Let’s be honest, although technology plays a crucial role in our lives, it can be intimidating. If you’re running a business, you often don’t have time to be on top of “the next big thing” each time it rolls around. You trust your vendors and partners to provide you with honest direction and to understand the role technology plays in your business. Perhaps you’ve been pitched marketing packages by fast talking, high pressures sales folks signaling doomsday if you don’t sign up for their digital services. We have seen (and been told about) several examples of these partnerships going awry. After the contract is signed, you’re unable to cancel, continue to be billed for months and can’t get a hold of anyone in customer service. Not cool.

At JB Systems, we prefer to do business a bit different; entirely different, in fact. Our commitment to our clients means we’re always available to offer advice on what web, marketing and other digital services might be the best fit for your business. Additionally, our proposals are always transparent, straightforward, and easy to understand so you know exactly what you’re paying for. Give us a call and setup an appointment for a complimentary website review and/or to discuss any of our services. We won’t lock you into a multi-year contract, highjack your domain or send you invoices for additional services you didn’t agree to. It’s all part of our promise at #TeamJB to make the web simple.

Did You Know? JB Systems Offers The Following Services:

• Monthly SEO Programs
• Pay-Per-Click & Ad Remarketing Services
• Content Strategy/Preparation with Emphasis On SEO Analysis/Mapping
• Photography
• Video
• Email Campaign & Drip Messaging
• Social Media Management
• Website Maintenance Programs
• Print Collateral & Marketing Materials
• …and course, website design, development, training and more!

We’re proud of our 15 years of business and the hard-working foundation to which our company is built on. We thank you for your business and hope to continue to partner with you as “we’re never done.” Please click here for any additional questions on how we may be of service to you.

The post This Halloween, Don’t Be Scared By So-Called “Digital Experts.” appeared first on .

When asked if they have advice to young women who want to get into programming, both Jessica and Traci were eager to share.

“Women can excel in any subject they work hard at,” says Traci. “The world of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math is moving forward at an exciting pace. It is wide open and waiting for people to embrace it. All you have to do is be brave enough to try.”

Jessica shares a similar sentiment on being brave enough to take a chance. “For those girls and women out there who think that coding is something that is outside of their capabilities, I ask you, ‘Have you tried?’” asks Jessica. “You are capable, and I believe in you, just as you need to believe in yourself. Sometimes, it seems, we just need someone to believe in us.”

#TeamJB wishes a Happy International Women’s Day from our team to yours!  

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Instructions for fixing Outlook 2010:

1) Click the orange “File” button at the top.

2) Click on “Account Settings”

Photo credit: https://www.depts.ttu.edu/ithelpcentral/solutions/email/outlook2010/images/outlook2010_cached_2.png

3) Once in “Account Settings,” find your email account and click “Change”

4) Click on “More Settings” in the bottom right.

Photo credit: http://cloud.addictivetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/AccountSettings.jpg

5) Go to the tab that says “Outgoing Server”

6) Make sure the first box is checked (My outgoing server requires authentication)

7) Press OK.

Photo credit: http://www.efinitytech.com/Userfiles/Support/7.png

We hope this helps! If you follow these instructions and your email still isn’t working, please give JB Systems a call!

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Responsive Design – A Summary
The rise of smartphones and tablets has had a huge impact on the design and user experience of a site. Before mobile devices, brands only needed ensure that their site would work across different browsers. Smartphones and tablets, however, offer a completely different experience from a standard desktop. Not only is the screen smaller the mobile devices themselves generally are less powerful, have different resolutions, rely on touch control and generally do not support Flash. More importantly 75 percent of consumers expect brands to have mobile-friendly sites and have no problem navigating away if they cannot find what they are looking for quickly. With mobile Internet usage growing 73 percent from the previous year, it’s no exaggeration to say that mobile is the most important avenue for marketers. While there are several options to making your site mobile-friendly, the preferred method is to implement a responsive design.

What Is Responsive Web Design?
Simply put, responsive web design (RWD) means all content, images and structure of a site will adjust to fit every screen size. Unlike a mobile specific site, an RWD site is built on one domain and a single HTML codebase which is fluidly resized by CSS to adjust to any screen size. Since it is all built on one domain you don’t need to maintain different versions of the site, saving you time and, in the long run, money. There are plenty of other reasons you should implement RWD for your brand’s site sooner rather than later.

Google Recommends It
Google accounts for 67 percent of desktop search engine market shares and 83 percent mobile shares, making it the most popular search engine in the world. So it’s a good idea to listen when they recommend RWD. While Google has stated that dynamic serving and mobile-specific sites are acceptable when done properly, responsive still comes in first. After all, its web-crawling bots can index a single set of HTML code much more efficiently than the codes of multiple versions of the same site. Being mobile-friendly will give you a boost in SEO as Google has officially announced they are using mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal for mobile searches.

Better User Experience
Without an RWD, visitors often have to mess around with zooming in, horizontal scrolling or shrinking text and images on screen to simply read a post. With RWD, content is automatically adjusted to perfectly fit the screen of the device making for a hassle-free experience. The less tweaking visitors need to do to navigate a site, the more likely they will be to revisit. In fact, visitors that have a positive experience with a mobile site are 67 percent more likely to make a purchase. A negative experience can lead to a loss of brand loyalty as 50 percent of consumers reported they would use a site less often even if they like the brand. Ultimately, this means fewer visits and sales.

Device Agnostic
RWD works across all devices and operating systems and ensures that users get the best and consistent experience whether they’re on iOS, Android, Windows or even on a SmartTV. This allows you to reach the widest possible audience on every possible platform.

Increase Conversion Rates
The less work steps a user needs to take to make a purchase, the better your chances of converting them into customers. Mobile commerce is quickly growing and by 2018 it is estimated mobile revenue will reach $626 billion. If you don’t have a mobile-friendly site, you’re potentially losing out on a lot of business. RWD gives you full control of all the conversion elements displayed on smartphones and tablets for a smooth experience. Since you can control these elements, you can also use RWD in conjunction with software like Clicktale to create high end heat mapping and A/B tests. This information can show you exactly how visitors are interacting with your site and if your tactics are effective or not. You can make strategic changes armed with this information to improve your conversion rates.

Moving Forward
Responsive design might not be the answer for everyone, but for most brands it will be the best way to optimize for mobile. There are still many sites that are not mobile-friendly so making the switch now can potentially give you a leg up over your competitors.

— Ivan Surrano

Ivan Serrano

Ivan Serrano is an enthusiastic writer who enjoys learning whatever he can about international communications, and hopes to manage his own global business someday. He also enjoys sharing his knowledge of technology and how it can improve business communications on an international level.

The post Responsive Web Design – It’s Here To Stay appeared first on .

In a previous post, we had discussed the security vulnerabilities in plug-in based template sites and the latest malware attack is a perfect example. The problem: many of these plug-ins are not easy to update and leaves not just the plug-in but the whole website in jeopardy. Each plug-in (and there are literally hundreds) can be developed by a different business or individual who is responsible for monitoring security threats and creating fixes. If your website “solution” relies on 4 different plugins (not uncommon) that translates into a lot of potential issues with many different hands touching a site. Most of which support and provide these plug-ins,
for free, raising the issue of how “motivated” are the developers to stay current with vulnerabilities.

We all know the importance of having a good business website and ranking high on search engines, Google specifically. Over the past few years, WordPress has been used to create quick, fast business sites. But what happens if one of the hundreds of different plug-ins from a hundred different companies are affected by a security flaw and your site suddenly disappears from the search rankings? From experience, getting a site back up in the search rankings is not as simple doing an update and suddenly you are back to #1 or #2. It takes time for Google to re-index and confirm that you are indeed, a clean site.

Imagine that you are a small consulting firm, using your website as a way to generate leads. You are currently ranked #2 on Google using your WordPress site. So far, things are going well. You are generating 2-3 conversions per week and business is growing. Suddenly, a malware attack strikes and your website can’t be found on the first 10+ pages of Google search. Now, you have to spend precious time and resources researching the problem, fixing the problem, and waiting for Google to “OK” your site again. Two weeks have passed and you may have potentially missed out on 6 new clients and this is ONLY if you can gain back your #2 spot.

In this day and age, security is important! As a business owner, your website is your image and your brand. It would be devastating for your business to close your store for 2 weeks because someone boarded up the door and you have to figure out a different way to let your customers in! Making sure to have a secure, well-coded website is a smart business investment and although it isn’t a 100% guarantee that a security issue won’t happen, you are 100% guaranteed that your website will have a secure foundation from the beginning. And if the worse should happen, a good development team will get your site fixed as soon as possible and it will be back to business as usual.

In summary – we leave leave you with this question, “Who’s backing your site?”
If you’re not enthused about maintaining 8 moving pieces of your website, from eight different developers, most likely from 8 corners of the world – you may ready for a new experience in web design. We encourage you to give JB Systems a call – our custom website brainstorming sessions are free – as is a great cup of coffee.

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A web browser is software on your computer, smartphone, or tablet that allows you to access the Internet. Examples would be:

• Internet Explorer
• Firefox
• Safari
• Chrome
• Opera

A web browser is specific to YOUR computer only, and each can be configured differently and track your history differently than your neighbor’s computer or browser. Because of web browsers, websites can appear and function differently.

At JB Systems, we utilize browsers more than the average Joe, for obvious reasons. But because of that, we have come across a number of tips that might help casual Internet users understand their browsers and use them more effectively. Below is our list of 10 Things You Should Know About Web Browsers.

1. Just because your computer comes with a browser installed, that doesn’t mean you have to use it. There are numerous browsers available (we recommend Firefox, Safari, or Chrome), and most of them adhere to the same set of standards that make websites looks awesome. One exception is Internet Explorer, which likes to follow its own set of rules, which is also why it’s more difficult to support.
2. On a related note, you can disable Internet Explorer (IE) in “Add or Remove Windows components”. But, you might have to deal with your computer continuously asking you to re-install it.
3. Always check for updates and then do them. Firefox and Safari update automatically, but Internet Explorer updates with the operating system, or has an option to update automatically if you want. For this reason, IE still has many versions out there that website developers have to support in order for sites to look good across the board. Believe it or not, some companies still use IE6, which is no longer supported and is nearly 15 years old. Yikes!
4. On another related note, Microsoft will be discontinuing support for WindowsXP in 2014, meaning support for IE7 and IE8 will also likely be going away.
5. Try not to use Internet Explorer. For more on that, see here.
6. When in doubt, clear your cache. My what?! Your cache is like a repository of images and other content that your browser keeps stored so that sites you visit repeatedly load faster. However, if you or your developer is updating your site, those updates might not show up until you clear your cache. Some browsers do this automatically (not Internet Explorer), but only about every 30 days or so. For more on that, see here.
7. Browsers do not always support the same features. Most browsers support many of the newest web technologies and features. However – and you’re probably picking up on a theme here – Internet Explorer is notorious for not keeping up. A website can look drastically different between browsers (especially IE)  because each browser renders sites differently.
8. Hackers like old browsers. The longer a piece of software (including web browsers) is out there, the more time hackers have to find security holes. For example, in early versions of Internet Explorer, hackers programmed sites to eject the computer’s disc drive or start the Calculator program. Whoa.
9. Browsers have extensions, plug-ins, or add-ons allowing you to customize your browser. Plug-ins are additional software that work with your browser to provide additional functionality when browsing the web. They can drastically change your web browsing experience for the better. Some of the most common are QuickTime, Adobe Flash, Java or any anti-virus software plug-in.
10. Browsers can now be in sync (no, not the ’90s boy-band). The newest versions of most browsers allow you to log in to the browser, which stores your personalized settings in the cloud, making them accessible from anywhere. So, if you’re on your desktop computer and you have bookmarks or passwords saved, it’s a pain to use your laptop because those bookmarks and passwords don’t come along with you, right? Well, now they do. Refer to #3, then log in!

BONUS: The 11th Thing You Should Know About Browsers

Most browsers have an Incognito or InPrivate mode. If you’re surfing not-so-tasty websites or…uh….I mean, shopping for a gift for your significant other, you can do it without others knowing where you’ve been or what you’ve been shopping for.

BONUS: Browser Mantra

This is my browser.
There are many others like it, but this one is mine.
Without me, my browser is nothing.
Without my browser, I am nothing.

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Tomorrow, I’ll be presenting at the Eau Claire Chamber’s Social Media & Marketing Conference at Florian Gardens, which JB Systems is also sponsoring, so I wanted to give our blog readers a sneak peek at what’s in store!

We have a lot of clients lately asking about how they can keep up with the mobile world, in relation to their websites. There are a few different routes to go that we discuss with our clients, including:

• A mobile app – This is a native software application that you download to your phone that performs functions or offers content to users. Many times, mobile apps have very specific functions (browse homes for sale, refill a prescription, check nearby gas prices, etc.). This type of mobile interaction is usually much different than the customer’s main website, so it requires a different set of information and requirements from the client. It also goes through a process to be approved and sold on an app store like iTunes, for example.

• A mobile website – This is a website that is independent of your main website. Mobile websites are usually hosted under a subdomain or different domain altogether (i.e. m.facebook.com or jbsystemsllc.mobi). Mobile websites are a great alternative if you want the flexibility of the web but want to offer users different content than what they would see on your full site. Many times, you’ll see something like ‘View our Full Site’ on a mobile site. The goal is to offer users quick, relevant information for mobile users, instead of inundating them with the full breadth of your full site content.

• A responsive website – This is the same as your website – only different. (What?!) Responsive design is a newer trend in web design that rearranges the elements of your layout to fit a wide variety of screen sizes, instead of just shrinking them, thus eliminating the need to pinch-and-zoom all the time. The result of responsive design is easier access to all/most of the content on your site, one set of web files to manage and maintain, better SEO, and lower cost in most cases.

I’ll be discussing these topics and other mobile trends, tools, and tactics in my presentation, as well as pros and cons of implementing these strategies. Look for a follow up blog post with more info from the presentation!

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We have also had clients receive mail from places like Domain Registry of America, a company that handles domain registrations. However, their marketing piece looks like a notice of a domain expiring, and that by paying the invoice (or what looks like an invoice), all will be well with the domain name. Here’s what that might look like:

(Notice in both examples the areas in red….these are giveaways that it is just a solicitation, not a bill requiring payment.)

In the big picture of marketing, this tactic isn’t new. Magazines have been doing this with their subscriptions for years. But – in today’s technology-driven world, a domain name can make or break a business. The industry has made their money on fear – our fear of losing a domain, fear of our competitor getting our domain, fear of losing business all because we let a domain name expire. Wow! That’s powerful!

So, it’s no surprise that business owners and website managers are cautious anytime they receive a notice about their domain name. As they should be – it is important to pay attention to. However, there are easy ways to go about making sure that your domain name is well taken care of.

1. Check your WHOIS listing.

WHOIS is a directory of domains and their registration information. Look for the expiration date, and the “Registrant” info. Your company name should be listed as the Registrant. You can find your WHOIS listing by going to who.godaddy.com and typing in your domain name.

2. If you manage your own domain name with someone like GoDaddy, Network Solutions, ENOM, or other similar sites,make sure to set your domain name to ‘Auto-Renew’. That means that it will automatically renew your domain name for you without having to worry that it will expire.

3. When purchasing a domain name, purchase it for multiple years (max is usually 9 or 10 years). This not only takes the burden off of you to renew it every year, but it also gets you bonus SEO (search engine optimization) points!

4. Call JB Systems! Domains seem like the unknown to many small business owners, but it doesn’t have to be a part of your business that is shrouded by fear. If you’re ever in doubt, our team at JB Systems can check on your domain, or manage it for you.

The post Domain and DNS Solicitations – Are They Legit? appeared first on .

by Gerald Bauer, owner of JB Systems, LLC

Greetings JB Systems Blog Subscribers! As most of you know, .CO domain names were announced at this year’s Super Bowl. We’re learning that many companies are buying up these domain names – just to sit on them and resell them at a later date. This is known as domain squatting and is frowned upon by most professional web agencies.

If you’d like your domain name in the .CO extension, please call us right away. Registrations are only $15.00 per year and we can secure it for you. As always, you own your domain name with JB Systems. Your receipt of purchase entitles you to that.

Call us before it’s too late – if another company purchases your .CO, they have legal right to charge whatever they’d like for you to obtain it. But at JB Systems though, $15.00 per year (like all of our domain registrations) is all it takes.

Until next time….

The post Purchase Your .CO Domain Names, Before Your Neighbor Does appeared first on .

It was recently brought to our attention that some customers were receiving “mock” emails from Charter Communications politely asking users for their email usernames and passwords. The exact email looks something similar to this:
————————————————————
From: customercare@charter.net [bcc12@rogers.com]

Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 12:35AM

To: customercare@charter.net

Subject: Your Account Update

Dear charter Customer
There are some changes necessary in order to upgrade your e-mail account.Please send us your e-mail
ID and password so that we can upgrade youraccount and avoid any interruption in service.
Thanks,charter Support Team.
——————————————————————————–

There are several things to note here – such as the improper capitalization of things – but most importantly, review the “To:” address – and note the [bcc12@rogers.com]. This is dangerous – at Outlook will “blind carbon copy” your reply to an address at rogers.com. Do you really think this is Charter Communications? Probably not!

Also – for everyone’s information – Charter would have all the tools necessary (or we hope that they would) to manage their email accounts without soliciting their users for passwords. NO EMAIL PROVIDER SHOULD EVER REQUEST A PASSWORD FROM THEIR CUSTOMER. This is bad practice – and they have the tools to manually reset the passwords if they needed to.

Until next time everyone – have a great holiday and stay safe – both offline and online.

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