As is widely known, GeoNorth is the IT consulting firm responsible for the successful development and deployment of the popular Alaskan business search and referral website, Buy Alaska (www.buyalaska.com). Buy Alaska distributes a monthly newsletter, in which GeoNorth is featured as part of their January 28 edition. To visit the entire newsletter, go to Buy Alaska Newsletter.
Buy Alaska Dot Com Updates
As always there is much to talk about, but the most exciting news is some impending website changes, based on your feedback from the last survey. By the time you read this newsletter a new look BuyAlaska.com is online. In tandem with our phenomenal web design team at GeoNorth, we have implemented the first few changes to the website from our wishlist. We will continue to do so in frequent baby-steps, but we took a pretty good first stride! Some of the new features include:
· News and Specials posted on your page are displayed on the home page
· News & Specials posted on your page are simultaneously posted to Buy Alaska's Facebook page and Tweeted to Buy Alaska followers.
· The ability to "share" your page and any updates with a variety of social media vehicles.
· The ability to "subscribe" to the News & specials posted via RSS feed
· The ability to rent advertising space on the Buy Alaska home page (for a nominal fee)
· The ability to subscribe to the newsletter, as well as our Facebook page and Twitter account through links on the front page
The Buy Alaska site was developed to assist businesses, consumers, and government entities with finding competitive Alaskan sources for goods and services. GeoNorth completed the original project in early 2001, with continued enhancements and support over the ensuing years. During the summer of 2007 GeoNorth began work with Buy Alaska to modernize the site and dramatically enhance its functionality and usability. Today, Buy Alaska has announced the most recent upgrades to their site.
The buyer interface utilizes a Google-like search, tailored to allow both retail and corporate buyers to quickly search the seller profiles to locate Alaskan vendors providing specific goods or services. The buyer can then click through to the sellers' websites to get more information or purchase online.
The original site was built on a Microsoft SQL Server and IIS backend using HTML, ColdFusion, and JavaScript. The new site provides a 100% Open Source solution using Linux, Apache HTTP Server, PostgreSQL, and Ruby on Rails. These components allowed GeoNorth to deliver a truly state-of-the-art, web 2.0 solution, while maximizing development efficiency and minimizing overall costs.
For more information about GeoNorth, our capabilities, or a quote for a website development project, please contact us at (907) 677-1500.