Below is a quick table I’ve drafted up (in no particular order) of types of sites or applications (types/apps), brief descriptions of each (what), benefits (why), as well as measurements of success to consider after integration (measurement). Consider the measurement challenges before you integrate however as all Web 2.0 applications are not created equal.

Types/Apps	What?/Why?	Measurement
Blog	Websites where content is presented in journal style, displayed in reverse chronological order, and often includes a comment feature for visitor interaction. Create or develop relationships with target audience, and potential/existing customers.	Where does the traffic come from? Where does the traffic go? Does the traffic convert? Which reader segment is commenting? Does the traffic return?
Wiki	A web site that allows the visitors to easily add, remove, edit and change the website content, sometimes without the need for registration. Allows a specialized target audience to contribute to, or create, content.	Is the topic (and therefore the content) popular? Does it affect sales and conversions? Who visits the wiki? Who contributes to it?
Social Network	A social network website allows interaction between users – publicly or privately. Identify and advertise to finely targeted groups of existing or potential customers.	Are the users discussing products and/or services? How much traffic does this create to the product/service pages? Is the content indexed in the search engines?
User Review	Website that allows visitors to write reviews of products, content and/or services. Provides peer product reviews to new or existing customer base. Establishes the website as the resource for researching related products and services.	How many reviews per visitor are read/written? Do the reviews increase new traffic to the site or keep the traffic on the site longer? Does this content increase sales/conversion?
Forum	An online discussion site. Create or develop relationships with potential/existing customers.	Is the topic/content popular? Does it affect sales and conversions? Who uses the forum? Who contributes to it? Does it bring more traffic? Is the content indexed in the search engines?
RSS	RSS delivers information as an XML file (aka RSS feed). Small software programs (feed readers or aggregators) check subscribed feeds for a user and displays updated content. Publish time sensitive information, news, sales, or incentives to potential/existing customers.	How frequently is RSS accessed? By how many subscribers? Are links within RSS clicked through?  Does RSS increase website traffic? Increase visitor stay? Does RSS increase sales/conversions? Which content is most popular?
Podcast	A podcast is a multimedia file distributed over the Internet for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. Provide value added, topical content in an easy to digest form. Reach new audiences via podcast aggregators such as iTunes.	How many times was the podcast downloaded? How much website traffic did the Podcast generate? Did the podcast increase sales/conversions?
Comparison Shopping	A price comparison website that allows individuals to see lists of prices for a pre-defined or search generated product. Reach a wider audience.	How much traffic does this send to your product website? Does it affect sales and conversions?
Video / Multimedia	Multimedia rich sites use a variety of information sharing via text, audio, graphics, animation, and video, to inform internet surfers. Share content with potential/existing customers in video format.	How often was content accessed? How long was it viewed? Until the end? Is the content indexed in the search engines? Does it affect sales and conversions?
Ajax / Flash	Ajax enables small amounts of user generated information to interact with a website server ‘behind’ the page – the web page does not refresh based on a change via interaction. Flash was once most commonly used to create animation, animated advertisements, and to assist in the integration of video onto a web page. More recently however, Flash is being used to create an interactive web. Serve user friendly applications to potential/existing customers in a high-touch (not high tech) manner.	How has Ajax/Flash improved the process? Does it affect sales and conversions? Does it affect corporate brand?
Mobile	Online content accessed via mobile phones, PDAs, and other handheld devices. Enables users to access your content or interact with your site, from anywhere at any time.	Does it affect sales and conversions? Does it affect corporate brand?
Portal	A site that provides personalized responses, content, or other capabilities to visitors based on input. Provide a personal (yet overseen), one stop shop, for potential/existing customers to enjoy, aggregate, or create content.	What content or applications are being used? Does it affect sales and conversions? Does it affect corporate brand? Is the content indexed in the search engines?

This post is the beginning of a series created for the slow-to-adapt. We’ll begin with questions that can only be answered by companies that know and understand their target market.

Consider first, whether or not Web 2.0 technologies are being adopted by your target market.

Are your customers or potential customers likely to participate in user-generated content? Will your site visitors read, comment on and be affected by content found online? Will they share their views publicly? If your target market is known to be passionate about the products you sell or service, providing them a venue to share their views can be extremely valuable for obvious reasons.

Are your customers likely to be comfortable with the newer websites, sites that function differently from those typical of the last 10 years? The more accepting of change your target market is, the more rapidly you can adopt or integrate Web 2.0 into your own web properties.

Do your customers frequent other websites that are using Web 2.0 features? If so, your customers are ready, and likely eager to accept Web 2.0 features on your business or corporate sites.

Is your target market tech, or web savvy? If your target market readily adapts to new technology, Web 2.0 is an excellent way to increase your market share. If your target market is slow to adapt, you might want to introduce Web 2.0 concepts into your web properties over time.

Don’t worry if you are late to listen to the message. It seems hundreds of internet marketing trainers are just jumping in now as well – a full year since I published Stampede 2.0. And sadly, one of my favorite marketing authors is still taking the stance that Web 2.0 doesn’t exist. I do hope he’ll come around soon before his business slips into red.

If you don’t believe me (and the words I’ve been writing to you since last January), then who would you believe?

Would you listen to Bill Gates?

After all, so much of how we run our businesses, so much of what we’ve accomplished online for the last 10 years can be attributed back to Bill. There’s absolutely no denying today that the web is big, is here, is integrated into our lives – just as Bill predicted.

• comScore reported that $22 billion has been spent online during the first 44 days of the Holiday season (November 1-December 14)
• Online spending for the year (2007) is project to be over $200 billion. An increase of 20%+- every year, for the last 4 years.

Not just commerce and business. The net also has a hold on our youth.

• Future Laboratory reports that 18-24 year-olds would rather spend 15 minutes visiting social networking sites than watching the idiot box, or playing video games, or talking on their cells.

So back to big Bill.

If you’d seen the future as he saw it 12 years ago you’d be a rich man or woman today.

Perhaps as rich as Bill himself.

Who, by the way, is only months away from retirement.

Follow a leader. Heed a visionary’s words and advice.

In Bill’s January speech he shared his vision for the future, stating that advances in connectivity, high-definition video and audio will be the top driving forces for the next 10 years.

What does that mean to you if you’re not a tech company? What does that mean to a company with an online presence?

This. Give your user what they’ve come to expect from so many other online properties. No, you don’t have to be the next FaceBook to succeed, but you do need to incorporate Web 2.0 principles and strategies into your marketing.

One area I haven’t had requests for the past year however, are queries on how to build a .mobi site. Even though anyone on their game here would see the huge opportunity based on how fast we’ve come to rely on the world wide web and cell phones – just in the last 5 years!

Take a few minutes out of your day and check out this new service Jagango. Integration into larger networks soon, this is a mobile-internet interface stored on Jagango‘s servers. In just a few steps you can create a personal mobile website. Wait till the ‘hip’ crowd gets a hold of this!

————

More information on Jagango is available through the press release on PRweb. Don’t forget to check PRweb weekly for news related to your industry. For that matter, be sure to leave your own press releases on PRweb whenever you want to get the word out.

This started with a reader’s comments and questions on http://www.stampedesecret.com/web20/contact/. I don’t usually post the comments left on that page (it exists purely for contact purposes), except in situations where I believe others need the same answers as those who write in.

As an aside, when you comment on that page please understand that if I do post it as public access, I will strip any particulars from it that will disclose your ideas, target markets, or full name. I have had enough profit-producing niche markets lost to competitors in the last 6 years due to being far too open about my online activities. I will do my utmost to protect yours when you take the intiative to confide in me.

“I would like to create a bespoke web 2.0 site…Could you give me any recommendation on where to go to research how this can be acheived? The only place I have to go for information and advice is the internet, as I have no geek (in a nice way:)) friends…”

editor’s note: “In the U.S., bespoke software is often called custom or custom-designed software.” (source: http://searchsmb.techtarget.com)

What’s A Non-Geek to Do?

Reports are in from Silicon Valley.

Programmers and Web 2.0 investors spending entire days at the local coffee shops. Brainstorming and making offers. Laying their ideas and innovations out on the table. Many want to be the ‘next big thing’. Other’s just want to copy what YouTube’s got, or digg, or MySpace. (That’s not smart marketing or business, but it’s the way of the get rich quick set.)

My answer to Daniel, in an email I’m about to send, is to start out his innovation with an out of the box solution that is ‘nearly there’. If you read his comment you’d have found that he has a great strategy already defined – he’s just looking for the pieces that fit together to put it into play. (Daniel’s planning on selling an ebook, then other products to fund growth.

So where now can we find a ready made, nearly there, application?

There are actually hundreds of these scripts and web applications available right now. Some not quite ready for prime time, some a little buggy but hold true potential. Some are open source (free) with no support, others are open source with some support, and still others with a price tag (but also with full tech support from the seller).

Define the Key Features of Your Web 2.0 Idea

Start by defining the key features you want to offer your website visitors.

• Would you like them to have their own interconnected ‘space’, urls, and relatively complete control over design, images, and links (think NewsVine or for lack of a better example, MySpace).
• Are you bringing people together socially under one topic only – where you’d want to offer them the ability to write reams of text, privately email each other, and upload a profile photo (think 43things when it first launched – people connected by tags).
• Are you after user generated content that is read or watched – then commented on, and rated by peers?
• Will you alone provide the content and your readers interaction is to respond and/or vote?
• Will you want/allow the posting of video content, online chat sessions, classified ad posting, photo uploads, etc.
• …or other features, interaction…

Only once your ‘features’ are defined can you start looking for a ready-made script, Web 2.0 application, or if customizations are in order, a geek (ahem, programmer) to make your vision real.

The Lions Are Restless, and Hungry too!

My visitor Daniel also said this:

“…I have found that it is difficult to know who to trust and where to go for good information – I would normally go to friends I trust for advice (how very web2.0!), but in this situation it is not possible…”

Sadly this major shift in website building has brought out a lot of ‘crap’ products. Products loaded with bugs but selling for high prices, peddled to make a buck off people who have no idea how to run them and who might be embarassed to ask for a refund when they can’t get the scripts to work. (I know! I’ve bought a few of them!)

You do have to be careful whom you trust in this business – especially in this era of Web 2.0.

You do have to be careful which programmer you hire when you get to that point. I’ve known great programmers who can perform miracles in 30 minutes, and had other programmers bill me three times the typical hours required for a job because they were either too inexperienced, or not trustworthy.

Only begin shopping for a script or programmer once your desired functionalities are fully mapped out and on paper. (Remember, it’s just paper – you can always rewrite, edit, or start all over again as you work towards getting your launch strategy in order.)

Tomorrow I’ll list a few of the scripts I’ve started with, played with, installed, tried to tweak, gave up on, or know a little about for your deeper investigation. Until then, map out your core functionalities.

Laura Childs
www.stampedesecret.com

Search by: innovation, features, Web 2.0 application, Web 2.0

Privacy Policies

Although privacy concerns are not as important to the younger surfer (according to research and by younger I mean young adults 18-29), you still want to post a privacy policy on your site that is accessible from every page the site generates. This is often included as a link in the footer.

Although young adults are more immune to the worries over what Web 2.0 social networking sites use their personal information for, there is some concern that such sensitive information will be hacked, mined, or result in identity theft. Media is the cause of this anxiety as they continue to focus on the variety of ways web-based data is insecure. In reality, fewer than the media would have us believe, suffer from any of this.

However, as a Web 2.0 site builder or entrepreneur, you will want to address your visitors’ concerns as early as it crosses their minds especially if sensitive information is to be shared on your site.

You’ll also need to lock up that data behind a secure connection. Consult with a lawyer over the verbiage you’ll use in your privacy policy to protect yourself should any senstive user data be accessed. Better yet, run a site that doesn’t require such annoyances. Post your policy, yes, but don’t ask for any highly personal information from your audience.

We’ll talk more about privacy policies for Web 2.0 sites again. Let’s get into some of the funner aspects of site creation and interactivity in the meantime (come back tomorrow).

Laura Childs
www.stampedesecret.com

Search by: Web 2.0

Google certainly has!

Google has indexed 364,000 references on wikio, whose home page only employs a measly PR6. Now I never was one to get all worked up about Google’s PR system, but I do often use it in my assessment of websites. Another assessment tool, the Alexa ranking, has this site positioned in the top 30,000 most visited sites online today (at the time of writing).

Newly Built Web 2.0 Websites Sell

The reason I’m asking if you’ve heard of Wikio is because most of my friends – even my online geeky friends – have never heard of it. Yet it was important enough to sell for nearly $5.5 million USDs (United States dollars). It actually sold in the UK, for €4 million if you want to get technical about the price.

Wikio is much like Digg.com (a brilliant Web 2.0 site) with a little Technorati and Google News thrown into the pot. The interesting thing to note is that the site in itself is still very young. Actually it was only registered right around the time I put the Stampede Secret up for sale from this (once) one-page website.

Inception: September, 2004.
Birthdate: June, 2005.
Current Worth at less than two years of age: $5.5 million USD (approximately).

While doing research I read that Wikio’s audience reached nearly one million monthly unique visitors.

Ready to Build Your Own Web 2.0 Site?

If you’re thinking of building a Web 2.0 site like this of your own, Wikio’s backend looks alot like a Pligg-generated website with staff writers (but note that pligg.com sites can certainly run on their own with some good marketing in place) for the social networking and voting aspect. You might also have a look at www.elgg.com, if your ‘bent’ is more towards social blogging.

Until next time!

Laura Childs

Search by: building a Web 2.0 site

As a known recluse, I’ll tell you my initial thoughts (last year) on this phenomena were a little sad for the state of our world.

“How terribly lonely and unsatisfied people must be in our heartless world that they have to interact with an unknown via a keyboard just to feed their hearts and souls…”

I realize a year later how skewed that knee-jerk reaction was.

People are not socializing just for the sake of socializing!

They’re flocking to those Web 2.0 sites for a purpose other than to connect. Which explains why the market is both male and female.

Sure, some are looking for love on dating sites, but even more are networking for career goals, interacting over hobbies and interests, connecting for intellectual advancement.

I’ve talked about ‘like minds’ before so I won’t get into it again…

We really should be discussing the build of a Web 2.0 site with a socializing focus. The big question is, “Should social networks be primary in their focus or employ other features where the social networking aspect is just one of many attractants?”

Every webmaster, business owner, strategist or marketer will have to find their own answers on this one, I only bring it up because it is probably something you’ll want to include in your start-up site strategy. Yes, you can always add on later (and most of the people who created Web 2.0 sites that have already lost their appeal should now be thinking “What else?” instead of “Web 2.0 doesn’t work!”)

Make Your Web 2.0 Site More than Just a Social Networking Opportunity

Remember there is very little draw in connecting to others online just for the sake of connecting. There is huge value in connecting – whether it be to find a job, gather data or information from an expert, make money, or get a date – when more is offered from the same url. As an example take a look at what www.careerbuilder.com is doing in the sidelines with their fun monk-e-mail application, then poke around on their site for other services and functions.

The real value of social network sites to the end user will be appreciated most when the sites are integrated with other features such as:

• Presence indicators (online or not),
• Visible location features (where the person resides), and
• Communication tools (phone, instant message, email, chat),

all capabilities that make a social network great.

Before I close I want to make a quick mention on your start-up strategy and target market to consider. The male-female ratio. Again, depending on your idea for a Web 2.0 site, features and design will differ across these sites, so carefully study how the sexes differ in their use of the internet and particularly in using social Web 2.0 sites. A great pdf to get you started is here: How Men and Women Differ With Their Web ‘Connections’.

Cheers,

Laura Childs

I’d thought of doing this myself but the site I’m launching has been a dream for 2 years and is only just now coming to fruition. I may introduce it here at a later date. In the meantime, see what Rich is up to by clicking on the green book graphic (top left) of all my pages.

The site the author’s creating differs from the Web 2.0 site I want to show you next. However, the core principle is the same – it’s all about people.

The site I’m featuring in this post, and I don’t do this often here as I have a separate area set up for Web 2.0 site examples, is www.WishHood.com.

If you haven’t seen or heard of it yet, prepare yourself. You’ll likely be hearing about it soon. The developers are busy, they’ve even created a widget that bloggers, site owners, myspace users can insert into their own pages. See mine here.

Get your own widget – Wishood.com

I didn’t do anything fancy to get that image to appear. WishHood set it all up for me. I told it my top three wishes for you, my reader, and the widget created the graphic and code. Just in time for Valentine’s Day!

Click any star and you’ll see my wish for you. Follow the link in each wish and you’ll find my recommended resource for that wish to come true. Of course, my affiliate link is embedded in each link. WishHood had nothing to do with those, but it is a brilliant showcase of the type of thinking you’ll want to employ when using Web 2.0 tools to help you get more traffic and make more sales.

Until next time, keep learnign about Web 2.0 for traffic to your site – it’s worth it!

Laura Childs

Why Social Web 2.0 Sites Are So Hot – And Why the Trend Isn’t Going Anywhere, Anytime Soon

You and I are likely very much the same. We look at online time as a time for learning, expanding our marketing reach, and creating new income opportunities. You might, like I, have dismissed the idea of openly sharing contacts, desires, ambitions and favorites online as a passing fad – surely the only thing really worth sharing is research and information!

But you and I are only a small percentage of internet users – a miniscule representation. The rest of the world is finding that creating lists, sharing stories and photos, personal achievements and goals for the future is satisfying their need to connect to the world on a more personal level – and the web is just the place to do so.

I invite you to take a step back from the time you spend online and look to the average internet surfer. Why are they spending more time online now than they are sitting in front of the television? Reading books? Or for that matter frequenting bars, theaters, and the like?

It’s all about the human need to connect, the need to share, and the need for acceptance.

Finding like minds.

Expanding the reach of an idea.

The ‘blog-craze’ taught us that about people and really paved the way for internet surfer. A few years back only 5% of internet surfers even knew what the term meant. As more were launched, more surfers understood the innovation – and that they could contribute to the conversation through commenting.

Wikis were right on their heels as a place to contribute to the knowledge base.

There is no dismissing it – humans have an embedded need to share, whether it be knowledge, experiences, or opinions.

Understand this and you can build a site that helps satisfy human needs.

Look to the social networks as examples of a deeper need, the need to share and be part of a group.

These sites appeal to the online user by allowing each to share their connections, linking freely to friends, and create a group of like minds – no matter how eclectic or thinly woven. That is what makes socializing online so exciting and fulfilling for so many! No longer bound by geographical or financial limitations, these networking sites allow people to expand their social connections around any topic their heart may desire.

Especially since Web 2.0 online tools and services have facilitated and eased the workload to do so!

Those new (and in some cases not so new) sites are the sites that have won the hearts and the hours of millions of surfers the world over.

They are Web 2.0 and as long as human needs don’t die, neither will the trend or fascination of the sites that cater to them.

My best to you in this new Web 2.0 world!

Laura

Search by: Web 2.0