Web 2.0 Design how it affects your business

What is Web 2.0 ? , Does it represent new technologies or standards? Should I move to Web2.0 to improve my business? Or it’s just hype and nothing much changed?
You might be looking for answers for at least few of the questions above, I am sure u will find answers to all possible questions before you end up reading this article.

Web has evolved from the age of simple content publishing which targets users who used to gain from information provided, where as the present age enables users to participate and contribute information to website like wikis, blogs, social networking websites, thus being able to add value to website. If we could term the first age of web as Web 1.0 then we can call the new age as Web2.0, Web 2.0 is term which is referred to as new age web practices and usage but as wrongly misunderstood by few, it does not represent replacement of old software or old content on web .New age Web is still combination of both old and new information, software and practices.

Now you might be wondering ‘what this has to do with my business’, it’s necessary to understand or know about the evolution of a tool before analysing how best it can be used, same being referred above we will move ahead, Usage of web by Business falls into two categories, First is, Corporate and other small scale companies which use Web to carry out their operations or use it to get close to their target customers. Second would be the direct business on Web that is E commerce.

Having very well designed website representing your company or services offered has no relevance if there is no user participation. Companies are looking out to build new blog sites, forum websites to help support the customers and keep them informed about the latest happening in the company, these websites along with wiki websites also help employees share information to carry out operations. Dell Computers on of the first to benefit from blogging when it launched its Dell2Dell blog in July 2006 to deal with increasingly publicised complaints about its poor customer service. Honest Participation in the discussion and dialoguing publicly with its customers on a human level through its blog, Dell has dramatically improved its reputation and customer loyalty. Corporate Blogging has become a first step inInternet Marketing strategies of many corporate companies. Apple has used its blogs CultofMac.com and TheAppleBlog.com to create one of the most successful brands of this Generation.

Millions of users use Web to buy one or the other product online every day, and this will continue to grow making E commerce a hot business. There are lots of E commerce websites out there, but not all do good business. Success in E Commerce business to some extent depends on good E commerce Web Design as this holds the users for the first time when they visit the website or helps prefer over other websites but the most important would be the value that products acquire by user reviews and comments. In a recent survey, only 8 percent said that they would trust a review of a product or service posted on a company’s own website, surprisingly; only two percent said that they would consider or trust information about a product or service written by a company’s CEO. Based on similar survey, an estimated 9.7 million people in the UK have bought a product or service directly because of comments posted on the internet by other consumers.

In this context I like to through some light on other types of Commerce which are getting prominence these days, these are Social Commerce and Social Shopping. Social Commerce is a part of Ecommerce which involves active user participation; the main aspect would be the customer helping in marketing products by using comments, reviews or recommendations. Social Shopping is referred to Shopping in Social Network Environment like Facebook and Myspace. Many Sites enable users to create Shopping list and share them among friends thus helping them grow business.

I am sure all this information might have helped you to understand the relevance of Web2.0 in the Modern Business. Start thinking about changing your website to unlock greater amount of Business or Success, which ever holds good for you.