Web 2.0 - Bringing Yourself (and your business) Into the 21st Century

For those not familiar with the concept of Web 2.0, it's simple. Today's websites are being driven not by content from the webmaster or company that the site belongs to, but by users of the site. Web 2.0 is a "by the people, for the people" way of surfing and interacting online. Major websites such as Myspace, YouTube, Digg and more are employing the concept with simple steps: let the users choose the content, let them display it how they wish, let them choose how they want it to be categorized and found, let them give the comments and ratings. In essence, let the users decide what content is worth and why...we just host it. Complete user control!

So why is this concept important to you? Well, if you own any kind of business, it'll be a major selling point and a way to further your marketing efforts. If you're just a regular, everyday person the concept of Web 2.0 gives YOU a voice, something that wasn't often heard of online a few years back, when the only way to get yourself out there was a website or blog.

The content from such websites incorporating the Web 2.0 concept is often viewed favorably and highly ranked by search engines. Part of the reason is because the parent site (in this case we'll refer to YouTube because our discussion will be based on this site) has gained such popularity. It has the highest traffic rankings in the world, and is the most widely-used website of any in existence (other than Google and Yahoo, perhaps). So, if you own a business of any kind, you can imagine what submitting content (be it articles, rss feeds, audio or video) to a site like this can do for your exposure and your site's own SE ranking (and in the end, your sales). And if you're a regular person (with no commercial interests) and just want to be heard and seen, then the same applies. Your face, your message, even your voice will be in front of literally millions of other users, and seen the way you want it to be seen!

The answer to this question is again a simple one. Anything you deem worthy! Images, video, audio, text articles, blog and forum posts, press releases...all of these can outrank regular web pages in the search engines these days. This is because such content has its own set of optimization techniques that can make it searchable by the engines, located, and listed in search results if relevant to a user's particular search.

If you've ever heard of Universal Search, a newer search concept being developed and employed by Google, then you'll understand the importance of properly optimized multimedia content. In a nutshell, Google is now incorporating not just web pages, but also relevant images, news articles, video, podcasts, RSS feeds and press releases in its search results, giving users a more well-rounded search experience.

More on Universal Search and MCO (Multimedia Content Optimization) to come.

The concept uses a technique called "tagging," which is similar to assigning relevant keywords, to sort and list content. In my opinion, this is a much more effective way to list and rank content in search results. It is also much more cost-effective.

If you've ever used YouTube, and searched for a particular type of video, then you entered a tag. So what made this search more effective than searching for the same thing on a search engine? Well first of all, tags are listed by the creator of the content. They're requesting that this term be used to locate and list their content. This, in my opinion, leads to more relevant search results. Most search engines have specific and complicated "algorithms" for listing websites and contents according to keywords and keyword phrases. It is a science getting your website listed and ranked highly for your chosen keywords. Because of this (and because not all of us know the in's and outs of this exact science), it's possible that the search engines are leaving out websites and content that is very relevant to your search, just because a site may not be listed at all, or not ranked highly (according to their own specifications). This does't serve the user very well.

However, with tagging, any and all content that a creator deems relevant to a specific term will be included in the search results for that term, so long as the creator has set that term (and any common misspellings) as a tag for their content. This gives both the searcher and the creator of the content complete control over the search experience!

Based on our discussion so far, you know that video can be an important and high-rankig form of content for search engines. So now we'll talk about how you can get yourself in from of thousands who are interested in the topics YOU want to talk about, and how this can increase your exposure.

First off, one of the most important reasons to produce video for a site like YouTube is (in addition to gaining more exposure for your business and website) to connect with others on a more personal level. Lets face it, anyone can type up articles, blogs or website content and publish it to the web. However, creating video appeals to your users' visual interest and allows them to see your face and hear your voice, creating a more personal experience overall! As well, video can be used to provide visualized, step-by-step training or demos, which can increase the level of interest in your message, product or service, and potentially your sales.

The concept of visual marketing goes way back to the first signs, billboards and TV's first commercial. Sight has long been connected to our interest in certain subjects and our willingness to or not to participate in particular activities. Sight, especially when referring to online marketing, is the sense most commonly and creatively appealed to. So as well as what I've already mentioned, creating video to promote specific ideas, products or services can appeal to the most important sense a person uses when making a buying decision.

So how do you go about making the jump into the world of visual marketing? Well, just create a high-quality (meaning also high resolution and sound quality) video with useful and interesting content, create an account with YouTube, and start uploading! Video taken with your camcorder, digital camera or high-quality webcam work best. Once you've recorded, it's a good rule of thumb to do some minor editing (or major editing if creating video for commercial interest). There are several editing programs out there, from the simple Windows Movie Maker™ (comes with most Windows operating systems these days) to bigger names like Vegas Movie Studio and Camtasia Studio (my personal favorites). Editing your videos in any of this software can not only improve quality and presentation, but can also help to compress your video files, making them smaller and suitable for uploading to the Web.

Some Tips for Uploading to YouTube:

• Keep your videos short, sweet and to the point (10 min. tops)
• Make sure your file sizes are less than 100MB (the smaller the better)
• Keep your files to these types: .avi, .mov, .wmv and .mpg
• Use tags that are actually relevant and mentioned in your video
• Be sure to include most important tags in video title and description

Tips for Getting More Viewers to Your Vidoes:

• Be sure to include your most important tags in the title and description
• Always allow external linking/embedding so viewers can share your video on other sites
• Promote the heck out of your video!
• Submit your video to sites like Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon and De.li.cious
• Email your video's link to friends and family
• Visit other's videos and leave helpful comments
• Include a link to your video in relevant articles or blog posts

With enough work, your videos will achieve the fame and ranking that you wish, and can help direct a steady flow of traffic to your website or blog. YouTube is the #1 video-content site, but I suggest submitting your videos to other sites as well, like MetaCafe, Broadcaster, Myspace, Google Video, Yahoo Video and any others you can find. The more ways and avenues for users to find and share yoru videos, the better! Happy producing!

Ina Stanley is a successful entrepreneur, small business owner and branding/marketing specialist. She is currently working with other entrepreneurs and businesses online to help them achieve their professional goals. More information can be found on Ina and her services by visiting www.InaStanley.com