A Tool to Keep You Tied to Social Media

Now that you've developed a Web site foundation through a blog and have joined social media venues such as Twitter, Facebook and Friendfeed, how do you tie them all together? In this article, Linda introduces WIBIYA, a tool that will make your social networking easier as well as help build traffic to your Web site.

The WIBIYA Toolbar Widget

When you build a widget from WIBIYA, you gain access to a powerful resource that allows viewers (and you) to build community and develop a reader-friendly experience with the ability to:

• Create a blog search;

• Translate your Web page into twenty different languages;

• Add another navigation tool;

• Create the ability to receive and send live notifications;

• The ability for you and your users to connect to Twitter;

• The ability to create Facebook connectivity –  users can become fans without leaving your Web site and can view the full fan page stream including all Wall Posts and comments without leaving your site;

• The ability to share an article on your site through at least eleven other social media platforms;

• The increased ability for viewers to sign up for your overall site feed.

I installed the WIBIYA toolbar on Appomattox News, so you can get a taste of what to expect if you don't already use this tool:

The toolbar widget is so unobtrusive that you can barely see it at the bottom of the page as shown above, but when you visit the site you can get a glimpse of how this toolbar works.

Starting from the left, you have a search option with an option to search the Web site or the Web:

From the image above, you also can see the translate button. When you press it, you'll see a list of languages that can translate the article (uses Google translator). The next buttons, "Recent Posts" and "Random Posts" are simple – they enable the viewer to see your most recent posts or to ramble through your site via random posts.

Over on the right side of the toolbar, you'll see a button that is used for signing up for the RSS feed as well as a share button. When you click on the "Share" button, you can see the places where readers (or you) can share an article:

Next to the Share button is the Facebook Community button. I'll show you the example, but don't laugh – I added WIBIYA to my site last night, so I only have one follower at the moment – but, you can see how the Facebook function works:

Viewers can see your most recent comment at Facebook as well as members, friends and a "shout" capability similar to one that DIGG uses.

This is one unfortunate aspect to the Facebook function – your readers will have access to your personal Wall comments and your image rather than your Facebook Page designed for your business...so this tool provides one more way to remember to keep your Facebook page personable yet within some boundaries, depending upon your motives.

The Twitter button, when clicked, shows your most recent comments on the right and any mention of your site in other Tweets on the left:

The Twitter app also includes a search button at top right and an ability to add conversations through the window above that left column. Also, users can follow you with the button at the top of the right column.

The last button on the widget includes your latest notifications and – last, but not least – a button that allows users to remove the toolbar temporarily from view (with another button that allows users to bring the tool back into view).