Build a Conversation with Your Site Visitors Using Web 2.0

• Set up a forum or blog on your web site with profiles, comments, and voting to create a dialogue. Don’t censor negative comments, find solutions and post them on the site. This builds trust among customers and potential customers.
• Start a product wiki to establish an environment of collaboration with your customers. You can allow them to add or change content or contribute ideas.
• Set up a social networking site which features your product development staff - let your customers get to know the people that are creating the products.
• Set up a social networking site for your customers so they can share information, resources and tips on how they use your product.
• Produce a widget which can keep people up-to-date with product developments, discounts and daily tips, to download and run on their blog or desktop. If the widgets are fun people will spread them around.
• Be the first to inform your customers on new developments on your blogs, either good or bad. This builds trust and trust is as important as great products.

Content management systems can provide a cost-effective way to add interaction and advanced Web 2.0 features to your website. They provide easy-to-use control panels which can be used by anyone. For more information visit www.kwebdesign.ca.

You can;

• collect memberships or donations
• provide an online catalog
• post real estate properties or other items to sell
• sell online with complete e-commerce capabilities
• create an online diary or blog
• allow visitors to sign a guestbook
• send out live newsfeeds of your web page
• track you site visitors using Google Analytics
• present events or scheduling calendars
• restrict access to selected pages on your site
• allow visitors to tell a friend about a web page in your site
• set up a forum
• send regular e-mails to registers users of your site

All of these Web 2.0 web components can be easily set up and branded to your look and feel with open-source web applications. For more information visit www.kwebdesign.ca.

Using Web 2.0 Strategies to Promote Your Business

Web 2.0 sites allow users to upload videos and images and collaborate online to create web content. Your business can also use Web 2.0 sites to post content like videos, photos or podcasts to generate interest and bring visitors to yopur web site. Using Web 2.0 sites to upload content creates a viral marketing effect where people who see the videos share visit the site and recommend them to other people and they in turn also visit your business site.

When a video about your business is posted on Youtube it can be linked to your website. At the same time the video can also easily be embedded and played on the your business website without being charged for the bandwidth on the webhost. A video can also consist of a slideshow of photos with music.

Video uploading sites:
http://www.youtube.com/
http://video.google.com/

Podcasts about your business can be posted to podcasting sites such as iTunes and then used the same way as the videos.

Podcast uploading sites:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html
http://www.switchpod.com/

Flickr.com is one of many sites where users can upload and share photos. Photos of your products or services can be posted on Flickr, with information linking back to your site.

Image uploading sites:
http://www.flickr.com/
http://photobucket.com/