With the release of WordPress® 3.0, the popular Blogging platform has taken another step toward becoming a full-fledged CMS (Content Management System) along the lines of Joomla® and Drupal®.

The first thing a user will notice about 3.0 is the new default theme. “Kubrick” has been replaced by “Twentyten.” Twentyten allows you to choose your own header image, and with the click of a mouse, you can determine whether a Page layout should be one or two columns. WordPress 3.0 also includes a greatly improved menu management system, so that a non-technical user can create customized menus on a Page-by-Page basis.

Version 3.0 has not changed the fact that WordPress allows you to choose from a wide array of plug-ins. Again, with a few clicks of a mouse, you can download and install a plug-in that will give you a contact form, manage comment spam, optimize your Pages for SEO, and even go so far as to provide you with an e-commerce solution.

The role of a website is changing. It is no longer the unique representation of a company or individual on the Internet. Today you can follow a company or individual on Twitter or and Facebook, connect on Linkedin, and post comments to a Blog.

For each Page you build in a WordPress website, you have to confront the questions–is this a Page or a Blog? Do I allow comments or not?  In a way, it provokes the question: what is now a Website vs. what is now a Blog? With modern tools available, a Website should no longer be just an online brochure. It should, similarly to the example cited above about the use and “conversational” aspects of Social Media platforms, encourage active dialogue with site users, including information seekers, consumers, those who are interested in what you have to say and what you show/demonstrate on your site, and more. Because WordPress started out as a Blogging platform, it is highly suited for this interactive world.

An article entitled, “Why Do Websites Cost So Much Money?“, by Christine Anderssen (Tailormade4you), which appeared on January 10, on GOARTICLES.com(1), very succinctly summarizes the reasons why reputable web design and development firms charge more for their work, even to their smaller business clients/emerging enterprises.

Anderssen makes clear, simple and effective statements about the value of using professional interactive agencies: “Frankly, building a website so that it works in all browsers, has a good design and presents all the information about the company in a pleasing, eye-catching and user-friendly fashion takes proficiency, and this costs money.” More importantly, she adds that when you utilize a good firm, you are “paying for the advice, the support and the long term relationship.” We at MITRA CREATIVE agree—-these are some of the key factors in deciding to engage an experienced agency. There is value added through working with professionals who can see your brand from an external perspective and can translate your business requirements, messages and calls-to-action into engaging, highly web-usable designs instead of “just” designing websites. It is equally critical to work with visionary design agencies that continue to innovate within their discipline, but that also know your business and its culture well enough, and stay with it long enough, to maintain the consistency of, and to grow, your brand.

Most critical is brand. Simply put, design firms that truly understand business in addition to art and technology elevate brands by giving them credibility and respect and by making the appearance of companies forward-thinking. They do so using today’s most impactful, powerful and pervasive medium: namely, visuals on the web. A picture is now worth a billion words… everywhere.

(Article Copyright © 2010 Jayde Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

As all of us at MITRA CREATIVE wish our families, friends, clients, colleagues and followers a very Happy, Prosperous New Year, we want to share with all of you a great article that we read on the popular and highly informative, “social, media, brand” information resource/Blog called Penn Olson. The article, by contributor Willis Wee, speaks of the “4 Reasons To Employ Social Media in 2010″:

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

We usually comment on what we read, but this article — containing a compelling, concise video called “Social Media ROI: Socialnomics” (from the insightful work and writings of Erik Qualman) — brilliantly summarizes the Business Social Media landscape and we feel it does not require further narrative.

We very much look forward in 2010 to providing valuable information, articles, information about Mitra Creative’s happenings on this Blog, and working with many of you to support your interactive/media design and development, marketing communications strategy, corporate digital video production and Web 2.0/3.0 and other needs!

Mitra Creative has just produced a new website for Big Arrow Group, a New York-based full-service strategic consulting (branding, advertising and marketing) and communications firm.

SEE THE NEW BIG ARROW GROUP BY CLICKING HERE.

The new site is a refresh of Big Arrow Group’s interactive presence, reflecting an expansion of their brand and global capabilities. As with other recent Mitra Creative projects, in addition to introducing an uplifted design for Big Arrow, the site is supported by a custom-programmed/implemented content management system (CMS) and database framework. This CMS architecture will self-empower them to keep their offerings, case studies, media/multimedia and other information up-to-date.

Mitra Creative worked closely with Big Arrow Group’s leadership to ensure that the new website embraces their personalities and working style. It was important to reflect the genuine humanity of, and the spirit of collaboration in, the interaction between Big Arrow and their clients. Therefore, specific visual elements — such as Pantone colors reflecting the individuality of each member of the team — have been incorporated into the design to demonstrate Big Arrow’s true personal touch.

Mitra Creative is proud to announce the launch of a new website for DEEP RIVER TECHNOLOGIES, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based Microsoft® Managed and Certified Partner. Deep River’s specialization is in providing real-world business solutions surrounding the Microsoft® Dynamics® NAV ERP software suite to clients in the Consumer Packaged Goods, Industrial Equipment and Medical Device manufacturing, distribution, warehousing and sales disciplines, as well as others.

VISIT THE NEW DEEP RIVER TECHNOLOGIES WEBSITE BY CLICKING HERE.

• Deep River’s new site was produced as part of a complete re-branding/corporate identity effort for the company, including a renaming (they were formerly known as SoftBytes LLC).
• Among the virtues of the rebranding is the highlight of the Deep River team’s core values, the ways in which they engage with their clients (creating true long-term relationships), their extensive knowledge of the vertical industries to which they provide solutions, the ways they use the Microsoft software suite to solve business problems by industry and by their clients’ roles.

Illustration of the SoftBytes LLC Website Home Page (the client’s former website)

• Mitra Creative collaborated on the entire initiative with The Nurture Institute™, an innovative, forward-thinking marketing solution provider and think-tank that founded and delivers the Microsoft® Partner Essentials marketing program and the Microsoft® Partner Marketing Roundtables.
• The new, fully Web 2.0-enabled website encompasses Deep River’s new name, logo, messaging, as well as uplifted, professionalized visual branding and fresh new written content, and is supported by a custom-programmed/implemented content management system (CMS) and database framework.
• While the Deep River team will continue to engage both Mitra Creative and The Nurture Institute for projects comprising the website (development of new graphics, new site modules, etc.) and other marketing, branding and promotional efforts, they will be self-empowered through the use of the CMS to keep fresh across the site text content, material downloads, embedded video and audio clips, simple graphics, and much more.