Web Technology

Google Places recently added the ability for a business to create a printable QR code for their business that takes a user to their Places Page on your mobile phone. JVF Consulting is excited to see QR codes starting to pop up at business all over the Bay Area. If you’re not familiar with QR codes, they’re a two-dimensional code barcode readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones/iPhones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded in the barcode can be text or a URL.

When a customer scans a QR Code from their cell phone, they will immediately get reviews, comments, coupons and etc for that business. Store owners can even use the QR code in their traditional advertising such as newspaper, magazine ads, flyers and even menus. Engaging your customers and pulling offline users online, is one of the largest obstacles marketing professionals are up against. This move by Google reinforces the need for local optimization in your search marketing strategy. If you’re in need of local optimization or search engine optimization, contact JVF Consulting, we can optimize your businesses online presence!

Give it a try! Here’s the JVF Consulting QR code provided to us by Google.

Don’t let your SSL certificate expire without your knowing! Make sure it is up to date so you don’t lose out on any sales! If your certificate is set to auto renew, be sure you have the correct steps ready to install the new certificate to your server. We have heard about many websites who lose out on valuable online holiday shopping due to an expired ssl certificate, or just lacking one completely. If you’re unfamiliar with SSL certificates, and currently maintain an eCommerce website, this article is for you.

An SSL certificate allows you to do secure credit card transactions on the internet. If you don't have one, people won't shop with you because they'll get a bunch of warnings that the site is not secure when they attempt to pay with their credit card.

Here are a few indicators to let people know that you are safe to do business with online.

1. Make sure that your URL is actually https://www.yourdomain.com. When someone see that "https" they know that is the first line of defense.
2. Next, check to see if there is a "lock" icon in the bottom right or top corner of your browser. This informs the visitor that there is a valid certificate on the page to protect them.

If your eCommerce website is not properly secured, then your customers are at risk for identity theft. If you need help with your website, be sure to call the experts here at JVF Consulting.

Authorize.net has been down since just after midnight Pacific time this morning. We have been unable to hit any of their domains, and so far the toll-free lines all fail to go through. A call to their main office in Utah indicates that they are "closed for the holiday".

Our source then called and spoke with the UK branch. The information they gave us was that the Authorize.net data center experienced a fire. The combination of both the fire and our US 4th Of July holiday created a perfect storm effect. They are currently calling people in from holiday to man phones and answer questions. They are hoping to be back online today but there is no exact timeline.

Here are some things you can do to recover some of the sales that are being lost:
1. Place a notice on your website for customers to use Paypal for the time being.
2. Take information manually from the customers who call about the issue.

JVF Consulting, LLC would like to show off one of the latest technologies we have incorporated into the custom websites we have deployed for our websites that are focused around real estate. Let us significantly enhance your online marketing capabilities by integrating LoopNet's LoopLink 7.0 with your website, the result will instantly generate more buzz which will increase your business.

LoopNets cutting-edge mapping tools show street, aerial, and bird's-eye views of properties while providing visitors with the ability to search sale and lease listings at the same time. Allowing prospective buyers and tenants to quickly understand a property's location and surroundings will keep your properties filled with tenants. By integrating LoopNet into your website your available properties can be distributed to LoopNet's exclusive online newspaper network that includes The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Miami Herald and over 100 other local and regional newspaper websites.

To see a few examples of the LoopNet integrations JVF Consulting has deployed visit the available spaces page of any of the following websites. Sand Creek Plaza, Brentwood Business Center, or the Sand Creek Business Center.

LoopNet integration is just one of the many technologies we have to offer at JVF Consulting, LLC, the Bay Area leader in custom website design and content management systems. Allowing real estate professionals to include the most latest information available about their real estate listings has significantly helped JVF  clients enhance their online marketing capabilities. The addition of LoopNet to the websites listed above has already generated more business by using the latest in cutting-edge technology. Integrating LoopNet to your website will better serve your clients needs and will streamline your ability to effectively market listings resulting in a high return on your investment.

Yesterday, we stumbled on to a link posted on the JVF Blog taking us out to a seemingly innocuous link found on my.nbc.com. What was odd was that when you clicked on the link, it would take you out to my.nbc.com, but after a few moments it would redirect you out to a site selling adult videos.

We scoured the source on my.nbc.com and found that there were no apparent "script" tags or "META" tags present to force the delayed redirect. However, after doing a little more digging we found the following tag smack dab in the middle of the page:

As always, something that was added to help aid a web master in alerting themselves or others of an error and gracefully exiting has been exploited. At least it keeps all of us on our toes!

Please beware of folks attempting to hijack your sites with leaving Blog comments, profile updates, etc with this method. If there is any way for you to have more control over your site to "strip tags" on all comments, I'd do so just to make sure you're safe.

Good luck!