Intro to the Web

Web Concepts & Technology

Internet

vs web

Internet a collection of computers used to

share information: web pages, email,
newsgroups, ftp, chat, hardware, equipment,
network, etc
Web- collection of individual documents for
viewing on the internet.

Client/Server

Client/Server Architecture
When you type in a URL, the browser (the client)
contacts the web server
The browser requests the desired file
Server looks for the file on its machine
The file is sent back to the browser
The file is saved to the cache (Temporary Internet
Files)
The connection between client and server is broken
The browser renders the file

Must put your web site on internet

When

you create a website, you must upload it

to a web server, otherwise no one will be able
to access it
Others cannot see a web page you created on
your personal computer unless your computer
is set up as a web server and connected to the
internet

FTP
File Transfer Protocol

Used to transfer any type of file

Must have an FTP server and an FTP client
Upload- when you send a file from the client to the
server
Download- when you send from the server to the client
FTP is the most common way to put file up on the
internet
Examples include WS_FTP for Windows, Fetch for
Mac

HTML
Hypertext Markup Language
A page

description language
Decides how text and images will appear
Not really a programming language, but a
layout language
Hypertext- text that links to another document

HTML
HTML

cont

is a text file, no images are stored in the

actual HTML file, it refers to them
Pictures are separate files referred to by
HTML, then loaded into their proper place
HTML can be created in notepad or any simple
text editor
To view the HTML file, use any browser
HTML will look differently in different browsers

HTML Editor
HTML

can be created and modifies in any text

editor
Notepad- simplest to use and comes with
Windows
Front Page
Dreamweaver MX
Both complex HTML editors

CGI Scripts
Common Gateway Interface

Adds functionality to the site

A CGI script is a program
Most common language used in CGI is Perl
Can take input from a web page and process the data
Other CGI languages:

C
C++
JavaScript

CGI
CGI

cont

scripts are server side scripts; they are

stored on the web server
Purpose: counters, polls, password protection,
feedback, emails, connect to databases
The server runs the script, processes it, and
writes HTML back to the browser
This HTML page is generated dynamically
(may be different every time) by the script

Forms
Forms

allow users to enter information using a

web page
The browser sends information to the server
A program such as CGI processes the form
information entered by the user

Java

Java is a product from Sun Microsystems

It is a programming language used to embed mini
programs or applets into a web page
To run a Java applet software called a virtual java
machine must be installed
Java is a multi-platform language- meaning it will run on
any operating system with a virtual java machine
installed
Java applets are client side- meaning the program is run
on the client computer

JavaScript and VBScript

Adds functionality to a web page

Client Side scripting languages- meaning the browser is
the software that interprets the script
JavaScript was originally developed by Netscape
Microsofts developed VBScript, based on Visual Basic
Simple to program but limited security and functionality
Netscape and Internet Explorer both support JavaScript
Only Internet Explorer supports VBScript

JavaScript and VBScript

The

cont

scripts are usually written inside HTML code

Uses :

Form validation
Pop up windows
Pop up menus
Much more

ASP
Active

Server Pages
Creates web pages dynamically
Server Side Scripting on Microsoft Servers
Can be connected easily to databases, email,
save to files etc.
Microsoft Server Side Scripting

Cold Fusion MX
Macromedia

product
Runs on Microsoft servers or other servers
Server side scripting

PHP
PHP:

Hypertext Preprocessor
A free server side scripting language
Very popular because it is open source
Open Source Server Side Scripting
Works well with other Open Source packages
such as Linux, Apache, and MySQL

Databases
Connecting

a web site to a database is where the

real money is
Storing inventory, name/password combinations,
etc
Popular databases include Access, SQL Server,
Oracle or MySQL
Access is adequate for small sites, bigger sites
need to use SQL Server, or a more professional
database like Oracle

CSS
Cascading

Style Sheets
Allows developer to separate the structure of a
website from its design
CSS enhances a sites look, accessibility, and
consistency
CSS makes it much easier for a developer to
update or modify the look of a site

Language Summary
Language

Server

Client

HTML

CSS

CGI/Perl

Java

JavaScript

ASP

Cold Fusion

PHP

HTML Editors

3 types of editors
1. Basic text editors - Notepad
2. Advanced Text Editors - color coded syntax,
TextPad
3. WYSIWYG- What you see is what you get
a. Microsoft Front page- new users
b. Dreamweaver- experienced users

Graphics Packages

Photoshop
Paint Shop Pro
Fireworks
Web site developers often need a graphics program to
manipulate images
Most browsers accept only .jpg or .gif image formats
Graphic Arts

Web Site Hosting

Once

you create a web site you must find a

place to host it
You will upload your files to a server, a
computer connected to the Internet 24x7
You can host your own site if you have a
dedicated computer hooked up to the internet
constantly
There are many free hosting sites available

Web Site Hosting

You

may want to pay a provider to host your

site
There are many commercial hosting services
available, with many advanced features
Prices range from $7 to $100 + per month

Domain Names
To register

your own domain name such as

www.myname.com , you must pay a nominal fee
Top Level Domains include:

.com
.net
.org

commercial site
network site
organization

Domain Names

Once

cont

you register your name you must get it

pointed to your web site. Your ISP (Internet
Service Provider) can usually help you to do this.
Then people simply type in your domain name
and it takes them to your site.

Search Engines
Next

you need to register your site in search

engines so people can find it. Registering in
search engines like Google, AltaVista, and
Yahoo.

Why is internet marketing

important?
It gives companies the ability to:
Drive high quality customers to their website
Increase sales leads from customers looking for
their products and services
Build their brand online by communicating
marketing messages to their target audience
Increase their profile against their competitors
Target a global audience via international search
engines
Be accountable with ROI tracking (SEM)

Search engine optimisation

What is SEO?
SEO is the act of modifying a website to increase its
ranking in organic (vs paid), crawler-based listings of
search engines
How do organic search listings work?
A spider or crawler which is a component of a SE gathers
listings by automatically "crawling" the web
The spider follows links to web pages, makes copies of the
pages and stores them in the SEs index
Based on this data, the SE then indexes the pages and
ranks the websites
Major SEs that index pages using spiders: Google,
Altavista, Msn, Aol, lycos
Spiders read only text, nothing else

Search engine optimisation/contd

SEO strategies/techniques
1. Domain name strategies
- domain names are traffic magnets
> 63 million domain names registered
> 4.7 million domain names registered 1st quar 2004
- choose a domain name that will increase your search
engine ranking. How?
- simple, short, no hyphens, no numbers
- use keywords, common words, advertising terms,
product names
- choose a keyword that is important for your business

Search engine optimisation/contd

2. Linking strategies

- the more inbound links the higher the SE ranking

- if the site linking to you is already indexed, spiders will also
receive your site
- quality of inbound links is critical
- how to increase links: a) good content b) good outbound links
c) target a list of sites from which you can request inbound links
- links for the sake of links can damage your search rankings
Link relevancy is critical in getting your site indexed by search
engines
A small number of inbound links from high-quality, relevant sites
is more valuable than many links from low-traffic, irrelevant
sites.

Search engine optimisation/contd

3. Keywords
- important in optimising rankings
- keywords are words that appear the most in a page
- the spider chooses the appropriate keywords for each page,
then sends them back to its SE
- your web site will then be indexed based on your keywords
- can be key phrases or a single keyword
- do not use common words eg the and of: spiders ignore them
- write keyword-rich text
- balance keyword-rich and readability
- always have text in your page: at least 100 words

Search engine optimisation/contd

4. Title tags
- important in optimising rankings
- the first thing that a search engine displays on a search return
- must keywords in title to be ranked no. 1
- should have the exact keyword you use for the page
- every single web page must have its own title tag
- you can use up to 65 characters eg Ebay
http://www.ebay.com/ (title is littered with keywords)
5. Meta description tags
- the next important
- displayed below the title in search results
- use dynamic, promotional language
- use keywords

Search engine optimisation/contd

Meta keywords tags
- no longer carry weight with major SEs
- a myth that meta keywords alone affect rankings
6. Alt tags
- include keywords in your alt tags
7. Submit your website to SEs for indexing
- submit your site to search engine directories, directory
sites and portal sites
- indexing takes 1 week to 3 months

Search engine optimisation/contd

Major SEs to submit to:
Altavista http://addurl.altavista.com/sites/addurl/newurl
(Search engines that also use this database - Looksmart)
The Open Directory Project (DMOZ) http://dmoz.org/add.html
(Search engines that also use this database - Ask Jeeves, Lycos, Netscape
)
Fast http://www.alltheweb.com/add_url.php
(Search engines that also use this database - Lycos)
Google http://www.google.com/addurl.html
(Search engines that also use this database - Yahoo)
Inktomi http://submitit.bcentral.com/msnsubmit.htm
(Search engines that also use this database - AOL, Excite, MSN, Overture)
MSN http://submitit.bcentral.com/msnsubmit.htm
Yahoo http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest

Search engine optimisation/contd

SEO - what is NOT recommended
Flash and shockwave - spiders do not pick up these files
Image only sites - spiders do not pick up images
Image maps - spiders cannot read image maps.
Do not use them on your home page or critical pages.
Frames - only one page can be titled (titling is critical in search rankings)
- If the spider cannot read the complete page (because of the frames), it
will not be indexed properly.
- Some spiders may not even read a frames web site
Password protected pages spiders cannot enter password protected pages

Search engine optimisation/contd

PDF files - can be problematic for spiders. Although some search
engines can index them, the pages must be interpreted into HTML
and can lose much of their content.
- place PDFs lower down in your site
Dynamic pages - spiders cannot index some content on pages using
ASP, CGI or other dynamic languages.
- Make sure important pages are HTML, no dynamically
generated content.
Drop down menus spiders cannot read them

Search engine optimisation/contd

In summary
Critical elements
- domain name, links, keywords, title, meta description, alt
tags, submitting your website to SEs
- keywords galore: include in page copy, title, description,
domain name, alt tags
No-nos
- flash, image-only sites, image maps, frames, password
protected pages, PDFS, dynamic pages, drop-down
menus

Search engine
optimisation/contd

How SEO elements affect organic listings

Title tag
Meta description tag (or first para of text
if no meta des has been added)

Keywords

Search engine marketing

What is search engine marketing (SEM)?
SEM is the act of marketing a website via search engines by
purchasing paid listings
What are paid listings?
These are listings that search engines sell to advertisers, usually
through paid placement or paid inclusion programs. In contrast,
organic listings are not sold.

Search engine marketing/contd

Paid listings:
1. Paid inclusions
- Advertising programs where pages are guaranteed to
be included in a search engine's index in exchange for
payment
- no guaranteed ranking
- payment made on a Cost Per Click (CPC) basis
- eg Looksmart: a directory that lists pages and sites, not
based on position but based on relevance. Advertisers
pay to be included in the directory on a CPC basis or perurl fee basis with no guarantee of specific placement

Search engine marketing/contd

2. Paid placements
- Advertising programs where listings are guaranteed to
appear in organic listings
- the higher the fee, the higher the ranking
- eg sponsored links and Googles Adwords
- can be purchased from a portal or a search network
- search networks are often set up in an auction
environment where keywords and phrases are
associated with a cost-per-click (CPC) fee.
- Overture and Google are the largest networks

Search engine marketing/contd

Paid placements - Google

Paid placements

Search engine marketing/contd

Paid placements - Yahoo

Paid placements

Other internet marketing strategies

Usability driven information architecture

Effective copywriting (presented previously)
Affiliate programs
Email marketing and online newsletters
Interactive customer relationships
Web traffic analysis and web analytics

SEO & SEM

If

budget allows, undertake both SEO and SEM

as SEM enables ROI tracking (leads and
conversions)
If budget is zilch, opt for SEO
Recommendation for UniSA:
- SEO
- SEM for campaigns and international markets

A last word

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Search marketing is at its infancy and is advancing by
leaps and bounds.
So stay tuned and stay ahead of your competitor.