Friday, June 18th, 2010
We saved the biggest and best for last with this social media site post! Wordpress is a content management system most often associated with hosting blogs. What a lot of people don't know about Wordpress is its seemingly endless possibilities. Currently, we build of our sites in Wordpress because it allows us to give our users control over updating their content with a simple interface. We haven't had to say no to a functionality request yet and here are some examples of sites we've built in Wordpress:
Notice that they look and standard like any other site, however what you can't see is how amazing things are behind the scenes. Each one of our users is able to change the content on their whole site and we include a blog with training so our users are encouraged to get active in social media and help create their own search engine optimization with fresh, relevant content.
Some of the highlights of using Wordpress include its integration with other social media platforms. We suggest using your blog as your social media hub. It's a place to direct traffic and saturate with keywords. It's also a great opportunity to talk to your audience about what you are interested in and know to establish yourself as an expert in the community.
There are some tough competitors out there for Wordpress with similar functionality. We don't mean to say Wordpress is necessarily better but we are comfortable there and can ensure quality results. Also, Wordpress just released their new version – TODAY! So, you know it's a system that is maintained and evolving. here are some other reasons we love Wordpress:
Wordpress was started in 2003 and has grown to be the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world
4 out of 5 users prefer Wordpress to other services like Blogger
Wordpress just added themes that are optimized for mobile phones
Used on millions of sites and seen by tens of millions of users everyday
Open-sourced project, which means there are hundreds of people all over the world working on it
Committed to making the latest blogging technologies available to their users
Fully Customizable Interfaces allow for well-branded blogs
Utilizes robust tools such as an integrated blacklist and an open proxy checker, as well as additional plug-ins, to protect you from spam
Allows visitors to your site to leave comments on individual entries; you can enable/disable comments on a per post basis
Allows for easy importing
Intelligent text formatting and typographical niceties give blogs a nicer look and feel
Wordpress links allow you to create, maintain and update any number of blogrolls through your administration interface, which is quicker than external blogroll managers
Keep your eyes out for lots more Wordpress posts on specific plug-ins and site functionality! Contact us today for more information on your own site or blog development!
Tags: blog, content management system, development, interface, plug-ins, site, tools, users, website, Wordpress
Posted in My Media Magnet, Social Media News, Social Media Tools | No Comments »
Friday, June 18th, 2010
LinkedIn is one of what we refer to as 'The Big 3' of social media. It is an amazing tool for professional networking and enables you to go beyond traditional networking. It's another one of those sites that if you aren't on it you should be. I often Google people and the first search results for their name is their LinkedIn profile. You want to ensure that when someone does a Google search on your name it's your LinkedIn profile that pops up and gives them information.
Some of the major reasons we love LinkedIn are:
LinkedIn is a network of experienced professionals from around the world representing 170 industries and 200 countries
A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second
They have over 50 million users as of October 14th, 2009; a jump from 45 million users since August 12th, 2009.
Linkedin saw a 5.68% growth in traffic for the month of September alone
Executives from all Fortune500 companies are LinkedIn members
LinkedIn truly is international with 50% of their users being from outside the U.S.
They won two Webby awards in 2007 for services and social networking
All of these statistics can work for you if you use LinkedIn as a tool in the most effective way for you and/or your business. When you first get on LinkedIn, work on getting your profile to completion. The system will more or less guide you through this process of uploading an image (important for establishing your online identity!), uploading your resume, filling out profile information, adding relevant applications, etc. When you get to adding applications, choose carefully. Showcase only your strengths on your profile as recruiters are now using LinkedIn more than ever to find potential job candidates.
Your next step and level of involvement goes beyond status updates on LinkedIn. I've found the true value of LinkedIn and the place to get networking done is in Groups. Groups on LinkedIn are AMAZING resources! Try searching your interests and find out who is saying what and where they are saying it about the interest of your choice. This is a great way to get involved in conversations with like-minded individuals and start networking! You can also start your own Group on an interest and establish yourself as an expert through vigilant maintenance and innovative discussion topics.
As with all social media, the possibilities with LinkedIn are literally endless. The bottom line is to get online and get active! Each time you make a post to LinkedIn or participate in a group, not only are you growing your network but growing your Social Media Optimization (SMO). The more active you are, the more ways you direct people to your name and your site, the more successful your overall social media campaign will be. If you need help getting started or just want some more information on social media in general please visit our Contact Us page.
Tags: business, Fortune500, Google, LinkedIn, members, networking, personal, professional, profile, search, services, SMO, social media, social media optimization, The Big 3, tools
Posted in My Media Magnet, Social Media News, Social Media Tools | No Comments »