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Title: Web Development- Helping you Turn Your Dream Into Reality!

Author: Arun Kumar

Article:

Your company's strength and capability are reflected in how its
website is designed and developed. For any online business to
flourish and sustain in this highly competitive market, it has
to stay ahead of its competitors in search engine listings which
can be only possible with a web application development company.

The benefit of having your own website is that it helps to reach
your target audiences at a very fast pace. This has led to the
growing demand of web sites development firms across the globe
that helps you to plan and develop your site. Whether it is in
web design or web software development, you are guaranteed of quality
services, on time execution and complete delight by these firms.
All these firms are highly capable of offering you with the
latest and most advanced website development tools and platforms
like Flash, .NET, PHP, Joomla etc. As per your specific business
requirements, you can opt for your favorite customized website
development platform without any hassles. Their talented team of
technical experts will be the powerhouse behind your success.

In last few years, country like India has also shown a great
prospect in the entire web development field through some of its
major and promising web development firms. Because of clear
focus on technical credibility, total commitment to customer
satisfaction and high-on-performance software development
wizardry, web application development India is now getting very popular in the entire
web software development scene.

Selection of the most appropriate web development services
provider sometime may be a problem. If you are a beginner in
this field, many people will approach you with attractive and
flowery offers from all directions. You can be easily trapped,
so, it is very important to be relaxed and keep yourself cool
and decide after considering all the aspects. Whenever you will
opt for a web development company give importance on the
following points:

• The Web Development Company should be a reputed one
• It should be able to provide a good website design and development service package along with web hosting and search engine optimization
• It should be equipped with the latest software and technology used in the creation of the websites

About the author:
SynapseIndia is a web application development company that specializes in web software development
for specific client needs. If you plan to outsource web application development to India, SynapseIndia could be the right choice for you.

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Title: How To Analyze Your Website

Author: Jerry Bader

Article:
How To Analyze Your Website

How good is your website? Does it do its job? Is it effective?
These are all good questions that every business owner and
marketing manager needs to ask him or herself. The website has
become an essential tool for business. We all know we have to
have a website, but are we using this venue to its greatest
advantage?

Most people responsible for their company's websites have stats
packages and counters to tell them how many hits, how many
unique visitors, where they are coming from, what their IP
addresses are, what browser they're using, and of course the all
important monitor resolution. So what! Who cares? The real
question is do we have an effective website?

Now if you have a transactional website, commonly referred to as
an e-commerce site, you know the number of sales you are
generating from your site, which is important, but do you really
know how effective your site is? How many orders are you losing
because of bad layout, awkward design, confusing navigation, and
poor copy? How many potential clients have you chased away
because you haven't put a phone number on your site and an
accessible real-person that can answer questions?

A website is your business' public face,. Big businesses can
look like mom and pop operations and mom and pop operations can
look like General Motors. The design of your website should not
be taken lightly, its budget should not be an afterthought, and
the designer you hire should be someone who understands more
than code. Your Web-designer should be a multimedia-marketing
advisor, someone who can counsel you how best to deliver your
marketing message, and someone who can go beyond technical
issues.

You can spend a lot of money and have someone analyze your site
for you, but are you really going to believe him, are you really
going to act on their recommendations? You can't sell somebody
something they really don't want - that may sound obvious, but
believe me, sales people do it everyday. If you don't think you
need a new website, you aren't going to spend the money to have
one built. So the best way to tell if you need one is to analyze
the one you already have, yourself.

Below is a set questions you can ask yourself. If you answer
them honestly, you'll know whether you need a new site or not.
After you've gone through the process, ask some colleagues to do
the same. See if your answers compare.

1. Does Your Website Have A Purpose? Every website should have a
clearly defined purpose. Having a website just because everyone
else has one is not an acceptable strategy. What is your
website's purpose? a. Transactional sales-oriented site b.
Customer service support site c. How to instructional site d.
Product or service demonstration site e. Lead generation site f.
Marketing, branding, positioning site g. Promotional campaign
site h. Viral or buzz creation site

2. Is Your Website Focused? Too many businesses both large and
small use their website as an information junkyard, a dumping
ground for everything you do, everything you've done, and
everything you ever thought of doing. This won't work. Customers
are like children; they want clarity, direction, and unequivocal
answers. Your website should be focused on a singular function.
URLs are cheap, there is no reason you can't have different
websites for every major thing you do, or every marketing
campaign you initiate. How focused is your website?

3. How Functional Is Your Website? Everybody knows that websites
should be easy to use, that you shouldn't have to drill-down too
deep to find what you're looking for, and of course everything
should work. Your website is a communication tool. If your
website doesn't work properly, the only thing you're
communicating is incompetence. How functional is your website?

4. Does Your Website's Construction Balance Competing Concerns?
Websites by their very nature are a compromise of competing
issues. Aesthetics, multimedia, frame construction, HTML, Flash,
client-side, server-side, data bases, SEO tactics, information
architecture, marketing communication, transaction efficiency
all compete for precedence in the design of a site. Are you
sacrificing clarity, focus, and communication for SEO tricks and
unattainable traffic numbers? Did you start with an IT solution
like a database, and build your site around a poorly conceived
information delivery system. Does your website's design reflect
your sites' defined business purpose or is it a result of
secondary technical concerns?

5. Does your website honestly reflect your business personality?
Does your website represent and promote your marketing
objectives? Okay, this is a trick question for many small
owner-managed businesses. Marketing is not sales. Marketing is
about communicating who you are, what you do, and why you do it
better than the other guy. Marketing is about image building,
branding, and positioning, in other words, enhancing your
business personality. Does your website honestly reflect your
business personality?

6. Is your Web-presentation integrated into your overall
marketing plan? Too many websites bear no relation to the rest
of their business' marketing initiatives. Everything your
company does should reflect an over-riding ethos, point-of-view,
and personality. If your marketing collaterals don't match your
website presentation, you are confusing your audience. Is your
Web-presentation integrated into your overall marketing plan?

7. Is content king on your website? I once had a fairly large
manufacturing client ask me to build a website based on a
business card and ten 8x10 glossies of discontinued merchandise.
This fellow was so paranoid that his competitors would see what
he was doing that he hid his products from his customers. This
business is now bankrupt. We've all heard the saying 'content is
king'. Is content king on your website? Does your website
adequately display and explain what you do, what products you
sell, and what services you provide? Are there examples of your
work? Are there testimonials from your customers? Have you
provided information on how to order, how to use, and how to
resolve problems? Is content really king on your website?

8. Is your website an experience? You watch television, you
listen to the radio, you read a magazine, but you experience a
website. Unlike other marketing vehicles, websites provide you
the opportunity to deliver your marketing message with the full
complement of multimedia tools. Websites can stimulate all the
senses, sight, sound, and interactive touch in order to
communicate and connect with your audience. Websites are not
brochures. Visitors shouldn't just see your website, they should
experience it. Is your website an experience?

9. Does your website have a distinctive look? The notion of the
flaming animated logo has become a cliché for bad design and
style over substance, but that does not mean your website should
be aesthetically boring and visually dreary. Your site should
display clarity of vision; it should provide functional page
layout; its use of colors, type, and static and kinetic visuals
should be distinctive and purposeful. Your website should
provide a defining "Look" that enhances your business
personality. Does your website display a distinctive look that
represents your business personality?

10. Do you list appropriate contact information on your website?
I remember going to a meeting with a client who was in the
construction business. The Vice President of the company was
hopping mad. He demanded his email address be taken off the site
immediately. He wasn't going to waste any more time dealing with
client emails and inquiries. Websites are all about connecting
you to your clients, not hiding from them. If you think you can
put your website on autopilot and that a FAQ and Q&A are going
to cut-it, you better think again. Does your website have
adequate contact information? Do you list appropriate email
addresses and phone numbers for the people responsible for
various aspects of your business?

There you have it. Ten questions that when answered honestly
will tell you whether or not you have a website that works and
whether or not you need to rebuild.

About the author:
Jerry Bader, is a partner in MRPwebmedia, a website design firm
that specializes in creating multimedia websites that enhance
their clients business opportunities by delivering their
marketing messages using the latest audio, video, Flash, and
interactive techniques.

MRPwebmedia developed the Sonic Personalities© concept that
effectively conveys your brand, image and message on websites
and DVD/CD presentations using custom-crafted voice-overs.

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Title: The Sound of Business - Part 1

Author: Jerry Bader

Article:
PART I - THE SOUND OF BUSINESS

BREAKING THE LIQUID CRYSTAL BARRIER

The Web is an emotionally remote hinterland delivered to us
through an impenetrable liquid crystal barrier. How then, can
you as a business owner, entrepreneur, or marketing executive
connect to a target audience that requires emotional reassurance
in order to do business?

Willy Loman is Dead

Gone are the days when we sent out phalanxes of sales
representatives pounding the pavement, beating the bushes, and
generally getting in the face of prospects. Too expensive, way
too expensive, have you seen the price of gas? Enough said.

Hot Shots Are Us

So you hire some hot shot Web designer who isn't as old as the
shoes you're wearing. If you spent some money on your site, and
you didn't fall into the trap of having your brother-in-law's
cousin design the thing, you probably got a technically
proficient website. Unfortunately, when they teach these
'wunderkind' the ways of the Web at the local community college,
they don't teach them anything about business, especially
anything about marketing.

Now if you're one of those people who think websites are IT
projects then good luck, have a nice life, stop reading, because
the rest of what I have to say will mean nothing to you. On the
other hand, if you believe websites are about marketing, let's
talk.

A Manifesto for the Web

A bunch of guys a whole lot smarter than me wrote a neat little
screed called the 'The Cluetrain Manifesto' - very clever stuff.
What they said was 'markets are conversations consisting of
human beings, and the Internet enables these conversations.' Now
here's the critical part, 'conversations among human beings
sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.' Now does that
sound like the Web you know? Does your website speak with a
human voice? Does your website connect in a human way to your
customers? I think not.

So what does this really mean, this so called conversation? Well
we are all aware of Email, Blogs, RSS, and the Instant Messenger
technologies that have enabled this conversation to take place.
But with these informal conversations comes a danger - sloppy
thinking and misunderstood intent.

Someone sends you an email, and you quickly respond dashing off
an email reply without carefully thinking about how, or what,
you are saying. Even if the basic intent and content is what you
wanted to say, have you really said it in a way that your
conversation partner will understand, or will they misconstrue
your meaning?

How many one line, short-form emails have you received in
response to a complex initial correspondence, and if you're
anything like me, you looked at it and thought to yourself,
'what the hell is this suppose to mean.' We've got a
conversation going all right, but have we really attained
communication.

The Meaning of Life or At Least Web Conversation

Now here's the interesting thing. I never actually read 'The
Cluetrain Manifesto', but I did hear it. Knowing that I would be
laid-up for a few days, bored to death, with nothing to do, but
too comatose to really concentrate on reading a book, I
purchased one of those audiocassette books at the local mall. I
had no idea what I was buying, but it sounded interesting, after
all the cover said 'the end of business as usual' which really
appealed to my unconventional, contrary nature.

So I bought it, and it was a revelation, an epiphany. Not that I
agreed with everything Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc
Searls, and David Weinberger had to say, but still their voices
stayed with me, and are still locked away somewhere in my head.

Breaking the Liquid Crystal Barrier

And that my friend is the message, the sound of the human voice
is powerful, and it connects to the listener on a whole
different level. It speaks the truth and connects emotionally to
the listener on a very human plane. It breaks through that
liquid crystal barrier, and says, listen to me, I'm here, I'm
human, and I have something real to talk to you about. Wow, this
is good stuff. So tell me why don't you have that human
connection imbedded in your website, delivering your message,
your story.

Forget about all the crap you've heard and read about bandwidth
and search engine optimization. When someone takes the trouble
to visit your website, don't waste the opportunity. Don't screw
it up. Don't be afraid to say what needs to be said, in a way
that will be heard. If you do it right, your website visitors
will remember what you have to say, and that liquid crystal
barrier will be broken.

About the author:
Jerry Bader, is a partner in MRPwebmedia, a website design firm
that specializes in creating multimedia websites that enhance
their clients business opportunities by delivering their
marketing messages using the latest audio, video, Flash, and
interactive techniques.

MRPwebmedia developed the Sonic Personalities© concept that
effectively conveys your brand, image and message on websites
and DVD/CD presentations using custom-crafted voice-overs.

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Title: ASP vs. PHP

Author: Tad Coffin

Article:
When building web sites, ASP and PHP are very popular languages.
Here's my opinion on whether ASP or PHP is best

ASP v. PHP

Both ASP and PHP are languages used to build Dynamic Web sites
that can interact with Databases and exchange information. ASP
(Active Server Pages) is from Microsoft and is used with IIS
(Internet Information Server) that runs on Microsoft Servers.
PHP (Personal Home Pages) is from Rasmus Lerdorf, who originally
designed this parsing language which was later modified by
different people. It runs on Unix and Linux servers and it also
has an NT server version.

There are a lot of differences between ASP and PHP.

Cost

To run ASP programs one needs IIS installed on a Windows
platform server, which is not free. PHP programs run on Linux,
which is free. Even the connectivity of the database is
expensive in the case of ASP as MS-SQL is a product of Microsoft
that needs to be purchased. PHP generally uses MySQL, which is
freely available.

Speed

If we compare the speed of ASP and PHP then PHP has an upper
hand. PHP code runs faster than ASP. ASP is built on COM based
architecture, which is an overhead for the server whereas PHP
code runs in its own memory space.

Platform Compatibility

PHP programs can run on various platforms like Linux, Unix,
Windows and Solaris whereas ASP is mainly associated with
Windows platforms. However, ASP can run on a Linux platform with
ASP-Apache installed on the server.

Additional Costs

Many of the tools used in PHP are free of cost and since PHP is
open source a lot of code can be found in open source forums.
PHP has inbuilt features like ftp, email from a web page or even
encryption mechanisms but in ASP such features are not built in
and some additional components are required. Therefore an
additional cost is incurred for such components.

Base Language

PHP is based on C++ language and the syntax used in PHP is quite
similar to C/C++. C/C++ is still considered the best programming
language by many programmers and people who love this language
would surely feel more comfortable with the syntax of PHP. ASP
on the other hand has a more Visual Basic kind of syntax that
again is closely related to only Microsoft products. So, it
depends on a person-to-person which language he or she is
comfortable

Database Connectivity

PHP, being extremely flexible, can connect to various databases,
the most popular being MySQL. ASP mainly uses MS-SQL.

Conclusion

Both languages have their advantages specific to users. Some
would argue that both the languages have their own importance
and depending on the user's requirements the language and the
platform can be chosen. If we talk about developing a discussion
board then ASP is equally capable but many feel the best
discussion boards are developed in PHP. If a user is looking for
some e-commerce application development then many would call ASP
the ideal choice. This does not mean that PHP cannot provide
e-commerce solutions, only that many people choose ASP.

From my perspective, PHP is an all around better choice than
ASP.

About the author:
Halstatt Pires is with the Internet marketing firm -
http://www.marketingtitan.com - a San Diego Internet marketing
and advertising company offering automated web site systems -
http://www.businesscreatorpro.com - for e-commerce solutions.

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Title: The Sound of Business - Part 3

Author: Jerry Bader

Article:
PART III - THE SOUND OF BUSINESS

HOW TO GIVE GOOD SONIC PERSONALITY©

We live in an age of metrics. Traditional and new media
advertising agencies often substitute metrics for understanding.
Mathematical models create the appearance of scientific
analysis, when in fact they are often manipulated to support a
preselected agenda. We all know data can be massaged to conform
to almost any conclusion. Besides, most small owner-managed
companies can't afford the expense of these agency-driven number
crunching solutions. The real question is, do these metrics
actually help us connect to our customers, who just happen to be
people?

Emotions Win Over Rationality

After all, we are dealing with people, and people react to
information on both a rational and an emotional level. If
everyone bought goods and services based on a strictly rational
basis, we would all be driving Smart Cars and wearing Old Navy
jeans. People make decisions based on a perception of reality,
rather than a rational analysis. Without getting too
metaphysical, in business there is no reality, only perception.
We believe what we think is true, or what is presented to us as
true. Information is colored by who and how, the message is
delivered.

Trying to Make 'Senses' Out of Life

We experience our lives through our senses. We see, hear, touch,
and smell. It is through these senses that we create what passes
for reality, and on that perceived reality we make our so-called
rational decisions.

Left on their own, people will interpret what they sense in very
individual ways. What tastes good to you makes me gag. The woman
I think is beautiful you think is ugly. That is until we our
told in some convincing communication, what we should think.

Skinny, shapeless, superior super models are beautiful because
we are told over and over that they are, and ultimately we
mostly learn to agree. So what does this all mean: reality is a
managed state of mind. We are either the managers or the
managed. Sounds pretty icky, doesn't it, but there it is, and I
for one rather be one of the managers than one of the managed.

Managing Perception

We have all been told from early on that 'a picture is worth a
thousand words.' How many times have you quoted this famous
saying? And you actually believe it, after all Confucius
wouldn't lie, would he? According to Jack Trout, in his book
'The New Positioning,' what Confucius actually said was, "a
picture is worth a thousand pieces of gold." Not the same thing
at all is it? There is actually no evidence that Confucius made
either remark.

The documented origin of the famous expression has been traced
back to a guy named Fred Barnard who sold tram advertising in
the 1920s by stating the claim in his advertisements. Originally
he claimed it was an old Japanese proverb, but later changed his
story and issued Chinese lettering with a translation in his
ads. Who knows what the truth is, maybe old Fred invented the
expression himself, but most people believe Confucius said it,
and that's reality, even if the damn thing was made up.

What You See is Nice, But What You Hear You Remember.

People want to believe what they see is the most important
element in delivering a message, but I would argue that what you
hear outweighs even what you see. Think about it. Companies
spend millions of dollars on attractive logos and pithy
corporate names, and I have no argument with developing a proper
logo or a great name. But successful company names and logos
have an element inherent in their design that goes beyond how
they look. It is how they sound. When you see a visual brand
representation, a signal goes off in your head and a little
voice whispers that company name. Try to think of a popular
corporate logo without the name of that company sounding
silently in your head. Sound, and more specifically the human
voice, is the most under utilized marketing tool we have at our
disposal. And it's ready to hit The Web, big time.

The Web is Made for Sound

The Web is a multimedia platform and your website should utilize
every possible tool available to create your reality and to
deliver your marketing message. No one was able to stop the
flood of images from overtaking the Web, and soon audio will
follow. Now I hear the screams of some crying out against the
multimedia pollution on the Web, and I'll agree that it will
surely come. But here's the thing, agreed most companies will
implement sound on the Web all wrong and it will be just more
noise, but if YOU do it right, you'll be the winner. Your
message will get through the noise, and you will define reality,
and manage the perception of your audience. The question then is
how do you effectively implement voice-audio on the Web?

Audio - The Human Connection

I started this series of articles by stating that the way to
break through the liquid crystal barrier was with a human voice
that delivers a Sonic Personality© for your business. We've
talked about how you must create the basis for a business
personality by first defining who you are, what you do, and why
you do it better than the competition. We've also talked about
focusing on the core values of what you want to do for your
audience, and not confusing them with all the things you can do.
So now we are ready to craft your Signature Voice - your Sonic
Personality©.

About the author:
Jerry Bader, is a partner in MRPwebmedia, a website design firm
that specializes in creating multimedia websites that enhance
their clients business opportunities by delivering their
marketing messages using the latest audio, video, Flash, and
interactive techniques.

MRPwebmedia developed the Sonic Personalities© concept that
effectively conveys your brand, image and message on websites
and DVD/CD presentations using custom-crafted voice-overs.

================================================================
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Title: 7 Easy Secrets to Understanding Web Statistics

Author: Alden Smith

Article:

Understanding what your visitors do on your site is crucial
information. If your visitors proceed to purchase a product but
then a large majority leaves the site when they get to a
specific page in the order process, you need to know about it.
It could be that this page is confusing or hard to use. Fixing
it could increase your sales by 200%. This is just an example;
there are many reasons why you want a detailed analysis of your
site visitors.

Most website hosting services offer a stats package that you can
study. If you're not sure where this is, call up your hosting
service and ask them. Statistics are a vital part of tracking
your marketing progress. If you don't have access to website
statistics get a package that can help you in this area. Do not
get a counter that simply shows how many visitors you've had.
You'll be missing out on vital information that can help
strengthen weaknesses in your site.

A good website hosting service offers traffic logs that provide
an invaluable insight into the traffic being referred to a web
site from various sources such as search engines, directories
and other links.

Unfortunately traffic tracking provided by web hosting services
is often in the form of raw traffic log files or other difficult
to understand cryptic formats. These log files are basically
text files that describe actions on the site. It is literally
impossible to use the raw log files to understand what your
visitors are doing. If you do not have the patience to go
through these huge traffic logs, opting for a traffic-logging
package would be a good idea.

Basically, two options are available to you and these are: using
a log analysis package or subscribing to a remotely hosted
traffic logging service. A remotely hosted traffic logging
service may be easy to use and is generally the cheaper option
of the two. WebTrends Live and HitsLink are two good, remotely
hosted, traffic-monitoring services worth considering. However,
WebTrends Live is a more complicated system and is suitable for
larger ecommerce websites. "SuperStats" is another recommended
traffic logging service.

These services do not use your log files. Typically a small
section of code is placed on any page you want to track. When
the page is viewed, information is stored on the remote server
and available in real time to view in charts and tables form.

Log analysis packages are typically expensive to buy and complex
to set up. Apart from commercial packages there are also some
free log analysis packages available, such as Analog.

A good traffic logging service would provide statistics
pertaining to the following:

1 How many people visit your site? 2 Where are they from? 3 How
are visitors finding your site? 4 What traffic is coming from
search engines, links from other sites, and other sources? 5
What keyword search phrases are they using to find your site? 6
What pages are frequented the most - what information are
visitors most interested in? 7 How do visitors navigate within
your web site?

Knowing the answers to these and other fundamental questions is
essential for making informed decisions that maximize the return
on investment (ROI) of your web site investment.

The most important aspect of tracking visitors to your website
is analyzing all the statistics you get from your tracking
software. The three main statistics that will show your overall
progress are hits, visitors and page views. Hits are tracked
when any picture or page loads from your server on to a
visitor's browser. Hits, however, can be very misleading. It is
quite an irrelevant statistic for your website.

The statistic that is probably the most important for a website
is Page Views/Visitors. This gives you a good indication of two
things. First, how many people are coming to your site, and
secondly how long are they staying on your site. If you have 250
visitors and 300 page views you can figure that most visitors
view one page on your site and then leave. Generally, if you're
not getting 2 page views per visitor then you should consider
upgrading your site's content so your visitors will stay around
longer.

If you see the number of visitors you have increasing as well as
the number of page views per visitor increasing then keep up the
good work! Always look for this stat as an overall barometer of
how your site design is going and if your marketing campaigns
are taking hold. Also, a good stat to look for is unique
visitors. Once a person visits your site they will not be added
to the unique visitors' category if they visit again. This is a
good way to track new visitors to your website.

Page views are a good indication of how "sticky" your website
is. A good statistic to keep is Page Views divided by the number
of Visitors you have. This statistic will give you a good idea
if your content is interesting and if your visitors are staying
on your site for a long time and surfing.

Some people are intimidated by web traffic statistics (mostly
because of the sheer volume of data available), but they
shouldn't be. While there are many highly specialized statistics
that can be used for more in-depth web traffic analysis, the
above areas alone can provide invaluable information on your
visitors and your website performance. Remember- this data is
available for a reason. It's up to you to use it.

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