"Reliable Web Designs" by Flagstaff Central.com, Inc.

Simple Steps to Getting and Maintaining a Website - A Flag Tech Talk Lecture

2012-03-31T15:28:00.002-07:00

Join us on Wednesday, April 18th at 6 pm at KickStand Kafé for our next Flag Tech Talk lecture entitled, "Simple Steps to Getting and Maintaining a Website" and presented by Joe Bodin of Flagstaff Central.com, Inc.

This discussion will be about solving how the process of getting a website sometimes feels like a huge task for a small business owner to conquer. The first step is to understand what it takes to get a website. This lecture will outline these steps with helpful tips, some cost concepts, and will help you understand what you will have to do to make this happen. Then, we will also discuss what it will take to be successful in maintaining your site over time, so if you already have a site then you should still attend to see what the long term future holds.

The Flag Tech Talk lecture series are free discussions about technology for regular people. They are sponsored by Flagstaff Central.com, Inc. and Orig'native LLC. They are held on the 3rd Wednesday of every month and are completely free to the public. These lectures are designed to help educate regular people so they understand more about computers, the internet, and the resources available to them when it comes to managing their small business or organization. Come armed with questions...!

For more information, go to www.FlagTechTalk.com.

No Techno-Babble Allowed!

Posting Videos into Your Website

2012-03-31T15:20:00.002-07:00

We just figured out a nifty way to have YouTube videos automatically feed into a website. For some odd reason, YouTube doesn't offer this service. They do give you embed code to put individual videos, but they don't have a simple way to add your whole video feed into your website.

We've had a number of clients who regularly post new videos on YouTube. Now that people can take a video from a smartphone or webcam, it has unleashed people to make their own quick vids whenever they get inspired. These aren't meant to be that "commercial video" where it is really professional. They are meant to show the human side of a business or organization while teaching people about what they do...

So, how do you get your YouTube page feeding into your site?

1) Your Feed Address: http://www.youtube.com/rss/user/USERNAME/videos.rss. Simply put your YouTube user name in the spot that says, "USERNAME" in the link. You can go to the page - it looks like most RSS feeds.

2) Use FeedBurner: This is a service owned by Google that has a lot of really great features for marketing. The accounts are free and typically if you already have a Google account, you can login with the same account info. Once you enter, you will see a field that asks you to put in your RSS feed link. Use the Link above and follow the setup steps on FeedBurner...

3) BuzzBoost: After you have created your FeedBurner setup, you should then go to "Publicize" and choose "BuzzBoost". This will allow you to customize the feed to have items you want like a Title, Date/Time, How Many you want Displayed, and you will also need to choose "HTML" as the way you want it displayed. Then, click "Activate" and it will spit out the code you will need.

4) Add Code into Website: You would then take the FeedBurner/BuzzBoost code and install it into your website wherever you wish it to appear.

And now, every time you post to your YouTube page with your new video inspiration, it will automatically change out the video(s) on your website within 30 minutes... Pretty nifty!

Please Note: All of the above may sound like a lot, but it really isn't hard to do at all. Clearly you need to have some understanding of how a RSS feed works, follow basic directions on FeedBurner and BuzzBoost, and then need to be able to install the code into your website. If you don't have this skill and need some help, just contact us and we can talk about the options and how we can help you out.

Basic Security Tips to Keep You Safe - Flag Tech Talk Lectures

2011-09-21T00:27:00.003-07:00

Join us for the next Flag Tech Talk lecture on Tuesday, October 18th at 6 p.m. at Kickstand Kafé.

Learn some of the most basic ways you can protect yourself on the internet. So many people do things that open themselves up to problems on the web without even knowing it. Today, there are thousands of websites being hacked, security breaches, computer viruses, email scams, and identity theft that frightens people. All of this can be minimized or even prevented by some simple techniques to keep yourself safe. Join us for a discussion on how to protect yourself in our computerized world.

This lecture is presented by Joe Bodin of Flagstaff Central.com, Inc. and Bret Carpenter of Orig'native, LLC as part of the Flag Tech Talk lecture series that is held on the Third Tuesday of each month at KickStand Kafé. Go to www.FlagTechTalk.com for more information.

Easy Security Tips to Help Keep you Safe

2011-08-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

We've been asked a lot how to protect yourself from scams and hackers. It's an ongoing problem that is constantly changing and evolving, so there is no true way to completely protect yourself on the internet. But, there are some good tips to go by so we decided to write them up to help people do the basic things to protect themselves. Here goes...

Antivirus and Firewall - Make sure you have a security software on your computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone... Leaving yourself open without any Antivirus or Firewall is like asking for trouble. Once you have it, then make sure you regularly keep it up-to-date. There are new security updates almost daily for these as they work hard to protect you from any new problems they find. It's their job to protect you because you bought the software, but if you don't keep it up-to-date then you aren't really protected.

Public Hotspots - When in a public hotspot it is always a good idea to stay away from using any passwords. Obviously, if you want to check something like your email, you can. But, think twice before you put in key passwords like ones that give access to your website, your bank account, PayPal accounts, or anything else that has a financial element to it. If you do need to check these sorts of things, try your best to make sure your computer has a Firewall on it that is completely up-to-date so that you have one level of protection. Typically if you have a Firewall running, it will prompt you when you log into the hotspot asking you if you are in a Trusted Place or a Public Place. Make sure to tell it that you are in a Public Place because it adds another level of protection because it now knows you are not on an internet connection that can be trusted.

Saving Passwords - It is not a good idea to use the "password saving" options in the standard web browsers (especially Internet Explorer) including the "remember me" check box option on most sites. Although these browsers are constantly working and updating themselves to afford you some protection, they are clear targets for hackers. You are much better off either remembering your passwords or using software that is specifically designed to save passwords. I recommend using software called Roboform, but there also others on the market that are widely used. It saves all of your passwords, profiles, and anything else you might need to regularly fill out on websites. This allows you to log into sites with a single click. This software even has an option to password protect your passwords, so they are double protected and all you need to remember is the one "master password" to unlock all the rest.

Unique Passwords - Lots of people make the mistake of re-using the same password over and over again. If you do this, then you are literally giving one website the password to all of the other ones you use. You are just asking some low paid employee of a website to grab your password and start poking around at other sites you might be using (like your bank account). Make sure to use "unique passwords" as much as you can. This especially applies to passwords for things like your Bank Account and PayPal account. If you think that using different passwords for everything will be confusing, use a password handler (like I mentioned above). This will allow you to literally make up something new for every site and you never have to remember it.

Always Logout - Another big mistake that almost everyone does is forgetting to logout after using a website. If you just "close the browser window" you are leaving that connection open. If someone has hacked you while you are say "sitting at a coffee shop" then after you leave they may still have access. The simple act of going to the Logout link and making sure you really leave a site can save you. This is something you should get yourself to do no matter where you are.

Social Media Scams - More and more people are using sites like FaceBook and the scams are starting to hit social media as well. There are certain links that go out within social media that hackers have embedded viruses in. If you open it, then you get it too and they start using your account to send out the same links. And it spreads... So, make sure when you open something that it is a real link (which is sometimes hard to tell). A good tip is that if you see a lot of your friends posting the same set of information, it's a good chance that they didn't post it and that they have been hacked. Seeing the same posting four or five times on other accounts is a good sign that something is wrong. When in doubt, if you feel like something might have happened then change your passwords immediately and make sure all of your privacy settings are good.

Email Scams - This has been going on for a long time now. Most of us recognize the real scams like the money laundering from Nigeria or some Prince who needs help moving his money to the US. But, there are still tons and tons of scams out there going out via email that are different and don't look like scams. A good rule of thumb is never open an email that isn't from someone you really know - just delete it without opening it. If there is no "subject" in the email, then don't open it either. The other really big thing to do is if there are links in "any email" then don't click on them. Never ever, ever, ever click on a link in an email no matter who it's from. Always open a web browser and type in the link directly. This especially applies for sites like PayPal. There are tons and tons of scams for PayPal and if you just go to www.PayPal.com and log in direct, they will tell you if there's something you need to do or know. Clicking on a PayPal link in an email is a very, very bad idea because it's likely it isn't actually them (no matter how much it may look like them) and someone is trying to steal your information. So, a good rule of thumb is to only read emails that are from people you know and never click on links in an email.

Search Engine Optimization Lecture

2011-08-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

The next Flag Tech Talk lecture will be on Search Engine Optimization. It will be on Tuesday, August 16th at 6 pm at Pizza Furiosa (in the shopping center behind Walmart east).

"Having a website doesn't mean anyone is ever going to find it! One of the most important things you can do to make your internet presence work for you is to have your site prepared correctly for the search engines. This discussion will look at lots of techniques to make a website ready for Google, Yahoo, Bing, and the thousands of other engines out there."

This lecture will be presented by Joe Bodin of Flagstaff Central. It is part of an ongoing lecture series called Flag Tech Talk that is held on the third Tuesday of each month. The series is sponsored by Flagstaff Central.com, Inc., Orig'native, LLC, and Pizza Furiosa. Go to http://www.flagtechtalk.com/ for more information.

FaceBook Tech Tip

2011-07-17T14:43:00.002-07:00

If you run a business and already have created a "page" on FaceBook or even if you don't but want to make sure you have control of your listings, then you should also follow this tech tip.

FaceBook uses a wide range of databases to create automatic business pages. It's their way of expanding the content on their site. Typically, if you have a business license with a legal address, then FaceBook may automatically create a page for you whether you know it or not. Thus, you need to search for yourself to see if there is an additional posting that you didn't know about.

If you already have created your own page then it may also be necessary to have someone else (a friend or associate) search for you as well because while you are logged into your account the default when you search for yourself will typically only find your own page (i.e. the one your created). So, having a friend search and then email you the "link line" of this additional page may be necessary.

If you do find another page out there, then you need to "claim it" so that you can have control of the content. Currently the link for this is towards the bottom of the left column. The process requires you to be ready by your business phone. FaceBook will call the phone number on this page and give you a four digit pin number. You then type it in and officially "claim the page". Then, it allows you to combine this new page (that you just found) with your official page (that you created).

This will effectively "clean up" your listings on FaceBook to make sure that only the information you want out there about your company is visible.

Flag Tech Talk - Discussions about Technology for Regular People

2011-06-29T02:52:00.005-07:00

We are very proud to be a sponsor of a new "technology" lecture series here in the Flagstaff area that we are calling "Flag Tech Talk". It's something we've been wanting to do for a long time, and we've finally got things rolling along. We've partnered with Bret Carpenter of Orig'native LLC and will be sharing the lectures so that we get a nice variety of topics. We hope to bring in other guest speakers later as well. And, we've also partnered with Richard Fernandez at Pizza Furiosa to have the talks in his restaurant. So, it looks like things are rolling along nicely!!!

One of the things that our clients say about our company is that we don't "Techno-Babble" them into confusion. We try to talk to our clients to make them understand what the options are. So, one of the goals of these technical lectures are to have them designed to help educate regular people so they understand more about computers, the internet, and the resources available to them when it comes to managing their small business or organization. They are completely educational and are absolutely Free!

The lectures will be held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at Pizza Furiosa (which is located in the shopping center behind Walmart in Flagstaff). They will most likely be about an hour long, but might go longer if people are having fun. We want everyone to come armed with questions, and that they will be more "discussion oriented" than really lectures.

The first talk is:

Cutting Through the Technology Hype
Tuesday, July 19th at 6 p.m.
Presented by Bret Carpenter of Orig'native

We are constantly bombarded by marketing hype about The Cloud, Tablets, Android Phones & iPhones, Apps, iPads, Mobility, Chromebooks, the list goes on.... Let's take a sensible look at what all this means to small businesses and organizations. We will explore what these things are and how they relate to your business.

For more information:

Website - http://www.flagtechtalk.com/
FaceBook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flag-Tech-Talk/195121450537858
Meetup - http://www.meetup.com/FlagTechTalk/

We hope you can come to our Educational Lectures designed to Break the Technical Barriers!

Promo Codes - Get a Discount on your Online Order

2011-05-08T16:35:00.002-07:00

One of the greatest words of advise that you can try when buying things online is to "look for promo codes" for the company you are buying from. It costs you absolutely nothing to search around to see if you can find one. And, it costs you absolutely nothing to type in a few characters to see if it works.

There are lots of online sites that pool together promo codes for most of the major retailers on the internet. How they work is that they allow the public to submit any codes they find. Thus, if you get emails from a specific retailer offering you a discount, you can go onto these websites and post the code you got for others to use. This makes it so the promo codes are widely distributed.

Here's all you do... When you go to buy something on the internet, open another browser window and type in "Company Name promo codes". So, if you are buying from say "Best Buy", you would type in "Best Buy promo codes" into a search engine (like Google, Yahoo or Bing). Then, see what results come up. Go to a few of the sites and see what they have to offer. Sometimes you may find a bunch of options or discounts that are being offered, and other times you won't find anything. But, what does it hurt to look for a few extra minutes to potentially save a lot of money.

Some suggested sites:
- Brad's Deals: www.bradsdeals.com
- Coupon Cabin: www.couponcabin.com
- Retail Me Not: www.retailmenot.com
- Deal Catcher: www.dealcatcher.com

As with all of these types of online offers, always read the fine print and make sure what you are buying matches the code. Usually you will have the option to enter a Promo Code during the checkout process. If you enter the code, it should show you the discount right then and there. If it doesn't work, then it should tell you. And, you can always try another code.

This is a great way to get a discount when buying things online! Give it a try...!

Should I choose https:// to Make FaceBook more Secure?

2011-04-21T00:16:00.003-07:00

FaceBook recently released an option that allows their users to view it on a Secure Server. When you do this it changes the link line from http:// to https:// and ads a layer of security when you are viewing it. We've had a bunch of clients ask us if they should do this or not, so figured it'd be a good idea to address it in a quick article. So, here goes...

The Pros: It is always a good idea to view things on a Secure Server whenever possible. Essentially what this option does is add a layer of encryption so that someone can't theoretically break in or "hack" your computer while you are viewing things. Typically, whenever you are dealing with something like a Bank Account or buying something on a Shopping Cart, it is essential to make sure that you are on a secure server. Always look to make sure that it says "https://" and that the little lock symbol on your browser is showing that things are secure. So, it's a nice idea to consider that FaceBook should be secure considering all the information you are putting into your account and the amount of viruses that seem to prop up on FaceBook.

The Cons: The real problem with making FaceBook work on a Secure Server is that not all the information on a FaceBook page is secure in itself. So, if you choose this option you will likely get constant pop-ups warning you that "...some items on this page aren't secure..." or you'll get prompted by the browser regularly to allow this sort of thing to go through. By allowing it, you are automatically breaking part of the security, but if you don't then you can't view it all. Realistically, most of the information on FaceBook is pulled from somewhere else. Pictures and videos especially come from other website links, so these automatically aren't secure. Thus, it becomes a real pain to deal with it if you choose this option.

In conclusion, you have to choose how secure you want FaceBook to be for you. Most of it is already so open to the public that in our view it's part of the point to leave it open. It is after all - Social Media. But, if you are very security conscious, then you would want to do this. You have to decide for yourself if it is an issue and what you are willing to deal with to have that layer of security.

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How to: If you do want to secure your pages, then go to [Account] in the top right corner. Choose [Account Settings]. Then, towards the bottom of these settings it says "Account Security" - click the [change] link to put it the way you want.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

2011-04-03T15:14:00.002-07:00

We hear from people all the time about how their websites aren't being found in the Search Engines. Most of them paid a designer a lot of money to get a new website created figuring that it'd be a great way to market their business or organization. And then, the site fizzled out with no one finding it.

As part of designing a website, our firm believes it is part of the design process to appropriately prepare the site for marketing. In the business, the term for this is Search Engine Optimization (also called frequently - SEO). The reason this is so important is because simply having a website doesn't mean anyone is ever going to find it.

There are lots and lots of things that should be done to appropriately prepare a website for the Search Engines. Here are a few of those items that will help you understand what it takes. This is something that our web design firm does for our clients automatically, and often we get hired to do it on sites we didn't design.

Search Engine Optimization:

1) Meta Tags - The most important thing to get into a website are Meta Tags. These primarily consist of a Title, Description, and Keywords for every page of the website. The Meta Tags go into the "code" of the site in what's called the Header. Every page of your website should have unique tags that describe that specific page. If you do the same tag everywhere, then you will only have one page listed in the Search Engines. Whereas, if you have unique tags, then all of your pages will get picked up. Typically the Title Tag should describe what is on that page and your company name, and it should be between 50 and 75 characters long. The Description tag should overview the page in about two sentences (which match the content on that page) and should be between 200 to 250 characters long. And, the Keywords should be a list of words and phrases (not more than two words together) that describe the page in a comma delimited list that is about 150 to 200 characters long. On all of these tags, don't go way over the character limit because that is considered "shouting" and will count against you. There are some other Meta Tags that should go into your Homepage, but the above ones we discussed are the most important.

2) The Text on Your Site - Having good content on your site is extremely important. The Search Engines are looking to provide good results, so when they scan or spider your site they are looking to pick up good information. If you don't put any text or don't write enough, then they have little to pick up. If you put all of your text on a your site as an "image" or in a fancy "flash animation" then they have nothing to pick up. Every page of your website needs to have strong and appropriate text not only for your viewers to read, but for the Search Engines to use to list you.

3) Alt or Picture Tags - I'm sure you've rolled over an image and seen the little text pop-up that happens. Originally, the concept of having tags on a picture was for handicap people to be able to know what a picture was about. A blind person could roll over the image and if there was a tag, then their speakers would tell them what it said describing the image. This still applies, of course. But, the Search Engines have incorporated this element into their algorithm to determine what your site is about. It doesn't count as much as the Meta Tags and the Text on Your Site, but it does count. So, making sure to install Tags on all of the images that really use good keywords to describe that image is very helpful to good marketing. You typically can put around 150 characters in this and still not be "shouting" at them. So, describe each image in a clean and keyword heavy way.

4) The Keyword Squeeze - We already talked about having good text on your site, but an additional element to this is squeezing in Keywords all over your pages. This can be done in a tactful way that helps your Search Engine percentages. For example, most sites have a Copyright Statement at the bottom that typically says, "Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved." This is something no one ever really reads, so why not add some text by saying, "Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved. The content of this DESCRIBE YOUR WEBSITE WITH KEYWORDS is exclusively owned by YOUR COMPANY NAME AND LOCATION. We are the premiere ADD MORE KEYWORDS ABOUT YOUR COMPANY and want to work with you..." type of text. This is hidden at the bottom of every page on your site, no one really reads it, but the Search Engines will pick up all those great Keywords to use in your favor. This is just one example, so look at every spot on your site to squeeze in more Keywords.

5) Real Links - If you had a fancy site designed using Flash or all of your Navigational Links are using some feature like Javascript, then your pages might not be accessible to the Search Engines. Providing real links so that the engines can scan or spider your site is very important. They typically start at the Homepage and then follow your links throughout your site. If they can't follow the links, then only your Homepage gets picked up. So, it's always a good idea to put real link somewhere on your pages. We typically do this in the footer of your site. It helps people get around your site when they reach the bottom of a page they've been reading, and it helps the Search Engines flow through the site easier.

These are just some of the ways to get your site better listed in the Search Engines. We can help you with this task to really make a difference in the amount of traffic your site receives and how it is listed in the Search Engines. We'd be happy to talk with you about the options, so contact us today.

Target Marketing

2010-12-07T00:08:00.002-07:00

One of the biggest challenges when working on Internet Marketing is determining what your target set of keywords are and then how to hit that those phrases with your main website. Often, when you take a look at your main website you quickly realize that it is all about the general information presenting your business or organization, and that it would be very difficult to go after the select market that you really need to capture.

This "Target Marketing" service is designed to go after a niche market for a specific topic, event, product, and most importantly - this service goes after a specific and defined set of keywords. We are not looking for global traffic, but extremely targeted traffic for a defined topic!

How does it work?

We design for you a ONE PAGE WEBSITE that is all about the specific topic you want to go after. We use the same design as your normal site, but we rename and reword everything. The entire content is geared toward the select set of keywords you want to go after. This can "target" almost anything that has a niche market that would be beneficial to you! Then, we blast it out to the Search Engines so that you get listed!

The whole concept is to create a unique, single page website that goes after the set of keywords or phrase that will make a difference to your business or organization! This is Target Marketing!

For more information, click here.

Why does an email sometimes take forever to arrive?

2010-11-05T13:23:00.004-07:00

We recently had a client ask us why an email sometimes takes forever to arrive, or sometimes never arrives at all. They had sent an email down the hall to another person in their office. They visualized it going right from their computer to the person down the hall thinking it never left their office... Realistically, this isn't the way it works. Here's our response...

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There is no specific answer to this... Sometimes emails go out lightning fast and other times they may take a while. It's the nature of the internet. Realize that you could be sending an email to the person down the hall, but it doesn't actually stay in your office when you send it going direct from your computer to their computer. It actually goes out onto the internet and can practically circle the world before it comes back to you....

Here's a quick explanation of what happens:

1) You write the email and click "send".

2) Depending on your Anti-Virus/Firewall, it may be checked and held internally on your own computer or on your own internal server. If it finds something it doesn't like, it may actually never send it at all.

3) It then goes to your Internet Service Provider's servers (i.e. Cable, DSL, ... whomever you use). Their computers check the email and if it finds something it doesn't like, it may block it and not let it go out at all.

4) It then hops from server to server to server... It literally will go through about 30 to 60 servers (which is why the internet is called "the web" - it goes through a web of servers). This may actually send your email half way across the world and back again. And, every time you send an email it takes a different route (so I could send two emails within seconds of each other and they'd both go across the world in a different way). During these hops, any server it hits checks the email and then may or may not let it through for whatever reason (bad software, junk mail issues, virus issues, ...). If it hits an "old or slow server" it may even get caught or slowed down along the way... This cannot be controlled.

5) After it hops across the Internet, it makes it's way to our web server where your domain name sits and then hits the destination email box. Our server then checks it for things as well (like running through the SpamAssassin software to try to determine if it's good or not, if the sender is legitimate, ...). There are a ton of things that gets checked in an "attempt" to reduce junk mail. If it didn't, you'd actually get thousands more emails than you already do.

6) Then, when that person goes to check their email in something like Outlook, it actually does the reverse to get back to that person from the web server - the email comes back across the internet taking 30 to 60 hops from server to server to server, into your ISP server, into your computer... When it hits your computer your own Anti-Virus/Firewall software typically checks it again before it allows you to open it.

As you can see, the path of an email is a long way. It's amazing that sometimes emails do come through within seconds of them being sent. It shows how fast the whole process and all those computers actually are... But, if anywhere along the path something doesn't look right to "any server" it may hold it, block it, or not let it through for whatever reason. It is completely out of our control and this is why sometimes it takes a long time!

Hope this explanation helps!

Getting a Shopping Cart for your Website

2010-04-23T15:23:00.007-07:00

There are tons of options when it comes to collecting money on a website. Each of the options has their pros and cons, and gives you a different level of purchasing experience. The following outlines some of the options that should be considered before proceeding.

Fully Integrated Options

One of the ways to accept online payments is to fully customize and integrate a shopping cart into a website. There are two levels of doing this. The first method is to completely integrate the shopping cart. In this instance the buying experience is designed right into a website with all of the pages and functions happening on your own server. This should only be done for someone who expects huge amounts of sales (i.e. a larger company or organization) because it will require lots of programming and cost to customize and develop, and lays all of the liability and security on you if there is ever a problem.

Thus, the second level of doing this is preferable for most clients where we purchase a shopping cart from an outside source and then integrate this into your website. This allows us to buy into a service so the liability and security is on the shopping cart company, while giving us a level of customization to make your site look very professional.

How this works is in three steps:

1) Shopping Cart – We would need to discuss all of your needs for online purchases from beginning to end. We would then research all of the available shopping carts trying to find one that fits these needs. There are so many options for shopping carts that there is no one cart that fits everyone’s needs. Thus, finding the cart that suits your needs is essential before you even begin to move forward.

Once we determine which cart we are going to use, we would then buy into the cart and work on customizing your account with this company trying to make it look like your website. The idea is to integrate it as much as possible into your site (while still having the actual purchases done on the cart companies website). We would be looking for a cart that is easy to use, takes little to no programming knowledge to setup and use (so that you can run the cart yourself once we are done), and handles all of the transactions on their website so the liability and security is their issue and not yours.

Cart Cost - Typically there is a monthly fee for all shopping carts (between $25 and $100 per month). Sometimes there is an introductory setup fee that they charge as well. Sometimes there is also a transaction fee for purchases. The costs will depend completely on what cart we choose.

Installation Cost – There will obviously be a cost to installing any shopping cart into your website. It is difficult to quote you a price until we know what cart we are using, and what it will take to install it. We’ve used carts that are easy to install that have very few options so only cost a few hundred dollars to get running, all the way up to thousands of dollars for an elaborate shopping cart. It really depends on how easy it is to install and how ornate we make all the options.

2) Gateway – This is the middle man that processes the actual purchases. So, when an order comes in via the shopping cart, it then goes to the Gateway and checks the credit card numbers, authorizes the payment, and handles the transaction. The most common one that we would probably use is Authorize.net, but there are others available on the internet.

Gateway Cost – Authorize.net currently has a setup fee of $99, monthly fee of $20, a transaction fee of $.10, and then other fees depending on what you are doing. These fees are paid directly to the “gateway” site and may vary depending on which company is used, what type of credit cards are processed (for example, American Express typically has higher transaction fees), and what services we need on your cart.

3) Merchant Account - This is the bank that handles the final transaction of the money. Once the order is processed on the Gateway, it is then deposited right into your bank account in a secure fashion. Almost all of the big banks offer Merchant Accounts. Some of the banks have tried hard to make it easier to work with them by making deals with the Gateways (like Authorize.net) so that the setup and billing of these two steps can be done together.

Merchant Account Cost – Each merchant account has a fee structure. Typical costs will range from a minimum of $50 to $100 per month, plus transaction fees (typically around 3%).

Pros: By taking this route, you will end up with a fully integrated shopping cart. When someone goes to buy something they’d be taken to the shopping cart website, but the page would be fully customized to look like your website. They would be paying on a secure server as well. And, the whole process would look like it went through your website so it’s very professional looking.

Cons: This route takes a lot of work to accomplish and tends to be expensive (in the setup, monthly fees, and transaction fees). Setting up this type of cart usually takes a lot of work, time and planning. So, the upfront cost can be expensive. Then, if you add up the cart fees, gateway fees, and the merchant account fees, you will probably be looking at around $150 to $200 per month (not counting transaction fees). Thus, you have to be sure you are going to make enough money through your site to cover these fees before you choose a fully integrated cart.

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Outside Provider Options

Another way to handle this is to choose a company that has all three of the pieces put together into one package. There are a number of places out there that do this including: PayPal, Google Checkout, and Amazon. The one that people know the most is PayPal.

How this works is that these companies have set themselves up to handle the whole scenario. They provide to us shopping cart options with fairly simple code that can be installed into your website. They then handle both the Gateway and Merchant Account elements themselves. All of the liability and security is done through them. Once you get a payment, you simply have to transfer the money directly into your bank account.

How this works is two steps:

1) Get an Account – We would sign you up with an account with whichever company you decide you want to use. It’s a fairly easy process that we can help you with by simply having you on the phone to answer questions. Typically it takes about a half an hour.

Account Cost – There is no cost to signing up with these companies or any monthly fees. Typically these companies charge transaction fees only. PayPal, for instance, currently charges 2.9% + $.30 per transaction (which is comparable to any merchant account).

2) Installation – We can then install buttons and shopping cart items onto your website. When someone clicks on the “pay” buttons they would then be taken to the website of whatever company you chose (like PayPal) and all purchases would be finalize there on a secure server. We can typically customize the buttons or cart to ask whatever questions you want right on the cart. This is fairly easy to install.

Installation Cost – We’ve installed a lot of PayPal carts, and have also done a few on Google Checkout and Amazon. The cost for doing this for around 10 items (whether they be Products, Donation Boxes, …) is typically around $300 to pay for our time. Obviously, the cost will depend on how many items you wish to have put on your site. Beyond that, there shouldn’t be any other installation fees.

Pros: The real positive part of doing this is that it is easy to do and is inexpensive. It’s an all-in-one package, so we sign you up and install it. You end up with a small setup fee to pay us to set it up, and then only have transaction fees when you receive a payment. Another big positive part is that all of the security and liability is taken care of through the outside company. There isn’t even a hint of association to you. It is clear when someone is paying that they are going through something like PayPal and these companies typically guarantee the transactions. Your company won’t even get the credit card numbers. Thus, this is a very safe way to do it.

Cons: Since people are paying through something like PayPal it isn’t as pretty as if we could customize all the pages. There are some customization options, but in its basic form you get your name at the top of the PayPal cart (so it’s obvious they are paying you), but the pages would not be fully customized the way it would be if we created your own fully integrated shopping cart. In our estimation, at this point anyone who has made a payment on the internet knows PayPal, Google, or Amazon, so we don’t see this as too much of a bad thing. But, the extent you want the pages customized is a consideration.

Note: If we are going this route, then we’d suggest using PayPal. Google Checkout and Amazon are good options, but they currently require people to “get an account” when paying. PayPal lets you do it either way where you just pay with your Credit Card or get/use your account.

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Conclusion

The “fully integrated option” is much harder to do and will be much more expensive to setup and run over time. It will get you something that looks a little more professional, but still does send people off to a shopping cart company (i.e. off your site) to pay. The pages will just look more like your site, so will have an extra air of professionalism.

On the other hand, the “outside provider option” is easy to setup and inexpensive in all aspects comparatively. The down side is that you don’t get as much customization so you are accepting the fact that the processing is clearly going through an outside provider. Overall, people are used to seeing this on the internet now, but it is clearly a difference in presentation.

Realistically, the final question comes down to how much you are willing to pay for what level of customization on your site.

The Power of the Blog

2009-09-26T13:41:00.003-07:00

It's amazing how Blogs have broken into the mainstream. It has become a key way that people both consume and distribute information on the Internet. This has released a wave of a whole new form of 'news' that actually competes with the high dollar corporate media that prevails on the television and radio. The Internet has broken the monopoly and brought a truer form of the 'freedom of speech' than ever before.

As one circles the net, you can now be apart of a wave of news and information like no other time in history. Clearly, this news is not always accurate and is riddled with opinion and supposition that you would hopefully not get from the mainstream media. It is from real people expressing their feelings, philosophy, and ideals. It is from people who are sometimes not in 'free' countries that have found a way to express themselves that is unstoppable and global in origin. The power of the Blog has come home in a big way.

In our small pool of people in the Flagstaff and Northern Arizona region, we tend to encourage our clients to consider a Blog as a means to get the word out regularly about what they are doing in both their personal lives and especially in their businesses. We regularly setup Blogs for our clients, customize them to look like their websites, and help them understand the uses of it. Most use only half of the functions of a Blog by posting articles and newsletters, and not allowing others to 'comment' back (much like our own Blog that this is written on). While a few have taken the leap to allowing back and forth communication with the world. In either case, it has shown to be a great way to 'get the word out' about what they are doing.

We have also recently begun using Blogs as a 'distribution source' for lots of the other media out there as well. We have found that an article written on a Blog can hit many resources at once.

The first way to do this is through 'feeds' where the Blogs are pushed into a webpage using a service like FeedBurner or WidgetBox. Click here as an example of our Flagstaff News section on our city guide that uses this function. Most of our clients that have a Blog, also feed that information into their websites. By doing this they not only have additional and interactive information on their websites, but also have created two methods of being listed in the Search Engines (both the Blog itself and the page on their sites are searchable).

Even more recently is the function of feeding a Blog into different Social Media accounts. The latest wave on the Internet is Social Media. Often people have trouble keeping up with making real announcements on them because they are so busy. By using a Blog, you can have an article fed into FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and many other sites automatically. This gives you one location to write while posting it in numerous places all at once. A very efficient means of distributing you announcements.

The format of Blog lends itself to being distributed widely. We highly recommend that you use this method to communicate with the world. It is typically a free resource that can be customized to look great and make you seem very professional. It is a true way to get the word out!

Social Media Discussion with Soroptimist: Learn all about business applications on FaceBook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

2009-09-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

Joe Bodin of Flagstaff Central will be the key lecturer at the upcoming luncheon of Soroptimist International of the Arizona Peaks. The topic of discussion will be an overview about Social Media Marketing with a focus on how to use these new applications to enhance and market your business presence on the Internet. The talk will cover a brief overview on the differences between FaceBook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It will show you elements of each site, and how to best use these applications in a professional manner to market your business.

The event will be held at the Matterhorn Grill, 103 W Birch, on Thursday, September 17th from Noon to 1 pm. The lunch cost is $12 per person and is primarily open to members or prospective members of Soroptimist.

For more information or to become a member of Soroptimist, please call Diane Jarvis at 928-607-7774. RSVP by Wednesday, September 16th at 2 pm is required to attend the luncheon.

Social Media Marketing

2009-07-21T14:25:00.002-07:00

The latest wave of marketing on the Internet is called "Social Media" or "Viral Marketing". It has sprung up out of nowhere and millions of people have latched onto it because it is much more personal and can have extremely wide reaching results. It is spreading like wildfire and fast becoming one of those "have to" items to succeed on the net. The idea of this form of internet marketing is to become "friends" with hundreds and thousands of people across the world.

Here's a list of some of the more popular Social Media sites: FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Plaxo, Orkut (run by Google), Google Groups, Digg (social news), YouTube (video sharing), Flickr (photos sharing), and Yelp (product reviews).

There are many websites that offer this type of service and almost all of them are completely free to sign up. Some of them are generalized about any topic you wish, while others are focused on a specific type of group or genre. We can help you decide which will most effectively meet your needs.

We have found that our clients are a bit reluctant to jump into it themselves, so we now offering help in setting up and maintaining these accounts to maximize your marketing potential. We are focusing on what we call the "top 3" social media sites, but we are also available to help with setting up other accounts.

Go to http://www.reliablewebdesigns.com/5Steps/InternetMarketing/social-media.htm to read up on how we can help you with FaceBook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Additional Thoughts about Social Media

With all of the above "Social Media" sites, we strongly recommend that you post your own content. You are your best representative, and thus will know what to post and what to respond when others ask questions or post comments. Some of our clients have expressed reservations about the time it will take to do this, but we wish to express to you that you can post as much or as little as you wish. There are no deadlines or rules to how much you must post. As with anything, the more involved you are the more successful it tends to be... Never feel pressured by having to post information. One posting a month with good content is far more effective than daily postings that don't say anything and become junk to the reader.

It is our goal to help you get started into the world of "Social Media" so that you have true success marketing yourself in this new universe.

There are Changes Coming to Email

2009-07-09T00:32:00.016-07:00

A while back some new rules were developed to help reduce spam emails. These new rules have actually been around for a while, but until recently most servers didn't follow them. The reality is that over the course of the next year most servers are going to begin implementing them, so the general public needs to become aware of the changes before they happen. So, we thought it'd be a good idea to tell you about them and explain them in as simple a language as possible.

In an attempt to not techno-babble at you, the two main changes are called: rDNS (Reverse DNS) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework). Both of them do similar things and we don't intend to describe them to you in detail because you can read all about them from a technical point of view somewhere else. In a nutshell, what both of them are designed to do is put some checks on an email when it's sent to make sure that the sender is who they say they are.

Right now anyone could essentially steal your email address and use it to send out spam. They could find your email address somewhere (like on your website), and then put it into their email preferences. Then, they can send out thousands and thousands of junk email about whatever they want. All this going out using your email whether you like it or not, or even know it has been done.

What these new rules or policies are attempting to do is put a stop to this. The idea is that when an email goes out instead of just letting it go, servers will now run a check to make sure your email is legitimate. In essense, they are going to look at your email address and make sure the place it was sent from also matches the domain name in the address.

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Here's examples of how it will check:

Our city guide email address is info@flagstaffcentral.com.

1) Won't Work - If I send an email out having my outgoing preferences be my Internet Provider which is NPG Cable ( mail.npgcable.net ), then my Domain Name and the way I sent it don't match. And thus, my email would not comply to the new rules and would probably bounce back undeliverable.

flagstaffcentral.com does not match npgcable.net - Not Delivered

2) Won't Work - If a spammer tries to send an email out using my Email Address and their outgoing preferences are from their own Internet Provider ( mail.spamidiot.com ), then my Domain Name (in my email) and the way they sent it will not match. And thus, the spam email(s) they are trying to send using my address will not comply and will bounce back undeliverable.

flagstaffcentral.com does not match spamidiot.com - Not Delivered

3) Will Work - If I send an email out having my outgoing preferences be my Web Host ( mail.flagstaffcentral.com ), then my Domain Name and the way I sent it will match. And thus, my email will comply with the new rules and be sent fine.

flagstaffcentral.com does match flagstaffcentral.com - Delivered Successfully!

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You can see why this is good. It may cut a whole mess of spam off the internet and protect your email address at the same time. But, the problem is that most people don't know about these new rules. As they are implemented, more and more people are going to experience bounce backs on their legitimate emails because they have not changed their email preferences.

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So what do you do:

1) Using WebMail - If you are using a WebMail based system like Gmail or Hotmail, then there isn't anything you need to do. Your email address will have Gmail or Hotmail in it, and when you send it you are sending right through their website so your Domain Name and the way you send it will match.

2) Using Email Software (like Outlook) - If you are using some sort of email software like Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, etc... then you will need to change your "Outgoing SMTP" preferences. This setting must have the matching Domain as within your Email Address. So, you should contact either your Internet Provider (if you use their email addresses) or your Web Host (if you use your own domain within your email address).

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We hope this article helps you understand the coming changes to how Emails will be "Checked" by servers in the near future. There's no telling when your server will implement the new rules or when the servers you are sending email to will begin doing it, so it's best to begin getting your email preferences ready today.

Backing Up Your Address Book

2009-04-25T17:25:00.002-07:00

It's obviously very important to back up your data periodically to an external source. There are lots of options for this including external hardrives, cd/dvd roms, or even buying into an online resource that allows you to save your files on their system. Each of these have their pros and cons... Regardless of which version you choose, I have found the one thing everyone forgets to back up is their "Address Book".

Everyone spends years and years compiling the contact information for all of the people they correspond with, but then forget completely to save that data on an external source. Most backups that people do don't actually include the data files of something like Outlook, Eudora, or whatever email program you are using. Most people only back up things like My Documents, and rarely get everything on their hardrives because it's just too much stuff to constantly keep.

So, what's the solution? Do a specific backup of your Address Book!!!!!

Almost every email program has an "Export" function that allows you to turn your Address Book content into a "file" that can then easily be included in your normal backup process. In Outlook, this is under [File] [Import and Export]. Almost all email programs have this somewhere.

When you find it within your program, simply follow the Export process. It is highly recommended that once you get to choose the "file type" that you choose to back it up as a CSV (Comma Delimited File). The reason is that this is a fairly universal file format that can be uploaded back into most email programs and also can be opened in Excel. This way you can pull it into whatever program you choose, or even make edits or preview it in a chart format.

As you are saving it as a "file", I also recommend you consider naming that file by the "date" first and then whatever you want to call it. For example, if I were to do it today I would call my file "2009-04-25 My Address Book". By doing this, your file system will then "alphabetize it" by the date. Thus, when you do it next month it will put them in order. This way you always know when you saved it last, and can jump back in time easily if you need to.

After all is said and done, and you've begun to back up your contacts. Make sure to simply add it into the back up process you've regularly chosen to save all of your data. This way, you can always recover if your computer crashes, your email software stops working, or whatever strange computer blurp happens to you.

Don't forget to back up your Address book! It's important!!!!

Stay Away from the Spam Censors

2008-09-05T01:54:00.002-07:00

It's a sad state of affairs as spam overtakes all of our email boxes and literally costs Americans billions of dollars a year. It's an endless war that seemingly has no end and no way to combat it. This battle that's being fought has many soldiers, but few who really know how to win the war. So far there isn't a solution.

There are numerous companies and organizations on the internet that have recently cropped up with their own version of a solution to the spam problem. A couple of the more well known versions of this are SpamCop and SpamHaus. Many of these have created criteria that they determine to figure out what is spam and what is not. They create these policies and procedures using their own formula. They then go out and try to convince the public that they are the authority on stopping spam and attempt to bring people under their umbrella to sign up for their services. As the public joins and their membership grows, so does their power. Is this a good thing or is this a bad thing?

We have found that in general this is a bad thing. We realize that the intentions of these companies are good, but the end results are not. The systems they setup to block spam are flawed. There really isn't a perfect solution so they create what they feel is the best they can do... a happy medium that can have serious repercussions.

Some of what they do are things like "blacklist" servers that have lots of spam going through them. Okay, you say that's a good thing. Well, not really. On every server there are literally thousands of customers. When one customer violates the spam laws, the rest of the people on that server may have to pay for it. That's not cool. How would you like it if your email was blacklisted by one of these companies for what someone else did? Your emails wouldn't go through and you'd have no way to combat it. That's a violation of our freedoms!

Unfortunately, these companies are creating a power base that is unregulated and people across the world are falling into their pit. In the long run, they create a form of censorship that may be detrimental to the freedoms that we all enjoy. If you are considering joining one of these services, we'd like you to think twice. Just because you are frustrated with too much spam doesn't mean you should choose one of these options. Choose freedom over censorship!

The above tech tip is strictly a subjective opinion.

Setting your Screen Resolution

2008-05-10T03:08:00.003-07:00

Are you having trouble seeing the text on your screen? Or, when you view websites do you always have to pan left and right because the sites aren't fitting on the screen? Very often we go and buy a new monitor, plug it in, and expect that it's going to look the way it should. What most people don't realize is that you can "set your screen resolution" to fit your needs.

To change your screen resolution:

~ Go to your Desktop

~ Right click and choose Properties

~ Click on the Settings tab

~ There is a slidebar called "Screen Area". Move it to the right to make things smaller and fit more on the screen, or to the left to make it bigger.

~ Hit "OK"

Your screen will then go blank. Don't panic!!!!! It is going to reset all of the images and text on your screen, and will come back in a few seconds. The more things you have open when you do this the longer it takes to come back. Periodically it may tell you that your monitor doesn't support the size you chose, so it'll take a few more seconds to go back to your original settings.

For small monitors that are 15" your standard setting is 800 x 600.

For mid-size monitors that are around 17" your standard setting is 1024 x 768.

For larger monitors 19" or larger your standard setting is 1280 x 1024.

Try changing it to see what you like best!!!

The Hotspots of Flagstaff

2008-04-10T00:37:00.003-07:00

Flagstaff has finally hit the big time when it comes to having internet access available to the public. We now have lots of places who are offering either Hotspots or an Internet Café within their business or civic locations. If you are traveling though our town or are a local resident who doesn't want to rush home to get on the internet, you now can.

So, what is a HotSpot? As I was calling places around town I got the most interesting answers. Some coffee shops wanted me to know that their location was truly the hottest spot in Flagstaff. But, that was not what I was aiming for. A "HotSpot" is simply a place that has wireless internet access available to the public.

There are a number of different varieties of wireless internet access. The most common is called WiFi and is what usually comes within a laptop. Another form is called BlueTooth. Both of them are very widely used when it comes to laptops, PDA's, and other portable devices. If neither of these options come with your equipment, it is also usually fairly cheap to purchase a PC Card or adapter to make it "hot".

Through my travels across town, phone calls, and some suggestions from our avid readers, we have found the following locations that you can go to "get on the internet" in Flagstaff. We are sure that there are more places, and would like to encourage you to contact us if you know of a location that we missed.

Food Court at the Flagstaff Mall: Free Wireless

Biff's Bagels/Internet Café: see store for pricing

Late for the Train: Free Wireless (get a password at the counter)

Bookman's Used Books: Free Wireless

Macy's European Coffee: Free Wireless

Campus Coffee Bean: Free Wireless

Pay-N-Take: Free Wireless

Safeway Stores: Free Wireless

Cline Library (NAU): Free Computer Usage - Network Cable Hookup for Laptops

Starbucks (most locations): Signup Online - See website for details

Flagstaff Libraries (both locations): 2x's per day with library card

[Please contact each location for specific details, exact pricing, and instructions on usage.]

If you run a Flagstaff Hotpsot, contact us and we'll add you to our list!

Wireless Routers

2008-03-12T16:11:00.001-07:00

The world of wireless is making our communication options amazingly vast. We can now have computers networked and on the internet in almost any room of our offices and homes without stringing wires everywhere. We can now have PDA's that are connected to the internet wherever we walk. And, hotspots are showing up at coffee shops, bookstores, and other places all over the country. It's becoming an integrated communication universe!

This month's Tech Tip is about Wireless Routers for your home or office. The technology is becoming more and more efficient on a daily basis, and reaching farther and farther distances freeing up the need for wires. There are lots of options you can buy on the market from different companies to different versions. Some of the more well known companies are: Linksys®, D-Link®, and NetGear®. Each of these we have found provide a decent product and are fairly comparable to each other.

As to versions, the choices vary based on the distance and strength of the signal you wish to have. Usually distance is the prevailing factor that will guide your choice. There are two major formats: WiFi 802.11 and BlueTooth. In general, most of the routers on the market are WiFi so we are going to use this format to outline the options. WiFi is more prevalent in home and office routers, while the more powerful BlueTooth is more commonly used in PDA's and outdoor citywide situations.

Wireless 802.11 b: less than 100 ft, 2.5Mpbs to 4Mbps

Wireless 802.11 g: just over 100 ft, 54Mbps

Wireless 802.11 g (super/extreme): up to 300 ft, 108Mbps

Wireless 802.11 pre-n: over 350 ft, over 125Mpbs

In terms of setup, normally you need to hook up the new router, configure your computer to communicate with it, and then your external devices (like laptops...) need to have a wireless card that receives and transmits the signal back and forth with the router. Most of the routers come with detailed instructions on how to set it up, but we highly recommend you have a computer repair company install it for you so that you are setting it up correctly. If you don't secure your wireless network, then someone driving by your home or office could actually break into your computer system. So, having the proper security is an essential thing to have someone do for you.

Tips to Filling Out Online Forms

2008-02-23T14:11:00.003-07:00

Is filling out all those online forms getting a bit tedious?
Here are some tips that may help speed things up!

When you're filling out a form on a web page, instead of reaching for the mouse to get to the next text field, just hit the TAB key on your keyboard.

To move back through the spaces, hit SHIFT + TAB.

Instead of simply retyping fields a form asks you to repeat, use the CTRL+C and CTRL+V to copy and paste the information where you need it. You can also use CTRL+A to "Select All".

There are some great programs out there that can make things even easier. If you fill out lots of forms, you should consider getting software that saves your profile. Then, at a click of a button, you can fill out one of those endless forms instantly.

Here is a program with a free trial version that we recommend you try:

ROBOForm

Is Your Email a Real Message or Spam?

2008-02-15T17:44:00.001-07:00

The world of email is chock full of spam. It's inevitable that all of have to sift through the endless stream of garbage emails. Some of them are companies trying to sell us stuff, others contain viruses, while others are simply unintelligible. It can be one of the most frustrating things we have to face when it comes to email. And, the worst thing is trying to distinguish the email you really do want from the stuff that you don't.

So, what's the solution? Obviously there is a ton of software out there to fight spam. Some are Spam Blockers, Spam Assassins, Box Trappers, etc... In reality, these work to a point but sometimes catch stuff that you really want.

So, we ask again, what's the solution? Our biggest and best suggestion is that if everyone you know actually wrote clear and detailed "Subject Lines" in their emails than we all could jet through the garbage and keep the stuff that we want. It's frustrating when a friend or acquaintance writes something like, "How you doing?" or "Check this out" in the Subject line.

A rule of thumb is to always write something very recognizable in the Subject Line. We tell all of our clients to either write their Company Name or to write our Name (Flagstaff Central) in the Subject Line. This triggers a quick, "I want that" when we are sifting through the email. It's a great idea!

Always write a clear Subject Line!

TechSoup for Non-Profits

2008-02-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

Non-profit organizations should all be aware that they can buy inexpensive software, hardware, and other technology products through an online resource called TechSoup.org.

TechSoup provides many resources for non-profit organizations including advice on what products are most suited to their needs and, of course, inexpensive versions of many computer products. Most of the items on their site are donated directly from leading technology providers, and are available at low administrative fees.