Internet Apps: Increase The Power of Your Website
Information management is the not-so-secret weapon that turns a "brochure" site into a powerful web-enabled application.
The uses of proper backend data management, and web forms to manage that data, are as unlimited as the imagination.
These are just some of the ways that your site could benefit from database connectivity:
• Contact / Lead Generation - A simple Contact form can not only elicit more information than a simple email (such as, "How did you hear about us?"), it can also feed that information directly into Contact Management or batch emailing software software.
• Calendar Events - Local tourism sites especially benefit from businesses submitting local events, and thereby keeping their site content dynamic and fresh, something the search engines love.
• Ecommerce - A shopping cart is impossible without a backend database (usually included), so this entire functionality is tecnically just another benefit of database connectivity.
• Content Management - Content Management Software (CMS) is also impossible without a backend database.
• Listings - Business listings, or any other type of record too numerous or dynamic to manage manually in an efficient manner, is the perfect example of something requiring proper data management.
• Archived Content - Want to present archived articles or other content for searching and sorted display? Use a database.
• Dynamic Navigation - Have categorized records or archived content being added to constantly? Use database-driven site navigation to always properly reflect what is available to the end user, with no need to edit the website files whatsoever.
• Site Security - Lock a portion of your site away for a select audience, using a backend database to store User records and login credentials.
