FAQs

For more social media glossary terms you can also find information at HubSpot’s Ultimate Glossary.

What is a blog?

The term is short for Web log. Originally blogs were online diaries. Now, businesses use blogs to share insights and exchange ideas with their constituents. Blogs are part of the interactive, transparent Web 2.0 landscape. The author can post a short or long article or idea, sharing links, images, video, audio and where people outside the business can post comments to that article or idea visible to all readers. This can then start a conversation among multiple readers and the author about the content.

Why should I have a blog?

The Internet has been undergoing a very specific transformation that changes how we use it. It’s a fundamental change, which means if you do not participate your online presence will erode.  The Internet used to only be about pushing information and now there is an exchange happening. There is an open dialogue. Customers are speaking directly with organizations in a two-way online conversation. Blogging is at the forefront of the second version of how we interact on the Web. Organizations that do not have a blog will appear outdated, disinterested, closed off, and will sink in search engine rankings. Gone are the days of static websites. Just like we went from print only marketing materials to websites, we are going from brochure websites to conversational websites. “An interactive blog component built into a corporate site will soon become a standard part of up-to-date site design.” –Debbie Weil, The Corporate Blogging Book.

What is social media?

Social media pertains to media which is circulated through online social interaction.  This could be content that is created specifically for the outlet type, such as an article for a blog, or content derived from existing marketing materials, or an idea that you might write to someone in an email to elicit feedback, for an example. Or, it could be content delivered in the form of a video, image, or audio clip. But with this content there is a shared area for outside comments regarding the content. This is the social component, which enables a conversation to happen. It changes the dynamic of a one-to-many monologue distribution system to a dialogue. As the Wikipedia states, “It (social media) supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.”.

What is social networking?

It is networking, which has been around for a long time. The term is now referring to conducting this networking activity online. It is the act of expanding contacts and making connections through individuals. There are several tools and platforms that were developed as online social networking tools and which are now being leveraged for social media, or social media marketing purposes. You will find the terms social media and social networking interchanged. Some reasons why the social networking tools have become popular and valuable for social media marketing is because of the ability to find and attract a target audience. Social networking tools and platforms offer information about the individual such as background, likes/dislikes, activities, etc. that help to describe that person.

What is Twitter?

Per Wikipedia, “Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers who are known as followers. It is a free service. (www.twitter.com) You are also able to share links to other content via twitter. You can create a conversation in twitter by adding someone’s twitter name in a post (@angeladaniello, for example). Tweets show up in a real time timeline of tweets.  People can keep track of who has tweeted about them and or retweeted (a.k.a RT) their tweet.

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social networking service. From Wikipedia, “Users can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, and school or college. The website’s name stems from the colloquial name of books given at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the US with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better.” Facebook has gained enough popularity with businesses that facebook now offers a way to create a page tailored for a business.

What is Web 2.0?

Per Wikipedia, “The term “Web 2.0” (2004–present) is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Examples of Web 2.0 include web-based communities, hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups, and folksonomies. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with other users or to change website content, in contrast to non-interactive websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them.” Non-interactive website are also known as static websites. Web 2.0 is also facilitating the need to change the design of business Websites so that companies can offer this collaborative interaction.

What is Web 3.0?

The Digital Inspiration has a nice outline of Web 1.0, 2.0, and 3.O here ..saying that 1.0 was “the mostly read only Web”, 2.0 is the “wildly read-write Web”, and 3.0 as “the portable personal Web”.  Another definition for 3.0 I like is from Todd Lucier, “location-aware and moment-relevant”. It is the mobile aspect that is playing a key role in the next version of the Internet. It takes the twitter question, what are you doing? and adds where are you? …and what are you doing?

What is a widget?

Per Wikipedia, “A widget is a stand-alone application that can be embedded into third party sites by any user on a page where they have rights of authorship (eg. a webpage, blog, or profile on a social media site). Widgets are fun, engaging, and useful applications that allow users to turn personal content into dynamic web apps that can be shared on just about any website. For example, a “Weather Report Widget” could report today’s weather by accessing data from the Weather Channel, it could even be sponsored by the Weather Channel. Should you want to put that widget on your own Facebook profile, you could do this by copying and pasting the embed code into your profile on Facebook. Widgets use and depend on web APIs exposed either by the browser or by a widget engine such as Widgetbox, Widsets, Akami, WebWag or Plusmo.

What is an API?

Per Wikipedia, “An application programming interface (API) is an interface implemented by a software program to enable interaction with other software, similar to the way a user interface facilitates interaction between humans and computers. APIs are implemented by applications, libraries and operating systems to determine the vocabulary and calling conventions the programmer should employ to use their services. It may include specifications for routines, data structures, object classes and protocols used to communicate between the consumer and implementer of the API.”

What is a permalink?

Per Wikipedia, “A permalink, or permanent link, is a URL that points to a specific blog or forum entry after it has passed from the front page to the archives. Because a permalink remains unchanged indefinitely, it is less susceptible to link rot. Most modern weblogging and content-syndication software systems support such links. Other types of websites use the term permanent links, but the term permalink is most common within the blogosphere. Permalink is a portmanteau word made from permanent link. Permalinks are often simply stated so as to be human-readable.”

What is link rot?

Per Wikipedia, “Link rot (or linkrot) is the process by which links on a website gradually ends up pointing to a web page or server that is permanently unavailable as time goes on. The phrase also describes the effects of failing to update web pages so that they become out-of-date, containing information that is old and useless, and that clutters up search engine results. A link that doesn’t work anymore is called a Dead Link, broken link or dangling link. Because broken links are to some very annoying, generally disruptive to the user experience, and can live on for many years, sites containing them are regarded as unprofessional.”

What are trackbacks?

Per Wikipedia, “A trackback is one of three types of linkbacks, methods for Web authors to request notification when somebody links to one of their documents. This enables authors to keep track of who is linking, and so referring, to their articles. Some weblog software programs, such as Serendipity, WordPress, CuteNewsRU, Movable Type, Typo, Telligent Community, Kentico CMS and Drupal (via contrib modules), support automatic pingbacks where all the links in a published article can be pinged when the article is published. The term is used colloquially for any kind of linkback.”

What is an RSS feed?

Per Wikipedia, “RSS (most commonly expanded as “Really Simple Syndication”) is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format. An RSS document (which is called a “feed”, “web feed”, or “channel”) includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically. They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. RSS feeds can be read using software called an “RSS reader”, “feed reader”, or “aggregator”, which can be web-based, desktop-based, or mobile-device-based. A standardized XML file format allows the information to be published once and viewed by many different programs. The user subscribes to a feed by entering into the reader the feed’s URI or by clicking an RSS icon in a web browser that initiates the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user’s subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a user interface to monitor and read the feeds. RSS formats are specified using XML, a generic specification for the creation of data formats. Although RSS formats have evolved from as early as March 1999, it was between 2005 and 2006 when RSS gained widespread use, and the icon was decided upon by several major Web browsers.”

What is a gravatar?

Per Wikipedia, “Gravatar (an abbreviation for globally recognized avatar) is a service for providing globally-unique avatars which was created by Tom Preston-Werner.” An Avatar is “…a computer user’s representation of himself/herself or alter ego, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, a two-dimensional icon (picture) or a one-dimensional username used on Internet forums and other communities, or a text construct found on early systems such as MUDs (multi-user domain).” Once you set up your gravatar, your image automatically shows  up where you make comments online in blogs, forums, etc., where gravatars are displayed.

Can I have a blog and not do social networking?

Certainly. Although, I would argue that blogging is social networking. I view the blog as the hub to social media/networking. You can extend that reach by using twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc. I think there are other business purposes to used linkedin, however, that should definitely be considered—such as human resources. Stopping and investigating the best strategy is what should happen first. Take a look at your industry and see where the social media participation is happening and what the quality is. Look at what your goals are and how you want to be ‘in the conversation’.

How do I tie in facebook, twitter, linkedin with my blog and other marketing efforts such as email?

There is not a one size fits all answer to this question. But the question is a good one because it is considering social media as an integrated effort. Integrated marketing is not a new idea and social media is not a strategy; it is a new marketing channel with a certain style. Social networking tools are channels that are open and collaborative. Going back to the blog as the hub, facebook, twitter, linkedin would be the spokes, the extended reach of your conversation. Email can play a very proactive role in this effort by drawing in and directing your audience to specific content. Email can highlight a ‘conversation’ call to action. What you do and how you do it can be tailor-made for you and your audience so that you can produce the value desired by both.

How do I set up a blog with my existing Website?

A blog can be setup separately from your website with a link from your website to your blog. Or, it can be part of your website. Or, it can be your website with the inclusion of additional pages that still offer information such as contact, location, resources, etc. With this style, your audience would be welcomed by your blog content on the home page. Your most in-depth information and conversations would greet your visitors first.

How do I track traffic with a blog and other social media?

There are many many analytics tools out there, and you may already be using one for your website that you will automatically connect your blog with.  A good free tracker is Google Analytics. You will also be able to track traffic through the blog service you are using. For example, WordPress includes a dashboard with comments, pingbacks, and incoming links (where other blogs link to your blog). There are also web analytics packages that will help you track all of your social media outlets. Helps you follow conversations and traffic in one package. Once you are attracting sizable traffic (if that’s even your goal), you will probably be interested in knowing your ranking popularity across certain sites such as Digg.

I am a B2B; why should I be concerned with social media? Isn’t it really for B2C?

If you haven’t looked, check out who in your industry is already using social media. See what the conversations are all about, who’s participating, and how often. I think you will be surprised. Your industry has a voice in social media, and there is a conversation happening…without you. Thought leadership is vital for B2B and social media is a tool to extend your reach and create opportunities to display your knowledge. And if you haven’t read my comment about search engine ranking and social media, check this blog post. If you are concerned about search engine ranking, you should be concerned about social media. If you are concerned about how your brand is perceived, you should be concerned about social media. If you think you can be a thought leader without using social media, think again.

What makes a good blogger?

A good blogger is someone who can write well, in a conversationally style. This is someone who can write in a compelling way, who can convey their own excitement about what they are writing about, and who is adding value to their readers. This blogger sees the opportunity in negative comments and or feedback and handles that interaction with tact and grace, while proving to the readers that it is an opportunity.  Consistency – the good blogger publishes frequently and consistently. The good blogger is someone who understands the blogosphere and how to work with it, someone who is a good listener and who can pull in ideas, opinions and reaction from reader comments.

Can more than one person write posts for a single blog?

Yes. You could have a main blogger and then invite in guest bloggers from outside your organization, like you would for a speaking panel or webcast, for example. Or, you could assign other people inside your organization to write a post. You could even setup individual blogs for your organization. This would provide representative views from product marketing, customer service, human resources, for example. You could also pull in RSS feeds of industry bloggers who’s information works well with your content and adds value.