How to make the most of Web 2.0 in your business
Web 2.0 is still the Internet, but it is different from what we are used to. It involves participating in the World Wide Web through web-based communities and hosting services that allow their users to share and collaborate. Web 2.0 is the move away from websites as simple information resources towards a web platform characterized by freedom, participation, interactivity and exchange. So instead of just reading other people’s content, you can create your own, comment on, and even edit what other people have done; what used to be the ‘read only’ web is now the ‘read/write’ web.
The term ‘Web 2.0’ was coined by O’Reilly Media, an American media company, in 2003 and became popular in 2004 at the first Web 2.0 conference. The name suggests that it is an updated version of the ‘old’ Internet, but Web 2.0 is just a new way of using the same technology. Some of the most popular Web 2.0 tools are blogs, wikis, social networking sites, and RSS feeds, which allow users to participate in online communities and share content with other users.
A blog, or web log, is an online diary. Anyone can write a blog, and they usually contain images, music, and links, as well as content on a variety of issues and topics. A wiki is a website that allows collaborative authoring. Site visitors can add and remove content, as well as edit existing content. The most famous of all wikis is the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Social networking sites are online communities where people can build a network of friends and people with shared interests. These sites provide many ways for users to interact with each other, including chat, messaging, file sharing, and discussion groups. Myspace is a popular social networking site for young people, while LinkedIn is more business-oriented. RSS feeds are used to post frequently updated website content, such as news or blog posts, and website visitors can subscribe to the feed to receive instant notifications of new content. Most major websites have RSS feeds that any user can subscribe to.
The growing popularity of Web 2.0 has meant that companies that own Web 2.0 websites are the targets of major corporate takeovers. Websites that were launched years ago by small startups are now being sold to global media conglomerates for millions of dollars and those who created the websites are laughing all the way to the bank. Some of the biggest success stories of the Web 2.0 revolution are YouTube, Myspace and Skype.
Even if you don’t have the millions of dollars to buy your own Web 2.0 company, you can still use Web 2.0 as a great business tool. According to Website Standards Association President James Greig, Web 2.0 is an excellent Internet marketing resource for businesses of all sizes.
“Used correctly, Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs and RSS feeds can be easy and cost-effective ways to generate leads for your business, increase brand awareness, build your contact database, and even improve your business. your page ranking on Google.” James said.
“The Web 2.0 numbers are mind-boggling: Technorati indexes over 75 million blogs, 230,000 new members sign up for Myspace every day, and YouTube gets over 20 million visitors every month, so the sales potential is huge if your business can reach even a small number of these people,” he said.
“The great thing about these tools is that they are free and you can integrate them with your other Internet marketing activities to drive real, measurable results for your business,” said James.
“Getting your company name out there through blogs, networking sites, and articles will increase traffic to your website, and once potential customers are on your site, there are numerous ways to capture their details, so you can add them to your database and continue to communicate with them.
Here are James’ tips for using Web 2.0 technologies to market your business:
o Create a blog – Blogging is a great way for you and your business to get out into the world. You can create a personal blog or a general business blog, and if your content is interesting and up-to-date, you can attract a lot of potential customers. Blogging is a great way to build relationships with your customers – sharing information openly and honestly will increase their trust in your company and strengthen their brand loyalty. A business blog allows you to position your company as a leader in its field by providing up-to-date information and insightful, expert commentary. Blogs are also useful for building a community around your brand that allows customers to share their opinions, and are a useful tool for viral marketing campaigns.
o Create an RSS feed: Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds can be easily placed on your website and visitors can subscribe to the feed. This means that you can instantly send your web feeds or online articles to anyone who has subscribed. Therefore, customers can be instantly notified when you add new content, which will attract them to your site regularly. These are useful for maintaining frequent contact with your customers and also for increasing traffic to your website. Also, including your business RSS feed on other websites, especially popular and important websites, will improve your Google page rank and make your business appear higher in Google searches.
o Post your articles on article listing sites – Writing and distributing articles is a great way to position yourself and your company as experts in a particular field. Once you’ve written an article and put it on your website, submit it to sites like http://www.digg.com and http://www.reddit.com. Once your articles are featured on these sites, people can comment on them and add the link to the story on their own website or blog. When they choose to read them, they are taken to your website to view the article, increasing traffic to your site and exposing numerous potential customers to your products or services.
o Upload a video to YouTube – Like other Web 2.0 resources, YouTube is a free and easy way to build brand awareness. All you need to do is upload a video, which can be anything from a serious product demo to a fun skit with your staff members. You can use serious videos to educate your customers about your products or humorous videos to give your business personality and get people talking about your brand. If video becomes popular, it will create invaluable word of mouth for your business and drive numerous potential customers to your website.
o Create a LinkedIn profile: This website is used by business people to network with other professionals. LinkedIn is free to join and you can use it to make some very valuable business contacts. It currently has more than 11 million users around the world, so the potential to build alliances for your company and reach new prospects is enormous. All you have to do is create a basic profile of yourself, including your employment and education, and then you can start building your network and adding people to your company’s contact database for future marketing efforts.
Here are five of the easiest and most effective ways to use Web 2.0 for your business. All of these techniques can generate numerous business alliances and sales opportunities for your company, and best of all, they take very little time to set up and are completely free.