Remember when the New York Times — the old gray lady — started running color photos on the front page? Or when Gannett launched the McPaper, introduced hundreds of thousands of Americans to its first true national newspaper, USA Today?

Yeah, I know, I probably just aged myself out of relevance on any website south of AARP.com, but back in the day, dramatic industry shifts like that in the world of journalism were few and far between. And, today, you're lucky to get through an entire quarter without making some tweaks — big or small.

Welcome to our first round of major changes since we first launched BenefitsPro four years ago. And, trust me, we did more than roll out some new type or shuffle the content around. In fact, I'd love to say it took us this long to renovate the house because we had so much to do, but the simple truth of the matter is that we really wanted to get it right the first time. It's not like we're just passing major health care legislation, after all.

Keep it simple, Storey

I've always been a big believer in plain English. A lot of politicians, businesspeople and even our competition are really fond of big words, industry jargon and even some expressions that sound like my 4-year-old dreamed them up. But one of the secrets to our success at BenefitsPro has been talking to our readers — and users — in simple, everyday language.

We believe in conversing with our readers — not preaching at them, talking down to them or putting them to sleep. Our new website follows that same philosophy with a simplified navigation that makes moving around the site quicker and easier, allowing you to spend more time on your business, and less digging around for what you may or not find.

Art appreciation

Another thing we've done since day one — since we were just a skinny little trade magazine — is act anything but the part when it comes to art design. We've always invested heavily in professional photographers, original artwork and infographics that can help tell a story better than any stack of flowery prose.

So, it made perfect sense to reboot BenefitsPro with an added emphasis on images. We know educating your clients is a critical part of your business, and that our site helps you do just that. But now, we're capable of helping you with that in a more pleasing, graphic-centric way, making the content you share with your clients look professional, polished, and best yet, easy for anyone to understand.

Responsive design

Remember the time when getting online meant sitting down at your desk, hearing a dial tone and more garbled feedback than a Peanuts cartoon? Yeah, well, those days are over. We're all online constantly: whether you're thumbing through your smartphone on the train, warmed by the glow of your tablet when you can't sleep in the middle of the night, or whether you're on your laptop banging out a proposal before your next flight. So you need a website that works across platforms.

Responsive design — the backbone of the new BenefitsPro — allows you to access all the content you need, on the fly, regardless of what you're using. (Yeah, that even includes you, Droid users.) You'll get an optimized experience on every device, equipping you with instant content presentation (to answer any unexpected question) and easy access to info whenever you need it, wherever you are.

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