JBM Labs Inc.

Google opens up website optimizer

bryan — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:13:06 +0000

Google’s Website Optimizer has just been released to the wide public and it looks like a great tool for doing optimization testing of a website. You can use this tool to setup multiple different versions of text, images, or even entire pages and then allow certain percentages of traffic see the different versions. To determine which works best you set up a measurable goal, this can be a link to that needs to be clicked, or that a user has spent a certain amount of time on a page. The application will then track all of the different combinations and how your users reacted and determine if the changes are positive, negative, or no change.

A good website should never be static as there are always things that can be updated and improved. One of the main issues historically, was to determine if the changes that you were making were having a positive effect. With Google Website Optimizer you can now do very scientific tests and get a real world determination on whether you’re moving in the right direction.

Set up email alerts for your analytics and ads

bryan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:00:24 +0000

It’s a good idea if you’re using Google Analytics and / or Google Adsense to have daily reports sent to you in email. This serves as a good reminder to check the results on a regular basis. These are definitely things that you need to stay on top of if you want your site to grow each day. Determining where people are coming from and what they are doing is critical as well as determining if there are any changes to these patterns.

Webcam Recommendation

bryan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:18:46 +0000

We’re installing cameras for a client to monitor certain aspects of their business and then to allow publishing of these video feeds to the web. The camera that we’re going with is the Panasonic BL-C111A. It’s an excellent choice as it allows for a great deal of configuration and control. Everything from access control to the quality of video that each user sees.

The camera also offers multi camera viewing if you’re using it in more of a security and monitoring application. The Panasonic costs a bit more than other cameras at $173 instead of the low $100s that others come in at, but I think you’re definitely getting the value back with the configuration add ons.

Wordpress releases version 2.5

bryan — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:03:34 +0000

Wordpress has released a major new version with version 2.5. There are major changes to the Admin interface as well as several other updates and fixes. Searching now includes pages and posts by default so that you don’t have to use a 3rd party plugin to do this. These changes go a long way towards making Wordpress a great piece of infrastructure to build a web presence off of.

Two plugins that are critical to completing the Wordpress offering are the cformsII and Google XML Sitemap. These add some critical functionality for communicating with your users and getting your website published into the search engines.

Hosting packages are now available

bryan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:50:40 +0000

JBM Labs is pleased to announce that we are now accepting hosting customers. Hosting packages will be set up on an individual basis based on customer needs. We expect to have ready to purchase packages available shortly.

Some common items included in hosting packages:

DNS Website Name Registration
Website Storage Space (100Gb standard)
High Speed Hosting in a secure world class facility
Automated backups of customer data
Database available for customer applications
24/7 Monitoring of sites and applications

We can also do custom installations of software or custom development to meet your needs. Some common items that would fall within a custom package:

Java / Perl / PHP / Ruby / Javascript software development
Website design
Hosted source control (CVS / Subversion)
Hosted bug tracking software
Hosted mail / calendar / contact software

Introducing JBM Labs Inc.

bryan — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:13:34 +0000

Our Mission…
JBM Labs’ mission is to facilitate the success of your online presence. By specializing in web application design and implementation, we help you bring sophistication and ease of use to your online brand. Better applications, mean better customer communication and interaction, which translates into customer loyalty and increased business!

Often times this means adopting new methods and technologies that are outside the comfort zone of many small business owners.

What We Do….
JBM Labs was created to help businesses understand and make the best use of what the latest technology has to offer. Whether this means setting up new ways to communicate with customers, such as blogs or social networks, optimizing your website’s search-ability so customers can easily find you, or designing on online shopping experience, we bring the expertise and experience to make these tools a reality.

A Little About US…
Bryan McCormick is Lead Engineer for JBM Labs. He has been living and working as a software professional in the San Francisco Bay Area since early 2000. His past experience includes Engineering Manager / Lead Engineer at Webshots, one of the worlds largest photo sharing sites and Director of Engineering at YouService LLC, where he created a distributed consumer address book application.

We are excited to help you solve a problem we have seen many small business owners face. You can’t be an expert at everything, but we can help you stay technologically relevant in an ever changing, ever evolving marketplace. Contact us now for a free consultation!