Web Host Verio Adds Free Blogging and Photo Gallery Tools

WebKnowHow
Friday, October 6, 2006; 06:56 AM

Verio unveiled free site tools to help customers turn their Web sites into destinations online with the addition of photo galleries and blogs. Blogs enable both companies and individuals to connect with communities, personalize their dialogue with customers and visitors, and build loyalty through this information forum.

With the announcement, Verio customers now have access to WordPress, a powerful open source publishing platform that enables small and midsized businesses to manage corporate blogs, taking advantage of this trend in interactive media. Additionally, the company unveiled Verio Gallery for easy uploading and management of images on customers’ sites.

Verio’s new blogging tool enables smaller businesses to take advantage of an increasingly popular communications tool. The blog publishing system provides a method of managing blogs in an easy and intuitive manner. Users can easily compose a blog post and be published on the Internet at the push of a button. The application features easy-to-use default settings and features, and a customizable core. In addition, Verio installs the blog tool on the Web server, giving customers complete control to access and modify everything related to their blog. The most popular small business and home user blogs can attract regular visitors to a site, thereby increasing customer loyalty and helping to drive traffic through this type of active participation.

Verio Gallery is an easy to use open source photo sharing Web application that gives businesses a simple way to blend photo management into their Web site, whether a smaller personal site or a large community site. Verio Gallery offers photo administration and editing capabilities, a selection of themes to apply to a site and a drag-and-drop photo upload system, and the ability to grant or deny viewing permission for specific visitors.

For example, a health club could create a blog for its members to share work-out and nutrition ideas, or to pose questions about health-related questions to the larger club community. A gourmet food shop could share cooking tips and recipes with its subscribers via a blog on its Web site. Many of Verio’s hosting customers’ businesses could benefit from community-building exercises, such as the creation of a blog as a way to increase customer loyalty and improve site traffic.

“Small businesses are looking for innovative opportunities to strengthen customer loyalty. By incorporating interactive features into their Web sites, customers are on their way to creating online communities that increase the number of repeat visitors for improved customer loyalty,” said Dennis Boyle, chief operating officer for Verio. “In addition to small businesses, many community-based organizations can benefit from blogging and photo gallery features, including city governments, schools, hospitals and even local sports leagues.”

Additionally, Verio has also introduced a Web calendar feature with a browser-based interface and the ability to support multiple calendars that can share information among them and be managed independently with unique passwords. By adding calendaring functionality to a site, small businesses can better communicate sales events and other happenings that affect customers.