The first phase of the internet, before search engines were popular and before people were sophisticated enough to know how the web works, or before we started to define how the web works, the internet was a bit of a wilderness of disjointed information. People would find things and tell their friends, and they would go to the website and chuckle at the information provided there, and that would be it.

The webmaster would write all the content - in many cases, write each page meticulously by hand as its own individual page, and be in charge of all updating of all pages all the time. For large sites, this would involve teams of developers, all working together to get this information put out there. The bigger the site, the more work was required to put it together. This is not to say that websites today do not require any work, or that they’re easy to put together and update, but rather that the process is different with websites today that follow the Web 2.0 strategy.

It used to be that Websites contained very little in the way of interaction other than writing an e-mail to the webmaster. Quickly, public forums became very popular. People could get together and ask questions and receive answers from many people across the world with different experiences, ideas and information. As search and search engines became more sophisticated, people’s search terms went from 1.1 words on average to 2.8, which clearly shows that people are looking for more and more specific information on the web.

What does this mean for Web 2.0?

Because people are becoming more and more used to and reliant on the web as a source of valuable information, it makes sense that people are wanting to share their experiences and knowledge on the web - especially since people like showcasing their knowledge and skills to others! Previously, you might have to create a website for this purpose, but now you have websites such as Wikipedia.org, Google Maps, Flikr and more that allow for user input to fill in gaps in content. This is an exciting opportunity for people to fill in information. Now, when you check out a restaurant or a pet store, you find user reviews on that store to help you decide if you want to go there or not. These things are user generated content, and there is a LOT of it on the web right now, and growing. Take a site like Wikipedia - this whole site is created, expanded and edited by users. Users are doing all the work on this site, the people in charge of it are mostly taking care of maintenance. Yet it is one of the most popular information websites today - the site that a lot of copy-cat sites try to imitate.

Why is it so popular?

We all know that Content is King. And more people creating content for a website is going to generate a whole ton of extra content. This means that you only need to create content that compels the user to add to it, that compels comments. This could be as simple as allowing users to add their reviews of the products you sell on your site. Petco and Petsmart both do this exact feature, as well as other big name brands like Target. The additional content helps them gain relevance on the search engines for their particular products they are trying to promote. Products that are more popular will naturally receive more comments, which will build up the content on those products, which will cause them to be more popular.

We cannot all have information only websites like Flikr and Wikipedia, but we can use those websites to help promote our site. This is something that must be done very carefully, as otherwise your posts will get banned and ignored by users. No one wants to look at spam all day long when they’re looking for real answers. However, if you are patient, you can find information that is relevant to your site, or you can discover that your site is relevant to a question being asked. If your site does NOT answer the question, and you think it should, perhaps you should work on answering the question on your site first and THEN posting.

These are thoughts on how to break in to the powerful tool that is the internet in 2008 - tell us how you are doing it

Never Stop Improving!

A couple weeks ago we talked here about spelling and grammar in the content of your website. Equally important is the spelling, grammar, and overall formality of your email communication with your customers or clients.

There is a tendancy to think that just because email is quick and easy, that it is fine to be much less formal as well.  While that works for your friends and family, in the business world it just isn’t ok.  Would you send a business letter to a client, or someone you are hoping to do business with in all caps with no greeting or signiture? As an online shopper, does it make you feel more or less comfortable with a company when you get an email from them that has no formal greeting and looks like someone fired it out of their hotmail account during their lunch break?

Trust is a huge part of online shopping, and if you want to have a shot at return customers, formal communication can go a long way.  Think about some of the larger companies you may have shopped at, like Amazon.com or even eBay.  The formality in their communication instills a level of confidence that confirms the customers initial decision to trust the site.  Of course not all companies want to be as big as the Amazons or eBays, but you still need to instill that confidence in your customers. Letting them know that you are professional and worth doing business with.

Let us know what you think, or if you’ve had any rough email experiences!

Never Stop Improving!