1&1 Launches Social Media Center for Management of Popular Social Media Platforms

PHILADELPHIA, July 9, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 1&1 Internet, Inc., www.1and1.com">www.1and1.com, a global leader among Web hosting providers, today launched Social Media Center designed to enhance social media activities for 1&1 MyWebsite customers. The two elements of the center, 1&1 Social Page Manager and 1&1 Social Share, enable SMBs to grow awareness and engage with end customers via the popular online platforms Facebook and Twitter.  The solution allows users to create a Facebook page effortlessly by replicating MyWebsite content into a Facebook page automatically.  Business owners can now increase customer interactions by updating and scheduling their posts simultaneously across different social media platforms directly within 1&1's Social Share management tool.  At a special offer price of $4.99/month, Social Media Center comprises an affordable and convenient way to conduct consistent social media communications.

Most business owners today recognize that social media channels are a useful way to raise awareness for a business.  Furthermore, search engines are now relying more heavily on social media 'likes', 'shares' and 'tweets' within their SEO algorithm, making it even more challenging for SMBs to attract traffic and sales leads.  A lack of time and skill can often lead many companies to fail to fully leverage valuable social channels.  As part of its constant enhancements to its MyWebsite, 1&1 has developed a solution for simplifying and achieving greater efficiency in the way small businesses can communicate on social media.

The 1&1 Social Page Manager designs a professional Facebook page based upon website content.  Business name, website headers, logos, contact details and additional site content are quickly synchronized with Facebook to create a business page similar to that of a business's website.  Within the tool, SMBs can also create customized Facebook tabs specific to individual pages of the website.  A simple on/off slider enables any subpage to sync with Facebook and create unique, custom tabs.

All elements of Social Page Manager can be edited directly within the 1&1 MyWebsite editor tool to eliminate the need for multiple logins.  Once a Facebook page is created, all updates made to a MyWebsite are also automatically revised on the social media page as well.  For example, if a restaurant wishes to include a new special on their website each day, the changes are instantly made to their Facebook page.  Such consistency across multiple online outlets helps to ensure accuracy and build online branding.

"Social media has comprised a paradigm shift in the way businesses communicate.  It represents a new level of transparency as consumers now expect real engagement with their issues", said Robert Hoffmann, CEO Hosting, 1&1 Internet.  "In fact, a recent study by 1&1 finds that nearly half of consumers feel that even the smallest businesses should be active on social media in order to remain relevant to them".

While many companies do create Facebook pages, a common mistake is failing to update them with fresh, compelling content.  It can be a challenge to ensure consistency across social outlets and outreach is often unbalanced across channels. 1&1's new Social Share tool enables companies to build and maintain relationships by engaging in two-way communication with followers and fans.  All previous posts and messages are organized and tracked within the manager tool.  Posts, comments and tweets can all be made via one, centralized dashboard and login. Small businesses can transform their efforts with the Post Scheduler, allowing them to plan an unlimited amount of posts at times when they are not able to do so manually.

"Our new Social Media Center can be a powerful eBusiness tool, in not only allowing the rapid creation of social media material, but also the centralized and timely management of multiple channels," continues Hoffmann.  "All business owners today would be wise to explore solutions to enable them to satisfy social media expectations in the long term.  There is real business value to social media when it can be done in an automated and time efficient manner."

1&1's Social Media Center is a further example of how 1&1 actively advises small businesses on how to achieve a successful eBusiness strategy.  Starting today, 1&1 MyWebsite customers can add the 1&1 Social Media Center to their MyWebsite package with 1 month free and currently a special offer price of $4.99/month thereafter – with no minimum contract term.

1&1 MyWebsite offers industry-specific templates for over 200 business types and is ideal for small companies with either an outdated website or no website at all.  With individual text, picture and design modules, any level of computer user can create a professional looking website in only a few minutes.  1&1 MyWebsite now offers more than 75 Web applications that can be integrated simply by 'drag and drop' into a website design to add functionality across eCommerce, communication, social media, or business management.  All 1&1 MyWebsite packages include 1 domain, 200 email addresses and unlimited Web space and data traffic.

For more information about 1&1 Internet, Inc., visit www.1and1.com">www.1and1.com.  

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About 1&1 Internet Inc.:
1&1 Internet Inc. is a subsidiary of United Internet, a profitable public company with a market cap of more than $5 billion. 1&1 was founded in 1988 and manages more than 11 million domain names, while more than 70,000 servers run in the company's five state-of-the-art, green data centers. 1&1's global community is over 12 million customer contracts strong. The company's U.S. headquarters is located in Chesterbrook, Pa. For more information, visit www.1and1.com">www.1and1.com or contact the company at 1-877-GO-1AND1, on Facebook, or www.twitter.com/1and1.