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Benefits of S.E.O

Written by Amanda on May 04, 2020
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As a marketer that works with web developers daily, I know that content may not be top priority on their long list of to-do’s. However, for the success of a company, it is essential. If your team doesn’t have a designated marketing person or team, and you’re not a seasoned content creator, I have 3 letters for you to learn: S.E.O.

 

So what is SEO? It stands for search engine optimization. Basically this represents guidelines for gaining traffic to your website (or one you’ve been hired to create), and doing it organically. What is organic traffic? This is the results people see without being targeted, no paid ads, no cold calling - just desired results because your company offers something that they are interested in. 

 

Today’s market is extremely competitive, so it is important to take every step in making sure that your webpage stands out and is easy to find. Think about how you find information daily… how to make fried chicken? Where to get your car fixed? Or even when a new movie is being released? You search for it, online, right? 9 times out of 10, you’re probably going to run a search for it on a site like Google, right? Then, most likely, you’re going to click on one of the first couple results that pop up on your screen, because they include keywords relevant to the search that you performed. This is an example of SEO. You search for a term that is relevant or appears on a company’s website, and Google recognizes that term/phrase and yields the webpage to you as a result. Thus, increasing traffic for the website, and a lot of times, without any cost to them. 

 

Utilizing this idea, or service, is essential for any marketing department. Actually, according to a recent survey done by HubSpot, about 64% of marketers actively invest time in search engine optimization. So if you're not, you're falling behind. 

 

 Now that you have a basic understanding of what SEO is, we can talk about some of the benefits. 

 

1. Better PR

 

The better your SEO is, the more people that will see your company name pop up on their search engine results. While most companies, like CakeDC, offer specific services (and input specific keywords into ads), we have very detailed SEO streaming from our website so that we do not miss a potential client. It is the goal to be in the top 3 results of a search engine like Google.  

Even if someone is searching for something your company doesn’t offer, they may see you, remember you, and use you in the future. win-win. Start building your reputation! For example if you wanted to search for CakePHP web development, you may see:

 

 

2. Increased Traffic 

 

This is a no brainer. The more keywords that trigger your webpage at the top of consumer results, the more people that will click. This generates better quality leads, in my opinion. Things like cold calling, or cold emailing, while still effective, have become outdated. Inbound marketing compared to these avenues has produced better return, without becoming annoying to your potential leads. When you aim your focus on specific consumers looking for services that are related to your business, you can build better relationships. 

 

3. FREE

 

Perhaps the best benefit of SEO? The cost… or lack of cost. SEO gets clicks, and sales (we hope!) for the wonderful price of $0 per month. How? Well, Google’s organic rankings come from their algorithm, which determines which webpage’s information relates closely to the “searcher’s” inquiry. This can result from keywords coming from your web pages that may not be imputed on any sort of ads you may be running (we will talk about paid ads in a future blog). 

 

This doesn’t mean that getting a perfect SEO score (yes, you can test it) comes for free. It is important to have good content, detailed content, in all areas on your webpage. Make sure each page describes services you provide, or products that you sell, in great detail. Have pages for each option, and make it accessible like this:

 

 

 

It’s time to beat out the competition, are you ready? I first recommend seeing where you stand. There are a few tools you can use to test your SEO score. One example is: Woorank. I like this site because it gives you your score, shows the good, the bad, and the ugly. The tool also shows you what you can and should do to improve your SEO. You can try most tools for free, or get extra optimization help by paying a premium. 

 

Once you run a report, it’s time to get to work. Fix the issues, and constantly monitor your information. I do think it’s important to mention - don’t expect results to happen overnight, it can take up to 6 months for SEO strategies to yield return. If you’re like me, and impatient, just chill. Put the work in, and get the reward.

 

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Our Gift To You - The CakeDC Advent Calendar 2024

So, we are back! It’s been a while, right?    We are aware that the blog has been quiet, but boy do we have a surprise for you all.    First, let’s recap this year… a lot of releases from CakeDC like plugins and contributions to the latest CakePHP versions. We, like every other baker, have been enjoying all of the new features that Cake 5 has presented. We look forward to seeing what the core team has in store next. It is a company goal to be more involved in the CakePHP community in 2025, so you’ll be seeing some familiar faces in the community channels.     Oh, and I would be remiss if I did not also express our gratitude to our clients. We have had a great year with all of you.  We are so thankful to work with each and every one of you and it has been a pleasure baking code for your many projects.    Now… on to the good stuff.  The team has decided to write a series of blogs, in the form of an advent calendar. It is the holiday season after all. So what can you expect? I don’t want to give away too much, but I will say you’ll get to savor some tasty cake related topics like: HTMX, JWT with CakePHP, plugins, security, PHP 8.4 … and so much more.    This is the gift that keeps on giving... the whole month. So pre heat those ovens… and get ready for a new blog each day from the CakeDC team! 
CakeDC Advent Calendar 2024! 

Written by Amanda on December 01, 2024

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Build a Single Page Application Using CakePHP and InertiaJS

Build a Single Page Application using CakePHP and InertiaJS

  The Inertia Plugin allows a CakePHP application to integrate Vue 3 components in the front end, without the need to write a specific API for data transfer. This is done  by adding a Middleware and view classes that facilitate the conversion of objects and data in JSON almost automatically, as well as the direct load in the components. The plugin is thought of as a base to extend and use your app’s specific controllers and views from. Just because  it works out of the box doesn't mean it is intended to be used exactly as is,  but this will  provide you a good kick start. See the repo here: https://github.com/CakeDC/cakephp-inertia

Requirements

  • CakePHP 4.5
  • PHP >= 8.1
  • NodeJS 18.9 (only for build Vue Components, not required on running site)

 

Step 1: Create a basic CakePHP install

  For this example I will use a basic installation using Docker and Composer.  First you must create project from cakephp/app  
$> composer create-project --prefer-dist cakephp/app:~4.5 inertia_app $> cd inertia_app $> cp config/app_local.example.php config/app_local.php
  Then write an docker-compose.yml file as:
version: '3' services:   psql13:     image: postgres:13     container_name: inertia-app-postgres13     volumes:       - ./tmp/data/inertia-postgres13__db:/var/lib/postgresql:delegated     environment:       - POSTGRES_USER=my_app       - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret       - POSTGRES_DB=my_app       - PGUSER=my_app       - PGDATABASE=my_app       - PGPASSWORD=secret     ports:       - '7432:5432'     cakephp:     image: webdevops/php-nginx:8.1     container_name: inertia-app-cakephp     working_dir: /application     volumes:       - ./:/application:cached       - ~/.ssh:/home/application/.ssh:ro     environment:       - WEB_DOCUMENT_ROOT=/application/webroot       - DATABASE_URL=postgres://my_app:secret@inertia-app-postgres13:5432/my_app     ports:       - "9099:80"
  Launch the container and go to http://localhost:9099/  
$> docker-compose up -d
 

Step 2: Add CakePHP Inertia plugin

  Install plugin via command line:
$> composer require cakedc/cakephp-inertia
  Once installed enable it in src/Application.php, adding at the bottom of bootstrap function:
$this->addPlugin('CakeDC/Inertia');
  or by command line:
$> bin/cake plugin load CakeDC/Inertia

 

Step 3: Create Vue App and install it

  To create Vue App type in command line:
$> bin/cake create_vue_app
  This command create in the resources directory the files that use our App, also create in root directory the files:
  • webpack.mix.js
  • package.json
  Then in root directory install with NPM:
$> npm install

 

Step 4: Create simple SPA (Single Page Application)

  Create a single page called dashboard that show values sets in a controller action We need to first add InertiaResponseTrait  
use CakeDC\Inertia\Traits\InertiaResponseTrait;   class PagesController extends AppController {    use InertiaResponseTrait;    ...  ...   }
  Create a new function that would look like this:
public function dashboard() {   //set default php layout of plugin that use vue   $this->viewBuilder()->setTheme('CakeDC/Inertia');     $page = [       'text' => 'hello world 1',       'other' => 'hello world 2',   ];   $this->set(compact('page')); }
  in config/routes.php uncomment lines to catch all routes:
$builder->connect('/{controller}', ['action' => 'index']); $builder->connect('/{controller}/{action}/*', []);
and comment line:
$builder->connect('/pages/*', 'Pages::display');
  Then create file resources/js/Components/Pages/Dashboard.vue that would look like this:
<script setup> import Layout from '../Layout' import { Head } from '@inertiajs/vue3' import {onMounted} from "vue";   defineProps({     csrfToken: String,     flash: Array,     page: Array, })     onMounted(() => {     console.log('Component Dashboard onMounted hook called') }) </script>   <template>     <Layout>         <Head title="Welcome" />         <h1>Welcome</h1>         <p>{{page.text}}</p>         <p>{{page.other}}</p>     </Layout> </template>
  On root directory execute:
$> npm run dev
  IMPORTANT: Whenever you modify the .vue templates, you must run this script. Go to http://localhost:9099/pages/dashboard to see that Dashboard Vue Component prints values assignments on Dashboard CakePHP function.
   

 

Step 5: Bake CRUD system

  For this example, we use sql file on config/sql/example/postgresql.pgsql   That creates a database with the relations     Once the database has been created, bake models and controllers as normal using:
$> bin/cake bake model Pages --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake controller Pages --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake model Tags --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake controller Tags --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake model Categories --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake controller Categories --theme CakeDC/Inertia
  and bake templates using vue_template instead of template as:
$> bin/cake bake vue_template Pages --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake vue_template Tags --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake vue_template Categories --theme CakeDC/Inertia
  Again run:
$> npm run dev
  You can the results from this example by going to http://localhost:9099/pages/index   In the following recording you can see how to add, edit and delete a record without reloading the page at any time.

 

Step 6: Using prefix and adding a navigation menu

  Add route to prefix Admin on config/routes.php
$builder->prefix('admin', function (RouteBuilder $builder) {    $builder->fallbacks(DashedRoute::class); });
  To generate controllers and template with a prefix use --prefix option of bake command as:
$> bin/cake bake controller Pages --prefix Admin --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake controller Tags --prefix Admin --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake controller Categories --prefix Admin --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake vue_template Pages --prefix Admin --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake vue_template Tags --prefix Admin --theme CakeDC/Inertia $> bin/cake bake vue_template Categories --prefix Admin --theme CakeDC/Inertia
  You can add a horizontal menu to navigate through controllers   Edit resources/Components/Layout.vue and put inside header tag links as:
<header>    <Link as="button" href="/pages/index" class="button shadow radius right small">Pages</Link>    <Link as="button" href="/tags/index" class="button shadow radius right small">Tags</Link>    <Link as="button" href="/categories/index" class="button shadow radius right small">Categories</Link> </header>
  Again run:
$> npm run dev
  You can see the results from this  example by going to http://localhost:9099/admin/pages/index   In the following recording you can see how to add, edit and delete a record without reloading the page at any time and navigate through pages, tags and categories.

  Hopefully this example will make your experience easier! Let us know: [email protected].

Written by Acampanario on March 06, 2024

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When and why should you upgrade to CakePHP 5?

CakePHP 5.0.0 was released on September 10th. The current version as of today is 5.0.3 (released Nov 28th and compatible with PHP 8.3 https://github.com/cakephp/cakephp/releases/tag/5.0.3). You might be asking yourself some questions related to the upgrade… here's what we've been recommending to our clients to do since version 5 was released. Leaving aside the obvious reasons for an upgrade, today we're going to categorize the decision from 2 different points of view: Your current CakePHP version, and your role in the project.

When should you upgrade? 

  We are going to use current CakePHP version as the main criteria: * If you are in CakePHP <= 2   * We strongly recommend an upgrade as soon as possible. If you are unable to upgrade, try to keep your PHP version and all the underlying dependencies as fresh as you can and isolate the application as much as possible. If your application is internal, consider using a VPN blocking all outside traffic. If your site is open to the public, consider using an isolated environment, hardened. Adding a web application firewall and a strict set of rules could also help to mitigate potential security issues. Even if CakePHP is very secure, the older versions of CakePHP, like  1 and 2  have a very old code base , and other vendors/ libraries could be a serious security risk for your project at this point.   * If you are in CakePHP 3.x   * The effort to upgrade at least to CakePHP 4.x should not be a blocker. We would recommend upgrading at least to the latest CakePHP 4.5.x. You can actually "ignore" the deprecations for now, you don't need to plan for upgrading your authentication/authorization layers just yet, focus on getting your project stable and up to CakePHP 4.5.x in the first round.   * If you are in CakePHP 4.x   * Upgrading to CakePHP 5.x is not an immediate priority for you.   * I would say, 2024 is a good time to start planning for an upgrade. Feature and bugfix releases for 4.x will continue until September 2025. Security fixes will continue for 4.x until September 2026. You have plenty of time to consider an upgrade, and take advantage of newer (and faster!) PHP versions.  

Why should you upgrade? 

  We are going to use your role in the project to provide some good reasons: * If you are a developer   * More strict types, meaning better IDE support and more errors catched at development time.   * New features in CakePHP 5.x will make your code more readable, like Typed finder parameters https://book.cakephp.org/5/en/appendices/5-0-migration-guide.html#typed-finder-parameters      * Quality of life features, reducing development time like https://book.cakephp.org/5/en/appendices/5-0-migration-guide.html#plugin-installer   * Compatibility with PHP 8.3 for extra performance & support   * If you are a manager   * Ensure your development team is forced to drop old auth code and embrace the new authentication/authorization layer https://book.cakephp.org/5/en/appendices/5-0-migration-guide.html#auth   * The new authentication layer will allow you to easily integrate features like single sign on, two factor authentication or hardware keys (like Yubikeys), as there are plugins available handling all these features.   * Get an extended support window. CakePHP is one of the longest maintained frameworks out there, upgrading to CakePHP 5 will keep your core maintained past 2026.   * Upgrade to PHP 8.3 and force legacy vendors to be up to date with the new version, this will also push your team to get familiar with the new PHP core features.   * If you are an investor, not directly related with the project day-to-day operations   * Secure your inversion for a longer period.   * Reduce your exposure to security issues.   * Send a strong message to your partners, keeping your product updated with the latest technology trends.   * Send a strong message to your team, investing in the upgrade of your application will let them know the project is aiming for a long term future.   In conclusion, upgrading to CakePHP 5 is a good move for 2024 whether you're a developer, manager, or investor. The version 5 is stable and ready to go. Staying current becomes not just a best practice but a strategic advantage.   If you are in doubt, feel free to contact us. We'll review your case (for free) and provide an actionable recommendation based on your current situation in the next business day.  

Written by Jorge on December 19, 2023

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