Are You Web 2.0 Ready? Creative Ideas for Modernizing Your Website
By Justin PalmerWebsites used to be easy. Throw up a few html pages, a hit counter, and a guestbook, and you had yourself some bona-fide cyber real-estate. Heck, you might even have gotten some decent traffic. But gone are the days of brochure-ware sites with animated gifs, under-construction signs, and web rings. So, what’s next? Web 2.0!
Web 2 Point What?!
Web 2.0 is term frequently thrown around these days. While many define it differently, let’s see what Wikipedia has to say. (after all, Wikipedia is Web 2.0 at it’s finest)
“Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004, refers to a supposed second generation of Internet-based services—such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies—that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users.”
Basically, Web 2.0 is anything that offers collaborative, dynamic, and user-generated content that creates an online community environment for your website visitors. Wikipedia, for example, offers an alternative to “old school” Encyclopedias by allowing people to edit the contents of its pages. Because anyone can add and edit information, Wikipedia creates a community of empowerment and trust. After all, who writes Encyclopedia Britannica anyway? Who cares?!
Web 2.0 has radical implications. Suppose you have a website that sells t-shirts. If you’re like most companies, you invest a lot of time into making sure your products are displayed and described well on your site. You probably have a few pictures of your shirts, and a well written description. But consider this: Who cares what your marketing department has to say about your shirts? Who cares how your t-shirts look on your paid company models? Normal people care about what normal people think about your products. Normal people want to know how normal people look in your clothing. So, how does Web 2.0 solve these problems?
Creating a Community
Why not allow customers to rate and review what they think about your products? Why not allow them to submit their own pictures of them using or wearing your products? Are you afraid they won’t have anything good to say? If that’s the case, not being Web 2.0 ready is the least of your problems.
So Where Do I Start?
Take a long, hard, cold look at your website. Does it create a sense of community? What reasons do people have to come back to your site? Invest in good analytics software and find out how often people are revisiting. If customers aren’t returning to your website, odds are your site isn’t interactive enough even if your products are great.
Empower Your Customers
If your customers love your products, empower them with the ability to tell others about it. Odds are, people respond to recommendations of friends and family much better than they respond to recommendations from your website sales copy. Stop throwing away your money on banner ads and try something new. Allow customers to copy and paste your web banner into their myspace or blog. Allow customers to “tell-a-friend” by emailing them from your product page. Create a “Street Team” for members to join. Make your customer feel like they a part of something that is bigger than themselves or your company.
Scratching the Surface
This article just briefly touched on the community aspect of Web 2.0. There is also another perspective that focuses more the technology behind the phenomenon. Although the technological facets of Web 2.0 are equally intriguing, your website does not have to be state of the art in order to effectively engage your customers. Start with the basics and move forward from there. Start getting Web 2.0 ready today. Chances are, a year from now, you’ll wonder how you ever survived without it.
Perhaps some of the best examples of a community driven businesses are tee shirt seller Threadless or c28 Christian tee shirts). Visitors not only rate and review products, but they also submit their own ideas and vote on future t-shirt designs. Products that are created and approved by the same customers that buy them simply cannot fail.
Justin Palmer is the owner of PalmerWebMarketing.com, which offers online marketing ebooks and SEO optimization tips.