As a computer geek, one of the most common questions I get asked is… “Should I upgrade or buy the latest version of __________? Windows, iPhone, WordPress, Thesis, iPad, etc. My typical response to my non-nerdy friends… “Don’t buy yet, wait six months for bugs to be worked out and the techie early adopters to blog and support it.” Well six months has gone by, DIYthemes is up to 2.0.3.1, and it’s time to take another look. While I admit it is not as easy for the amateur blogger or web designer as Thesis 1.8.5, its benefits outweigh the learning curve. I give it a “thumbs up” and upgrading its status to a “buy.” And here’s five things I like about Thesis 2.0.

1. It’s Added Even More SEO, Right Down to the Images. I have always been a fan of Thesis for it’s ability to have the best SEO options embedded into the themes. This version is even better. In future posts, I will explain the details, but for now, let’s just say the newer version has added meta data in more places–even media images.

2. You Can Create Templates for Different Pages. One of the hardest design elements of previous versions of Thesis was having completely different designs on different pages. If you wanted to have a different layout with completely different menus, sidebars and footers, you had to use extensive plugins and edit php code. Not any more, design freedom on each page can be independent!

3. You Can Create Containers & Boxes Anywhere on a Page. Can we say freedom? Want two NAVs? Drop another box. What to add rotator before the footer? Drop another box. Want to move things around on the page. Rearrange your containers and boxes. Enough said.

4. You can Code CSS Right into the Area You are Working On. I’m going to go geek on you a second, but if you wanted to customize sections perviously you would have added to the global custom.css. Now you can customize elements in the box you are developing and embed code logically where required. While this will be a paradigm change for old school Thesis developers, you will quickly realize its easier to fix and association code appropriately.

5. You can Define and Use Your Own Variables, Globally. Having the power to define a variable that changes the color in one place for certain page backgrounds or font sizes on the sidebar is powerful. When you truly understand that you can define and use a variable for anything, you’ll begin to see how this new option is a game changer.

There are tons more benefits, features, and options of Thesis 2.0 to talk about. Rest assure, I will dedicate and provide specific examples in future posts.

One of FunCity’s Clients

What do you like or hate about Thesis 2.0? What are your favorite features?

Fred Campos is Chief of Marketing and Head Geek at FunCitySocialMedia.com. Like this post? Make sure you subscribe to this blog.

As we have discussed in our previous post, “Why Blogging Matters for Your Business,” blogging is an important part of Digital Marketing for any company today. Just to catch yourself up, you may also want to check out the post about owning your domain name, “2 Reasons Why You Should Own Your Domain Name.”

In case you missed it here a few blogging stats worth noting:

* Companies that blog gain 55% more visitors than companies that do not.
* Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages.
* B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those who do not.

I think everyone understands that blogging matters, but finding the time to blog is the real problem. With that in mind, I thought that we would share a blogging frequency tip that @FunCityChief Fred Campos recently put together for our own blog here at FunCity.

* Less than five blog posts in the queue and we stay at 1 blog post a week.
* Five blog posts in the queue and we go to 2 blog posts a week.
* Greater than 10 blog posts in the queue and we go to three times a week.

If you have been following this blog for any length of time, you will notice that Fred and I have not been the best at practicing what we preach. Our blog post have been sporadic at best. We are a lot like a mechanics who drive the worst running car around but spend a great deal of time on other businesses blogs and consulting with clients. So to all of you readers from 2012, and to all of your future readers in 2013, we apologize in advance and we hope to do much better moving forward.

In future posts, we will discuss more WordPress design ideas and more small business blogging tips. If your blog needs an overhaul or if you need a better blog designed check out our Blog Design Specials starting at $997. We even have a new package that includes blog indexing to help you get started with your SEO working the correct way.

One of FunCity’s Clients

What is your companies blogging frequency? What is the biggest challenge that you have with keeping up with writing new blog posts?

Renee Groskreutz is Chief of Creative at FunCitySocialMedia.com. Like this post? Make sure you subscribe to this blog.

It happens to all of us. Sometimes we get stuck with blog topics and content ideas. It seems like a terrible place to be, but the opportunity can create new material. There are different types of blogs in the world, ranging from cooking to sports to business. For the sake of this conversation, we are going to purely discuss business blogs. The suggestions however, will easily transfer to other types as well.

Unsticking Tips for Blogging, Don’t Feel Alone.

Idea #1: What Five Questions Do You Get Asked the Most?

The answers provide great subject matter to write about. These discussions can save you support time by allowing you to address ongoing questions and issues once, without have to repeat the discussion with multiple clients. For example, at FunCitySocialMedia we get asked:

• How do I get to my Facebook Business Page?
• What is the difference between my personal Facebook and my business Facebook?
• How do I add a new page to my website?
• How often should I update my blog?
• How do I tweet out links?

Bonus Tip: Ask your employees or team members what questions that they get asked most often from clients. You don’t have to generate ideas alone, your staff can aid with potential customer needs, which in turn can be great blog posts.

Idea #2: What Five Things Do You Wish Your Clients Knew About Your Products or Services?

• We wish clients knew that an automation package does not negate them from interaction on social media.
• We wish clients knew that the key to social media is to make connections with people, not just trying to sell them.
• We wish clients understood that social media should be treated like a networking meeting, just on a computer.
• We wish clients understood to ignore the rude and porn people on social media.
• We wish clients understood that social media, like other marketing, takes time to see positive results.

Next we would like to give you several fill-in-the-blank ideas. However, we learned this idea from an expert. Go read Copy Blogger’s article. Copy Blogger is one of the most famous bloggers around and his entire blog is about blogging. Consider using his blogging prompt fill-in-the-blank method. Our favorite prompt is: The ______ Ways to ______.

Idea #3: Five Quick Tips to _______.

Idea #4: The Top Five benefits of ________.

It has been our experience that the biggest problem with writing blog posts are not actually a lack of content, but more a fear that no one will care. The sad part of blogging is that for the first 50 to 100 blog posts, you will have little interaction and followers. However, the happy part is this gives you some time to work out the kinks and to find your groove and voice. It generally takes about 100 blog posts before you start getting consistent response and followers besides your mother and faithful friends. Keep blogging, keep writing post and remember it also help with your search engine rankings so don’t quit.

One of FunCity’s Clients

Where do you get inspiration for your blog posts? What do you wish that you had done differently when you first started blogging? If you had a friend starting a new blog today what one piece of advice would you give them?

Fred Campos is Chief of Marketing and Renee Groskreutz is Chief of Creative at FunCitySocialMedia.com. Like this post? Make sure you subscribe to this blog.

As we stated in part one, The Social Anatomy of a Blog, our company name includes the words “Social Media.” When we build a blog for companies, we incorporate as many Social Media Widgets as possible and that are appropriate for that particular client. Below is a list of three more recommended WordPress blog widgets.

Examples of LinkWithIn, Socialable, & Wibiya

This plugin resides at the end of your posts and promotes related or historical blog articles to your readers. This is a handy way to encourage deeper reading by your audience and drawing attention to past writings as well. One of the benefits of LinkWithin, is it pulls thumbnail images to aid the linked title. This adds a visual component to your blog and further breaks up your writing.

LinkWithin requires a little more effort and time on the setup side, but the website url easily walks you thru the steps. Once you have followed their quick and easy process, upload the files thru your WordPress “Plugins” section of your dashboard.

#2 Sociable, by BlogPlay http://BlogPlay.com

A vital part of blogging is making sure that others can find and share your post. The quickest way to get others to promote your writing is to simplify the sharing process. The social media plugin, Sociable, installs share buttons that hang out at the bottom or top or your post. We recommend that you select the share buttons to sit at the bottom. More people will likely promote your passage after they have actually read it. If you offer it up as the last thing that they see before hitting the comment button, they are more likely to share it.

Sociable also allows you to choose which social media platforms to target. I would not choose all of them, but consider your audience and what platforms they utilize. Take into account other media you would like to be better found in. For example, if your blog is business oriented, then make sure that you give your audience the share button for LinkedIn. However, if your blog or business is more crafty and visual, then you’ll want to include Pinterest or Instagram appropriately.

3. Wibiya Toolbar, http://http://Wibiya.Conduit.com

Like the HelloBar mentioned in our previous post, Wibiya creates a band along the bottom of your blog that promotes associated historical articles for the reader to click on. Again, like LinkWithin, this promotes the further reading of previous writings.

Bonus Blog Tip: To further engage your readers and increase your comment feedback, we recommend that you always end your blog posts by asking your readers at least one question. See our highlighted alert below in cream as an example.

One of FunCity’s Clients

What are your favorite Social Media Plugins? What other plugins would you recommend to further promote and cross link your posts?

Renee Groskreutz is Chief of Creative at FunCitySocialMedia.com. Like this post? Make sure you subscribe to this blog.