Intranets and Extranets

If you have heard the terms intranet (not to be confused with internet) and extranet thrown around quite a bit, but are not sure what they are, then you have come to the right place.

Intranet

An intranet is a common term used to describe a private network or multiple networks of computers, typically within an organization like a business or a school. It is meant to be a secure communication tool between people or workgroups using a network infrastructure to share information between members of an organization. You may be familiar with intranets at your local college or office. Intranets usually allow for internet access but are typically firewalled to keep the network safe from outside threats and unsafe sites. Intranet applications can include websites, message boards, forums, email applications and much more. Though first used within larger corporations, the affordability of simple intranets now allows small companies, non-profits and academic organizations to provide access to a wide array of employees, students and key users. Examples include posting work schedules for employees or other internal news that is only accessible through a username and password. Once you start extending your intranet to outside parties through specific channels, then we are talking about extranets.

Extranet

An extranet is essentially an extension of an intranet for outside people or organizations to access information. Common terms for extranets are web portals, which provide controlled access to privileged web pages. Odds are you have accessed many extranets yourself by logging into an e-commerce storefront to place an order.

PHP Development: An Overview

If the term PHP is new to you, then here is a quick overview of what it is, and why the developers at Forix (www.forixusa.com) use it for the majority of their web development applications.

The PHP scripting language is an extremely popular and a widely employed web development language due to its use in creating dynamic web pages and server side applications. It is known as a general-purpose open source language and usually stands for the “P” in the LAMP and WAMP architectures.

Did you know that PHP is currently the most popular server-side scripting language in the web development industry? Significant portions of mega websites like Wikipedia, Facebook, Yahoo, Digg, Joomla, WordPress and many more have been developed in PHP. Why is this important? Wherever you find such a large following, you will also find many preexisting scripts and applications, as well as a never ending supply of PHP developers, so your future scaling options are wide open. The availability of scripts also results in a double win of reduced development costs and turnaround time.

PHP is an open source scripting language, so applications developed in this format have an added benefit of not being weighed down by corporate licenses, seat restrictions or any other unnecessary hoops to jump through.

Like most modern interpreted languages, PHP can usually be viewed as a human-readable source code. PHP has become faster and more efficient over the years with the continual introduction of more code optimizers. These reduce the size of code and provide a few more changes that can reduce the overall execution time, resulting in web pages and database driven applications that load much faster.

Another benefit to using PHP is that it already has modules built in for accessing FTP servers, databases, embedded SQL libraries like MySQL and much more. PHP developers can also write extensions in C. This serves to add functionality to the PHP language, greatly expanding the possibilities of what can be accomplished. These have become especially valuable for integration and API development for the Windows API, as well as Unix and Linux operating system process management.

FORIX has developed several PHP based e-commerce systems and content management systems (CMS) that allow for quick expansion and customization depending upon our clients’ needs. The e-commerce system incorporates a default package of order management, user management (user login), product management, sales tax, promotion management, and a CMS component to equip all clients with the ability to change text and imagery on their websites. This leads to a greater self-sufficiency, and a substantial savings in web maintenance costs.

The CMS system itself is engineered to be very simple and easy-to-use. Avoiding all of the added complication of Drupal or WordPress based CMS systems, the FORIX CMS functions much more like a standard word processing program, so no knowledge of HTML is necessary. You can type as you normally would and even incorporate meta tag information into each page, allowing you to easily implement your own search engine optimization (SEO).

One of the quickest and most effective ways to get high placement on Google is with paid placements, more commonly known as Adwords. These are the sponsored links that appear at the very top and to the right of the search results pages. Search engine marketing (or SEM as it is more frequently called) has rapidly become the most popular method of driving scores of visitors to your website without having to wait for your site to slowly climb the ranks of normal, or organic search.

Here is how it works: When you sign up with Google Adwords, you can create ad campaigns by selecting keywords that would trigger your specific ads to appear. You then write the ads you want, and link them to your website. Keep in mind that you pick the price you are willing to pay, which determines where your ad will rank next to the other advertisers. When somebody clicks on your ad and is passed to your website, that is when you are actually charged.

Google has a wide variety of tools and metrics to help you manage your SEM campaigns, as do many of the other major search engines out there. You can even refine the times and geographic locations of where you would like your ads to run, allowing local businesses to really capitalize on targeting prospects in their area.

Before advertising with Google, Yahoo, MSN or any other company offering sponsored links, we encourage you to read up on best practices so you know how to set budgets and refine your search terms to get the most qualified leads. Inadequate preparation can certainly result in expensive lessons, so you want to make sure you have your ducks in a row before you begin.

Like most advertising mediums, if you can perfect your tactics, sponsored links can be an invaluable piece of your marketing arsenal.

If you are shopping around for a website, and have not really been down this road before, we would like to offer 5 helpful tips to let you know how to single out some great opportunities.

1. Beware of the “bargain website” deals you see all over the web. If it is too good to be true, then get ready for some surprises. You wouldn’t buy a $99 car would you? The great majority of all the web development horror stories start out as “bargains” people couldn’t pass up.
2. Look through portfolios – Nothing gives you a better sense of the quality of work a web development company does better than their portfolios. Everyone will tell you “yes we can build you a great looking website,” but you be the judge. Request to see examples of past work.
3. Don’t let your thrifty nature get the best of you – Keep in mind that promotion in any format is all about getting results, and whatever you put out there for the world to see will either help you or hurt you. Quality website development will cost you a bit more, but a “cheap looking” website will cost your company more in lost business than you ever thought possible. Websites are truly an investment, so do it right the first time.
4. Ask what comes with a website – Do you get any warranties, search engine optimization (SEO) services, or consulting? Are there any hosting requirements, or annual contracts that you need to be aware of? What are the rates if you need to update the site later? These are all great questions to get a better understanding of the big picture.
5. Work with professionals – True professionals are in it to help you succeed, not just take your money. They know all the obstacles and best practices, and will not hesitate to give you advice on ways you can get outstanding results. So how do you separate the pros from the rest? One word: references. Great website developers always leave a trail of happy customers. You can either ask them for references, or browse their portfolios and start calling people they have worked with.

Follow these simple steps, and your odds of selecting the right website development professional(s) go up dramatically. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact your friends at FORIX.

You can’t let a minor obstacle like a shoestring budget to get in the way of promoting your new website. If you are willing to put in a little time and energy, you will be surprised at the kind of results you can generate. Here are some suggested routes you can take:

Search Engine Submission – This should be at the top of your to-do list. There are many sites out there that will submit your website to several search engines. Many offer both free submissions and paid services, but either way, make sure the search engines know your site exists so they can begin crawling your website content. Sites like www.addme.com provide several free tools you can use to get the ball rolling.

Link Popularity – This is exactly what it sounds like. Get as many links out there pointing to your website as possible. Take advantage of resources like internet business directories, Yellow Pages online, Craig’s List and other classified ad sites. You can also offer to exchange links with other website owners. Major search engines factor in your link popularity when determining how your site will be indexed, so it is imperative that cast a wide net.

Conventional Marketing – Never underestimate the power of conventional direct marketing methods like postcard campaigns, handouts and leaflets. They are relatively inexpensive, and can grab quite a bit of local business. You can even make phone calls, and offer to send more information about your products or services. If you have a physical storefront, set brochures out on your counter or in a waiting area, so your current clients have something to hand to their friends and families.

Don’t be intimidated by the number of websites out there. It is very possible to dramatically increase your ability to “get found,” but it will take a little time and resourcefulness. Obviously the old “if you build it, they will come” mantra only works in movies. If you are proactive and consistent enough, your website can be the best revenue generating tool you have ever known.

You can read a bit more by visiting our small business website tips page. If you have some successful advice to share, we encourage you to sign up and post your own thrifty web marketing tips and tricks in our comments area.

By this point, you might have heard everyone talk about keywords, meta tags, titles, descriptions, headers and on, and on. This is known specifically as on page optimization. That is all important, of course, but that is only half of the equation. To win the popularity contest that is search engine optimization, you are going to need to put some time into making your site look like a popular destination, at least to Google. This aspect of SEO is known ass off page optimization. This includes back links, directory submission, social media syndication, social book marking, blogs, and article submission websites. This helpful video will walk you through the various aspects building link popularity.