Instagram By The Numbers [INFOGRAPHIC]

Hello, Sp fans!

Did you all see this infographic on just how successful Instagram is… I agree with the folks at Kissmetrics, it’s simply mind blowing. What do you all think–share in the comments, repost and RT!

Instagram By The Numbers
Source: blog.kissmetrics.com

12 things to do after you write a blog post [INFOGRAPHICS]

{Download the full image, PDF}

Excellent INFOgraphic I thought I’d share. I read this on PR Daily (prdaily.com). Do you practice any of these things on your personal or company blog? Share in the comments and please Tweet to your followers!

Better practice: how to achieve better website usability

Research shows that customers cannot find what they are looking for on Web sites about 60 percent of the time. This leads to wasted time, increased frustration, and loss of visitors and trust.

Online service delivery of web product is a hugely important step in launching a web product or service. There are steps that need to be in place in order to achieve a successful, user-friendly and easy to use online tool. I am specifically referring to a website as an online tool or service. Building a website takes a village, literally, from the web developers, to designers, content creators/editors/copywriters, to project managers, there is a lot that goes into designing and building a website.

Probably one of the most important steps in launching a website is planning for and implementing usability testing before its official launch. I have been managing a very large web project for the past year, and I am currently at the phase where I need to work with my project support staff to create usability and site assessment Q&A for the testing work group. So I started to think about what the word, ‘usability’ mean. It is often over used in web speak but, what does it really mean? I like to say it as simply as the usefulness of the site. Attaining a better web practice means that Web managers have to put themselves in the users’ shoes when designing and curating content for a website, especially for a resources site where users go to get information they need to do their jobs and/or make their lives easier.

Creating a checklist to help identify and promote better practice is necessary when thinking about how to test a new Website and/or web resources for users. Developing and maintaining websites and web-based services requires that project managers consider users’ experience of how the they will access web resources. Conducting usability test on website before its launch is crucial. Moreover, it will help to identity any issues that may have been missed during the design phase.

Additional tips to help you attain high usability standards for your website:

  1. Create a usability testing schedule—pick a day to test the site every month or every 90 days, it really depends on your schedule and how frequently new content is being pushed to the site. If you post new content or update old pages frequently (say more than five times per week) then once a month is ideal. Conversely, if you add new content or update old content a few times a month, perhaps a 90-day schedule might be sufficient. Irrespective of what schedule you choose, make sure that you add usability testing to your calendar and to-do list to ensure that you’re consistently meeting your users’ needs in terms of how things are aggregated on your organization website.
  2. Educate your staff on the importance of writing plainly for the web—if you work in web then you know the importance of writing in plain language for the web. The web is a very different kind of medium / tool in the sense that users are looking for something specific and if they cannot find it on your website, they will quickly go to your competitors. And who wants that, right? If you collect donations on your website, make it obvious + easy for donors to donate to your cause. If you release new products regularly, create a prominent call out on your home page so users can click-through to view all your new items and how they can purchase. If you need to drive up traffic to your social media pages on Facebook and drum up following on Twitter, make it easy for followers to find and connect with you online.
  3. Make your site accessible, useful and usable—there are different types of web visitors but oftentimes web managers forget about users with disability, i.e., blind or those using assistive technology to access the web. It is important to recognize and plan for these visitors as they require even more user-centered design in order to get the information they need using their assistive technology devices. Create documents that are 508 complaint, especially for those organizations utilizing government grants and funds to fund a web project is crucial, as it is the top requirement. Section 508 is a part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires that electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained or used by the Federal government be accessible to people with disabilities.

What steps have you taken to ensure usability on your organization’s website?

RWW: 5 Things the Experts Say You Need to Know About the Facebook-Instagram Merger

Instagram (Image: ReadWriteWeb)Instagram (Image: ReadWriteWeb)

There is so much chatter online about the Facebook-Instagram merger. I am not completely sure I like the idea of Facebook and Instagram together. I guess I don’t really see the value in the merger, but that’s just me. I think there’s something to be said when a rather successful company buys another successful company without really being transparent about what value the two will bring to users as partners. Either way, Facebook must have a plan for Instagram that the company is not willing to disclose now. Perhaps the plan is, as Copeland alluded to in his article, to boost its IPO value, who knows –what do you think.

“All agreed that the deal is big, but only time will tell how big. In the meantime, they gave us five areas to watch, as the Instagram acquisition may very well shift how Facebook views content and serve as an acknowledgment that the Web is becoming increasingly visual.”

Read Write Web’s (RWW) Dave Copeland did a great job of breaking down what the merger really means now and in the future.

Read more 5 Things the Experts Say You Need to Know About the Facebook-Instagram Merger.

What do you think about the merger?

How Gap connects with consumers on social media

How Gap connects with consumers on social media by Gil Rudawsky is a great article on PR Daily that talks about GAP’s social media strategy + policy. I have to say they make it look easy. I’ll have to applaud GAP for listening to their customers, not very many companies do that today.

Image: PR Daily (prdaily.com)

What do think about GAP’s social media strategy + plan?

Oh, how Pinteresting, Co-Founder, Paul Sciarra leaving Pinterest

“After lots of reflection and plenty of discussion with Ben and others, I’ve decided that now is a good time for me to step down formally from day-to-day involvement. Of course, I’ll continue to be there for the company:  now, as an advisor, an owner, and — as always — a dedicated pinner” –Paul Sciarra

From Pinterest Co-Founder, Paul Sciarra

Good luck, Paul!

What is your policy on Web privacy policy?

In order to ensure that everyone understands and plays by rules on your company website, certain policies have to be in place. The internet is an interesting medium—some use it for good, others use it for quite the opposite. Protecting user security and privacy on the internet should be an important part of the planning process when building a consumer website. As a web communications + web project manager, it is my job to ensure that users of our site are protected, but in doing so, we must collect useful data (via cookies, for example) to help with system upgrades and/or bug fixes to better the overall user experience on the site. I found an interesting study that I wanted to share.

In a 2004 study published in the Journal of Computer Information Systems, researchers at Western Michigan University “found that almost half of a representative sample of Global 500 countries did not use privacy policies on their Websites.” This is interesting considering the importance of it. Furthermore, “more than half of the entire failed to address how they would access information … additional studies show that only 5.7% of Fortune e-50 firms comply with fair information practices.”

Not implementing a privacy policy could result in business not collecting viable data from user, data that could prove to be profitable from a marketing standpoint and valuable from an online engagement and branding standpoint.

The study, which focused on online privacy issues, also found that when it came to the types of privacy control techniques that are used online, i.e., demographic variables and privacy, “research has shown that women tend to communicate on the basis of network-oriented and collaborative tasks, while men, on the other hand, communicate to elevate their social hierarchy.” Is this a surprise to you, why or why not? And while we’re on the subject, what types of privacy controls + policies do you have for your organization website?

A Very, Very Pinteresting Infographic

Hello Social plug-in fans,

I have been meaning to share this post with you for a couple of weeks now. I guess better late than never, right?! I am sure most of you have seen this very, “very pinteresting” infographic of the very, very popular social networking site, Pinterest. I will admit, I was hesitant to sign-on to yet another social site, but I wanted to know what all the hype was all about, so I joined, and well to say that I love the site is an understatement. Now, I have several boards and pins on all the things that pique my interest and inspire me.

When I stumbled-upon this infographic on where else, Pinterest, a couple of weeks ago though, I found it to be quite interesting that the site alone drives more traffic than G+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined! That is huge for a new site. I just wanted to get your thoughts on how quickly this site is growing.

Image: Huff Post Tech (Read all about the fun facts)

Companies like Whole Foods and West Elm are using Pinterest to reach a large population, build their brand loyalty and increase their customer engagement online. I simply applaud their efforts, I think it is a great online tool for companies looking to attract new customers and retain existing customers by sharing new products.

Are you or your company using pinterest? Why do you think the site is so popular? Share your thoughts on this popular craze below.

Creating a Media Kit

Hi Social plug-in fans! Happy Spring!

I have not posted in a while because I have been very busy at work and at home. I try not to talk about my personal life here, but I will make an exception just this once. I am now a new mom to wonderful baby girl, Arianna Carmen. She, and the new experiences of being a mom has been keeping very busy. Ok, enough about that.

Another reason I have been so busy the last couple of months is that my web project kicked into full throttle mode. Let me fill you in on my project. I work for a national member association on Capitol Hill. My role is to manage and coordinate all aspects of the Wx Plus Health Website that my company is building for the Department of Energy (DOE). Wx Plus Health is a new DOE initiative that is being implemented by my company. A new website is a large part of the deliverable in support of this new initiative, and that is where I come in. In a nutshell, the website is part resources, multimedia modules, and GIS geospatial maps. The map widget allows users to map and share datasets from radon, to asthma, to healthy homes providers, to poverty, and weatherization assistance for low-income families.

The website is scheduled to launch in the next month or two. I have reached the point where I need to start thinking about creating online promotional strategies and media kit to help create buzz and awareness online for the initiative.

Do you have any brand awareness + social media + media kit strategies + ideas that has worked in the past that you can share?

‘Til next post!

—Glor