Web 2.0 technologies offer more ways to communicate. Separate what's merely trendy from what really works and succeed with Web 2.0 technologies today. In Summary:| • | Today's Web 2.0 technologies feature greater interaction capabilities and richer multimedia content. | | • | Design your Web site with the needs of your target audience in mind. | | • | Despite new Web 2.0 technologies, stick to a clean and simple design. |
John Hill says his company's Web site isn't just a place where potential customers can get information. It's probably its most effective salesperson. Hill is the founder of five-year-old Allegiance Technology Partners, a Pennsylvania-based company that customizes Tablet PCs for specialized markets such as construction and healthcare. With about US$2.2 million in annual sales and a small sales team, Allegiance Technology is growing rapidly but must be frugal with its resources. So when Hill hired Jeff Greenhouse of Singularity Design to rebuild the company's Web site just over a year ago, they had to get it right the first time. The redesigned Web site—which includes a blog by Hill about Tablet computing, easy customer service links through chat technology or e-mail, and video demonstrations of products—has proven a huge success with customers. Previously, Hill says, the Web site received about 3,000 visits and 8,500 page views per month. Those figures have increased ten-fold, with more than 80,000 page views per month. Online sales have soared as well, generating more than a quarter of the firm's revenue. Allegiance Technology Partners' experience shows what a well-designed site can do for a business. And it's an example of how Web 2.0 technologies can work for small and midsize businesses by allowing them to take advantage of the greater bandwidth most Internet users now have, along with affordable new technologies and Web-enabled services such as blogs and streaming video. The basics of Web 2.0Since the term was introduced just a few years ago, "Web 2.0" has become something of a cliché, with no distinct definition. But there's consensus on a few important points: | • | Today's Internet users expect greater interactivity, with people contributing to or modifying Web content through blogs, wikis, and other community features. | | • | Sites today have richer communication, with streaming audio and video as standard features. | | • | Sites are optimized for search engines. Allegiance Technology Partners, for instance, pays for click-throughs with popular search engines, but also sees 40 percent of its site traffic coming directly from non-paid search links. |
The next step is to identify how your business can take advantage of these trends on your own Web site. No matter the technology, business comes firstIt's wise to gain a little perspective. Web 2.0 technology is an overarching trend today, but Web designers admit that sometimes it doesn't apply to business practices. It's important, of course, to analyze your business objectives first before adopting any new technology. That includes understanding what a customer or other visitor needs from a site. People looking for technical support, for instance, might greatly appreciate chat rooms where other users discuss solutions and improvements to a product. Prospective customers, however, need as much information as possible to make a decision, including product reviews and customer ratings. A business also must decide just how far it's willing to experiment with Web 2.0. Whenever visitors add content to a site—such as links to other sites, comments on a blog, or content to a wiki—the site operator risks losing some control. Dell, for instance, took down some of its message boards in 2005 because some customers left less-than-flattering remarks about the computer maker. Says Greenhouse, "You need a good feel for your customer, or you could be in for an unpleasant surprise." Clean and simple is always better than flashyEveryone has seen complicated sites with elaborate drop-down menus, flashy graphics, and animation. Your use of new technologies should be so subtle that the viewer hardly notices what is going on. Allegiance Technology's site, for instance, puts everything a visitor might need on the home page, with easy-to-find links to product information, testimonials, and support. Pictures of different product models appear in the center of the screen every few seconds, but they come and go quickly, without detracting from the viewer's experience. Other tips for good Web site design| • | Be aware that a visitor might view your site on a large LCD screen in an office, on a wireless telephone, or on a personal digital assistant. Ensure that above all, people using any sort of computing device can access your site and have a good visual experience. | | • | Make regular updates to the Web site to keep it fresh and engaging. | | • | Encourage visitors to return. Send e-mail alerts when you update your site, or keep to a regular schedule of updates so visitors know what to expect and when to return. |
Beyond designNaturally, designing and updating your site are just part of the overall strategy. Web 2.0 technologies often create an ongoing dialogue between your customers and your company, so you need to ensure that your Web development team has good communication skills and can react quickly to change. Security is an ever-growing concern, given the fact that outsiders might try to change or add to content on your Web site. And analytics software, which tracks visitors and their behavior, is important so you can continually revise your site and its offerings. Understanding the continuing evolution of what your customers want from the Web is pivotal to your online strategy—and, of course, your bottom line.
 | Douglas Gantenbein writes often on technology for Microsoft. A journalist for more than 20 years, his work has appeared in Business 2.0, Scientific American, Popular Science, and other magazines. |
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