How to Capitalize on Web 2.0

There are many different ways that your website and your business can take advantage of web 2.0 technology and social networking. It used correctly, web 2.0 services can provide a tremendous boost to your online presence, traffic, reputation and even your SEO. However, it takes more than signing up for a few accounts and waiting for magic to happen. You have to put work into making a web 2.0 marketing strategy be effective.

To clear up any confusion that there might be, web 2.0 basically represents the movement in the Internet towards interactive communities with user generated content. There is actually a huge range of different services and functions for web 2.0. The trend really began with the emergence of blogs as a mainstream application.

One example of web 2.0 includes the massive social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Another example are the sharing sites, where articles and links are submitted and rated, such as Digg, Reddit and Propeller. Other web 2.0 services include multimedia content sites such as YouTube and Flickr. Of course, the latest to generate a huge amount of buzz has been Twitter, a service which lets you send out short blurbs to your followers.

With all of these available sites, services and tools how can your website take advantage of them? A great place to start is by making it easy for your website visitors to share your content with others. You can quickly add buttons and links that will allow users to post your content to social networking sites, or to vote for it once it has already been posted. This puts some power in the hands of your users and allows them to do some of the leg work for you.

When it comes to actually submitting your content to places, it's wise to also consider fining smaller, niche communities outside of the massively large ones. While the potential for traffic may be less, the level of engagement and interest will be much higher, which will produce better results for your business.

Additionally, you have to remember that social networking sites and all web 2.0 communities have different written and unwritten rules. The written rules apply to what you can actually promote and advertise, and how you can or cannot do so.

The unwritten rules apply to how you can truly be successful in a given place. For example, if you really want to establish a presence on most communities and see your content get distributed and voted for, you have to be an active member of the community as opposed to a one way microphone for your business. This means commenting on the submissions of others, adding friends to your profile and so forth.

One of the most important things to remember when it comes to marketing with web 2.0 services is that you need to have content that is memorable, unique, interesting and useful. You need to find a way to draw people into your website, and you need to give them a reason to not just stay on your site when they get there, but also to spread the word about your site in the various communities they participate in.

Remember these tips and guidelines when you are interested in getting started with a web 2.0 marketing plan.