The competition in the Web World continues to remain highly competitive.  There are hundreds of thousands and even millions or billions of websites out there that simply haven’t understood the power and potential behind Web 2.0.  For many website owners the term remains loose without a definition behind it.  Their websites are not performing or in most cases are loose cannons.  If you’re seeking to establish a well built web presence for your business then you need to be focusing on the most popular Web 2.0 utilized by other leading companies and brands.

Alot of business owners remain under the impression that a website is nothing more than a fancy web presence for your company and frankly doesn’t serve you well.  While it may be true according to their predictions it’s the other way around for the market that they are indeed doing business with.  Nowadays most people will perform research online for a product or service that they are interested in prior to engaging in a purchase.  Is that a valid enough reason to have an up-to-par website?  Hopefully in the next few bullets I can shine some light on this subject for you with the sole goal in mind to help you understand Web 2.0 a little better.

Web 2.0: Does your business compete?

By definition the term Web 2.0 refers to the commonly utilized web applications that connect and interact with the World Wide Web by engaging in information sharing, user-generated content, and interoperability.  It may simply be a fancy definition or foreign territory to you although breaking this down and decoding it perhaps will help you understand the purpose and need of Web 2.0.

Content Management System

• The day of creating static pages for your website are long gone.  If your website has been built with a series of static pages then I would highly suggest that you seek an overhaul immediately.  A Content Management System such as Joomla, WordPress, or Drupal just to name a few have the sole intent to help manage large quantity of content on your website while interacting with your visitors.  Such CMS solutions also offer the built-in security that every website owner should be concerned about when it comes to protecting their online presence.

Search Engine Optimization

• Having the power to be found organically in major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, & Bing translates to several great levels of opportunity within your business.  While Google carries over 80% of all web traffic as of 2010 it should be common sense to any website owner that your website needs to have some exposure in the Google organic results.  Search Engine Optimization refers to the way your website has been optimized for crawling  by search engine robots and the way your visitors find it relevant to their search query results.

Social Media & Advertising

• Social Media is perhaps one of the most important aspects of Web 2.0 and how your website connects with that particular audience.  With an active database of over 500 million users Facebook leads all web traffic on the internet as of June 2010.  If I don’t have your attention just yet then perhaps I’ll spell it out for you.  The tremendous opportunity of engaging in user-generated content networks can lead to more leads and revenue for your business.  A Facebook fan page or group should be a must for any website owner that’s serious in targeting the social media audience.  Another great social media network would be Twitter which helps you connect with various users around the Globe.  It’s another great way to promote your business by engaging in user-generated content that will essentially help you earn more qualified leads and traffic to your website.

Blog

• There are thousands if not millions of web users that make their daily living from blogging.  A business blog for your website is a must and should be part of your ongoing strategies in attempt to attract a wider audience.  I would highly suggest that you steer clear of blogging websites and applications such as Blogspot though.  If you’re serious about creating a well established business blog that provides relevant information to the user then the WordPress Blogging Application would be your ideal tool.

RSS

• Offer the content of your website for broadcasting and syndication to other users or website.  RSS simply stands for Really Simply Syndication while utilizing the XML language to parse content from various sections of your website.  Some of the the most commonly known RSS feed formats are RSS 1.0 & 2.0 and Atom.  This is a must have on your website and in particular one that consists or large amount of traffic.

Above i’ve mentioned and provide a brief description about some of the most commonly used Web 2.0 technologies on the web today.  As a website and business owner I would highly suggest that you take interest in some of these if you’re concerned about the success of your company in the next 5 years.

Have any questions about Web 2.0?  Feel free to contact me today and share your feedback with me.