competition is quite strong in this area, so to get a customer many companies allow the first payment after 30-50% of the project completion, i.e. you pay after you have seen good results and satisfied with the work.

And as in onshore web design you need to pay much attention while choosing web design company: look at their previous works in portfolio, and ask about previous customers' references. Ideally all this information must be accessible on the company's web site.

As for the rest there is not much difference between offshore and onshore web site design process. You see the results of work in the progress, make your comments, see changes, agree them. When the project is complete and the site is ready to be uploaded to your server, you make final payment. It's also not a problem - you can make payment by credit card, PayPal, wire transfer, Western Union, etc.

So let's resume what you must know when dealing with offshore web site design:

* If you are on "tight budget" and can't afford spending thousands of $$$ for your web site design you should think about trying offshore web site design opportunities.
* There are many countries, which take part in offshore web site design; the most well known are India, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Philippines.
* To make right choice of offshore web design company for your web site design take into consideration the company reputation, portfolio of previous works, previous customers' references, quick and competent feedback to your initial request.
* To avoid problems you must be attentive and ask exact questions about payment policy and method, timescale and milestones of the project, conditions of the ready site delivery, warranties, post-development support and maintenance.

Tip! The Denver web development firms are Internet marketing companies concentrated on both web design and business, and they can help anyone interested in launching his business on the Internet and creating the site that's best fit for him. Most of the Denver web development companies can take care of everything that is required for a site to be successful - its graphical design, appearance, and of course they also take care of search engine optimization and upgrades.

At your first experience with offshore web design you can see it to be too risky and complicated, but this feeling will be replaced with real satisfaction when you will see your new great web site live in the Internet and you realize how much you have saved on its design.

Julia Ramyalg Marketing Director of IT-Inventors http://www.it-inventors.com/ IT-Inventors - professional offshore web design company from Ukraine offers affordable custom web site design at rate $10/hr. Services we offer: Corporate web site design, E-commerce web site design, Content Management Software integration into existing web sites, Real estate web site design.
Tip! Chris Smith provides web traffic from 2 of his websites - Cheap Web Traffic and Chris Smith Web Development - Buy Web Traffic.

More than 130 projects made, dozens of satisfied customers. We are always ready to help you become an owner of a great web site for affordable price.

Web Design and Development: The Right Tools for the Right Job

2007-11-26T19:56:00.001-08:00

As any webmaster knows, designing and developing a website can be a daunting proposition. There are millions of websites out there to compete with, and whether your site's purpose is to promote your business, inform, or entertain; web design is an important consideration if you want traffic. It's tough to attract visitors and even tougher to keep them on your website once they arrive.

Fortunately, there are many tools out there for webmasters to make the tasks of design and development easier. Wading through the sea of web tools can also be a time-consuming process. In designing your website, you should be aware of all the components that go into successful development and how to use them to your best advantage.

The first step, other than developing great informative content for your visitors, is to put everything together in an attractive, user-friendly format. If you need a little help in manipulating HTML coding or CSS (cascade styling sheets), you might visit www.xhtmlandcss.com for advice and tutorials regarding these components. CSS in particular is an invaluable tool for webmasters; these are the programs that control the set of styles for your fonts, tables and many other attributes of your website. The ability to manipulate CSS allows you to customize sites such as web forums and blogs and create a website that stands out and gets noticed. You can also amplify the attractiveness and user-friendly attributes of your websites with e-mail and forum signature generation tools from www.needasig.com and brighten your format with free smilies from www.thesmilies.com. Internet users love extras, and adding customizable interactions such as signatures and smilies will help keep visitors coming back.
Tip! Some useful hints for web development below are taken from software quality aspects but they apply to the development of websites as well.

Once your site is developed, you must then undertake the task of optimizing your website for search engines. There are many ways to do this. One is to use relevant keywords throughout your content and page tags--without overusing them--that will help visitors find your website when they're looking for information. Using a keyword generator such as the free tool at www.keywordmine.com is an easy way to find plenty of relevant keywords and phrases. When incorporating keywords into your content, you should make sure the text reads well. The practice of keyword stuffing to boost search engine ranks not only endangers your listings with search engines, it also turns visitors off to your website and will keep them from coming back.
Tip! Moreover the companies which have not yet published their sites will launch it in very near future. So the scope of business in Web development sector is very high.

Another component of website optimization is getting your website listed with search engines. If search engines can't find your website, neither can visitors! After you have created great content with relevant keywords and lots of user-friendly extras, you should then begin the process of getting your website out there for people to find. You can submit your website URL and descriptions manually. Major search engines such as Google, MSN and Yahoo include links to their submission process for manual submission. However, these links can be difficult to find. You may want to consider using a search engine submission service to submit to several search engines at once; there are many good, free submission services that cover multiple search engines. It is important to remember that submitting your website once is not enough to get it noticed on the Internet radar. You should carry out the submission process on a regular basis. However, you also must realize that submitting your website too often can get your URL banned from some search engines. It is a good practice to submit to search engines every 30 days.
Tip! Macronimous is a specialised international web development agency, with a difference. We realise that Web development agency is a terminology that has been recently misrepresented and aim to differentiate ourselves from the others.

Beyond search engines, you should also list your website in as many relevant directories as you can find to increase your site's exposure. Strive to find directories that don't require linkbacks to your website for listings, because reciprocal links carry far less weight with search engines than strictly inbound links. One excellent directory service that doesn't require linkbacks can be found at www.submiturlhere.com. You can find many directories for your website; just make sure they are relevant to your content.

If you have multiple websites or long website URLs, another great tool for you to use is URL redirection. You can get a short, easy to remember and easy to post URL for your website that will sit well with search engines and make it simpler for you to advertise your websites on forums and in e-mail messages and signatures. Free URL redirection tools are available at www.smoothredirect.com. Once you have more experience with URL direction, or if you are already an experienced webmaster looking for more ways to optimize your website, you should consider making use of tools like URL cloaking, path forwarding and frame killers. The website www.kingofurl.com offers free advanced redirection tools without those annoying, visitor-detracting banner ads you want to avoid.
Tip! For example, you can try searching in search engines for appropriate key phrases “offshore web design”, “offshore web site design”, “offshore web development” and analyze sites of your potential partners.

Tracking visitors to your website is another important aspect of running a successful site. You should install a web counter that is invisible to visitors, but allows you to find out where your traffic is coming from so you can concentrate your promotion in effective areas. For example, a good web counter will not only tell you how many hits your website receives, but whether they are new or returning visitors and how they found your website, whether through a directory, a search engine, or an e-mail promotion. You can find free web counters with excellent tracking tools at www.webstatservice.com for your website.

There are many components that figure in to web design and development. Today's webmaster is fortunate indeed to be able to find free tools for optimization and integration. Make your website interesting, interactive, and accessible to search engines through submissions and directories, and the visitors will come. While you're designing and developing your site, be sure to bookmark comprehensive web tool repositories such as www.webmasters-cavern.com for easy access to great information. The more you know about web design and development, the easier you will be able to navigate the complexities of the Internet and find cyber-success for your business, informative or entertaining website. Making use of free web tools is a great way to get ahead of the competition!

Praveen owns a number of successful websites including Webmasters Cavern, The Smilies, Submit URL here, and many others.

Web Design and Development-Key Terms

2007-11-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

Web design:

Web design, the art of developing for the web is something that goes beyond visual design. It is a blend of proper writing, designing and developing. During recent years professional web design has become imperative. A few years ago, it was predictable that a visitor to a web site took about 8 seconds to decide to stay on that web site or click the "Back" button. If your web design does not clutch their attention immediately, they won't stick around. And if your web site does not offer any benefits, they won't bookmark it and so they won't come back.

Web development:

• Multi column displays in CSS

A lot of designs we have to turn into HTML these days have multi column elements. These are created because either the copy text might get too long to be readable in a fully expanded browser or the designer wants to make sure that as many as possible page elements are "above the fold". Normally these problems can be easily solved with an HTML table.

• Taming the select

Some browsers allow for border, others allow for a different font, some just don't allow any styling at all. Partly this is our own fault; we shouldn't try to redesign form elements to blend into the page design. Users know their form elements and know what to do with them, if we change the look of the elements, they will have to acclimatize.
Tip! Once everything has come to fruition it does not necessarily mean that the web development is complete. Continuously think of new ways to make things better.

Web hosting:

You'll learn how to separate needed features from fluff, and what to look for in a host with your eye on the future. Disk space is how much space your files are allowed to use up, and bandwidth is the amount of data you can transfer to visitors. To get a better idea of bandwidth, whenever someone visits your page, the page they visit is transferred to their browser.

Graphic designers:

Graphic design is not just about generating good looking stuff, but creating impact and communicating sense. Graphic designers are fully equipped and qualified people to perform this task. They can create graphics, modify, restructure, arrange and rearrange them to communicate the required message. Graphic designers need to be creative with a constant supply of fresh and unique ideas, able to work under tight deadlines and should keep updating with new technology and demands.

Site Redesign:

In time, all websites become embarrassed and unmanageable, and even obsolete. So often, websites grow over time, and they need to be redesigned, because the information within them needs to be condensed or reorganized. Authority and eCommerce websites often contain several pages and are in the constant state of flux. However, if the cost of rebuilding your site is an issue, there are make-shift ways to go about reaching your goals.
Tip! In view of the fact that website software comes in different structures such as designing, hosting, building, and maintenance, you should choose web development software that will help build your site easily and professionally. Website development software is a tool that enables the users to efficiently and effectively design, develop, and maintain a website.

Tamilselvi is a SEO copywriter for atomic55.net, She has written many articles in various topics. For more information visit http://www.atomic55.net. She can be reached at tamil@searchenginegenie.com

The Top 3 Pitfalls Of Outsourcing Your Web Development

2007-11-26T19:55:00.007-08:00

Every day, thousands of businesses like yours make the same critical mistakes when outsourcing their software or web development.

Mistake #1: Assuming that the outsource company you are working with can read your mind.

Most outsource vendors expect complete requirements before they start the work, and will charge you for every additional change, regardless of the size. You'll need a plan for getting a good understanding of your requirements, and communicating them effectively. Otherwise you could waste thousands of dollars trying to get what you originally wanted.

Ideally, you should find a vendor that will deliver incrementally instead of making you wait until the entire project is completed. You can start validating your original ideas much earlier, and have time to change your mind about the details before you've already exhausted your budget.

Mistake #2: Failing to prioritize the work so that the most important things get done first.

You'll need to decide which features of your site are the most important, and make sure that you vendor works on those areas first. If you need to cancel the project, or put it into production sooner that you expected, having your most important items already completed can be a real bonus.

If you allow the vendor to work on the entire project without a specified plan or order, you may have nothing to show for the time and money spent if an early termination is necessary.
Tip! Some useful hints for web development below are taken from software quality aspects but they apply to the development of websites as well.

Mistake #3: Trying to communicate important details in documents alone.

Communicating with a remote vendor can be a challenging undertaking. While requirements documents, specifications, and static mockups can be useful, they are often not enough to capture the nuances of your vision for your website or application.

Using drawings, interactive prototypes, and frequent communication can help bridge the gap, as can online planning and tracking tools.

Conclusion

Outsourcing your Web or application development can be a risky undertaking. By prioritizing the work, making sure it's delivered in chunks instead of all at once, and improving communication with your vendor, you can reduce your risk, and improve your chances for success.

Dave Churchville is a 15 year veteran of the software development industry as a developer, project manager, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of ExtremePlanner Software, creator of ExtremePlanner, agile project management software (http://www.extremeplanner.com), and EasyPrototype, a tool for non-programmers to quickly and easily create interactive website and application prototypes (http://www.easyprototype.com).

10 Step Web Design and Development Contract Agreement

2007-11-26T19:55:00.006-08:00

This is not written by a professional lawyer or anyone close to one. It is written by a typical business owner of a successful web development company who has no law degree or the budget to hire a lawyer to write a web development contract. However, they are in need of a contract agreement that will assure a project will be well outlined for both the client and the developer as to what the expectations are of the entire project.

I must write a disclaimer that this proven web development agreement is purely based on experience and knowledge of the web design and development industry. Others may write these contracts and agreements differently. This article is written to help others who wish to know how to begin to write a 10 step web design and development agreement. So enough said, let's get down to the 10 steps:
Tip! Web Design - An integral part in web development.Learn more on this here.

1. Scope of Services: Start off with the most important aspect of the entire project. What exactly are you as the developer going to do for the client? Present a general 3-5 sentence summary of the scope of service. Will you be responsible for the design and programming? How will the website be updated? Who will be responsible for the marketing at the end of the project? Who will host the website when the project is done?

2. Price and Payments This is the area where you are upfront and state the exact price payment and terms of the payment is split up into installments. Is the project quoted at a fixed rate? Is it an hourly rate and how is this documented and tracked? Will the payments be made with a certain percentage up front as a down payment and then a monthly billing cycle, or is it a milestone related payment system?
Tip! Planning for a Successful Web Development Project In order to drastically minimize the risk of project failure, I've always approached my application development projects in the following sequence.

3. Term and Termination How long will this agreement contract be enforceable? If the client does not want to peruse the project ¾ of the way through the project how can he get out? What are the penalties and timeframe they can exit the contract? This is crucial especially to web development agreements with entrepreneurs and startups that many times have a great idea, some type of outline or business plan for what they wish to do, but for some reason never finish through with the project. Then as the developer you must have certain rights. Do you keep all of the code that has been developed? Can you finish it and retain intellectual property to it? Many factors can go in this area, but it protects both the client and the developer in the case a developer never is able to complete a project or continues to be late on deliverables and the client wishes to terminate the relationship.

4. Ownership of Intellectual Property One aspect that needs to be addressed is who will retain the intellectual property to the project? Typically the client retains all intellectual property. This area highlights all of the intellectual property covered such as the source code, all digital files, documentation, etc. Intellectual property is very important to any and all web design and development projects.
Tip! Hence, website development software is quite a simple program that is valuable for its usability, flexibility, and compatibility. If you are designing your first website, you may consider having a crash course in web development first to be able to develop a website that can fully attract your potential customers.

5. Confidential Information Many clients wish to keep all information that is exchanged within a project to the developer as highly confidential and cannot be disclosed whatsoever. This must be addressed in any agreement as to the extent that information can be disclosed. Can the developer mention that they are working for the client during the course of the project to other prospects or potential clients? Many developers use their portfolio of clients as sales tools for other clients. This area must represent exactly what is disclosed and for how long. What period of time is the information kept confidential and so on.

6. Warranty and Disclaimer Having a warranty on the work that is developed is standard in most web projects. Typically a 30-90 day warranty is given on all work to be functional and bug free. Now this is the area that small details such as the client having access to the server and by mistake entering the files and making changes on mistake that affect the functionality within the terms. Think of the label on products that you purchase such as furniture and mattresses. It says that the warranty is void if you tear the label off. This is what you can address in this area. You will provide warranty on certain terms and conditions with specific disclaimers as well.
Tip! You can find a large number of web design companies in the city of Denver. Denver's web development industry has evolved quite a lot, the clients now have many offers to choose from.

7. Limitation of Liability This is the area in which the developer discloses that they are not liable for any losses of money for the developer or other economic losses directly or indirectly associated with the development of the website. Some less experiences clients will turn around to the developer as the source of their website not succeeding online. Avoid issues in the future if something does not succeed that the client thought would, especially things that the developer cannot control once the website is launched. Also, during the project itself, if for whatever reason there is a financial loss, it protects you as a developer.

8. Relation of Parties Make sure that the client and developer understand what their relationship is. Is the relationship a development partnership? Is it strictly a work-for-hire type relationship? Is it a client and vendor relationship? This is the area where this needs to be highlighted to make sure the business relationship is understood.

9. Employee Solicitation / Hiring Many developers never think twice about this, but there have been cases where clients have lured employees or freelancers of the developer during or after the project was completed. Of course this has huge negative aspects associated to it if this happens. That is why this area is also extremely crucial to lay out the fact that the client can not solicited the developer's employees in any way when it comes to potential hiring or additional perks. Specify a certain amount of time for this as well. Typically this time from is between 2-5 years.

10. Entire Agreement This is the ending of the document that basically should say that the entire document and its attributes fall under the entire contract and that nothing will supersede it. Also, this is the area the will have the client and developers key representative who will sign it, date it, and post their roles within the company. Make sure that any and all modifications after signature are signed with initials of both parties next to the change.
Tip! The strategy applied by the professional Denver web development companies consists in talking to the customer first, finding out exactly what he wants, then researching the specified domain, looking for similar material that worked for other sites, and then beginning the work. When the site is finished, the Denver web development programmers do everything that is possible to raise the site's page ranking, from search engine optimization to writing and submitting articles.

These 10 steps to writing a successful web design and development contract and agreement will give a peace of mind to both the client and developer and will pave the way to a trusting business relationship.

Some clients may be surprised when presented with what could be a 2-4 page document to read and sign. Don't be afraid to walk them through each point and reaffirm the fact that such a document is needed to protect them as a client and you as a developer in any unwanted circumstances, at the same time highlights exactly what everyone's obligations are. With that said, there should be no issues and the client should be willing to sign the document. Of course if they are not willing to sign the document perhaps it is a financial loss to you as the developer but in the long run it will avoid headaches and even more substantial financial losses.
Tip! Cosmin Ghiurau is the founder and president of Jumpeye Creative Media, Inc. a highly talented web development firm that specializes in L.

Good luck on writing your first web design and development agreement. As all things the more you practice writing these the easier they become.

Copyright 2006 by: Cosmin Ghiurau

Cosmin Ghiurau is the founder and president of Jumpeye Creative Media, Inc. a highly talented web development firm that specializes in L.A.M.P. Architecture development and Rich Media Flash Actionscript Programming. Visit his website for more articles, news, and insight: http://www.jumpeye.com

Tourism, Web-Development, and SEO: A Match Made in Heaven

2007-11-26T19:55:00.005-08:00

In 2004, 33 million US and Canadian Leisure Travel Hotel and Hospitality consumers bought, booked, or found their trip online for a total of 65 billion $ in travel revenues through the Internet. This represents a full 59% of the total $120 billion Leisure Travel market. (These numbers are not exaggerations: the source for these numbers is online research leader Forrester Research.)

About 65% of all travelers did at least some of their travel planning online. For example, the ‘young adult' age group (19-25 yrs) spent $2.5 billion on on-line video gaming, yet that same age group spent a truly astounding $25 billion on on-line travel. The reason for the huge number of people researching their trips online is simple: online travel planning makes sense.

Online travel planners are wealthy consumers who like to travel. They travel more frequently, and they spend more than the average consumer. Average spending is $3,400 per trip and on average they do this 4.9 times per year. Even better - these travel planners that find you online are inclined to be NEW customers who would not have found you otherwise. These customers are looking for you, but based on our research, they are not finding you. A full 98% of web users use search engines (iprospect.com), and 65% of North Americans use search engines to come to a purchasing decision (Enquiro.com).
Tip! A good knowledge in HTML in web development should not be forgotten. It is valuable in the implementation of the website.

Most people are drawn to regular search engine results rather than to paid placements (Enquiro.com) which is why search engine optimization is the best form of search marketing. Consider how you use searches and you will know that the value of showing up on the top of Google's first pages when someone looks for a hotel, resort, or other facility in your region is huge.

Forecasts show that the Strongest Online Sales Growth areas for the Leisure Travel industry include the following:

1. Hotels (1/3 of all leisure/travel dollars spent online!) 2. Vacation Package Sales 3. Resort and Convention sales

These revenues are there for the taking: showing up on top of searches in your area is the way to capture them. But you need to show up on top because 70% "rarely or never" look past the first results page, and 91% of users modify their search criteria if the first 3 results don't meet their needs (iProspect.com).

What does it cost to bring in these visitors? The cost of a strong search marketing campaign will surprise you. It can be as little as $1,500-$2,500 for a campaign that will bring in literally hundreds of new guests. Search optimization is simply the most cost effective way to reach a wide audience. Consider how much money is spent on traditional advertising (which often produce questionable results) and compare the results. Shifting some of this purchasing to the Internet will bring a much larger return.

Critical Success Factors: based on consumer stages:

1. The ability for customers to find a website. 2. The ability for customers to find information/functionality within a website. 3. The content offered by a website. 4. The functionality offered by a website. 5. The overall look and feel of a website. 6. The ability for a customer to join into a relationship with a website.
Tip! The Denver web development firms are Internet marketing companies concentrated on both web design and business, and they can help anyone interested in launching his business on the Internet and creating the site that's best fit for him. Most of the Denver web development companies can take care of everything that is required for a site to be successful - its graphical design, appearance, and of course they also take care of search engine optimization and upgrades.

A focused combination of efforts that will produce positive results:

1. Content. 2. Links from other websites. 3. Paid placements. 4. Website submissions. 5. Titles and metatags.

It takes time and a consistent effort to achieve good results. As with anything truly worthwhile, there are no quick fixes, no magic bullets.

Peter Sickles is an Internet marketing professional and owner of AlphaSearch Internet Marketing. He has an Arts and Public Relations educational background from St. Mary's University and Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has been writing for print and the web for over 10 years. As well as free-lance work, he was Food and Travel editor for Lifestyle Nova Scotia magazine for 2 years and is the author of Pete's Guide to Good Cooking (MacMillan Canada/CDG Books 2000)

Subcontracting your SEO and Web Development

2007-11-26T19:55:00.004-08:00

Web development for the SEO (search engine optimization) expert includes using copywriters to generate SEO articles. Writers are tasked with generating copy based on lists of keywords. The challenge for the SEO expert is to find a writer that is capable of generating informative, interesting and at times entertaining copy that also meets the requirements of needed for SEO web development.

SEO experts use web copy to generate page ranks from search engine spiders that tabulate searchable terms and assign rank based on algorithms that remain a closely guarded secret. The use of copywriters by SEO experts in web development is the difference between a tastefully decorated and attractive storefront versus one with a single door facing a back parking lot.

Web development requires the designer to take into account the many facets that make up a web site and the best ways to generate traffic. Traffic generation is the SEO expert's area. While the use of an SEO expert may not jump a site from a 100 visitors a month to a 1,000,000, it can and does improve the opportunities for search engine visitors to find the site. That increases click-through and traffic.

Subcontracting the copy writing to professional or freelance writers is one of the tools of the SEO expert. The generation of copy can be at time-consuming task requiring dozens of pages of copy to be generated in very specific formula that neither plagiarizes nor appears to be anything less than professional. Since this is a tool and a style, it's important for the web development team or lead to know what to look for in good web copy.

The following is a list of ideas that will help the SEO expert and web development team narrow their requests to the copywriters. When everyone is on the same page, the work will be better for it.

When it comes to form and style, web copy needs to be sharp and focused. Long paragraphs with few breaks are tedious on the eyes. Spacing, short sentences and bulleted lists can bring the points home in a crisp format that the average web reader can scan and absorb in a glance.
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Bulleted Items Should Be:

• Short, to the point.

• Informative.

• Descriptive.

• Inviting.

Bold Headlines let people know when a new bullet is being talked about or that a new idea is being offered. Bold lettering or italics are strong visual clues to alert the reader about specific issues, points or names. The reader wants this information. They want it boxed up and delivered in a quick, easy to digest format. The copywriter needs to be able to present their articles in this format and still make the SEO expert's list of terms appear in their copy.

While web copy can be used for marketing, SEO expert articles are not generated for marketing purposes. The articles help the site achieve a page rank. They inform visitors. They build consumer confidence. They might even entertain. They shouldn't be layered with heavy-duty terminology discussing the articulation of the message to be disseminated by the visitor with a handy thesaurus or a Master's Degree.

Web copy is not written for stupid people either.

It's written for the person on the go. It's written for the mom who needs to find a recipe or a quick diagram on how to change a tire. It's written for the Dad looking for blue prints to build a tree house or a source for a special drill bit. It's written for the student who needs to get the research paper done tonight. It's written for the shopper who needs to compare products and has no idea what one is.

It's written for everyday people. Those are the audience the SEO expert is targeting with their web copy and supporting materials. They are using the copywriter-generated articles to achieve a page rank that brings these everyday visitors into the site that matches their search terms.
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SEO expert web development generates page ranks. SEO expert web development brings the visitors who want to be there a way to find it quickly and efficiently. In the end, everyone involved when the job is well done shares the reward.

Copyright 2006 Mark Nenadic

Mark Nenadic Mark is the director and face behind FifteenDegrees-North http://www.15dn.com , where you will find articles and resources to help with SEO, marketingand Web design.

Lotus Notes Domino and Web: Application Development - Tips for Programmers

2007-11-26T19:55:00.003-08:00

Beginning with Domino version R4 it has integration with the Web, and the server itself becomes a HTTP-server. The next releases of Domino Web-server add new functionality (for example servlet managers, supported JVM versions upgrade, etc). To give you general picture and abstracting from details we'll talk about two major Domino Web-server functions:

1. Domino Web-server is the full-featured HTTP-server. In other words, it can provide static (or conditionally static) files as the reply to HTTP-browser's requests (including HTML, image, JavaScript, applets, etc);

2. During the browser's requests to Domino dynamic resources by specific URL, the server can create in passing HTML-pages, making the Domino object visible.

For sure, it is reasonably simplified model (we mentioned that, for example, Domino Web-server supports servlet technology), but this model allows to discuss the major issues in creation of Web-applications based on Lotus Domino technology. Following the major problems are:

• in Domino-based Web-applications creation developer is strongly limited to use built-in program languages' possibilities. Thus, from 380 inbuilt @-commands of @-formulas language nearly 40 are supported in Web. LotusScript is supported only in three types of Web-agents, etc;

• application security problems. The standard authentication, authorization, coding, digital signatures, etc. mechanisms are simplified in Web or do not work. So SSL + x.509, etc. certificates are to be used in such cases;

• applications efficiency. HTML-pages generation in passing surely takes the server resources, so if the application is poorly constructed, it may cause the server failure. For example, if the first page of the site is generated by an agent, then concurrent request from rather big number of users may cause the service failure situation. Developers are to take care themselves for loading balance putting into different parts often changed and more static data;

• result of HTML-pages generation in passing from Domino resources is not every time obvious. Often such a procedure issues appearance in generated page «additional» by developer point of view tags (for ex.,

, ,

, etc). As a consequence, most developers put on Domino only those features which can not implement themselves. If look through the codes of full-blown Web-sites, designed on Domino technology, then, for example, in Domino forms we see only fields, all extern design is based on DHTML.

Tip! This is not written by a professional lawyer or anyone close to one. It is written by a typical business owner of a successful web development company who has no law degree or the budget to hire a lawyer to write a web development contract.

It is not so bad. There are a lot of sites, supporting large number of users, accessing Domino data. Domino technology from release to release offers new possibilities for Web-design (for ex. JSP custom tag library, inbuilt HTML-editor, etc). The author himself used Domino to create portals with requests with more than 2000 visitors per a day. Summarizing the own and my colleagues experience in Domino Web-design field, I can recommend the following:

• Before creation of Web-project on Domino it is necessary to evaluate the whole Domino infrastructure in frame of concrete organization. If the Domino infrastructure at this company is on opening or initial stage, than Web-design based on Domino is hardly appropriated. The fact that Domino Designer is the environment for rapid application development (RAD), including Web- applications, can not be the reason to create Web-projects on Domino;
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• as far as possible allowing to Domino transfer in passing only objects, which can not be or hardly implemented by using other Web-technologies (so-called HTML-design is to be developed by programmers). The author thinks that, if a site needs to operate with Domino data, then to view them it is necessary to avoid the use of standard URL working with Domino objects. In this case exchange of data between site and Domino can be done by using any integration technologies supported by Domino (ex., XML, CORBA, JDBC, etc). In other words, Domino will play a role of data storage and their viewing is to be done by other mechanisms. Implicitly, the issue is confirmed by IBM. In R6 Domino Don't allow URL open feature may be assigned to databases , so the usage of standard URL Domino is protected in Web-applications;
Tip! Moreover the companies which have not yet published their sites will launch it in very near future. So the scope of business in Web development sector is very high.

• attention needs to be paid to Web-application security. Even when your site does not allow non-authorized access to information via Internet, you can expect hackers out there challenging your web-site security;

• only the tested by loading technologies are to used in Web-applications;

• minimize as much as possible the traffic Web-server <-> browser. In Web-design the issue is to be considered that Internet channels are usually narrower than local channels Domino <-> Lotus.

Good luck in your system setting up and contact us for any help in USA: 1-866-528-0577, Germany: (0177) 8349 806! help@albaspectrum.com

P.Gottmann is a technical writer in Ronix Systems ( http://www.ronix-systems.com ) the European branch of Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), IBM and Microsoft Business Solutions Partner, serving clients in Chicago, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, Germany, UK, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Moscow.

Microsoft eCommerce Web-development: Great Plains eConnect .Net - Highlights for Programmer

2007-11-26T19:55:00.002-08:00

In our small article we'll consider Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains Sales Order Processing module as eCommerce backend. Plus we'll cover what is possible and impossible in eConnect and why. Microsoft Great Plains is one of the most popular ERP in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, Latin America, UK and South Africa. Due to the MBS strategy - Great Plains Dynamics was pulled from other markets, such as continental Europe (Germany, France, Russia) - where Navision and Axapta are the promoted and recommended solutions. If you have Navision or Axapta - please read our publications on these products on Alba Spectrum Technologies publication site.

• Great Plains Platform - Great Plains Software Dynamics is written on GPS proprietary platform in Dexterity program language. Dexterity is based on very shrewd application development philosophy - ERP application will stay decades if it is independent from the graphical computer environment and database platform. Back in 1992 C programming language was believed to be the rescuer and be cross-platform.

• Great Plains Architecture. Here we need to give you highlights on Great Plains Dynamics initial design. General Ledger (GL) was intended as core module, then you see modules, posting directly to GL: Receivables Management (RM), Payables Management (PM), Payroll, Inventory Control. The next level - modules, posting to GL through other modules: Sales Order Processing (through Accounts Receivable), Purchase Order Processing (through Accounts Payables), etc. The second principle - Great Plains would never allow you to post the batch of transactions behind the scene - only via the user interface - checked and approved by the user.

• eOrder - this IIS ASP application was initially available for all the platforms: MS SQL Server, Ctree and Btrieve (later on Pervasive SQL 2000), in 1998 Great Plains Software made it available for MS SQL server only. eOrder was predecessor of modern eCommerce sites and all the attempts to customize eOrder were dubious in the version upgrade.
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• .Net paradigm. Instead of inventing and making you use standard eCommerce solution - .Net gives you the choice to select from variety of products available on the market. This means that no more eOrders - you just need the connector which will allow you to address Great Plains objects from your eCommerce application. As usual you are free to use your language of choice: VB or C#

• eConnect. Yes - exactly - it was initially developed for eCommerce programmers. Later on eConnect was extended on the majority of Great Plains modules, including distributions

• Restrictions. As you see above - Great Plains allows you to address work tables only - this means that you can not post transactions using eConnect. Other reported issues were related to Sales Order transfer to Invoice/Backorder

• Custom Stored Procedures. Right - you have to use these custom SQL scripts to post transactions, created with eConnect.

If you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-630-961-5918 or 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies - USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving Chicago, California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, New York, Australia, UK, Canada, Continental Europe, Russia and having locations in multiple states and internationally ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), he is Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK

Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0: eCommerce Web Development - Overview for Programmer

2007-11-26T19:55:00.001-08:00

Microsoft "Project Green" phase one is reflected in Microsoft Great Plains/Dynamics GP 9.0 realization. It is exposed to .Net developer currently through eConnect and as time goes - more and more eConnect object will have XML web service interfaces. In this small article we will be touching the set of object, deployed in eCommerce application, using Microsoft Dynamics GP as a backend.

• Sales Order Processing (SOP). In the light eCommerce case - you push data into SOP10100 - SOP Header table and SOP10200 - SOP Line table. If you do create Sales Orders Only, do not accept deposits against sales order - then you do not care about SOP Distribution table: SOP10102. All these tasks could be realized through eConnect.

• Inventory Tables. If you sell from your inventory (not just services), then you use Inventory module tables: IV00101 - Item master, IV00102 - Item QTY master, the last one shows you quantity at the specific location and in general

• Receivable Management Tables. RM00101 - Customer master - in case if you create and register new customer or update existing customer info in Great Plains.

• eConnect extensions. Obviously eConnect will be repeating the logic of former Great Plains Dexterity objects. In Great Plains you typically create work documents: Quotes, Orders, Invoices and then you post them individually or in the batch - posting process is functionally assigned to the operator, this is why you will have hard time to program it via eConnect (which allows you to create work documents). You will need eConnect extensions or simply stored procedures, which post work records in Sales Order Processing and potentially Receivable Management modules - it is not recommended to create ones from scratch - posting and order transferring logic is very complicated.
Tip! Once everything has come to fruition it does not necessarily mean that the web development is complete. Continuously think of new ways to make things better.

• Stored Procedures approach. We see more and more cases when eCommerce is built around Microsoft Small Business Financials, former Microsoft Small Business Manager - in such a situation eConnect might be too expensive and too complex - you may need just several SOP oriented stored procedures to create SOP orders and invoices at the back end in SOP SQL tables. The advice to the developer in the case of Small Business Financials - ask SBF user to create sample transaction - Sales Order and watch how did it distribute across SOP tables - you will get the idea and replication pattern for your SQL coding

• Development Tools. Microsoft Visual Studio.Net is becoming the tool of choice (over now legacy Microsoft Dexterity or Great Plains Software Dexterity). However if you are eCommerce developer - you will have to use SQL scripting. Usually the first question is - where do I get Great Plains table structure description: Tools->Resource Description->Tables. Sometimes developers ask about Great Plains Integration Manager. This tool is in process of being rewritten with eConnect panidea. Integration Manager up to version 8.0 was relatively slow in its technical ability to integrate bulk number of records - it used legacy OLE Server technology - Great Plains was OLE Server and IM used GP screens to validate integration records. New integration manager should be more powerful and it is in the process of the creation as we write these lines.

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM web front. In some cases we see this scenario. Microsoft Great Plains - MS CRM integration is in process of being rewritten on eConnect - currently it uses BizTalk server (and does a nice job, however sometimes you have to programmatically tune the BizTalk integration). In CRM you can create Account or Contact that will be integrated to Great Plains Customer, then Order when submitted can be integrated to Great Plains if needed. Sometimes developers complain, that they have to force credit limit for the CRM Account to be non-zero - in order for the invoice to come through
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Please do not hesitate to call or email us: USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com http://www.greatplains.com.mx http://www.enterlogix.com.br ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally. We are serving USA Nationwide: CA, IL, NY, FL, AZ, CO, TX, WI, WA, MI, MA, MO, LA, NM, MN, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Diego, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Washington, Baltimore, New Orleans, Austin, Kansas City.

Offshore Dedicated Center - Cost-Effective Model for Web Development Outsourcing

2007-11-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

Current business situation shows that to outsource means to benefit, i.e. to make profit from international trade in products and services. Witnessing high quality companies that have helped to improve the global perception of the "brand", lots of producers have stuck to the idea of partnership with offshore development teams. Participating in such business does not necessarily take away from them market share, but it is a 100% key factor in maintaining customers and acquiring new business i.e. providing a quality product or service. To run business above and beyond the limitations of production methods is essential nowadays. No doubt, this task is not an easy one taking into consideration that companies try to keep inventories low, overhead costs and capital expenditures to a minimum.

Being not able to keep up with the upgrade of technological advances, nor the expense of keeping employees up with these improvements, most companies start to use outsourcing as on of the essential ways to upraise any product or service one has to offer. According to statistics, more than 85% of companies participating in IT development business and outsourcing abroad, usually do it in CIS countries: half of that number takes risks to establish ODC (Offshore Dedicated Center) that allows to benefit from the expertise of another company, without accumulating the expenses of new equipment and training. An ODC is a dedicated, customized, and secure development center established for a customer that needs to outsource application and maintenance work for a long period of time. ODC model gives the customer better control over the process of product development, and helps to have higher resource efficiency (cost saving up to 70%). Being a branch of offshore business, Dedicated Center does not require any up-front investments or long-term commitments: the company chosen handles incorporation issues, establishing IT infrastructure, legal fees, payroll, legal compliance and office leases. Being not obliged to pay office expenses, internet, electricity, infrastructure and many more, the employer can be sure that each dedicated member of this team works 180 hours per month making profit.

With companies all over the world everyone can gain access to talented engineers, experienced developers and trendy designers. Leveraging the dedicated team means that customers who risk can handle their own IT projects quickly and efficiently, utilizing cost-effective equivalent in-house resources. At the same time, management team that is a must in every modern IT development company is always at client's service to provide a level of convenience and security that one would never get by working within some local development departments. With roots in all continents and countries, IT development companies are utilizing close relations with local universities, the development community and educational centers to quickly fill the need for qualified engineers. Local business connections also work for outsourcing companies' benefit. ODC BENEFITS: 1. Focus on Core IT Competencies - Save on Cost of Applications Development 2. Avoid Long-term Investments 3. Lower Business Risks 4. Best Practices from Leading Web Development Company 5. Quick Return on Investment 6. Full Operational Control 7. Established IT Infrastructure 8. Access to the Best Talents 9. Improved Product Release Time

Peter Melnikov http://www.moveyourweb.net
Peter Melnikov is COO of MoveYourWeb web development offshore company

User Friendly Web Development

2007-11-26T19:50:00.010-08:00

It's not very difficult to create a web development that is user friendly. It only takes some thinking ahead. When initiating web development the first thing to think about is the audience. The content and style should cater the audience preferences. A web designer should take a look at the sites that they commonly visit and take note the qualities that are most appealing. What makes this website so appealing? Is it the graphics that are offered? Does the text seem to flow logically? Piecing together positive aspects of different websites will aid in the basic concept of the desired web design.

These aspects that have been taken from other websites can be pieced together to form the desired web design. However, in a web development plan always think about the user. A website is designed for a person to come on and use. If the website is not user friendly then usage will be low. There for keep in mind the visitor when creating a web design. In web development think like the average web surfer that is visiting the website for the first time. Make sure that the pages connect logically for the user. Don't forget to provide them with information and navigation cues. Having a way for them to be able to navigate between pages efficiently will aid so much. Never underestimate the use of the back cue on a website.

A good knowledge in HTML in web development should not be forgotten. It is valuable in the implementation of the website. Templates will help keep consistency in the development of the website. If at all possible test the web page before it is finished. This will make sure that the web development that was implemented had the desired effect and is indeed user friendly. Another aspect to include that will keep the development plan user friendly is to create an extendable directory and a basic file structure. Organization is the key.

Once everything has come to fruition it does not necessarily mean that the web development is complete. Continuously think of new ways to make things better. Web development never finishes. It continues to change and get better over time with the addition of new forms of technology and better ways to help visitors to the website use it. Once the web development is successful in its implementation promote it in every venue possible. Don't keep a good thing hidden. Link the website with others and do not underestimate the power of word of mouth. Taking into account all of these things in web development will create a productive user friendly website.
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Web Development

Web Application Development - A Guide to Success

2007-11-26T19:50:00.009-08:00

From the good old days of the tag, to the XML-savvy Web services of today, applied Internet language has come a long way. And nowhere is this more evident than in the field of Web application development.

As the Internet grew into a major player on the global economic front, so did the number of investors who were interested in its development. So, you may wonder, how does the Internet continue to play a major role in communications, media and news? The key words are: Web Application Projects.

Web applications are business strategies and policies implemented on the Web through the use of User, Business and Data services. These tools are where the future lies. In this article, I'll take you through the essential phases in the life cycle of a Web application project, explain what options you have, and help you formulate a plan for successful Web application endeavors of your own. First, though, let's take a brief overview of Web applications.

Who Needs Web Applications and Why?

There are many entities that require applications for the Web-one example would be Business-to-Business interaction. Many companies in the world today demand to do business with each other over secure and private networks. This process is becoming increasingly popular with a lot of overseas companies who outsource projects to each other. From the simple process of transferring funds into a bank account, to deploying a large scale Web services network that updates pricing information globally, the adoption of a Web applications infrastructure is vital for many businesses.

The Web Application Model

The Web application model, like many software development models, is constructed upon 3 tiers: User Services, Business Services and Data Services. This model breaks an application into a network of consumers and suppliers of services.
Tip! These aspects that have been taken from other websites can be pieced together to form the desired web design. However, in a web development plan always think about the user.

The User Service tier creates a visual gateway for the consumer to interact with the application. This can range from basic HTML and DHTML to complex COM components and Java applets.

The user services then grab business logic and procedures from the Business Services. This tier can range from Web scripting in ASP/PHP/JSP to server side programming such as TCL, CORBA and PERL, that allows the user to perform complex actions through a Web interface.

The final tier is the Data Service layer. Data services store, retrieve and update information at a high level. Databases, file systems, and writeable media are all examples of Data storage and retrieval devices. For Web applications, however, databases are most practical. Databases allow developers to store, retrieve, add to, and update categorical information in a systematic and organized fashion.
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Choosing the Right Project

Choosing the right types of projects to work on is an extremely important part of the Web application development plan.

Assessing your resources, technical skills, and publishing capabilities should be your first goal. Taking the 3 tiers into consideration, devise a list of all available resources that can be categorically assigned to each tier.

The next consideration should be the cost. Do you have a budget with which to complete this project? How much will it cost you to design, develop and deliver a complete project with a fair amount of success? These are questions that should be answered before you sign any deals or contracts.

Let's look at an example. A company called ABC needs to develop a Web application that will display sales information created by different sales agents. The data is updated daily through a completely automated process from all 3 service tiers. The client tells you that this entire project must be done in ASP/SQL server and that you should host the application as well.

After assessing all your resources, you and your team come to a conclusion that the company is unable to do data backups on a daily basis. After further discussion, you realize that this is a very important part of the setup for your client, and you should not risk taking a chance with the project. It's very likely that you will be more prepared next time around, when a similar project lands on your desk, so you decline the job and recommend someone else who has the capabilities to do it right now.
Tip! Over the years, Web Development Companies has expanded a deep understanding of the industry, a well-built technical background and the ability to give fast gyrate time for the software projects for their clients in India and abroad. Their key principles are, comprehensive understanding our clients' business objectives, providing highly personalized experiences, maintaining a strong thrust on quality, and stick on to the best ethical practices.

The Phases in a Web Application Project

The Web application development process has 4 phases:

Envisioning the nature and direction of the project

Devising the plan

Development

Testing, support and stability

Let's look at each of these in more detail.

1. Envisioning the nature and direction of the project

In this phase, the management and developers assigned to the project come together and establish the goals that the solution must achieve. This includes recognizing the limitations that are placed on the project, scheduling, and versioning of the application. By the end of this phase, there should be clear documentation on what the application will achieve.

2. Devising the plan

In this phase, you and your team must determine the "how's" of the application.

What scripting language is most appropriate, which features must be included, and how long will it take? These are some of the questions that must be answered through this planning phase. The main tangents at this point are the project plan and functional specification. The project plan determines a timeframe of events and tasks, while the functional specification outlines in detail how the application will function and flow.
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3. Development

Once the project plan and functional specification are ready, a baseline is set for the development work to begin. The programmer/s or Web developer/s begin coding, testing and publishing data. This phase establishes the data variables, entities and coding procedures that will be used throughout the remainder of the project. A milestone document is prepared by the development team, which is then handed to management for review.

4. Testing, support and stability

The stability phase of the application project mainly focuses on testing and the removal of bugs, discrepancies and network issues that may otherwise cause the application to fail. It is here that policies and procedures are established for a successful support system.
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Knowing Your Options and Using them Wisely Ok, now that you have an understanding of the architecture and procedures behind Web application development, let's look at what technical options you'll need to consider for the development process itself.

Windows Web Servers

Microsoft has built a loyal customer base on one important factor - their easy-to-use software. Windows NT/2000/XP Web servers are very fast and easy to administer. The fact that the operating system is a Windows shell means that administrators and authors can easily allow the Web server to interact with other software and hardware applications to transmit and receive data over the Internet. Popular server side scripting languages used with Windows servers are ASP/ASP. net, Java Server Pages, and PHP.
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UNIX/Linux Web Servers

UNIX has long been known for its reliability. It is a powerful and robust Web server and operating system. Unix is the server of choice for many large-scale Websites that need content management systems or receive an extremely high volume of traffic. Popular server side scripting languages for UNIX are Java Server Pages, PERL, PHP, and CORBA

Every scripting language has its pros and cons. As I'm not writing a book here, I'll use the ASP model as my language of illustration. When working with Windows servers, there are several important parameters that the developer needs to throw into the equation, including security, scalability, speed and application design. So below I'm going to help you formulate a successful plan to accomplish all kinds of Web projects.

Planning for a Successful Web Development Project In order to drastically minimize the risk of project failure, I've always approached my application development projects in the following sequence.

1. Identify business logic and entities

Start by gathering information on everything you have. If you are going to be working with databases, begin by enumerating how many entities will be used in the business logic. For example, if your program implements sales data, a sales ticket would be an entity.
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Once you've identified all your entities, establish a clear guideline for their relationships. This can be done via presentations, flowcharts or even reports.

2. Create a functional specification and project plan

This part, in my opinion, is the most important part of the project. Functional specifications (or functional specs) are a map, or blueprint for how you want a particular Web application to look and work. The spec details what the finished product will do, user interaction, and its look and feel.

An advantage of writing a functional spec is that it streamlines the development process. It takes discrepancies and guesswork out of the programming process, because the level of detail that goes into the plan makes it possible to minimize the misunderstanding that's usually associated with project mishaps. See examples of well written functional specs at RayComm.com.

Once the functional spec is finished, a project plan must be devised. A project plan is a timeline of tasks and events that will take place during the project. The project or program manager is normally the person who creates a project plan, and their primary focus is to detail task notes while being able to accommodate scheduling and resource information. You can download a sample Excel file for a project plan at Method123.com.
Tip! This is not written by a professional lawyer or anyone close to one. It is written by a typical business owner of a successful web development company who has no law degree or the budget to hire a lawyer to write a web development contract.

3. Bring the application model into play

As discussed earlier, the application model consists of 3 tiers - The User, Business and Data service tiers, each of which serves a substantial purpose.

Practically speaking, it's always best to start with the data tier, because you've already identified your entities and understand their relationships. The data tier can be an SQL server database, a text file, or even the powerful and robust Oracle. Create tables, relationships, jobs, and procedures depending on what platform you have chosen. If the data is a warehouse (i.e. the data already exists and does not depend on real time interaction), then make sure that new and additional data can be added securely and in a scalable fashion.

A quick tip: using views in SQL server/Oracle can improve dramatically the productivity and performance of your application. They increase speed because they are "stored queries" that don't have a physical existence.
Tip! I must write a disclaimer that this proven web development agreement is purely based on experience and knowledge of the web design and development industry. Others may write these contracts and agreements differently.

The Business services tier, in my opinion, is the heart of the application. It involves the implementation of business logic into the scripting or programming language.

At this stage, make sure you've already set up your environment for testing and debugging. Always test on at least 2 instances in your application, after all, what may work perfectly for you, may not do so well on other platforms or machines. ASP, XML, PHP, JSP and CGI are some examples of server side scripting languages used at the business service level. Whichever language you choose, make sure that it's capable of handling all the business logic presented in the functional specification.

The last is the user tier, which is absolutely vital for the interactive and strategic elements in the application. It provides the user with a visual gateway to the business service by placing images, icons, graphics and layout elements in strategic areas of interest, most commonly, based on management research. If you'll be developing the user tier yourself, be sure to have studied your competition. The last thing you need is for your application to look exactly the same as someone else's.
Tip! The following is a list of ideas that will help the SEO expert and web development team narrow their requests to the copywriters. When everyone is on the same page, the work will be better for it.

4. Develop a support scheme

Being able to support and stabilize your application is very important. Define a procedure call for cases of failure, mishaps or even downtime. Give your customers the ability to contact you in the case of an emergency relating to the program.

A good example of a support scheme is a ticket tracking system. This system allows users to file cases pertaining to a support request and the support team, then makes the case track able. This means that the request is identifiable by a unique code or number. Although ticket-tracking systems are normally used by hosting companies or large scale ASP's (Application Service Providers), they still serve a valuable purpose in helping keep the application stable.
Tip! Some useful hints for web development below are taken from software quality aspects but they apply to the development of websites as well.

Over to You...

So there you have it - a framework from which you can begin to plan and develop your own successful Web applications.

Web applications will be around for a long time to come. As we move further on into the future, they will become less manual and more automated. This will eventually lead to new kinds of research, but for now, we can be happy with the fact that it is this that drives the Web.
Tip! Set reasonable goals for the web development effort. Don't try to implement all ideas all at once.

Caesar Fernandes is currently the Business Development Manager at Iridium Plus Technologies, Kuwait's leading web and IT services organization, where he is in charge of shaping the company's business strategies, sales and marketing campaigns and their Enterprise SEO services. Prior to Iridium Plus, Caesar helped develop several developmental and research based web applications for multi nationals such as Radioshack and Lee Jeans both in the United States and in Kuwait, and has over 10 years of experience in web project management, application development and SEO.

Semantic Web Development

2007-11-26T19:50:00.008-08:00

Semantic Web Modelling Centre of Excellence

Introduction

Semantic Web Development and dealing with complexity is a tricky issue. Representing information is a problem where complexity can preclude any single approach. In order to find our way around large quantities of information it needs to be structured. But the information already exists and is still being created, so this makes it a moving target.

I'm sure such matters will be covered at the www2006 conference at Edinburgh 23-26 May http://www2006.org/. Kurt Cagle refers to this in his article on complexity on his Understanding XML blog at http://www.understandingxml.com/.

The structuring of ontologies from the top down can be useful, but can only be achieved where the ontology developers have some control over the information. Much of web development and other creation of information is bottom up, in that there is no controlling authority. This is good for inclusiveness and speed of development, and something that encourages community, and encourages individuals to create their own content, which is a good thing. In his interview with the British Computer Society Tim Berners-Lee http://dig.csail.mit.edu/breadcrumbs/blog/4 answers a question on ontologies. He talks of a top level ontology that can be created to hold certain terms and the need to find out who is using these terms, so that other web pages and databases can be categorised. This would be achieved using URIs (Universal Resource Identifier) and RDF (Resource Description Framework). In answer to what Tim Berners-Lee hopes to achieve, he talks of this bottom up development that is going on, using blogs, and wikis etc and a possible approach of 'web science' - 'the science and engineering of web based things that have a bottom up Web-like structure'.
I think this approach is highly relevant to my PhD research on user-driven programming, with University of the West of England (UWE - Bristol). Not everyone has the time to learn programming especially if their main expertise is elsewhere. They then have to ask others to do the development for them and this leads to delays and mis-understandings. The approach advocated here could enable visual creation of software by members of a community. Members of this community would not need advanced programming skills if other members with more advanced development skills could create a suitable interface for the creation of software. This could be achieved in a similar way to that used in visual web page creation tools, or word processor and spreadsheet software. Also the members who do possess advanced skills could provide ways of sorting, searching and navigating the programs created using the visual development tools. Members could work with either or both groups, according to their skills and interests.
Tip! I must write a disclaimer that this proven web development agreement is purely based on experience and knowledge of the web design and development industry. Others may write these contracts and agreements differently.

A good first step would be to link communities and sites that have a mix of those with advanced software skills who want to encourage and enable others to learn to program, and of new starters who want to learn. This could involve those who are willing to try out new techniques to make it easier for new starters to train learn and gain experience.

Sir Tim-Berners-Lee's interview - http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.3337.

This talk by Nigel Shadbolt explains research about coping with diverse sources of information - http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.3043.

This article by Bill Thompson for the BBC technology site examines new developments in Web 2.0 technologies - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4842498.stm.

I am a Researcher Associate in the final year of my. I specialise in applying Semantic Web techniques. My current research is on a technique of 'User Driven Modelling/Programming'. My intention is to enable non-programmers to create software from a user interface that allows them to model a particular problem or scenario. This involves a user entering information visually in the from of a tree diagram. I am attempting to develop ways of automatically translating this information into program code in a variety of computer languages. This is very important and useful for many employees that have insufficient time to learn programming languages. I am using the Protege ontology editor developed from a project of Stanford University. I am looking to research visualisation, and visualisation techniques to create a human computer interface that allows non experts to create software.
Tip! Moreover the companies which have not yet published their sites will launch it in very near future. So the scope of business in Web development sector is very high.

My Home Page is at http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/ My blog is http://userdrivenmodelling.blogspot.com/

Professional Web Development

2007-11-26T19:50:00.007-08:00

Web development incorporates all areas of creating a Web site for the World Wide Web. This includes Web design (graphic design, XHTML, CSS, usability and semantics), programming, server administration, content management, marketing, testing and deployment. The term can also specifically be used to refer to the "back end", that is, programming and server administration. There is usually more than one member that works on a given Web Development team, each specializing in his or her own field.

These days, almost everybody relies on the internet. May it be chatting, shopping, or even just for fun; people are very fond of browsing the net. But these people don't have the slightest idea on how hard it is to create, develop, and maintain a website. All they know is that if they find the site easy to navigate, or if it is easy to find, then they will visit it. But if your site is boring, then it will remain unvisited and your site rank will stay to zero.

For web masters, it is very fulfilling if they see their site having many visitors and their page rank is increasing. They have to think of different styles to promote their website and of course they have to update it at least once a month so that people who visit their site will not get tired of dropping by.

Managing a website professionally seems like a forever job. And if you're not really into it, you might give up easily. Most webmasters will tell you that it is not really easy to maintain and develop websites especially if your products or the content of your website is common. What the web master usually does is that even if your website layout and content is generic, they make it appear like its unique and one of a kind.

If you're a professional entrepreneur, your focus is to how you will sell the products and increase your earnings. One way of advertising your products and/or your company is through managing a website. But being busy will hinder you to maintain it. With this, chances are your product and your company will not be known to many people. Don't let this happen to you. If you are really concern with the products you have and you want to sell it to people, use the internet! You don't need to go through all the troubles that maintaining a website has. There are lots of companies who offer services such as web design, web development, and the like. However you still need to set some criteria in choosing the best web development company for you, your products, and your company.

http://www.wickedinnovations.com specializes in professional web design and other web development services They offer affordable prices, a professional approach and customized solutions for business of all sites.

The Ten Commandments of Web Design and Development

2007-11-26T19:50:00.006-08:00

If there was a web design and development Bible these would be the Ten Commandments…

1.Thou shalt not make me wait. If you make me wait more than 10 seconds for your page to load you might as well replace it with a nice goodbye message. Go easy on the graphics, optimize their size, and make the focus of your site the content you provide.

2.Thou shalt not make me work. If it takes me 5 minutes to locate your contact information (or worse to figure out what it is you're selling) - I'm leaving. People visit websites to get information quickly. There's a reason why we don't use the yellow pages anymore or spend hours searching classified ads in the Sunday newspaper. The general public is lazy and impatient. Don't make a user work to find the information they're looking for on your site.

3.Thou shalt not kill me with flash overload. Flash is a great tool. It can add visually pleasing elements to your site and make you look like you're up-to-date with current technology. That said - I don't want to hear the same techno song over and over while I browse your site or get a headache from the laser show on each of your pages. A short and crisp flash message gives off the impression of professionalism and keeps you from violating Commandment #10.

4.Thou shalt not provide me with useless, stale information. Have you ever been looking at a site, reading the content, only to realize that it's referring to a years old event as if it occurred yesterday? That might be the fastest way to get people to leave your page. Do not promote sales offers that have expired weeks ago on your site. Rich, updated content is the key to a visitor's heart - not to mention one of the most important aspects of search engine rank.
Tip! Once everything has come to fruition it does not necessarily mean that the web development is complete. Continuously think of new ways to make things better.

5.Thou shalt not forget to offer me something. I love when people give me things. It doesn't much matter what it is, but if it's free I have no reason not to take it. You should offer visitors to your site something useful right away. If your website promotes a service offer an e-book or a newsletter that highlights free tips and information relevant to your service. If you sell products offer special coupons or free offers for submitting an email address. In each case the goal is to build a targeted subscriber list filled with people you already know are interested in what you have to offer. You'd spend countless hours and thousands of dollars with direct marketing agencies to develop targeted marketing strategies of this caliber.
Tip! I must write a disclaimer that this proven web development agreement is purely based on experience and knowledge of the web design and development industry. Others may write these contracts and agreements differently.

6.Thou shalt not frustrate me with unclear navigation. This goes hand in hand with not making me work but it's so important it deserves its own commandment. Navigation should be consistent. Don't make me go searching for a way to go from page to page. Pick a horizontal or vertical layout for your primary links and stick to it. If you intend on using a second-tier navigation system as well for things like external links, news, and other detailed information make sure it is also consistent from page to page. A quick tip: Have someone you know browse your site and watch how they navigate it. It is an exercise that will provide you with valuable information on how easy your site is to navigate.
Tip! You can find a large number of web design companies in the city of Denver. Denver's web development industry has evolved quite a lot, the clients now have many offers to choose from.

7.Thou shalt not look like an amateur. Probably the greatest quote I have ever heard about website development was, "A website has the ability to make a million dollar business look like its run out of a basement - but it can also make a business that is run out of a basement look like a million dollar business." Which kind of site would you rather have? Broken links, outrageous color schemes, and strange font-types and sizes will make you look like an amateur. But crisp, clean, professional design can make your home-based business look like a well oiled Fortune 500 power.

8.Thou shalt not believe in the "Field of Dreams" phenomenon. Have you seen the movie Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner? If you haven't I suggest you rent it, watch it, and then take the theme of "if you build it they will come" and throw it out the window immediately while planning your website. You can't just build a website and hope that people will just show up and buy. Like the development of any business it takes time, effort, and (some) money. Plan an internet marketing strategy that separates you from your competition so that you can build traffic and as a result, your business.
Tip! These aspects that have been taken from other websites can be pieced together to form the desired web design. However, in a web development plan always think about the user.

9.Thou shalt not forget to plan for the future. Once you build your site and promote it your business will change. How do you plan to evolve with it? Have a plan in place from the start with future goals. If there's one thing I've learned while consulting for small businesses it's that those who set specific targets have success (even when they fall short) while those who operate on a day by day schedule struggle. Set realistic goals and even some far-fetched ones. You'll notice a difference in your progress when you have something to work toward.

…and the last and probably most important:

10.Thou shalt not think me to be an idiot. Forget the gimmick lines like "guaranteed to make you millions" - "never have to work again". They don't work and they scream, "SCAM". Be professional and earn the trust of your visitors. Offer them useful information that is reliable. The customers you want are the ones who keep coming back. Show them you're worth their time and don't undermine their intelligence. Gimmick businesses like that are plentiful on the Internet but if you plan to stick around awhile build your business the right way and you won't need the scam strategies.

Follow these 10 Commandments when building and developing your website and you'll be on the path to Internet business salvation. If you have any questions about this article or how to start planning for your site contact us today for a free consultation.

Derek Falvey is the owner of Acuvar Creative a full-service web design and development firm http://www.acuvar.com. He has helped numerous businesses from law firms to home builders (and even farm owners) create internet business strategies. Acuvar specializes in web site development and creative e-marketing as well as graphic deign, flash and multimedia presentation, and newsletter creation.

The Birth of a Professional Web Site: Part Five Essential Web Development Tools

2007-11-26T19:50:00.005-08:00

Developing a successful web site takes a great deal of planning and preparation. An important part of your preparation is obtaining the essential tools of the trade.

HTML Editors

An HTML editor is a software program used to create and edit HTML documents.

Although some Internet marketers prefer to write their own HTML code, most prefer to use an HTML editor, as it can greatly simplify a somewhat difficult process. However, using an HTML editor has its disadvantages, as some editors have a tendency to add a lot of unnecessary coding and may not support the latest technologies.

Whether you will be writing your own HTML or using an editor, taking the time to learn HTML is very important. Not only will you gain your independence, but you'll also have the ability to add special effects that many HTML editors don't support.

Here are some popular HTML editors:

Macromedia Dreamweaver http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/ A popular WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) HTML editor. Great for beginners and advanced users alike.

Coffee Cup http://www.coffeecup.com/html-editor/ A popular HTML editor that's great for beginners as well as advanced users. Includes a built in browser that will enable you to instantly preview your HTML as you go.

Hot Dog Professional http://sausage.com/products/index.html Three HTML editors, including HotDog Junior for children, PageWiz for the novice user and Professional for advanced and budding webmasters.

Text Editors

A text editor is a software program used for editing plain text that doesn't add any special formatting.

If you're considering writing your own HTML code, you'll need a good text editor. Although it will certainly be more time consuming, your code will be much cleaner and can reduce your file size considerably.
Tip! Many Denver web development companies are known worldwide, they have years of practice in this domain, and they are receiving offers from people and firms everywhere, providing 24/7 customer services.

In addition to using a text editor to write HTML, it can also be used to edit scripts and write articles.

If you have a Windows operating system, Note Pad is the preferred text editor. It should already be installed on your computer.

Although Note Pad is a great little text editor, it can't handle large files and is much better suited for smaller jobs. You may find that you'd like an editor that is more powerful, such as:

NoteTab Pro http://www.notetab.com/ TextPad http://www.textpad.com/

FTP

File Transfer Protocol, better known as FTP, is a procedure used to upload and download files to and from your web server.

Although many HTML editors will enable you to edit and transfer pages to your server, an FTP program is still an essential tool, as you must have complete control over the files on your server.
Tip! For example, you can try searching in search engines for appropriate key phrases “offshore web design”, “offshore web site design”, “offshore web development” and analyze sites of your potential partners.

An FTP program will enable you to upload scripts, set file permissions, create folders and transfer files to and from your server.

In order to use FTP, you'll need to download and install a software program on your computer. The most widely used FTP program is WS FTP Pro http://www.wsftp.com

Graphics Editor

A graphics editor is a software program that will enable you to design and edit graphics.

Graphic design is an intimidating subject for many Internet entrepreneurs. However, most of us must learn some basic design techniques in order to avoid the high costs of hiring a professional designer.

The most popular program used by Internet marketers is Paint Shop Pro. This powerful program is the only program you'll need to design professional looking graphics.

Zip/Unzip Software

A Zip file is an "archive" of one or more files compressed into one file for easy distribution.
Tip! Offshore web site design and development help to keep prices at least 3-5 times less, for example, average hourly rate of web development services in USA is $35-75; in UK - $25-50, in Ukraine - $5-20.

Zip files are used to compress and transport file archives over the Internet. It is the preferred method used for electronic file distribution, as rather than downloading several different files, you can simply download one Zip file. In addition, the download time will be minimized, as the files within the Zip archive are compressed.

Once a Zip file is downloaded, it can be easily opened and extracted (unzipped) with a Zip/Unzip software program.

Although there are many Zip software programs available on the Internet, WinZip is the most popular. WinZip makes working with file archives simple. It features an easy point-and-click, drag-and-drop interface for viewing, extracting, adding, deleting and testing archived files.

You can download a fully functional evaluation version here: http://www.winzip.com/download.htm
Tip! Moreover the companies which have not yet published their sites will launch it in very near future. So the scope of business in Web development sector is very high.

Email

Although most Internet Service Providers include email accounts for their customers, these accounts aren't adequate for an Internet business -- especially if you get a large amount of email. Not only do the email addresses contain your ISP's name, but they are also very limited on features and options.

The two most popular email clients used online are Outlook and Eudora. These programs will enable you to download email from your server and offer features, such as sorting and filtering, and will enable you to easily organize your email messages. What's more, your email address will be your own domain -- not someone else's.

Eudora http://www.eudora.com

Outlook http://www.microsoft.com/

Your webmaster toolbox will play an important part in your success. Take the time to ensure your toolbox contains these essential tools and you'll be well on your way to designing a professional web site.

(Continued in part six)

Copyright © Shelley Lowery

About the Author:

Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, "Web Design Mastery" (www.webdesignmastery.com) and "eBook Starter - Give Your eBooks the look and feel of a REAL book" (www.ebookstarter.com)
Tip! Choosing the best person to create your new web site is one of the most important tasks a business must undertake. It is also one of the most difficult because of the amount of freelance designers, advertising agencies, public relation firms and web development consultants flooding the market.

Visit www.Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to eTips and receive a copy of Shelley's acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing Strategies."

You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook, or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author bylines are included.

Web Application Development

2007-11-26T19:50:00.004-08:00

Prototyping is one of the most important aspects of our development process. We consider the act of prototyping to be a risk mitigation strategy. If approached correctly, we believe that prototyping can reduce the risks in Web application development. In addition, by reducing risks we are often able to reduce project costs.

Prototyping may be done in a number of ways and it may actually employ more than one method over the course of development.

We may begin with hand drawn diagrams and flowcharts to represent User Interface (UI) elements and business processes. These drawings are then converted into HTML-based prototypes of the UI that incorporate a minimal level of functionality.

Customer acceptance tests are then prepared to document the required functionality. These tests are then validated against the prototype, as well as the established business, user and system requirements to ensure that the final system meets the stated goals of the project.

We emphasize to clients that testing should begin early and should be carried out continuously. Testing begins during requirements analysis and prototyping when project managers work with the customer to develop high-level Customer Acceptance Tests that validate the business, user, and system requirements.

During development, unit tests ensure that individual, functional packages of code at the lowest levels do what they are designed to do. Integration testing ensures that all the parts (i.e. functional packages of code) that make up a system function together to meet the specified requirement.

Final Acceptance Testing validates the completed system against the requirements as defined during the requirements analysis and prototyping phase. When all of the final acceptance tests have passed, the system should be ready for production.

Small releases provide positive results to clients in a timely manner, adding value to their business processes as quickly as possible.
Tip! I must write a disclaimer that this proven web development agreement is purely based on experience and knowledge of the web design and development industry. Others may write these contracts and agreements differently.

Small releases also prevent the project from straying too far from the intended goals before the direction can be corrected. In this regard smaller releases can be considered a risk mitigation strategy as well. The key to a small release approach is to identify the individual subsystems that make up the larger system and rank those subsystems by importance. The most important pieces are then delivered first to add value quickly.

Pair programming is the most difficult to implement of all the development processes identified in this article. While we do not advocate pair programming in all instances, we do feel that there is great value to be gained in many cases. Clients are generally concerned about the development costs of a system. And while the idea of having two developers working side-by-side on the same piece of code may seem counterintuitive, cost savings can be achieved due to shorter testing cycles and less rework as a result of pair programming.
Tip! Chris Smith provides web traffic from 2 of his websites - Cheap Web Traffic and Chris Smith Web Development - Buy Web Traffic.

At the same time, managers see the use of two people on one task to be a waste of valuable resources, which can be true if the task is not of sufficient complexity. However, in those situations where it fits, if quality is increased and testing and rework reduced, then we believe the trade-offs are warranted.

The AVS Group is a marketing, training, and communications company. AVS is in La Crosse, Wisconsin. AVS helps clients communicate and market effectively. AVS can be found online at http://www.avsgroup.com

How to Choose Which Web Development Package is Right For You

2007-11-26T19:50:00.003-08:00

There are plenty of options when it comes to web site creation software and a wannabe web designer might have a hard time deciding which to choose. We will have a look at the most popular web creation programs: Front Page, Dreamweaver and Adobe GoLive. All three offer a user-friendly interface and plenty of beginner and advanced options that will allow you to create the website of your dreams. A large majority of website hosting companies accept the final outputs of the three programs, but you will still need to check your web page for compatibility with different web browsers.

Front Page

comes as a natural option to many web designers, partly because being part of the Microsoft Office family this software offers a familiar workspace. The interface is similar to the ones you find in Word or Excel, with many identical buttons, keyboard shortcuts and actions. Text formatting is piece of cake in Front Page as it almost feels like you are using Word to do it. The Insert/Picture command is also available here, allowing the user to easily integrate images into the web page. Although many experienced web designers see Front Page as a basic software, you can still tweak your page to higher standards by using the HTML view.

Dreamweaver

offers a lot more high-end features and is preferred by a large community of web designers. You have more freedom using HTML features and taking your web site closer to perfection. A very useful option is the design and code split view - you see the effects of the changes you make in the source code affect the design in real time. Macromedia Dreamweaver allows you to create from the simplest of web sites to very complex pages that integrate Java applications and Flash elements. You may also check the final result in different browsers, a very important step that allows you to calibrate the web site for maximum compatibility. It is also an excellent programme for beginners because of its WYSIWIG (what you see is what you get) interface, this allows the user to create web sites without having knowledge of HTML coding. Some HTML coding knowledge will, however, allow you to create better looking sites.
Tip! For example, you can try searching in search engines for appropriate key phrases “offshore web design”, “offshore web site design”, “offshore web development” and analyze sites of your potential partners.

Adobe GoLive

is a favorite web creation software of designers that are used to working with other Adobe products such as Photoshop or Illustrator. The familiar Adobe workspace reduces the learning curve for this program and allows easy integration of cross-software elements. The graphic elements for the web site, which are usually created in Photoshop, are effortlessly placed into GoLive's workspace by a simple drag and drop move. The excellent compatibility with other graphic design Adobe products recommends GoLive as a great option when you want to create a great looking website.

Andrew Smith is a co-webmaster of HowToAll, a site providing information on how to do things on many topics. http://howtoall.com

Web Development - Do It Yourself?

2007-11-26T19:50:00.002-08:00

Can I Do My Own Website? Many businesses or individuals in Windsor who want a website commonly ask the question: "Can I develop my own website?" The short answer to this question is yes, absolutely. In fact, developing a simple website is easier now than it ever has been. Programs such as Macromedia's Dreamweaver or Microsoft Front Page have made it easy to develop web pages with little to no skill. Simply pick a pre-made template, type in your text, add a couple of pictures and voila! You have yourself a website, right? Well, sort of.

The simple fact of the matter is, you can't expect to develop a professional looking, tightly coded, website just by plugging your text into a pre-made template with a code generation tool. Yes, software has greatly improved over the years with how it generates HTML, the markup code that defines the structure of your web pages, but generated code will always be bulkier, and less efficient than hand coded HTML pages.

Most professionals in Windsor develop their HTML pages by hand. In fact, most page developers rarely ever use anything but a text editor to generate their pages. Professional page developers will use HTML for what it was developed for, to describe the structure of a page, and encapsulate the content of said page via the markup tags relevant to the content at hand. What does all that mumbo jumbo mean? Well, simply put, it means that a professional web page developer is going to structure a page correctly, using the correct tags, not just using tags that look right when a page is rendered to the browser. A professional page developer never concerns himself with how the HTML makes a page look, HTML is there to structure a page, not describe how the style is defined. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) describes how the nicely structured pages should look when rendered to the browser. Moreover, the developer structures his/her pages so they render correctly in all browsers, a task that the code generators fail miserably at most times.
Tip! Offshore web site design and development help to keep prices at least 3-5 times less, for example, average hourly rate of web development services in USA is $35-75; in UK - $25-50, in Ukraine - $5-20.

What's In Your Page Source? Alright, I will be the first to admit that most people don't care how bulky their web pages are or how inefficient they are coded. Granted, most visitors are on high-speed internet and those extra 500 milliseconds your page takes to load isn't going to matter, right? Again, sort of. You always have to be aware of how long your pages are taking to load, and how responsive they are for your visitors. Studies have shown that an average user will wait about 10 seconds for a page to load before they navigate away out of frustration. I have a feeling that this study was done before the vast majority of users had high-speed internet. I suspect that tolerance to waiting is actually much lower.
Tip! For example, you can try searching in search engines for appropriate key phrases “offshore web design”, “offshore web site design”, “offshore web development” and analyze sites of your potential partners.

Experienced web developers and web designers will always optimize their images, and HTML to load as quickly as possible. Images that are not properly compressed can easily be 5 times larger than a properly compressed image. Improperly compressed images can easily increase a web page load by 5-10 seconds!

Got Google? One of the biggest detriments of doing your own web development is the lack of search engine optimization. One of the most common causes of websites having poor search engine rankings is because the page is full of HTML errors which throw off the search engine crawlers. Web pages that are not structured correctly, and have a lot of styling information inline with the content will never rank well compared to websites that are structured correctly with nice clean content.

So does this mean that if you do your own website, you won't ever get listed in the search engines? Of course not, but if a professional web designer or web developer programs your HTML pages, your pages are much more likely to get indexed correctly. Moreover, most web developers will put a link from their well indexed site to your new site, which will further help the crawlers find your site quicker. If your developer is experienced in search engine optimization (SEO), that will even further liken your chances to high rankings in the search engines.

How's It Going To Look? Ok, so we have established that yes you can do your own website. It might be coded terribly, and not rank well in the search engines, but you are still determined to do it yourself. Quick question, how is the site actually going to look? If you are a good designer, and can make a nice picture of how you want your site to look, you can use your code generator to make it look the same right? Not quite.
Tip! SEO experts use web copy to generate page ranks from search engine spiders that tabulate searchable terms and assign rank based on algorithms that remain a closely guarded secret. The use of copywriters by SEO experts in web development is the difference between a tastefully decorated and attractive storefront versus one with a single door facing a back parking lot.

Getting your website to look the same as what you had envisioned is a very tricky proposition for an inexperienced web designer. Developing for the web is very different from developing a page for traditional print. In traditional print, you have a fixed canvas (the page), whereas on the web, you have several variables to contend with. First, you have no idea what resolution your users will be viewing your web-pages at when developing your website. What looks good at 1024x768 might look terrible at 1280x1024 resolutions. To further complicate things, different browsers can show the exact same HTML much differently. Specifically, Internet Explorer based browsers use a different engine than Gecko based browsers (Mozilla, Firefox etc). It can be truly frustrating even for experienced developers to try and keep things looking the same across the board, but for a do-it-yourselfer it can be an impossible task. Ok, let's say you've tackled all the compatibility issues. How will the website actually look when it's done? Will it look professional? Or, will it look like a do it yourself site? If your website is being used for business, what image do you waAnt to attach to your company?
Tip! Web Design - An integral part in web development.Learn more on this here.

Are You Scared Now? It really isn't my intent to suggest that you shouldn't try to develop your own website. I still maintain that a lot of people can develop a fairly decent site themselves, especially if they have a basic understanding of HTML and a fairly good design sense. One good approach to doing it yourself is to have a web developer that you can consult with on some of the more technical issues. You can save a lot of money by doing it yourself and letting your developer check your work for any major issues with the web pages. Many web developers in Windsor will gladly check your pages over at an affordable hoAurly rate, correcting any major issues.
Tip! A good knowledge in HTML in web development should not be forgotten. It is valuable in the implementation of the website.

Having a developer to walk you through some of the more technical aspects of web developing can be a very sound approach if you want to do your own web programming. You really do have to weigh the hourly rate of checking the code against the cost of having the developer program everything.

Sharbel Lutfallah is a Web Developer and Programmer in Windsor. Visit http://www.wiredsolutions.ca to gain more valuable information when looking for your own Web Developer and Web Programmer.

Importance of Web Application Development-J2EE

2007-11-26T19:50:00.001-08:00

Because of growing importance of Internet in world wide economic, many investors are interested in its development. So surprising method is how will continuation to play a vital role to communicate world wide. "Web Application Developments" are only the keywords who guide you. There are many companies that require business-to-business interaction via web-services. Outsource projects transfer process is becoming most popular.

A web application developed in 3 tiers stage: User services, business services, & data services. The User service tier creates a visual gateway for the consumer to interact with the application. This can range from basic HTML and DHTML to complex COM components and Java applets.

J2EE Development services for established as well as emerging companies across the world. Zansys development center imparts the right Java development value to clients through its expertise in Java development services; proven project management processes, excellent technical resources, cost effectiveness, timely delivery, J2EE Development Services. Zansys is committed to offer their clients a state-of-the-art in Java development services by integrating technology, innovation and strategy with their business processes. Advantages of software development in java:

1. Multi-platform support language and support for web-services also. 2. Develop dynamic web applications for e commerce, e learning, polls, HTML forms processing, and more. 3. Combine Java technology-based applications or services to create highly customized applications or services. 4. Write powerful and efficient mobile application content, RPC. 5. Low - cost consumer products, and practically any device with a digital heartbeat.

H. Serus writes article and blogs. For quality resources of J2EE web development application visit at: http://www.kvcindia.com/blog

Web Based Application Development,Web Applications,Web Application Services,Web Development Resource

2007-11-26T19:47:00.008-08:00

The World Wide Web (WWW) has changed how today's businesses communicate. WWW is not anymore only used to get and disseminate information but employed as a tool for performance. Today's websites are not just static pages but interactive tools that enhance your business capabilities in real time. These responsive sites are powered by the web-based applications that are capable of responding and interacting with the user and allow skimming the information that is relevant and is up to date.

To be more precise, a web-based applications is the one that uses a website as a front end and you can access this website viz application from any computer connected to the internet. The web applications is delivered to users from a web server. The most common web applications you must be using almost everyday is an e-mail like hotmail, yahoo etc. Other web-based applications that are used frequently to interact with clients, partners and other businesses are:

Custom Relationship Management End-to-end web based recruitment Online customer support software Online data collection, analysis and reporting Online quote software Online product database development Online ordering systems Personalization of web page content SMS messaging integration Secure client areas

Secure areas to allow collaboration with business partners Web Content Management Systems

Web based applications are all about convenience and getting the combined power of desktop and server applications with the accessibility of 24 hrs, anywhere and anytime.

Let's see how they become the most strategic business tools: No installation and maintenance of the software: These web applications run on a web server, which you can access through internet. You don't have the hassles of installing and configuring a program. So, one does not need to worry about the maintenance and troubleshooting or on heavy backups on the disk space.
Tip! The reason Web Development is a such a huge industry is because it is a business that has everything all other businesses don't have. Accessible from millions of locations, in every country that has plumbing, AND.

Cost effective: Since you are running the program from someone else's computer and no license and space management on your disk is required, so save heavily.

Latest updates available: Since someone else is hosting the program and maintaining it remotely for you, so whenever there are latest updates you just need to click on your web browser as usual and avail the latest features of a web application.
Tip! Web Design - An integral part in web development.Learn more on this here.

Readily available data: To access your data you just need to be connected to internet through your PC, which is no more a novelty. So, wherever you are, you can get connected to your data anytime. So the accessibility to your data is 24x7.

Multiple platforms: Almost all the web based applications are suitable for every web browser like Internet Explorer, Netscape etc or whichever operating system you have on your PC. The web application will always look and function uniformly.

Hope you guys will find the above article resourceful, For more info kindly visit our website http://www.bluent.co.in

BluEnt eSolutions-your one stop destination for all your professional web related requirements catering to website design, web development, SEO, corporate training, web hosting, VoIP services, flash presentation and other web related applications.

A New Meaning of Denver Web Development

2007-11-26T19:47:00.007-08:00

The term 'Web development' has a broad meaning, because it refers to everything that is included in creating a successful web site, from graphical design, to programming, configuring the server and search engine optimization. Today there are thousands of web development companies, small ones with few employees and large ones with hundreds.

You can find a large number of web design companies in the city of Denver. Denver's web development industry has evolved quite a lot, the clients now have many offers to choose from.

The Denver web development firms are Internet marketing companies concentrated on both web design and business, and they can help anyone interested in launching his business on the Internet and creating the site that's best fit for him. Most of the Denver web development companies can take care of everything that is required for a site to be successful - its graphical design, appearance, and of course they also take care of search engine optimization and upgrades. The Denver web development companies also have servers that offer reliable web hosting solutions for all types of business, offering dedicated hosting, colocated hosting, shared hosting, or unique solutions.

The strategy applied by the professional Denver web development companies consists in talking to the customer first, finding out exactly what he wants, then researching the specified domain, looking for similar material that worked for other sites, and then beginning the work. When the site is finished, the Denver web development programmers do everything that is possible to raise the site's page ranking, from search engine optimization to writing and submitting articles.

If you own an outdated web site the Denver web development firms can easily transform it into a sharp looking, up to date one, and they can design special custom applications that fit into your site, and last, but not least, the Denver web development firms have special promotional offers

Many Denver web development companies are known worldwide, they have years of practice in this domain, and they are receiving offers from people and firms everywhere, providing 24/7 customer services.

This fine article is written by Grojan Fabiola during a very carefully research on Denver web development. Any other useful information or advice and turning points about Denver web development you can find by clicking the link.

Web Development Terminology: How to Know What Your Design Team is Talking About

2007-11-26T19:47:00.006-08:00

Hosting and Domain: Most people do know about web hosting and domain names are these days, but every now and then some confusion might arise as to whether they are independent or one in the same. Basically, your web hosting is the space you "rent" on the internet to place your website. Your domain name, also called your URL is www.your_website.com. Some hosting companies will offer the purchase of your domain name at the same time you purchase your hosting account. Often times however, you purchase a domain name separately from a company such as Register.com or GoDaddy.com.

FTP or Login Info: When you are asked for this information, this refers to the host name, user name, and password needed to access your hosting account. This will come from your hosting company when you sign up.

Site Map: A site map is exactly what it sounds like - a flow chart or outline of all the pages on your website. This is created to help organize the way your website is put together.

Menu or Navigation: Often times before creating a concept (see below) for your site, a designer will ask you what Menu items or Navigation you would like. These are simply the "buttons" within your page design that help a visitor get around to the other pages. For instance: About Us, Our Services, Our Products, and Contact Us could all be menu items.

"Mock Up" or Concept: When designers mention these terms they are talking about the initial or concept designs for your project. In the case of a website, the concept will most likely be delivered to you via the web and be an example of how your site will look. These concepts are created and revised to achieve the final look of your website. Also note that designers often use "dummy text" (see below) if you have not already provided "content" (see below).

Royalty Free or Stock Photography: Royalty Free and Stock Photography refers to photos and graphic images that you or your designer purchases to use within your design or on your website pages. These images can vary greatly in price, depending on the company they are purchased from. A good designer will have their own selection of images that were already purchased for you to choose from. Even so, sometimes the "perfect" image(s) can not be found so you must turn to other sources.

Screen Resolution: The resolution for images and graphics for the web is 72 dpi (dots per inch). If you supply images to your designer, they should be of this resolution or higher. If you expect to do any printing (say, you want a brochure made to match the look of your website), your images will have to be in print resolution or 300 dpi.

Vector Graphic: Designers will sometimes ask if you have your logo as a vector graphic. Vector graphics are shapes, lines, text, even illustrations which have been created in Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand. What makes a vector graphic different from a regular graphic is it's ability to be resized (especially larger) without distortion or loss of quality.

"Dummy" or Filler text: Designers (both web and graphic) often use nonsense text in place of your real page text when first creating your site. Do not be alarmed! This is just to show you the areas where text will be placed. Once you provide your actual text, the designer will place that in those spaces.
Tip! Over the years, Web Development Companies has expanded a deep understanding of the industry, a well-built technical background and the ability to give fast gyrate time for the software projects for their clients in India and abroad. Their key principles are, comprehensive understanding our clients' business objectives, providing highly personalized experiences, maintaining a strong thrust on quality, and stick on to the best ethical practices.

Content: Content refers to any text or special images which will go on your website that you will need to provide to your designer.

Meta or "Head" Tags and Keywords: The meta (often called the head tags and keywords) of your page are special code to help search engines find your page. If your designer ask you for these you should provide the following: a description of your company/site (this can be several sentences that include your company name and a few keywords about what you do); page titles (what you would like each page of your website to be titled - this shows up in the browser window); keywords (these are single words and short phrases that you believe your visitors might type in a search engine in order to find your website).
Tip! Macronimous is a specialised international web development agency, with a difference. We realise that Web development agency is a terminology that has been recently misrepresented and aim to differentiate ourselves from the others.

CSS or Stylesheet: CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet. It is a system of coding that helps control things like the font on your page, link colors, page layout and many more.

Static HTML or Static Page: Most websites are created with the language of HTML. Often times, a designer will call something "static" to denote that it is 1) not Flash (see below), or 2) not dynamically generated from a database. This is simply a "regular" website page.
Tip! Web Design - An integral part in web development.Learn more on this here.

Flash: Flash is the software from Macromedia that designers use to create motion and animation on your website. This can be in the form of a presentation, moving graphics, or even a game. The applications for Flash have grown along with high speed internet connections such as DSL and Cable.

"Splash" Page: This is usually referred to as a page that loads up before the main pages of your site. It can be your logo, or a Flash animation. Most designers are trying to steer their clients away from such a page as the attention span of the average internet user is quite short these days!

Blog: Blog is short for Web Log and has fast become a very popular feature on many websites. Basically, a blog is a way for you to keep your site content fresh by posting articles and other information on your site.

Online Marketing: A designer might mention Online Marketing to you as something to consider to help promote your site. This can include: affiliate programs, search engine optimization (see below), banner advertising, placing your website link in directories on the web, email advertising, newsletters, and online press releases.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Although most designers do not perform this type of Optimization, they might mention it if you show an interest in ranking better in the search engines. SEO is the process of manipulating your page content and Meta tags in order to achieve better rankings.

mySQL or msSQL/SQL and Databases: Unless you have custom programming or an ecommerce shopping cart on your website, your designer most likely would not mention these things. Nevertheless, sometimes they do come up if some of these things might be happening at a later stage. mySQL is the type of database that you would need to have set up if you are hosting your website on a UNIX server whereas msSQL is the type that is set up if your are hosted on a Microsoft Windows server.
Tip! The strategy applied by the professional Denver web development companies consists in talking to the customer first, finding out exactly what he wants, then researching the specified domain, looking for similar material that worked for other sites, and then beginning the work. When the site is finished, the Denver web development programmers do everything that is possible to raise the site's page ranking, from search engine optimization to writing and submitting articles.

Sherry is the Creative Director and Senior Designer at California studio, JV Media Design (http://www.jvmediadesign.com).

Web Development Processes and Technical Environments

2007-11-26T19:47:00.005-08:00

The process of Web application development is critical to the success of web-based projects. The proper processes can not be enforced unless technical environments are properly setup. Technical environments are required for development, test and production.

Web applications architecture ( http://www.sysoptima.net/architecture/technical_architecture.php ) is typically in 3-tiers. Applications are developed on NT platforms, and deployed to production on UNIX platforms. Without streamlined procedures and proper environment settings, deployment and testing is not only a frustrating experience, but also a major detriment in application failure and budget overrun.

Development and test environment may be powered by less powerful computers, but the configurations should be the same for all three environments. Development and test environments should be populated with production data periodically.

Development Environment

Role - The development environment is a place where development team develops and tests the applications. If applications are developed on NT, deployment to UNIX environment helps developers to port NT applications to UNIX environment and test UNIX specific tasks, such as shell scripts and cron jobs.

Security Concerns - Development team should have full control of and access to the environment, though installation of new software should be consulted with UNIX admin and DBA.

Test Environment

Role - The test environment is a place where QA team (configuration management and software testing http://www.sysoptima.net/software_testing/software_testing_procedures.php ) practices deployment. The deployment of large and complex applications may take many trials.

Security Concerns - QA team is fully responsible for the test environment. Development team should not be aware of the existence of the test environment. In reality, development team members are often involved with deployment to test environment largely because organizations trend to place staff with less technical expertise on QA team.

Production Environment

Role - The production environment is a place where you serve your customers. The deployment from test to production should be automated using deployment scripts to avoid the potential human errors and to reduce the deployment cost.
Tip! I must write a disclaimer that this proven web development agreement is purely based on experience and knowledge of the web design and development industry. Others may write these contracts and agreements differently.

Security Concerns - Both development team and QA team should not be aware of the existence of production environment. It is the sole responsibility of operation team to maintain the production environment.

The procedures and technical environment settings described above have been proven to be valuable in eliminating many problems in web-based system implementation. The successful implementation of the procedures, however, depends on management commitment and the technical competency of all teams involved.

Bruce Zhang has over 10 years experiences in architecting ( http://www.sysoptima.net/architecture/ )and developing web-based applications. He operates a website http://www.sysoptima.net/ that accumulates knowledge of web development.

He maintains a knowledge base for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) at http://www.sysoptima.com/crm/ for understanding CRM software from a systems perspective.

Successful Web Development: 10 Key Elements

2007-11-26T19:47:00.004-08:00

There are many elements that are key to successful web development. There is no arguing that elements of talent such as graphic design, writing, and technical expertise are important. In the long run, however, it is the elements that are not directly associated with web development that determine a website's success. For the beginner, it is important to have a broader view of success

** Learn

Read. Learn. Devour all that is available. Learn about HTML, CSS, Bandwidth, Navigation, Writing, Promotion, Statistics, etc. There is so much to learn it is easy to be overwhelmed. Don't worry about the volume of information. Start in an area of weakness or interest and learn more about it. Take baby steps. Most importantly, no matter how much is learned, never consider oneself an expert. Such self-nominating status tends to impede learning.

** Purpose

What is the purpose of the website? Vincent Flander's over at Web Pages That Suck states that a web designer should always tell themselves the following:

1. The only reason my web site exists is to solve my customers' problems.

2. What problems does the page I'm looking at solve?

Sound advice.

** Goals

Set reasonable goals for the web development effort. Don't try to implement all ideas all at once. Create timelines. Build the basics first, and then fill it out later. Set content writing goals (a page a week, a blog post a day, etc.). Set link building goals.
Tip! Once everything has come to fruition it does not necessarily mean that the web development is complete. Continuously think of new ways to make things better.

** Organization

Organization goes hand in hand with setting goals. It doesn't matter what the organization method is, as long as it is, well, organized. This means that post-it notes plastered around the edge of a monitor is NOT an organizational method. A simple notebook with simple to-do lists suffices.

** Create a "living" site

A "living" site is one that is updated on a regular basis. Some pages may be updated daily, some monthly, some quarterly, and some yearly. Users can tell old information from new information. Many sites include an "Updated on" timestamp on the bottom of a page. Even if the information is absolutely correct, if the date is over two years old users tend to click quickly to the next item. A recently updated date (even if no changes were made) helps users know the webmaster has not left the site to die.
Tip! Set reasonable goals for the web development effort. Don't try to implement all ideas all at once.

** Maintain

This pertains not only to content, which is covered in the point above, but to the overall design and infrastructure of the site. Are the images optimized? Is the design outdated? Are there portions of the site that are not used? Are there portions of the site that could be more user friendly? Are there broken links on the site?
Tip! Web Design - An integral part in web development.Learn more on this here.

** Backup

Especially if the website is an income producing, livelihood supporting website, make sure it is backed up. At the very least, back it up on a weekly basis. It seems simple, but many a webmaster has let years of work go down the drain because there was not a backup.

** Track

Who visits the website? How many people visit the website? Do they stay and browse the website? Do they click on the right links? Do they buy from the website? The only way to answer these questions is to track a web site. Tracking will inform web design in ways never thought of when the site was originally developed.
Tip! Moreover the companies which have not yet published their sites will launch it in very near future. So the scope of business in Web development sector is very high.

** Promote

Tell others about the website. Don't wait until the search engines rank the site well. The more people told, the more people that will come and visit.

** Perseverance

Tired of writing content? Tired of figuring out that quirky Mozilla/IE CSS problem? Tired of link building? Tired of trying to build web traffic? If anything will determine success it is the level of perseverance a web designer brings to the task. Those who persevere and attempt to overcome obstacles will be the successful ones. They may not be the best designers or writers, nor the best marketers or promoters, but they will be the ones constantly learning, changing and implementing new things in order to make their websites a success.

Earn On Offshore Web Design and Development

2007-11-26T19:47:00.003-08:00

If you have some experience in web site design and want to make good money you can try acting as IT-outsourcing partner. Learn more what you should know and how to start.

Why offshore web design and development?

Offshore web site design and development help to keep prices at least 3-5 times less, for example, average hourly rate of web development services in USA is $35-75; in UK - $25-50, in Ukraine - $5-20.

How it works?

Typical plan is like that:

* You find a client who needs a web site, ask his/her requirements for the project and send to your offshore partner company.
* The partner makes a proposal and gives you the project estimation basing on his hourly rate, for example, $10.
* You mark up the rate $10/hour as high as you wish (and can - taking into consideration competition in your region, level of demand for web design services, and other marketing factors), for example to $30/hour, and sends the proposal to the client. So if the web design project is estimated on 50 man-hours of work, you charge the customer $1500, from which $500 you pay to your offshore partner company, and $1000 is your profit.
* The partner company works on the project and delivers it to you along with copyright for the work.
* You deliver the site to the customer.

Result - you have a satisfied client and good profit from the marked up price.

How to start?

The first and most important step is to analyze market in your region and decide if it's worth to start this business.

If you already have your own web design company it is easier for you because you already know situation in the market, gain certain reputation, have clients list, etc. But don't be afraid if you are new to web design business. Believe in yourself and work hard and finally you will be rewarded for all your efforts. As in any type of business, starting the one in web design area, you must ask yourself general marketing questions:

1. Who will be your customers? 2. Why they will order the web design services exactly form you? 3. Where and how they will get to know about you?

Without having clear answers to these questions you shouldn't try to start anything.

The second step is to find trustful and reliable partner - offshore web design company - that will work as "development center" for your business. This company must have good experience in web design and development area, good reputation, top level of customer care and communication. There are many resources in the Internet where you can find necessary information - search engines, web design directories, outsourcing portals.
Tip! Hence, website development software is quite a simple program that is valuable for its usability, flexibility, and compatibility. If you are designing your first website, you may consider having a crash course in web development first to be able to develop a website that can fully attract your potential customers.

For example, you can try searching in search engines for appropriate key phrases "offshore web design", "offshore web site design", "offshore web development" and analyze sites of your potential partners.

Also here are several sites where you can find lists of offshore web design companies sorted by country.

http://web-designers.bluegeckonetwork.com/ http://www.theoutsourceguide.com/ http://www.1234-find-web-designers.org/

How to choose the right offshore web design partner company?

There are 2 main factors that determine your choice - cost and quality of web design work.

Cost Basing on the average web design prices in your local market and your competitive abilities you set prices that you will charge to your customers. There are several methods of web design price calculation, most used are flat price for fixed web site packages, and price based on man-hour rate. Most web design companies operate with both and choose one depending on each project type and requirements.

Then you decide which profit you want to have and narrow down your search choosing companies with appropriate price range.

Quality Consider the company reputation, portfolio of previous works, testimonials of previous customers, level of communication. Pay attention to payment policy and method, conditions of ready projects delivery, warranties, post-development support and maintenance.

If all details are agreed you may start partnership. Sometimes the first project is quite simple to test abilities of both parties and if everything is going well the partnership will bring mutual benefits.
Tip! In view of the fact that website software comes in different structures such as designing, hosting, building, and maintenance, you should choose web development software that will help build your site easily and professionally. Website development software is a tool that enables the users to efficiently and effectively design, develop, and maintain a website.

Julia Ramyalg Marketing Director IT-Inventors

IT-Inventors is a professional offshore web site design company. We are located in Ukraine and due to local economy we can offer your affordable rate $10/hour for custom web site design and web development services. It's at least twice less than average Western European rates and more than 3 times less than USA rates.

We have developed more than 130 projects for dozens of satisfied customers, established strong relations with partners from USA and UK.

Services we offer: Custom web site design, E-commerce web site design, Content Management Software integration into existing web sites, Real estate web site design, Flash sites design, Logo design, SEO.

Web Site Development Process - The Life-cycle Steps

2007-11-26T19:47:00.001-08:00

A system development process can follow a number of standard or company specific frameworks, methodologies, modeling tools and languages. Software development life cycle normally comes with some standards which can fulfill the needs of any development team. Like software, web sites can also be developed with certain methods with some changes and additions with the existing software development process. Let us see the steps involve in any web site development.

1. Analysis:

Once a customer is started discussing his requirements, the team gets into it, towards the preliminary requirement analysis. As the web site is going to be a part of a system, It needs a complete analysis as, how the web site or the web based application is going to help the present system and how the site is going to help the business. Moreover the analysis should cover all the aspects especially on how the web site is going to join the existing system. The first important thing is finding the targeted audience. Then, All the present hardware, software, people and data should be considered during the time of analysis. For example, if a company XYZ corp is in need of a web site to have its human resource details online, the analysis team may try to utilize the existing data about the employees from the present database. The analysis should be done in the way, that it may not be too time consuming or with very less informative. The team should be able to come up with the complete cost-benefit analysis and as the plan for the project will be an output of analysis, it should be realistic. To achieve this the analyst should consult the designers, developers and testers to come up with a realistic plan.

Input: Interviews with the clients, Mails and supporting docs by the client, Discussions Notes, Online chat, recorded telephone conversations,Model sites/applications etc.,

Output: 1. Work plan, 2. Cost involved, 3. Team requirements, 4. Hardware-software requirements, 5. Supporting documents and 6. the approval

2. Specification Building:

Preliminary specifications are drawn up by covering up each and every element of the requirement. For example if the product is a web site then the modules of the site including general layout, site navigation and dynamic parts of the site should be included in the spec. Larger projects will require further levels of consultation to assess additional business and technical requirements. After reviewing and approving the preliminary document, a written proposal is prepared, outlining the scope of the project including responsibilities, timelines and costs.

Input: Reports from the analysis team

Output: Complete requirement specifications to the individuals and the customer/customer's representative
Tip! Offshore web site design and development help to keep prices at least 3-5 times less, for example, average hourly rate of web development services in USA is $35-75; in UK - $25-50, in Ukraine - $5-20.

3. Design and development:

After building the specification, work on the web site is scheduled upon receipt of the signed proposal, a deposit, and any written content materials and graphics you wish to include. Here normally the layouts and navigation will be designed as a prototype.

Some customers may be interested only in a full functional prototype. In this case we may need to show them the interactivity of the application or site. But in most of the cases customer may be interested in viewing two or three design with all images and navigation.

There can be a lot of suggestions and changes from the customer side, and all the changes should be freezed before moving into the next phase. The revisions could be redisplayed via the web for the customer to view.
Tip! Planning for a Successful Web Development Project In order to drastically minimize the risk of project failure, I've always approached my application development projects in the following sequence.

As needed, customer comments, feedback and approvals can be communicated by e-mail, fax and telephone.

Throughout the design phase the team should develop test plans and procedures for quality assurance. It is necessary to obtain client approval on design and project plans.

In parallel the Database team will sit and understand the requirements and develop the database with all the data structures and sample data will also be prepared.

Input: Requirement specification

Output: Site design with templates, Images and prototype

4. Content writing:

This phase is necessary mainly for the web sites. There are professional content developers who can write industry specific and relevant content for the site. Content writers to add their text can utilize the design templates. The grammatical and spelling check should be over in this phase.
Tip! These aspects that have been taken from other websites can be pieced together to form the desired web design. However, in a web development plan always think about the user.

Input: Designed template

Output: Site with formatted content

5. Coding:

Now its programmers turn to add his code without disturbing the design. Unlike traditional design the developer must know the interface and the code should not disturb the look and feel of the site or application. So the developer should understand the design and navigation. If the site is dynamic then the code should utilize the template. The developer may need to interact with the designer, in order to understand the design. The designer may need to develop some graphic buttons when ever the developer is in need, especially while using some form buttons. If a team of developers is working they should use a CVS to control their sources. Coding team should generate necessary testing plans as well as technical documentation. For example Java users can use JavaDoc to develop their documents to understand their code flow. The end-user documentation can also be prepared by the coding team, which can be used by a technical writer who can understand them, writes helps and manuals later.

Input: The site with forms and the requirement specification

Output: Database driven functions with the site, Coding documents

6. Testing:

Unlike software, web based applications need intensive testing, as the applications will always function as a multi-user system with bandwidth limitations. Some of the testing which should be done are, Integration testing, Stress testing, Scalablity testing, load testing, resolution testing and cross-browser compatibility testing. Both automated testing and manual testing should be done without fail. For example its needed to test fast loading graphics and to calculate their loading time, as they are very important for any web site. There are certain testing tools as well as some online testing tools which can help the testers to test their applications. For example ASP developers can use Microsoft's Web Application Test Tool to test the ASP applications, which is a free tool available from the Microsoft site to download.

After doing all the testing a live testing is necessary for web sites and web based applications. After uploading the site there should be a complete testing(E.g.. Links test)

Input: The site, Requirement specifications, supporting documents, technical specifications and technical documents

Output: Completed application/site, testing reports, error logs, frequent interaction with the developers and designers

7. Promotion:

This phase is applicable only for web sites. Promotion needs preparation of meta tags, constant analysis and submitting the URL to the search engines and directories. There is a details article in this site on site promotion, click here to read it. The site promotion is normally an ongoing process as the strategies of search engine may change quite often. Submitting a site URLs once in 2 months can be an ideal submission policy. If the customer is willing, then paid click and paid submissions can also be done with additional cost.
Tip! The reason this article focuses on Web Development along with Open Source is that we spend so much of our computer time on the internet, if it were not for music I think I wouldn't need a large hard drive at all, I only have a few gigs of applications at any given time. But if my computer cannot connect to the internet I feel stranded! I mean, I got to check my e-mail (the two different online accounts that I have), edit or just view my website, chat with my family in Canada and friends that still live an hour or so south of Salt Lake City, and make web pages for other people.

Input: Site with content, Client mails mentioning the competitors

Output: Site submission with necessary meta tag preparation

8. Maintenance and Updating:

Web sites will need quite frequent updations to keep them very fresh. In that case we need to do analysis again, and all the other life cycle steps will repeat. Bug fixes can be done during the time of maintenance. Once your web site is operational, ongoing promotion, technical maintenance, content management & updating, site visit activity reports, staff training and mentoring is needed on a regular basis depend on the complexity of your web site and the needs within your organization.

Input: Site/Application, content/functions to be updated, re-Analysis reports

Output: Updated application, supporting documents to other life cycle steps and teams.

The above-mentioned steps alone are not strict to web application or web site development. Some steps may not applicable for certain tasks. Its depend on the cost and time involved and the necessity. Sometimes if it is a intranet site, then there will be no site promotion. But even if you are a small development firm, if you adopt certain planning along with this web engineering steps in mind, it will definitely reflects in the Quality of the outcome.
Tip! Hence, website development software is quite a simple program that is valuable for its usability, flexibility, and compatibility. If you are designing your first website, you may consider having a crash course in web development first to be able to develop a website that can fully attract your potential customers.

See the flowchart "How we do web development in Macronimous?"[PDF format]

Macronimous is a specialised international web development agency, with a difference. We realise that Web development agency is a terminology that has been recently misrepresented and aim to differentiate ourselves from the others.

http://www.macronimous.com/resources/web_development_life_cycle.asp