Memoirs of Early Internet: Top 7 Websites Of Early Web Era

Ever wondered how the web looked some 15 years earlier from now. If you were there to experience it then you might remember how different it was back then, and if not, you will definitely get surprised at how far we have come since then. Through this post we have tried to present a flashback of World Wide Web as it used to look some 10 to 15 years back.

Let us go back and walk down the memory lane and remember how the web looked when Apple used to be a struggling company and AOL was a thriving Internet service provider. The web was a completely different place back then and Microsoft had yet not released the Windows 98 version.

Apple

Today, Apple is the most valuable consumer facing brand in the world, but back then it was a struggling company. It was a struggling organization which was pushing forward the mobile devices with its eMate 300. This device was built on the Newton platform developed by Apple itself but the device was a flop. The Apple’s website from 1997 looks nothing like the present Apple Company and one might think that it’s entirely about some other company.

Google

Google isn’t as old as most of you might think it to be. In-fact, they didn’t even have a website till 1998. Even then the company had a simple iconic website with minimalistic design. One thing that very few people know about the reason behind starting with such a simple design was lack of a webmaster or any person who knew HTML. 

Yahoo

Before Google came into existence people used other search engines. Yahoo was the most prominent search engine back then. The Yahoo website was a basic search engine and directory at that time. What you see today is a full packed front page which could have not been done back then as it would have taken very long to download the pages on those old dial-up modems.

Microsoft

The Windows 98 version was yet not released and Microsoft was fully involved with the development and promotion of this project. Their website was featuring the slogan “where do you want to go today?” on their website. Further, the top headline on the website read “Internet Explorer 4.0 Debuts to Critics’ Applause” which seems a little hilarious now as IE finally became a drag on the Internet. They tried to enhance it and actually kept working on it till they released the IE version 6 after which they stopped developing it.

Amazon

We couldn’t find any Amazon snapshots from 1997 therefore we are going to talk about the website from 1999. The old Amazon website might look modern to many of us but this is probably just because the website was changed very little until its recent redesign.

AOL

AOL had a decent website even back then. The website advertized the release of its Instant messenger beta version very promptly over the home page. The messenger was a big hit. You can also see the link to the free AOL trial and this trial version is supposed to have got many users over the internet for the very first time.

The Basic Methodology of Software Development Services

Author: Chris T Miller

Software development is a technically complex process which goes through various stages during the whole development procedure. The concept is termed as software development life cycle (SDLC) and involves various stages of software development. To successfully offer software development services, organizations should define a development methodology that suits the requirements of the project. Different projects may require different methodologies therefore software development service providers must evaluate the project requirements first and then formulate the strategy for the software development life cycle.

Most of the software development service providers have a pre-defined methodology that is implemented while developing a software. The process gets a little modified according to the project requirements but the essence of the project development procedure remains the same. The basic stages of software development are as mentioned below:

Requirements Specifications: The first and foremost step while developing software must be gathering the requirements of the project. The organizations must start with analyzing the feasibility and the requirements of the project. Some questions that must be clarified in this phase are:

What are client's expectations of the project?
What would the user want in the software?
Is the project technically feasible or not?


The above questions, along with many more, must be answered and properly justified before software development service providers move any further.

Design: This stage involves development of an outlay for developing the project with all the little details included. The project requirements are evaluated and an implementation strategy for achieving these requirements in the form of a software is formulated. The designing phase is divided into two categoriesi.e. system design and component design. The system design is design of the software as a whole where questions like how the individual components will interact with each other are answered. The component design phase, as the name suggests, deals with the planning for each individual component.

Implementation: The components are actually created in the implementation phase. The design layout created in the previous phase is implemented and converted into a machine language that the computer can understand and respond to. Programming languages such as C, C++, C#, Asp.Net, PHP etc are used according to the project requirement to achieve the best possible results. The source code and database are created in the implementation phase. Accurate and effective designing of the software is essential for a successful implementation of the software.

Testing: The testing phase usually starts after the components are created but in some cases the software development service provider can start the testing along with the implementation phase. This methodology may require a little more effort and time but the end solution is void of any discrepancies or errors as they are detected and removed as soon as a component is developed.

Installation: The components of the software are combined together and the completed software is installed and executed on a computer system. If all the previous phases have been performed expertly then there will be no problem in the installation phase. A thorough testing is again recommended after installing the software to make sure that the end solution is working as desired.

Maintenance: It has been noticed that almost every software goes through changes and modification after it is completed. This may be due to some new requirements, overlooked features or the change in the business strategy. This requires constant evaluation and maintenance of the software.

Most of the software development service providers follow the above described development methodology for creating softwares. It is the basic methodology of software development services. Once the software is completed and delivered successfully, the task of the service provider does not end. A professional software development company will offer maintenance services to insure a smooth and well functioning solution to their clients.

Article Source: http://www.sooperarticles.com/technology-articles/software-articles/basic-methodology-software-development-services-759976.html
About Author:

Xicom is a leading CMMI level-3 web development company, provides web development services, custom application development, offshore IT consulting and software outsourcing solutions. Xicom - Custom web application development services from professional website development company.

SEO Tools: Your Arms and Ammunition to Win Your SERP

While doing search engine optimization for your website, you may have used lots of things including notepad to Google analytics and believe me all of them are the tools for conquering your war against search engines. We have listed down few of the most used and preferred tools for search engine optimization. By using them on correct time and exact condition you will definitely be able to hit the bull’s eye with your closed eyes.

Google: Google is a source of tools and tools, for common men to Developers or SEO experts. Everyone comes to google and it blesses them with the appropriate tools according to their needs. So if you started thinking Google as a GOD, then you may be right. However this GOD has provided us some of the finest tools for search engine optimization tools and primarily following three of them are used widely around the globe.

-        Google Analytics: Amazingly smart and robust application to analyze traffic on your website. Traffic sources, Keywords, referred sites these are just some examples and if you want to go deeper and deeper then you will be able to see the ability to see % of clicks pages wise using “in page analysis” section of Google analytics. Lots of application and ability already there and you can utilize that application upto unimaginable level.

-          Google Webmaster: An exclusive tool for webmasters, ability to submit sitemaps to Google, review current keywords which are generating traffic on your website and ability to manage other website related tasks like redirections and complete URL structures.

-        Google Adwords  Keyword Tool: For a SEO expert this tool is real blessing, allowing you to research and analyze keywords based on your most targeted demographics. Number of keyword searches, current competition and traffic can be deduced from this tool only and helping you to target best keyword for your website.

Alexa:  You may need to know traffic coming on your website is profitable for you or not. The classification of traffic and then based on that classification your website is being ranked by Alexa. If you have higher ratings by alexa, you should be worrying about your website, spam attack and furthermore usage of your website.

Apart from ranking it also provides you some vital information about the website, your server etc. and best part is now your competitor website is just a click away from you.

How Can Web Development Service Providers Help You in Your E-commerce Business

How Can Web Development Service Providers Help You in Your E-commerce Business by Chris Miller

Online stores are now getting more popular than physical stores which creates the need for web development service providers who can help online store owners in maximizing their business profits. Consumers now feel more comfortable in buying stuff over internet without taking pains to go out in a store and then buy it. Initially no one anticipated such a huge response for the online stores but gradually they have now created their own client base. Consumers can now buy virtually anything they want over internet in just a few clicks. The traffic to such online stores is only going to increase in the future therefore store owners must make sure that their online store is superior to others.

How can web development service providers help you in your E-commerce business?

Be Different, Be Unique: Initially there were only a few online stores therefore the competition was not so tough. However, today there are thousands of online stores for each category and they have almost same products with similar features. This has created a very stiff competition in the market. To survive in this stiff competition you have to be different from other online stores. Attractive design is a great way of retaining customers. A well designed website with properly formulated product display can fetch in extra business. Your online store should provide all the necessary features along with something unique that can make you stand above the rest of the competition. A skilled web development service provider can help you with such requirements.

Security Issues: Having an online store means that your website will have a lot of online monetary transactions. Your customers will trust you with their highly confidential information that you must keep secure. It is your responsibility to keep this information safe and secure from leaking out or being misused. A web development service provider can easily implement security in your website and save your website from getting misused. An online store should never compromise on security issues as once you lose the trust of the customers it is not easy to earn back and your bad reputation will spread very quickly. It is always better to take precautions regarding the security of your online store.

User Friendly Stores: Unless and until your website is user friendly you can't expect to have much business through it. Online users don't want to go through complex procedures or confusing navigations while purchasing stuff online. They will leave your site if they are not able to search for products easily. Confusing WebPages may even make them suspicious and leave the site. The online customer is a very suspicious community and therefore likes simple and easy to understand websites. You can achieve such functionality by hiring an experienced web development service provider who has extensive experience of designing and developing eCommerce websites. They can easily create user friendly sites that provide quick and effective interface to the users. A user friendly website will also help in creating a loyal community for your online store.

Xicom is a leading CMMI level-3 web development company, provides web development services, custom application development, offshore IT consulting and software outsourcing solutions. Xicom - Custom web application development services from professional website development company.

Article Source: U Publish Articles

Top 10 SEO Plugins for WordPress

Today, there are numerous SEO plugins available on the internet which provide easy and effective SEO functionality in WordPress. These plugins can be easily used by the admin if he has a little knowledge about SEO.

WordPress is the most widely used open source web development platform for publishing content on the web. It is extensively used for creating blogs and content based websites. Search engine optimization is the only method of promoting your blogs, content and websites to the desired viewers. Everybody knows this and so does the WordPress community. Today, there are numerous SEO plugins available on the internet which provide easy and effective SEO functionality in WordPress. These plugins can be easily used by the admin if he has a little knowledge about SEO.  

We have listed below 10 most popular SEO plugins available for WordPress.

1. All in One SEO Pack: All in One SEO Pack is among the most widely used SEO plugins available for WordPress. It is a complete SEO solution which automatically generates META tags, optimizes titles for search engines and provides extensive options for optimizing pages according to search engines.
   
   
2. HeadSpace2: Another great SEO plugin that provides a complete solution for all your SEO requirements in WordPress. Provides the functionality of tags for each page, custom titles, meta tags etc. The Headspace 2 is available in multiple languages.
   
   
3. Platinum SEO Plugin: The Platinum Plugin offers complete SEO solutions for WordPress websites. It also offers automatic 301redirects for permalink changes, auto meta tag generation, basic SEO features and some advanced options too.
   
   
4. Google XML Sitemaps: The Google XML sitemap generates an XML sitemap for your website that is supported by major search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask. The XML sitemap is very helpful in informing the crawlers about the content on your website. It efficiently presents the complete structure of your website for the crawlers to go through. Moreover, it also notifies major search engines whenever new content is posted on your site.
   
   
5. SEO Slugs: The SEO Slug plugin removes irrelevant words from the long filenames automatically created for your posts. This makes your posts more SEO friendly.
   
   
6. Automatic SEO Links: The Automatic SEO Link Plugin allows the admin to select a keyword or phrase and change all the matches in the post with a desired link. Provides easy Autolinking with various other features.
   
   
7. WP Backlinks: This Plugin is very useful for link exchange purpose. Just install this plugin and a small form will appear on the sidebar which will allow bloggers and webmasters to submit links for exchange. The spider crawls other webmaster’s site for a reciprocal link and if found then the link on your site is approved. A very quick and efficient way of getting backlinks.
   
   
8. 404 SEO Plugin: The 404 SEO Plugin is a very handy tool for situations when a user can’t find something he is looking for in your website. It presents a 404 page with all the relevant links based on the keywords in the search if no results are found.
   
   
9. Simple Submit SEO/Social Bookmarking Plugin: This is a very handy SEO Plugin which adds submission links for Digg, Delicious, Buzz, and Stumble to pages and posts. The plugin also allows you to choose whether to display these links on the homepage, post page or anywhere else.
   
   
10. SEO Friendly Images: There are usually a lot of images in a website and this tool allows admin to make these images SEO friendly by automatically adding ALT and Title to these images.

About the Author: This Post is brought to you by Chris Miller. Chris Miller is a web developers @ a leading Web development services company – Xicom Technologies. Xicom technologies provides web appliaction development, software development, IT outsourcing services, custom java, php, asp.net, mobile application development & outsourcing solutions.  

Xicom SEO Services: A successful Beginning

Xicom Technologies, a prominent web development and mobile application development company, has successfully launched its online marketing and SEO services thus making it a one stop destination for all the web requirements of its clients. Since its inception in 2002, Xicom has been providing world class web development solutions to its clients who can now take benefit from its SEO services also.

Xicom is a CMMI level 3 and ISO 9001:2008 certified organization catering highly effective business oriented web solutions and recently added SEO services to its clients spread all over the globe. Xicom recently announced its entry into the online marketing and SEO segment and received its first client within the next 24 hours of announcing the services. It was an existing client for whom we had done a project in the past. On asking him why he choose us, he replied “I received highly professional services during my previous projects therefore I believe that same will be delivered again”. Such is the reputation and of the company between the clients. We believe that customer satisfaction should be the priority in every project and nothing should stop us in delivering it to our clients.

Xicom Technologies has acquired more than 15 projects till now out of which most of the projects belong to our existing clients who have entrusted us with their online marketing campaigns. Some of the clients even went a step ahead and cancelled their ongoing SEO projects with other organizations and transferred them to us. To make sure that our new endeavor is successful we have setup a state of the art infrastructure equipped with cutting edge technologies and latest equipments. A tough screening process was conducted for hiring SEO experts who can produce results according to our reputation and standards. A team of professional SEO experts with each having a minimum 2 years of quality experience in SEO has been formulated to provide solutions to our clients. As this is a fairly new territory for us therefore we have assigned our top business analysts and project managers to the SEO department to make sure that quality of the solutions is not compromised in any way.

We have high expectations from our SEO department and hope that we will soon surpass the existing quality levels at our organization.