For those not familiar with the concept of Web 2.0, it's simple. Today's websites are being driven not by content from the webmaster or company that the site belongs to, but by users of the site. Web 2.0 is a "by the people, for the people" way of surfing and interacting online. Major websites such as Myspace, YouTube, Digg and more are employing the concept with simple steps: let the users choose the content, let them display it how they wish, let them choose how they want it to be categorized and found, let them give the comments and ratings. In essence, let the users decide what content is worth and why...we just host it. Complete user control!
So why is this concept important to you? Well, if you own any kind of business, it'll be a major selling point and a way to further your marketing efforts. If you're just a regular, everyday person the concept of Web 2.0 gives YOU a voice, something that wasn't often heard of online a few years back, when the only way to get yourself out there was a website or blog.
The content from such websites incorporating the Web 2.0 concept is often viewed favorably and highly ranked by search engines. Part of the reason is because the parent site (in this case we'll refer to YouTube because our discussion will be based on this site) has gained such popularity. It has the highest traffic rankings in the world, and is the most widely-used website of any in existence (other than Google and Yahoo, perhaps). So, if you own a business of any kind, you can imagine what submitting content (be it articles, rss feeds, audio or video) to a site like this can do for your exposure and your site's own SE ranking (and in the end, your sales). And if you're a regular person (with no commercial interests) and just want to be heard and seen, then the same applies. Your face, your message, even your voice will be in front of literally millions of other users, and seen the way you want it to be seen!
So what constitutes Web 2.0-friendly content?
The answer to this question is again a simple one. Anything you deem worthy! Images, video, audio, text articles, blog and forum posts, press releases...all of these can outrank regular web pages in the search engines these days. This is because such content has its own set of optimization techniques that can make it searchable by the engines, located, and listed in search results if relevant to a user's particular search.
If you've ever heard of Universal Search, a newer search concept being developed and employed by Google, then you'll understand the importance of properly optimized multimedia content. In a nutshell, Google is now incorporating not just web pages, but also relevant images, news articles, video, podcasts, RSS feeds and press releases in its search results, giving users a more well-rounded search experience.
More on Universal Search and MCO (Multimedia Content Optimization) to come.
How does Web 2.0 make it easier for content to be found?
The concept uses a technique called "tagging," which is similar to assigning relevant keywords, to sort and list content. In my opinion, this is a much more effective way to list and rank content in search results. It is also much more cost-effective.
If you've ever used YouTube, and searched for a particular type of video, then you entered a tag. So what made this search more effective than searching for the same thing on a search engine? Well first of all, tags are listed by the creator of the content. They're requesting that this term be used to locate and list their content. This, in my opinion, leads to more relevant search results. Most search engines have specific and complicated "algorithms" for listing websites and contents according to keywords and keyword phrases. It is a science getting your website listed and ranked highly for your chosen keywords. Because of this (and because not all of us know the in's and outs of this exact science), it's possible that the search engines are leaving out websites and content that is very relevant to your search, just because a site may not be listed at all, or not ranked highly (according to their own specifications). This doesn't serve the user very well.
However, with tagging, any and all content that a creator deems relevant to a specific term will be included in the search results for that term, so long as the creator has set that term (and any common misspellings) as a tag for their content. This gives both the searcher and the creator of the content complete control over the search experience!
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As a marketing specialist, I've noticed that few business owners, professionals and entrepreneurs are taking advantage of Web 2.0 as they should be. The web contains literally hundreds of ways for a business to promote itself these days, and the majority of them are low-cost or free. I'm currently specializing in a select few of these methods, and this blog will be centered around using them to the fullest to create what every website, regardless of industry, really needs - a steady flow of quality, targeted traffic!
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