Complete Guide to Efficient PHP Configuration and HTML Output on IIS

Complete Process for Configuring PHP in IIS

In modern web development, deploying PHP on IIS (Internet Information Services) is a common approach, especially for those using Windows servers. To run PHP applications smoothly, it's essential to properly configure the interaction between IIS and PHP.

How to Set Up PHP in IIS

You can use tools like PHP Manager to simplify the setup, or manually configure it. Here are the basic steps:

1. Download and install PHP (it's recommended to use the thread-safe version).

2. Register the PHP handler in IIS to ensure .php files are processed correctly.

3. Modify the php.ini configuration file and enable required extensions such as mysqli, curl, etc.

4. To test if PHP is working correctly, create the following file:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Save the file as info.php in your site root directory and access it via your browser to view PHP configuration details.

Generating and Handling HTML with PHP

PHP and HTML integration is key to building dynamic websites. PHP scripts allow you to retrieve data from a database in real-time and generate custom HTML output.

Using PHP to Dynamically Generate HTML

The example below demonstrates how to fetch user data from a MySQL database and output it in an HTML table:

<?php
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "myDB";

// Create connection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}

$sql = "SELECT id, name FROM users";
$result = $conn->query($sql);

if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    echo "<table><tr><th>ID</th><th>Name</th></tr>";
    while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        echo "<tr><td>" . $row["id"] . "</td><td>" . $row["name"] . "</td></tr>";
    }
    echo "</table>";
} else {
    echo "0 results";
}

$conn->close();
?>

This code dynamically builds an HTML table, allowing you to update content without modifying the HTML manually.

Key SEO Optimization Strategies

While PHP focuses on backend logic, ignoring SEO during the HTML output phase can hinder search engine indexing and rankings. Here are essential optimization tips:

Clean and Readable URLs

Use URL rewriting to convert dynamic links like page.php?id=3 into cleaner formats like /page/3 to improve readability and indexability.

Optimize Page Load Speed

Avoid redundant database queries, combine external resources (CSS/JS), and enable caching (like OPcache) to enhance overall performance.

Use Meta Tags Properly

Ensure every page has a unique