In our Friday Fun Links last week, we included a slideshow of “What the World’s Biggest Websites looked like at Launch.” Thanks to a fun site called “The Wayback Machine,” you can see what virtually any website ever crawled looked like at various dates in the past 15 or so years. Today I thought it would be fun to see how RJS Software’s website has evolved over time. Just a fair warning… the clip art, fonts and colors you are about to see might shock you.

Our first website archived is from June 1, 1997. We touted ourselves as “the AS/400 Client/Server Data Experts” and originally lived under the rjssoft.com domain.

In November 1998, we secured the rjssoftware.com domain, but redirected visitors to our rjssoft.com main site.

On April 27, 1999, rjssoft.com relaunched with the extremely popular “left toolbar” navigation and added banner ads and an official purple logo (a color choice most likely chosen based on the near Super Bowl-bound Minnesota Vikings).

In January 2002, we finally transferred our website over to rjssoftware.com and added this sweet header complete with an animated gif!

Two years later in January 2004, we launched our most professional site yet, complete with traditional horizontal navigation, a slick diamond graphic and sales call-outs. We also started to advertise our cross-platform capabilities as we moved into the Windows space.

With our first dedicated marketing manager on board (Joel Sawyer), the site was once again relaunched on February 12, 2005. The goal was to better focus on brand messaging and product solutions, as well as webcasts and events.

In 2006, we first introduced “the RJS Document Management Lifecycle” and launched our blog.

In June of 2007, we contracted web development firm Arcstone, to design and build a site. The design was clean and the messaging was simple, yet effective.

And we end this trip down memory lane with our current website. Completed October 2010 by Minneapolis-based bswing, our current site creates an enhanced user experience with better navigation, solution-based document management lifecycle messaging and a robust footer. You’ll also note a rebranded logo and color scheme.

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About Josh
A proud graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, Josh is the Editor-in-Chief of this blog and regularly contributes Friday Fun Links, RJS news and interesting technology notes. Prior to joining RJS, Josh worked at the Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis. Outside of work, Josh enjoys the outdoors, fantasy football, classic movies, baseball and wine.