The Basics: 41 Social-Media Terms To Learn For Realtors And Mortgage Professionals
An update of The Ibis Network’s previous list of social-media terms … New terms in bold.
The Internet is an incredible resource for real-estate and mortgage professionals but keeping up with an always-evolving online world can be a challenge. Sometimes the lingo alone can stand between successfully implementing a social-media strategy and being overwhelmed by widgets, avatars, and hashtags.
Active Rain – The largest social network for real-estate professionals. Launched in 2006, Active Rain has nearly 200,000 members.
Aggregator – A web-based tool or desktop application that collects syndicated content from across the Internet.
API (Application Programming Interface) – A computer system or application that allows programs and websites to communicate and exchange data.
App – An application performing a specific task able to be accessed by your computer or phone.
Archives – An index page that organizes past entries and older posts by date.
Avatar – The image, picture, or username a person uses to identify themselves on social-networking sites.
Badge – A linked image displayed on a blog that promotes a person’s profiles or participation on other social-media sites, such as Facebook or Twitter.
Blog – A regularly updated website or “web log” that allows a company or individual to post content and interact with readers through commentary, subscriptions, widgets, and syndicated RSS feeds.
Blogosphere – A term used to describe the totality of blogs on the Internet.
Blogroll – A list of sites, typically found in the sidebar of a blog, showing the sites that particular blogger recommends.
Content – Content on any website, including text, pictures, video, and audio materials.
Dashboard – The administrative area on blogs and social-media sites that allows you to edit your information, manage comments, monitor traffic, upload files, etc.
Domain Name – The identifying name or address of an Internet site.
Facebook – The largest social-networking site for individuals and businesses. Facebook has more than 500 million users.
Feeds (RSS Feed) – A program used by a website that allows the user to syndicate their content and provide subscribers with new blog posts and articles without requiring them to visit the site.
Forums – Online forums allow members of social-media sites to interact with other members by posting messages or questions on particular topics.
Geotagging – Adding location-based data to media such as photos and video to help users find businesses and services by region.
Groups – Communities within social-media sites that allow users interested in particular topics or activities to share information, posts, and messages with other members.
Hashtag – Used on Twitter, a hashtag is a keyword or phrase preceded by a “#” that helps organize posts, making them easier to find in Twitter searches.
Hits – A measurement defined as any request for a file from a web server.
Hyperlink – A navigational reference that embeds a link to a document or page on the Internet.
LinkedIn – A business-oriented social-media site for professional networking. Launched in 2002, LinkedIn now has more than 70 million registered users.
Links – Highlighted text that, when clicked, takes readers to another page containing related content or source materials.
Metadata – Information, including titles, tags, and captions, used to describe a media item or blog post in order to make it more easily found by search engines and aggregators.
Micro-Blogging – A form of blogging that limits the amount of characters or words per post, such as Twitter.
Permalinks – The permanent address or URL of a blog post or web page. A permalink is what is used when linking to another story within an email message or post.
Profiles and Pages – The pages on social-networking sites where a person or business displays their contact information, pictures, posts, and files.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – The process of improving and increasing traffic to a website from search engines.
Sidebar – A column or columns along either or both sides of a blog’s main content area that includes widgets, contact and biographical information, links to previous posts and favorite sites, archives, badges, subscription information, RSS feeds, and more.
Social Media – Websites that provide communities with common interests a means to communicate and engage with one another online.
Subscribing – Signing up for a site’s feed, which automatically sends you new content from that site.
Syndication – The process of sharing and distributing content online.
Tag Cloud – A visual representation of the most popular tags on a blog or website. More popular tags are usually shown in larger type while less popular tags appear smaller.
Tags – Keywords associated with a blog post or other content making them more easily found through searches.
Threads – Messages or posts under a single forum topic or the comments and trackbacks of a particular blog post.
Trulia – A real-estate search engine and networking site that allows professionals to create business profiles and allows consumers to find listings, blogs, and real-estate information.
Twitter – A micro-blogging site where members post “tweets” or messages of 140 characters or less.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator) – A URL is the technical term for a website’s address.
Wall – The shared portion, or discussion board, displayed on a social-media profile.
Webinar – A web-based seminar, presentation, lecture, or workshop transmitted over the web.
Widget – An application offered on social-media sites and blogs that performs a specific function allowing users to customize their profiles or blog.
Source materials here, here, here, here, here, and here. Original glossary here.
Please check back with www.theibisnetwork.wordpress.com for future updates and additions to this glossary.
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Josh Millar / The Ibis Network / www.theibisnetwork.com
To learn more about the Ibis Network’s Professional Networking Suite for Realtors and Mortgage Professionals which features these valuable marketing tools:
* Your own Real-Estate or Mortgage blog updated daily with original content
* Monthly e-newsletter ready to send to your contact list
* Social Media set-up on the 8 major networking sites
* Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of your business website
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