Web 2.0 is a phrase coined in 2004 By O'Reilly Media. It refers to a theoretical second generation of Internet-based media and social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, etc and which emphasize online communities among users. Adaptability and improvement through the actions of users is an important feature of Web 2.0. Since 2004, some developers and marketers have adopted the term, though the exact definition of it is still debated. Some accept the idea of a new Internet as conventional wisdom. Others believe it is meaningless and just a marketing buzzword.
The technological infrastructure of Web 2.0 includes server software, the syndication of content, new messaging protocols, browsers based on specific standards which are expandable through plug-ins and extensions, and many client applications. These technological approaches provide Web 2.0 with capabilities in information storage, creation and dissemination that are changing the face of the Internet as we know it. Web 2.0 websites can include syndication of data, the use of tags (folksonomies), the use of wiki software (software that allows users to create and edit content on a collaborative website), and many other features.
Blogs are another important feature that has come into being with the advent of Web 2.0. Blog is a term short for wegblog, a personal or commercial website created in the format of an online journal. Entries appear in the sequence in which they are written. Blogs are generally methods for spreading opinion or personal reflection, rather than facts.
Wikis are another important part of the Web 2.0 mindset. Wiki software allows users to create and edit content on a collaborative website. The more use a wiki site receives, the denser its content becomes, and the higher its usability. The work wiki is abbreviated from the Hawaiian word wikiwiki, meaning quick.
Other features of Web 2.0 include Ajax, a web development technique for creating interactive applications; CSS, a stylesheet language which greatly increases the versatility of web design; XML and XHTML, (eXtensible Markup Language and eXtensible Hypertext Markup Language.) RSS feeds allow content to be easily syndicated from one site to another, and shortened, more readable URLs facilitate easier understanding of site names.
Folksonomy is another interesting concept that Web 2.0 has brought to the world. The word is a portmanteau of the words folk and taxonomy, meaning the spontaneous cooperation of a group of people in categorizing information. The most common forms of folksonomy are tagging and tag clouds, where users willingly categorize blog entries and other information. This allows the information to be easily sorted by someone browsing the Web.
The benefit of Web 2.0 is that it creates an increasingly manipulable Web environment, based on the actions of users in community. This environment increases in depth and usefulness as the users change and add to it. Web 2.0 is not only a technological phenomenon. The technology merely enables the growing social phenomenon of users interacting together on the Internet.
One of the first Web 2.0 style sites was Amazon and it's ability to allow users to post book reviews. This was and is very popular with Amazon visitors. The visitor has an experience that mimics real life. Average people are commenting on books that we are considering purchasing. We tend to trust a book review from someone we know or meet just because we feel it is unbiased. They are not necessarily trying to sell us anything.
The new web 2.0 experience is very much user-driven. Sites like YouTube, Flikr, Technorati and Digg are essentially controlled by the users. They create the content and decide how it's displayed by ranking it. The articles, pictures and videos that are voted the most popular receive greater exposure.
Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia is created by it's users. The entries are entirely written by the general public.
Blogs are the backbone of Web 2.0. Blogs have been around for a while. At their simplest a blog is just an online diary where entries are displayed in reverse date order, with the newest at the top.
Blogs were decentralized from their very beginning. Blogs are a great example of how emerging voices are not only being heard but amplified. Blog postings, typically updated daily, can also include images, photos, links, video and audio.
Then of course, there are the social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. These are immense web communities with hundreds of millions of users. They allow subscribers to create web spaces where they can share their thoughts, music, videos and pictures. People can become your friends and then stay in contact with all your various activities.
There are also sites like del.icio.us, that allow you to bookmark your favorite sites and share those bookmarks with others.
These types of sites have become incredibly popular. The users of these sites now control the content. This creates a very rich and ever-changing experience that is very engaging.
For online marketers web 2.0 sites offer a new way of generating traffic. This way of traffic generation may seem a bit hit and miss compared to traditional SEO (search-engine optimization) but in reality it is very effective. The main difference between traditional SEO and web 2.0 is that the results can be almost immediate. For example, if you were to post an article (or a link to an article be exact) on Digg and the users of Digg found the article interesting, they could vote it up in the rankings. If your article showed up on the main page your site could receive hundreds of thousands of visits. This could all happen in a matter of hours. Try getting that kind of response from a search engine. Google would probably take a month or more to even index the page.
At the same time this traffic will probably be short lived. However, you would still have a link from Digg pointing to your site, which in traditional SEO is valuable and would help your search engine ranking.
Squidoo is another site that provides both traditional SEO benefits and web 2.0 opportunities. Squidoo allows one to create a simple web page using modular tools. You can use this page to link to your other sites and Google seems to love links from Squidoo pages. You can have as many Squidoo pages as you like and can use keywords in naming your page. Squidoo pages rank very well in Google and it is a way to get a good ranking for difficult keywords. When visitors come to your Squidoo page you then lead them on to your other site(s).
All in all, web 2.0 is a great opportunity for web masters and online marketers. And although his new style of marketing can take a bit of getting used to, it can also be a lot of fun.
Both Derek Both & Douglas Reach are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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