Intellimon has just released a new software program, XCommentPro, which provides easy-to-use tools for commenting, rating and visitor interaction on websites.

Designed for maximum control and functionality, XCommentPro is compatible with Dreamweaver, FrontPage, ExpressionWeb, XSitePro and all major web-authoring packages. It can also be manually inserted into HTML source code for those who prefer to hand-code their websites.

XCommentPro takes into account the current industry focus on social media, offering RSS feed functionality and social bookmarking. With its social bookmarking links, visitors can promote page content using services such as Twitter, Facebook, Digg and more. The software can also create automatic "tag clouds" for easy navigation and indexing.

"We wanted to make XCommentPro a turnkey solution for website owners," says Paul Smithson, founder/CEO of Intellimon. "Anyone with a web presence simply cannot ignore the huge part that user-generated content plays on-line today."

According to eMarketer, an industry leader in research and trend analysis on digital marketing and media: "User-generated content is integral to the online experiences of millions of U.S. Internet users. From entertainment to communications to e-commerce, consumers are increasingly in charge of the creation, distribution and consumption of digital content."

Smithson is offering visitors to the XCommentPro site a free report on user-generated content. According to the report, user-generated content is the fastest-growing segment of the Internet: "The nature of the way content is being created on the web is shifting ... to a trend in which consumers are encouraged to guide and direct the conversation."

The report also notes that user-generated content improves a site's "stickiness" -- the ability to capture and hold a visitor's attention, and build a strong sense of community. When a site incorporates user-generated content, the report says, people are more likely to stay on the page and to return. A case in point, says Smithson, is YouTube, which relies totally on users for content. YouTube is the web's second largest search engine, only behind Google.