Philippine web hosting packages offer one or more databases. Literally, a database stores data but the most important thing about database is it allows data to be easily accessed. There are many forms of data, it can be sales records, customer names and addresses, product details or even the little information that appears on web pages. By using a database, it aids in retrieving all the information to better assists your visitors. It will also provide a more interactive experience.
The basic use of databases in the Internet world is to handle information vigorously as it is requested by visitors. For instance, in a large eCommerce site, the database maintains all the actual product information so when it comes to updating the site it is just a matter of changing the data. Without this system, it would be a hassle to the website managers for they have to produce static pages for every product. And if your dealing with hundreds of products, surely this task would be almost impossible to handle in an effective process.
Headers, menus, and footers are some of the templates for static content that are used in dynamic pages. The server software embeds the contents of the database into the template before the page is sent and will be viewed in a browser. Any content from the database can be moved anywhere on a dynamic page. Through this, you can set up visually appealing pages which include pictures, text and you can also add shopping recommendations like: “Customers who will buy this will also have..”
Another use of database is for storing and accessing customer records. This allows you to adapt your pages according to your customer’s previous purchases. Each page could have customized greetings like, “Welcome back Edmund” and if they make another purchase all their personal informations such as address and credit card number could be pulled automatically from the database so they will not have to fill up the same form all over again.
Database can also be used in mailinglists. Almost all websites send out information to their visitors, to remind them about the site and to encourage them to check the site again. Email addresses can be stored in a database for sending out announcements and newsletters. These newsletters can be archived in a database so that the visitors can search or check the previous mailings anytime.
Database can also be divided into tables with a complete set of data. One database could be used for most of your website information simply by setting up a number of tables. The number of databases that your site requires depends on how many application you are going to apply.
