CS125 Spring 2014 Interim Web site deployment and promotion Now, you are done coding your web site. What do you do next? First, test it. Second, test it again. Third, . . . (you get the point) Then, find a web host for your site. Do not forget to promote it. 11-1
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim Testing • Automated testing tools and validation – Automated testing (link checker, e.g., http://validator.w3.org/checklink/ ) – W3C HTML and CSS validation tests • Usability testing – Testing how actual visitors use a web site – Can be done at almost any stage of development ∗ Early: Use paper and sketches of pages ∗ Design: use prototype ∗ Production & testing: use actual pages • User or client testing – Client will test the site before giving official approval for site launch • Approval & launch – Obtain sign-off form or email from client – Upload files to web server – Create backup copies of files – MAKE SURE TO TEST THE WEB SITE AGAIN! • Maintenance 11-2
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim Choosing a domain name • Establish a web presence for your business/organization – New business: choose a domain name while selecting company name – Established business: choose a domain name that relates to your established business presence • Describe your business • Be brief, if possible, and avoid hyphens • TLD: .com, .net, .biz, .us, .mobi, .org for non-profits • Brainstorm potential keywords • Avoid trademarked words or phrases • Know the territory (use Google!) • Verify availability • Registering a domain name: – There are many domain name registrars, including http://register.com , http://networksolutions.com , http://godaddy.com – Visit registrar, choose name, pay with credit card or Paypal – Private registration: additional fee but personal information is kept private and out of the WHOIS database 11-3
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim Web hosting Some organizations administer a web server in-house and host their own web site. Many companies use a web host provider: • A good web hosting service will provide a robust, reliable home for your web site • A poor web hosting service will be the source of problems and complaints • Do not use free web hosting for a commercial web site Types of web hosting: • Virtual hosting: the web host provider’s server is divided into a number of virtual domains and multiple web sites are set up on the same computer • Dedicated web server: the exclusive use of a rented computer and connection to the Internet that is housed in the web hosting company’s premises • Co-located web server: a computer that your organization has purchased and configured; your organization effectively rents space at the web host provider’s location; your server is kept and connected to the Internet at their location; but your organization administers this computer 11-4
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim Web promotion Why is it important to know about search engines? Search engine versus search index : • Example: Open Directory at http://www.dmoz.org • A search directory maintains a hierarchical categorization of topics and places web site listings into these categories • Search either by typing in a search term OR “drilling” down into the hierarchy for relevant sites • Each site is reviewed by an editor before being accepted into a directory 11-5
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim Search engine components 1. Robot (bot) or “spider” or “crawler” • A computer program that follows hyperlinks and “walks” the web, accessing and categorizing pages and storing information about them in a database owned by the search engine • May access the following components of web pages: title, meta tag “keywords” & meta tag “description,” text in headings, other text on the page and hyperlinks 2. Search engine database (also used by search indexes): • Database: a collection of information organized so that its contents can easily be accessed, managed, and updated • Database Management Systems (DBMSs): configure and manage databases (Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2) • A search engine database contains information about web pages 3. Search form (also used by search indexes) • The search form is the graphical user interface that allows a user to request a word or phrase to search for 11-6
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim • The visitor to the search engine types words (called keywords) related to their search into the text box • When the form is submitted, the data typed into the text box is sent to server-side processing that searches the database using the keywords you have entered • The search results (also called a result set) is a list that contains information such as the URLs for web pages that meet your criteria • SERP (search engine results page): a list of items that describe web pages matching the search terms: – Each item contains a link to a page along with additional information that might include the page title, a brief description, the first few lines of text, the size of the page, and so on – The order the web page items are displayed in the SERP may depend on paid advertisements, alphabetical order, link popularity, etc. Each search engine has their own policy for ordering the search results. 11-7
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim Designing web pages for promotion • Keywords: – Terms and phrases that people may use when searching for your site – Words or phrases that describe your web site or business – Create a list of them – Include common misspellings • Description: – What is special about your web site that would make someone want to visit? – 25-30 words, inviting and interesting – Some search engines will display your description in the SERP 11-8
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim HTML <meta> tag The “meta” element is a standalone tag placed in the head section to provide meta-level information about the HTML document. Metadata will not be displayed on the page, but will be machine readable. Meta elements are typically used to specify a page description, keywords, the author of the document, the date of last modification, and other metadata. The metadata is used by browsers (how to display content or reload page), search engines (keywords), or other web services. Two main attributes: • <meta name="..." content="..."> Meta tag names used by search engines: • name="keywords" • name="description" 11-9
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim Keywords and description examples <meta name="keywords" content="Acme Design web development e-commerce ecommerce consulting consultation maintenance redesign Akme" > <meta name="description" content="Acme Design, a premier web consulting group that specializes in E-commerce, web site design, web site development, and web site re-design." > 11-10
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim Search Engine Optimization (SEO) • Determine keywords • Page title – Include the company and/or web site name – Include selected keywords as appropriate • Heading tags – Include keywords • Text on page includes keywords • Linking – Provide text navigation hyperlinks – Verify that all hyperlinks are functioning • Page layout – Avoid nested tables; use CSS for page layout • Images & multimedia – Configure meaningful alternate text 11-11
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim – Be aware that text and hyperlinks contained within multimedia may not be accessed by search engine robots • Valid code • Content of value, well organized, meaningful and useful to your target audience 11-12
CS125 Spring 2014 Interim Submitting your site to a search engine • Wait until your site is finished: don’t submit “under construction” web sites! • Visit search engine web site and look for “Add URL” or “Suggest URL”, or “Add your site”, etc. – Where can you do this on the Google site? • Follow the directions and fill out the form • A robot from the search engine will visit your web site and index it • Allow several weeks and test the search engine to see if your site is listed 11-13
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