BZA LLC - Top NJ Web Design Firm - News & Online Marketing Growth Strategies » BZA News & Marketing

PA-DSS Compliance – What it means for Miva Merchant Store Owners

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:12:45 +0000

As online store owners should know, July 1, 2010 was the required deadline for all payment applications to become PA-DSS Validated. This affects all payment gateway providers, swipe terminals and shopping card vendors, including Miva Merchant.

PA-DSS Validation is different from PCI-DSS Compliance. Both are implemented and governed by the PCI Security Council, but in order to maintain your PCI-DSS Compliance as a merchant, you must be running PA-DSS Validated shopping cart software.

Miva Merchant 5.5 store owners can feel comfort in knowing that their shopping cart has been PA-DSS Validated. The challenge remains for Miva 4.x owners because Miva Merchant will not and has no plans to validate the older versions of Miva Merchant.

Those 4.x merchants should consider upgrading their store. BZA can assist merchants with the process. To encourage store owners to upgrade, Miva Merchant is offering a free Miva Merchant 5.5 upgrade to qualified Miva Merchant 4.x license owners. For more information or to see if you qualify please contact us.

North Jersey Web Design Firm BZA LLC Sees Surge in Mobile Traffic

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:09:10 +0000

As I was checking our Google Analytics, I was particularly interested in the mobile device traffic to our web site. Approximately 5.2 % of all traffic to http://www.bza.com is coming from a mobile device. But what I found even more interesting is that in December our mobile traffic was 1.37% , followed by January at 3.2%. When you crank all the numbers it equates to the fact the our mobile traffic is doubling each month over the past three months. That is amazing! I will add that we have not done any mobile marketing campaigns but as you might know we introduced our mobile web design and development services in February. When you drill down into the data I can see 71% of our mobile visitors are using an Iphone followed by 12% on Android. Surprisingly Blackberry makes up only 5% of our mobile visitors. The mobile web is not merely a fashion trend; it is one that will be with us for a very long time.

NJ Web Design Firm BZA Announces New Mobile Web Design Services

admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:43:17 +0000

With just over 40% of Americans currently owning a smartphone the number of on-the-run web surfers continues to growth. BZA is now helping companies gain customer loyalty, increase exposure and web traffic by developing mobile websites.

According to Barbara Zaccone, President and Founder of BZA, “The majority of websites are not optimized for mobile use. This allows companies to gain a significant competitive advantage by mobilizing their web site.”

: BZA’s Mobile Web Site

According to a recent Gartner Group report by year-end 2010, 1.2 billion people will carry handsets capable of rich, mobile commerce providing a rich environment for the convergence of mobility and the Web.

Although larger organizations can afford custom App development for both the Iphone and Android platforms, small and medium organization can choose a more affordable browser based solution.

Zaccone added, “I encourage web site owners to take a look at their existing web site on mobile devices and see how their site renders. Most people will quickly notice that browsing a desktop web site on a mobile phone is a frustrating experience.”

For more information see BZA’s mobile web design services

NJ Interactive Agency BZA LLC Launches Website for Efco Products

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:43:05 +0000

BZA recently launched a new website for food ingredient manufacturer EFCO Products of Poughkeepsie, New York located at http://www.efcoproducts.com . EFCO is a leading manufacturer and supplier of ingredients for bakeries and foodservice companies worldwide. The site gives bakers and chefs convenient access to detailed product information. As innovators of new products, it was important for Efco to be able to update the website quickly and efficiently. BZA provided Efco with a content editing solution that allows them to update their product pages, news and more.

At the core of EFCO’s success is their commitment to providing the highest level of customer service. EFCO’s customers can now go to the recipe blog section of the EFCO website to get ideas, tips and recipes that put the “Yum” in their food creations. Recipes are now indexed in a database and easily retrieved through search or category navigation.

Through BZA’s site optimization effort, EFCO has been able to increase their search engine traffic significantly since the website launch. With their old site they could not be found for any of their targeted keywords or phrases.

Zaccone to be a Panelist at NJAWBO Event on Social Networking

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:40:08 +0000

Barbara Zaccone, Founder and President of NJ Web Design firm BZA LLC will be a panelist at the January 19^th NJAWBO (New Jersey Association of Woman Business Owners) Essex Chapter Meeting to be held at Wilshire Grand in West Orange, NJ. The social networking topics that will be discussed include Facebook, Twitter, Email Marketing, Linked-In and Blogging for business. Zaccone will specifically discuss the benefits of integrating a blog into your web site. “Most companies don’t take advantage of the speed at which a Blog article can be picked up in search engines”, claims Zaccone. “Writing and posting articles to your blog not only demonstrates your expertise, but it can add keyword rich content and links to your web site”.

Zaccone to speak at NJAWBO Essex Chapter meeting

For more information about the event visit http://www.njawbo-essex.org.

We Wish Our Clients and Friends a Joyful Holiday Season

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:01:00 +0000

American Express OPEN Externship Program Architects BZA’s Mobile Marketing Strategy

admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:56:11 +0000

BZA was chosen to be a participant in the American Express OPEN Externship program. Amex assigned a team of talented professionals to develop a Mobile Marketing – Market Entry Strategy for BZA. This week the team came out to BZA’s office from their NYC headquarters to present their findings. The comprehensive report and presentation included an executive summary, recommendations, mobile market overview, competitive landscape, market opportunities, market entry strategy, and pricing strategy. Soon you’ll see new Mobile Marketing offerings from BZA.

Survey Shows Online Shoppers are Concerned About Security

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:51:58 +0000

According to a recent poll by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Symantec. 63% of online shoppers said they did not complete a purchase because of security concerns. Here are a few tips that store owners can implement to overcome this obstacle.
1. Having credibility symbols on your web site is the first step in building trust. This includes your SSL Certificate with a live to link to your provider.
2. Also make sure you have a privacy policy on your site. Visitors want to feel confident that are going to keep their information private, especially their email address.
3. Don’t ask for any unnecessary information during the check-out process. You want shoppers to be able to check-out as quickly as possible.
4. Offer payment options like PayPal and Google Checkout. This allows visitors to pay via credit card without having to divulge their credit card information.

See our web site for more informtion about BZA’s Ecommerce and Online Store Design Solutions

Drive-in for Bank Customers Only

admin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:36:30 +0000

Are they kidding? Yesterday I was at the Wachovia drive-in and could not help but notice the big sign that said “Drive-in for Bank Customers Only”. With the banks crying the blues you think that some bank marketing genius would suggest a sign that says “Welcome non-bank customers. We are happy to serve you”. I must say the Wachovia teller was extremely pleasant and even asked me if I needed anything else after she finished my transaction. I did not even have to wait online. Why not extend an invitation to new potential customers so that they may experience your fine customer service? I just don’t get it.

What Business Start-ups Need to Avoid When Selecting a Domain Name

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:43:50 +0000

I recently taught a class for start-ups and entrepreneurs on web marketing. I dedicated one slide to the topic of selecting a domain name. I was extremely surprised how this topic sparked so much discussion and interest. In light of this, I thought a blog post would help others facing that most important decision.

Many of the unemployed today are reinventing themselves and starting up businesses. One of the most important tasks a business owner must consider, second to selecting a company name, is the selection of their domain name. Brands are greatly affected by the ability of the company to obtain the matching domain name. If a company builds a brand around a name to which it does not own the domain name, it can end up directing traffic to another domain owner’s site. If it is a competitor, this surely would be problematic.

As you list your potential choices, determine how the name will be interpreted in both writing and in speech. Two or three word domains can easily be read in more than one way. A good domain name should require little or no explanation when verbalized. In other words when you tell someone your web site address and they ask, “is 2 spelled to
or two”? or “is it the number 2?”. Having to offer an explanation adds an unnecessary level of confusion and will guarantee that your domain name will be difficult to remember.

Numbers should be avoided and so should phonetic letters; i.e. “fone” for “phone”, “magik” or “Magic”. Also avoid homophones like “sweet” and “suite”. Avoid hyphens; i.e. www.my-company-store.com.

When you search domains during the purchasing process you’ll see the many extensions (.com, .biz, .info, .us) that are available. Domain registrars will always show you the “3rd rate” names like .biz, .us, .info etc. They want to increase the amount of your order by encouraging you to sign up for those names. Do resist for the mere fact that the business world thinks in .com and that’s the way it is. So stick with .com under all circumstances.

Keep your name as short as possible. Remember you domain will be reflected in your email address. If the name is longer but yet easy to remember and spell than that should be acceptable.

And once you register your domain, do put up a placeholder or a splash page until your web site is ready. The experts claim domain name longevity is a factor in search ranking. Now that is another whole topic.