Appendix B, Web 2.0 and Social Media for Business, 3rd Edition

Web 2.0 and Social MediaBusiness in a Connected World

© McHaney and Sachs 2016 Applications of WordPress

Powerful tool

Helps a business get its message into the world

Allows business to provide news to its stakeholders

Material accessible to everyone immediately

Material remains in original words of the writer

Some organizations use blogs to communicate press releases, others use blogs for voice of internal entities such as marketing, research and development, production, or upper management

WordPress Blogs

• Wide variety of blog uses has resulted in the deployment of numerous options and tools

• Community of WordPress users has provided many ways of customizing and organizing blogs

• Because of parallels to traditional press releases and a desire to promote a wider content distribution, a system for blog syndication has been developed

WordPress Blogs (Continued)

Press the ‘Create Website’ button to begin the process.

Visit WordPress.com and Get Started!

It is also possible to develop a blog directly on the WordPress website. This example installation takes that approach.

General Purpose of WordPress Site

WordPress works in a variety of application areas for your blog.

More WordPress Site Creation

WordPress drills down into more specifics for your application.

Some are free and others must be purchased. We will add one to the blog later.

Explore Over 200 Themes

Some are free and others must be purchased (or you can use an existing one you own).

Obtain Domain Name

Purchase through WordPress if desired.

Obtain Domain Name (Continued)

Purchase or use a free option.

Obtain Pricing Plan

Create and Verify Account

We have covered basics for obtaining a WordPress blog account, starting a blog, and selecting a theme. The blog can be further customized with options and features specific to the needs of a business.

Customization

Enter WordPress Content Management Area

Prior to customization

Customizing WordPress Blog

Configure WordPress Reader to view other blogs and their updates


Tabs on this page provide tools for reading posts written by other WordPress bloggers (e.g. Read Blogs, Freshly Pressed, and Topics). Also, a tab for New Post provides links to information about WordPress and its community of users

Go to My Site to customize your blog! Then visit Themes.


Default Appearance


Start to modify page.


Getting a nice, free theme that matches your site strategy.


Selection of Argent Theme and how it looks on the site initially.


Most themes have customization options after being selected. Make your blog unique!


Most themes provide options for customization including selection of a header image, font and style choices, and different ways of arranging the widgets.

Blog header image can be changed and modified.


Customizing has the direct benefit of making a business site unique. Each WordPress theme may have thousands of adopters. Adding features that further business goals is crucial in creating a unique sense of identity

The Connections theme allows a user to customize the blog header, image, and style. Some themes permit this and others do not. Additional theme customization options may include: background image, background color, header text, font color, and other style choices.

Theme may have pre-installed images. However, for a truly custom appearance,upload a unique image. Investigate a site of open content images (such asCreativeCommons.org or appropriately licensed material at Flickr.com). Or, photoscan be taken with a digital camera.

Customize theme header


http://search.creativecommons.org/


Get Images from Creative Commons

http://search.creativecommons.org/

A photo can be added to the blog to create a custom header

Adding Custom Image to Header

The uploaded image is larger than the header size. WordPress provides a tool to crop it. After selecting the desired portion, click Crop Header to ensure selected part is displayed on the blog.


Crop Header Image in WordPress


After Cropping Image

The wrong font color can result in words that are not visible on the image


Carefully Choose Header Font Color

MS-Paint or other graphic editor can be used to add desired text with more visibility.


Alternate: Edit Image Outside of WordPress


Review Finished Graphic Header in Blog


Disable ‘Display Text’ option to Stop WordPress from Overlaying Header Text


Header Image Can Also Be From Local Hard Drive (Your Own Photo)


Header Font Customized


Image Background and Other Options Set


WordPress Provides Background Image Options

Image can be uploaded and used for background. Settings permit it to be tiled or displayed according to particular criteria.

Alternate way to customize page background:

Selecting hex color value for solid background.

Navigate to: Select a Color which opens a color wheel with a large number of choices.


WordPress Permits Background To Be Set As A Color

To access these settings from a theme perspective, navigate from the Customize Theme Dashboard to ‘Site Identity’

WordPress General Settings Customization

General settings include site title, tag line (the subheading found under the title), language, time zone, date format and more.

WordPress General Settings Customization

An icon to represent your blog in people’s browsers and on other Web sites.

Creating a Blog Icon or Blog Avatar (Blavatar)

Blavatar

• Small add-ons used to interact with other applications and provide features that help build an audience for a blog

• Can show recent Tweets, provide Flickr pictures, show Facebook wall entries, link to articles, and many other things

• Often provided by third-party developers

Widgets

Widget Selection

Widgets usually require configuration. Clicking the down arrow beside the Widget’s name causes a configuration dialog box to appear. This slide shows a Twitter Widget on the sidebar

Twitter Widget

Widget Configuration

Another widget example

Goodreads Widget Selected and Configured

Adding Blog Posts

Text, images, and other items can be added to a post.

Blog Post

Tags and Categories Added.

Blog Post Published After Tagging

Blog tracks them.

More Posts Added

Look under appearances.

Configure Mobile Options

An ‘About’ page added.

Adding Pages Like A Web Site

For a blog to be successful, it must connect with its intended audience

In business this means potential customers, clients, and other stakeholders

Connecting with search engines and potential viewers.

Sharing Settings

Having social media, news services, and other re-broadcasters pick up your blog feeds is desirable.

Broadcasting to the World

Register with WordPress’s Webmaster tools to ensure posts are indexed by major search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Notice links under the ‘Webmaster Tools Verification’ header.

Webmaster Tools

Blog owner must have account with a UserID and Password for the service. After clicking on the ‘Google Webmaster Tools’ and logging in with GoogleID and password, Press ‘Add a Site’ then copy Blog Address into textbox prompt. This tells Google’s search engine to index the site.

Example: Registering with Google Webmaster Tools

Search engine will require user to add code to Web site to prove ownership

Proof of Ownership

Copy and paste the tag as shown above

Proof of Ownership (Continued)

Paste text into the appropriate textbox. This will ensure Google recognizes the blog and will give owner the ability to review statistics related to the Website.

Proof of Ownership (Continued)

Publicity for a blog should extend beyond search engines. Social media has become an important venue for businesses to meet, connect with, and retain customers. WordPress provides a set of tools for exposing its blogs to social media.

From the Dashboard, navigate to ‘Tools’ and ‘Settings’.

Connecting With Customers

WordPress asks that you authorize connection and then log into Twitter. Once you have supplied a Twitter UserID and Password, the blog will be connected. This means posts on your blog are automatically sent to anyone in your network. In Twitter, Tweets inviting Followers to read the newest blog entries are sent.

Example: Connecting to Twitter

Another WordPress Dashboard section is called ‘Sharing Buttons’. For instance, providing a ‘Facebook’ button will automate the process of sharing a specific blog post with Facebook friends.

Adding Sharing Buttons to Blog

The ‘Theme Options’ selection can be found under appearance on the dashboard menu or by using the buttons under ‘managing themes’.

Share Buttons More Share Buttons

Blog Entry with Share Buttons Enabled

Services Behind the ‘More’ Button

The bottom of the ‘Sharing Settings’ page provides a few more options. Button Style, Sharing Label, whether links open in a New Window and where to show the Share Buttons can all be set

Formatting Share Buttons

Connecting with search engines and social media will help build traffic. To monitor traffic, WordPress provides a “My Stats” tab on the WordPress Login Page.

View Traffic Stats

Configuring a WordPress business blog is very important

An eye-catching Web site is only part of the story

Perhaps the most important task is configuring the site to connect with search engines and customers through social media.

Without the tools provided by a modern tool such as WordPress, a business puts itself at a disadvantage and fails to utilize all the free resources at its disposal.

Appendix B Summary

Contact: Roger McHaney, Kansas State University, [email protected]

Education

Appendix B, Web 2.0 and Social Media for Business, 3rd Edition