Dan Oren

Dan Murphy
Tyler Peterson

Introduction
I. Attention Getter- How many of you have used WordPress before? Even if you have used
WordPress I am sure that many of you didnt know that it was a social media platform or all of
the capabilities that it is possible of. WordPress can be whatever you want it to be whether it is a
fandom site, an ecommerce site, gaming, sports site, a DIY, photography, or a cooking website,
the options are endless with what you can do.

II. Central Idea/Thesis- WordPress can be used to be an effective tool to market the CMST
program, if effectively understood and managed.

III. Preview of Main Points- We will first look at the predecessors of WordPress and how
WordPress finally got established and built into what it is today. We will then discuss how
WordPress blogs typically trend and gain popularity. Through this we will figure out how to best
use WordPress to be an effective marketing tool for the CMST department to both current
students and prospective students. Finally we will tell you the dos and donts of WordPress.
Mostly dont use it.
I. Main point- History of WordPress
1. Created by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little in 2003 and created from a precursor
site of b2/cafelog. B2 was a blogging site used before WordPress and was crucial
in the foundation.
2. In 2004, the first plug-ins were installed into WordPress. In 2005, the first theme
systems and static pages are introduced through version 1.5. In 2007, The first
new UI system created which allowed autosave, spell check, and Widgets. Speed
optimization was worked on. Tagging was first introduced, updated notification
system and better URLs.
3. Throughout the years major updates have allowed WordPress to be more user
friendly and allow your site to be what you want it to be. Some of the major
updates were version 3.0 with (Thelonius), this allowed custom menu
management, new APIs for custom headers and backgrounds and a new default
theme. Finally this update allows you to manage multiple websites through a
program Multisite. Some of the other major updates included built-in audio and
video support, improved auto save, better password protection, live widgets and
header previews. WordPress is currently on version 4.5 (coleman) which added
inline links, formatting shortcuts and responsive previews in customizer.
B. None of us had ever had experience with WordPress before this project and we knew
very little about what WordPress is. Through our whats trending report we were able to learn
about how the site is used to gain followers, a personalized website, and creating a platform that
promotes the image you want.
i. Our initial thoughts and research on using WordPress to promote the CMST program
was that you could make applicable tags that students would be likely to look up. This could
include tagging Winona, Lake lodge, Communication studies department, internships, etc. In our
initial research we found that you can use plug-ins to target a specific group. There are multiple
different plug-ins that you can use to reach to a business. One of the plug-ins that is available on
WordPress is google analytics. This can show common trends that are rising or falling.

II. Main Point How content trends on your platform

A. Content tends to trend on WordPress through tagging, categories, and the discover page
within WordPress. There are a variety of blogs within WordPress and to create a large
audience, you must first know who you are trying to target. To get featured in the
discover page you must appeal also to the editorial team who picks posts to feature on the
discover page. According to Aaron Brazell, author of WordPress Bible, the meta
keywords tag is an all-important tag that provides overarching descriptive keywords for
the page itself.

B. Summary of your experience with how/why content trends on your platform

Content seems to trend on WordPress through administrators sharing popular posts.
These posts are typically very thorough and vary from a variety of content. Some of our articles
we talked about ranged from photos, preparing food, major holidays, and sports. Each of these
topics are very different, yet has a targeted audience and a large following. The main reason that
these articles were able to trend they were was due to the applicable content of the nature,
whether this was creating a meatloaf themed dinner for Valentines day or the issue of flopping in
the NBA, people are able to topics discussed. The administrators are also able to see the content
of their information and the audience they are reaching to decide whether or not they should post
this sites to the discover page.
C. Lessons you learned from the research and your experience that should be used to create
effective content on your social media platform to promote the CMST program to
prospective and current students
Our experience with WordPress has been a difficult one. None of us knew how to use WordPress
when we first started and there are many different options within the site that dont make the
platform very user-friendly. On our first day trying to post on WordPress, part of the site was
done and it wouldnt allow us to post or save any of the content we were trying to post about.
After realizing that it was because of the website partly being crashed we were able to learn how
to use the site more effectively. WordPress could be an effective tool for the CMST department
to write blogs of how their experience at WSU has been. WordPress is a very effective blogging
site and would allow a variety of students to post about different topics. These could include
getting a job after graduating, tips for your first big kid interview, and tips to do well in the
CMST department. These topics would highlight things we have learned in the department and
allow prospective students to see the applicability of this department.

III. Main Point Proposed platform content the CMST department should use to promote
the program to
prospective and current students
A. Promoting programs in the social media
i. After researching the best practices for using WordPress effectively we found
that there are many things you can do to have the best blog possible and reach the most amount
of people. The first thing is to schedule blogs and posts. This allows you to organize your
thoughts and create a timeline of when you are going to post your content. You can also get
ahead of your blogs and post them when they are scheduled. Another important practice to note
is that checking the metrics of your blog or page allows your to see the feed and what posts and
content you are doing well and what content you may need to get rid of. The next major practice
to help your page grow and reach a larger audience, is to use categories. By categorizing you will
be able to find your audience and allow the audience to find you easily by searching tags.
Publishing regularly is another important way to maintain your audience to so they will be
checking your content often.
When creating your blog or page there are some important things to note in order to
create something your target audience will be attracted to and want to visit often. First, create an
appealing, yet professional design. An effective design rests on propers choice of colors, high
quality imagery, readable fonts, a wise combination of the blank space and paragraphs of text,
informative charts, and graphs. Another key concept is to use obvious, user-friendly navigation
by making reachable in 2 clicks. Keeping your content relevant and easy for your audience
members to scan or skim through is another way to please your audience and gain more viewers.
Using pages on WordPress is an additional tool to use other than an post. Pages allow for posting
content that should stay there for a while and not change all that much. Themes are also an
important tool to use to effectively in WordPress to accomplish the purpose of the content creator
Multi-purpose themes can help diversify a creators ability to use a theme for multiple different
purposes/content. Another important tool to use on your WordPress page are plugins. Plugins add
a lot of functionality and utility to WordPress, and can be useful no matter what content is being
published. Lastly, connecting your WordPress page to other social media is a great way to get
your content circulated and can exponentially grow your following. Following trends on social
media also helps to create relevant content.

ii. After learning this research regarding the best practices for using WordPress,
we carefully constructed a blog that utilizes the plug-ins applicable to our site and target
audience. The first thing we did when creating our blog was find good quality graphics to fill up
our pages in an effort to keep the audience's attention. We picked graphics that were relevant to
our topics, many of which relate to WSUs Communication Studies Program or just the pictures
of the city of Winona. After we chose appealing graphics, we started looking at tags that would
attract students to our website and the communications department. Some of our regular
categories are Winona State University and the communications program. These categories are
broad and give us room to narrow in when selecting certain tags for our blogs. For our tags, they
differed mattering on the blogs we were posting. Some of the tags we used were job skills,
getting a job, and trust. We felt these were simple tags that people would search for when
looking at schools to apply for or skills they hope to gain through their college experience.
B. Ethically doing presentation of self and impression formation of programs in the
social
media
i. Research:
1. Actual Self: The actual self is is our backstage, or real self. This type of self is a disputed
conc-f
2. Ideal Self: The ideal self puts emphasis on positive, meaningful qualities of the self.
3. Ethically presenting self means creating an image that is accurate to the actual self of the
person or company. Someone who is only concerned with presenting their ideal self may
not be ethically presenting themselves, and to some extent can even be lying about their
 identity. A balance is required to reach the specific audience, but also be truthful and not
leave out important relevant details.
4. Impression Formation is crucial for ethically presenting oneself because we need to
create positive impressions, while also being truthful and realistic. The accuracy of
impressions will highly affect how successful communication is.

ii. Content reflecting the research

C. Increasing social capital & networks of the program using social media
The main social capital resources that are in our network include linking networks and bonding
networks. We could use these resources to increase our social capital and network to increase the
following on our page and reach more people in a few different ways. The first way is to utilize
connections in our linking networks, such as professors in the Communication Studies
department at WSU. Getting the professors to read our blogs, share our content and direct
students to would surely explode the growth of our page and help make it more well known. The
next way we could use our social resources to help our page is to connect with our bonding
networks, which are friends and other students that you have in your network. Lastly, alumni and
current CMST majors could connect the undecided students to professors.
ii. Content reflecting the research
D. Developing, maintaining, & increasing #s of relationships for the program using
social
Media
i. Research
We think that developing relationships on WordPress will start with attracting people already at
Winona State University. Through this process we will gain an audience that understands the
issues and successes at our campus. As we develop this relationship we will gain a pool of people
who could post onto our site and share their experiences. After we gained this core following we
could share the site to prospective students looking at Winona State as a potential home for their
college career. We would make sure to post weekly posts on the site students to look towards
gaining knowledge of our school. The nice thing through WordPress is prospective students
could look to a contacts page and find people to talk to about the communications program or
comment on the blogs of how that helped their decision or turned them away from Winona State.

ii. Content reflecting the research

IV. Main Point Best practices summary

A. Donts (under what conditions is this not an appropriate platform to use to promote the
CMST program)
WordPress is not as useful for a program for scheduling events, or making surveys to get
feedback on the program. Dont over tag or over categorize. Carefully consider the use of tags
and categories. Make tags short and sweet.
B. Dos (under what conditions/why/how should we use this platform to promote the CMST
program)

Great for creating any type of content. WordPress has a lot of flexibility and is able to create
blogs, websites, portfolios, so using WordPress to promote the CMST program provides a lot of
different approaches. Great for sharing personal stories and experiences, and creating a site that
has the identity and feel of a Winona State themed site. This is less available on Facebook or
other social media because you can't edit the content and structure to the degree you can in
WordPress.

Conclusion
I. Review of Main Points
We have talked about the history of WordPress and how it became what it is today, how
content on trends on WordPress, what the best practices as well as the things to avoid on
WordPress are and how it could be an effective tool for the CMST department at WSU.
II. Concluding Thoughts Especially noting what you as a group have learned and what
we as the audience should take away as the most important information from your presentation

We have learned that WordPress can be a very frustrating site to initially understand, but if you
are able to be patient and do you research, is an effective social media tool that is unique and
stands out. Understanding how content trends on our site and who you want to be your target
audience is key to build a following. WordPress is an extremely customizable site and you can
make it your own. The next time you are thinking of building a site or trying to build a
following, look into WordPress and what it can do for you.

References

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