BASIC WEB 2.0 FOR REALTORS

We’re always going on and on about Web 2.0 for Business. It sounds good in theory, but how does it translate for specific business needs?

Julie’s a Realtor®, so the first thing to tackle was pulling in the MLS listings for her area. No biggie. Basically, it’s a snippet of code you can include in a web page along with a unique ID. See it here.

Next, we bolted on a WordPress blog with an old-time theme by GetTemplate. Don’t forget Askimet for security and Google XML Site Map for search. Naturally enough, realtors have a lot to talk about and share, so we re-published the blog on the home page as html using Feedburner.

ADVANCED WEB 2.0 FOR REALTORS

Here’s where it gets interesting.

• Del.icio.us Feed

Julie’s all about knowing the area. The best restaurant - ask Julie. A place to hike? Julie. So how could we build a links page that would be easy for a busy realtor to update? The answer: set up a del.icio.us site for Julie, grab the feed and re-publish it as her Community Info page.

Kudos to George Gumpert for nailing this down. We really love this feature - Julie’s already using it to help differentiate herself from her competition.

• Web Video Testimonial

We used our favorite MiniDV camera for web video, shot outside and plugged in a mic we borrowed from the band. Video can be so much more persuasive than text on the page - see the video for yourself.

STUFF FOR EVERY BUSINESS

• Google Analytics - Every website for business should have Google Analytics. It’s free, it’s fascinating, it’s vital.

• SEO - it pays to get it right with Meta Tags when it comes to the relevancy with your page text. We like SEO Analysis Tool by SEO Workers.

There ya have it - the birth of a new empire. Thanks again Julie!

SEO Workers has a very easy, very useful online tool for analyzing some basic Search Engine Optimization attributes on any web page.

To start just enter the url of any page you’d like to analyze:

In about 2 seconds, you’ll see the results:

Full disclosure - we’ve optimized this page already (that’s why it’s 100%). But it’s a very handy way to check your head tags for relevancy and search engine compliance.

Thanks SEO Workers!

Cory wrote this post back in August of last year, but The First 5 Essential Tweaks is still a terrific checklist for anyone installing a WordPress blog:

1. Install the Google SiteMap plugin - helps search engines find you.
2. Activate Askimet - this is a security plugin pre-loaded in WP. Prevents blogspam.
3. Burn the feed with Feedburner - this distributes and syndicates your blog
4. Change the Permalinks - keep things organized the way you want
5. Use the Contact Form prominently - Cory recommends this plug-in.

We’d add two more:

1. Install a new theme - it’s easy to give your blog a custom look. We like Rockin Themes.
2. Get rid of the Login Meta Data box - this is info most viewers don’t want or need. Change the default in the WP theme editor section of the admin section.

Thanks again to Cory for some succinct advice and lots of great blog design.

The Web 2.0 How-to Design Guide breaks down the basics into succinct, practical sections:

Not so fast, you say - web design is not quite so formulaic as all that. But these are the basic touchstones - greatness is in the nuances of your execution.

To make it all easier to grasp, we found lots of great examples in each category. Just scan the tutorial page to get a snapshot of good Web 2.0 design. Do it now!

Final note: once a style has been around long enough to be covered in this depth of polished, analytical detail, the style itself may be getting long in the tooth. So avant-gardists will undoubtedly be moving to flat poster colors and 3D environments. Or something.

But for the rest of us, the Web 2.0 How-to Style Guide is worth a visit.

Enter your url, hit submit and Web Page Analyzer shows you lots of interesting info about your page:

WPA calculates how long your page takes to load via differnt types of access (dialup, etc). It also suggests remedies for optimization.

Some pages may need bigger files than recommended by Web Page Analyzer, but it’s always welcome to see the arcane science of optimization portrayed in three simple colors.

Try it out on your own web address.

When we launched Online Copywriter last February, we envisioned a company dedicated to the word. Turns out clients need pictures too.

So Online Copywriter is becoming Goodtree & Company, Inc. Same caravan, just a bigger tent.

Stay tuned for more news.

SyncTwoFolders is our favorite back-up program. It’s great for iTunes, iPhoto and most anything that’s stored in directories.

What we like about S2F is it’s flexability and simplicty. You choose your source, choose the target and choose a sync option:

Short explanations of each option pop up in the alt text to assist you. We use the one chosen here (Source up Target) to send files to an archive. Files are added from the Source to the Target (but not the other way around). Nothing is destroyed or over-written on the Target. Perfect for iTunes.

You can get SyncTwoFolders on Site de Tom Christ Flo Joa or MacUpdate where it is a five star rated utility.

In this new spot for Upstate Carolina Radiology, one boy tells the other “My Mom’s a Radiologist.”

“What’s that?” ask his friend.

“I don’t know,” the first kid says with a shrug.

But it turns out that radiology is fascinating - it has the ability to see inside the human body. In “My Mom,” radiologists explain what they do - screen women for breast cancer using digital mammography, open arteries to the brain, kill cancer.

The new spot is currently airing on Lifetime, Food Network and HGTV. You can also see it on YouTube.

Special thanks to the doctors, nurses and staff at Upstate Carolina Radiology, St. Francis Bon Secours Hospital and Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.

Credits:

• Director of Photography: Kenneth Wilson
• Gaffer: Randy Whiteland
• Key Grip: Steve Cabinum
• Sound: Sid Williams
• Stylist: Lorrie Hobler
• Editor: Joshua Steadman
• Writer/Director: Hal Goodtre

Coincidentally, we’re using 4 of the 9 fonts in current projects including VAG Rounded and American Typewriter.

Want a really nutty alternative to Courier? Try Mom’s Typewriter.

Web-2.0-ness is many things - design, concept, functionality, inter-connectedness. Sometimes, just looking at a few links is worth a thousand words.

Therefore, I’ve updated my Web 2.0 links on del.icio.us so you can see it all in one place.

In this spot, the mission is to explain endoscopic laser ablation. That’s a procedure to treat varicose veins without traditional surgery. With an incision the size of a pencil tip, special doctors called Interventional Radiologists operate from inside your veins while observing the procedure with x-rays.

How to bake a little charm into the message? And how to get the actress (Kerry Murphy) to wash my pickup truck? See the spot on YouTube and find out.

Also airing on Lifetime, Food Network and HGTV.

Special thanks to my friends at Southern Vascular Institute.

Credits:

• Director of Photography: Kenneth Wilson
• Gaffer: Randy Whiteland
• Key Grip: Steve Cabinum
• Sound: Sid Williams
• Stylist: Lorrie Hobler
• Editor: Joshua Steadman
• Writer/Director: Hal Goodtree

Blogsolid offers expert advice and tips on the full range of blogging culture - basics, growth and power blogging.

Even the design makes this blog worth visiting. It’s original and unusually easy to understand. Have a look at Blogsolid right now.

See a lot of really good work, all in one place, in an easy to browse format (just mouseover the thumbnails and a screengrab pops up in flash) - Best of 07 on BWG.