Backend web development is as important as front end website design. It is what makes your site functional and robust. The backend is usually thought of as the software and database that support a website, often using server-side code and a database program such as Oracle, MySQL, Access or SQL Server, to name just a few.
We specialize in website programming, backend web development. One of the aspects that sets us apart is our all-encompassing approach. We can suggest numerous appropriate way to increase profits by leveraging a newly created website. We can also implement the strategies, no matter what they are, and no matter what technology is needed. Call Oak Web Works today for all your backend web development needs.
Contact Us
Phone: 413-612-2858
Email: info [@] oakwebworks.[com]
Why is Backend Web development Important?
Remember Rolodexs? If you haven’t made the connection, your email program is your 21st century Rolodex. And why do I mention this? It’s vital as a Web entrepreneur or business person to continually build an email list. There are many ways to do this, and we’re going to look at a few in a minute. But one simple and effective way is to make sure you always record and keep most email addresses that you mail to throughout your day. Your email program should allow you to create groups or categories of people.
So you should be able to create groups called ‘Outside Vendors’, ‘Prospects’, ‘Business Associates’, or whatever is suitable for your particular situation. For example, I write a lot of articles online and have a list of people who accept and post my articles, so ‘Article People’ is a group I have in my email program. Every time I write a new article, I send an announcement to that group.
The reason for keeping and organizing your day-to-day email addresses is so you can market to the later, or at least remind them that you still exist. Depending on the group, you could craft an email that would fit their particular interests and drop them a line once in a while. You could also import that list to your prospects database (you have a database of potential customers, right?) and bring them ‘into the fold’ as it were.
E-Marketing – Email Lists and Databases
If you cringed when you read about having a prospects database above, if you felt like you were missing the boat, if you felt that anybody who’s anybody has a prospects database so you must be nobody, don’t fear or fret, I’m going to tell you how to do it right now.
First of all, there are lots of different databases and lots of different solutions. The software and solutions you choose should be determined by your company size, budget and your specific needs. For example, if you are a one-person show who runs a website on your own, and have a modest budget, then you’re not going to want to buy an expensive database. And believe me, they can get expensive. Microsoft SQL Server can run in the many thousands of dollars. So your solution may be to use Microsoft Excel as your ‘database’.
Or you can use an online, subscription-based service. A good choice is AWeber (http://www.aweber.com). It is reasonably priced, lets you manage your leads, and facilitates sending regular email blasts to your lists. It also gives you the code for html forms to insert into your website.
If you are a medium sized business, and I define that by having 25-500 employees and a budget to have a Web or technical person, and preferably a database administrator, then a Microsoft Access or MySQL database may be appropriate for you. MySQL database software is actually free for download, but is difficult to handle. There is no graphical user interface to help you. It is completely set up, managed and administered by command line only. And you’ll need to SQL (structured query language). So you really need someone in your organization who knows how to handle MySQL or has the time to learn it if you choose to use this database package.
If you’re a large company and have the money to spend, and hundreds of thousands of leads to manage, then a more robust database may be necessary. In this case Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server may be the way for you to go. Of course you’ll need to hire a database administrator to handle this software. And you’ll need to hook the database up to all your systems including any CRM packages you may have, supply chain, inventory, etc. There are many other databases in existence to choose from that have not been mentioned here as well. And remember, it is always best to keep your database on a seperate physical machine than your website server machine. This is the case for security and performance reasons.
So there’s many things to consider when determining what to use for a database. But why have a database in the first place? In this day and age, any business that does not take full advantage of the standard technology in existence presently is going to lose its competitive edge. Notice I used the words ‘standard technology’. I am not referring to bleeding edge technology.
In other words, Microsoft Excel and Word are standard business technologies. RSS and XML Web services are a little more cutting edge and would not be considered standard. You don’t need to rush out and buy and learn all kinds of new and exciting technologies to be in business today. But you have to take advantage of the common tools of our day. And one such tool is undoubtedly the database.
Rolodexs are big and unwieldy. Databases are tiny and nimble. Since the lifeblood of a business is sales, and since sales is precipitated by leads, a nice little database software program that stores and manages your leads is obviously vital to your business.
By Jason OConnor