subject: Creating Web 2.0 Sites- Go For A Theme [print this page] Webmasters and users alike have been talking a lot about web 2.0 sites. This is understandable considering that it is now nearly impossible to build a popular, high traffic site without applying the principles behind this new concept. If you are just starting out as an online entrepreneur, web 2.0 is one of the things you should learn about first.
The term can be defined in various ways. The most striking element about every description of it is the stress placed on utilizing a variety of platforms to encourage interactive user data exchange. This is vastly different from web pages in the past which were mainly non-dynamic pages filled with information. The great thing about a web 2.0 site is that visitors to websites can choose to leave their marks on sites that they don't own and interact with other visitors.
A very popular arm of web 2.0 is blogging. You can pay to have your own blog or you can use free services. Whichever you choose however, you will find it very easy to set up a blog. This is the main reason why there are now hundreds of thousands of blogs in the internet.
The ease and appeal of instant publishing has made blogging a definite favorite. It does however have its restrictions when it comes to implementing the true nature of interactive internet use. For the most part, blogs restrict user participation mainly through post comments or side bar chats. Blog owners rarely allow interaction to mature beyond this.
In some circles the better web 2.0 sites are those that are structured around themes. Unlike blogs, these sites don't just allow comments and feedback. Users can additionally be permitted to add fresh site content. Examples of these themed sites are small social networks, wikis and sites that share content. These sites are excellent examples of genuine web 2.0 because of the high degree of user participation.
Themed sites are actually good news to business owners. In the past, webmasters had to struggle everyday to make sure their sites carried fresh content. Because of web 2.0, they can now afford to sit back and wait for users to provide content themselves. Since many users truly provide useful and accurate information, they can actually help site owners build the reputation and authority of their sites.
Of course, for users, the main appeal of a web 2.0 site is the level of participation permitted. Although you remain the owner of your pages, the idea of letting others fill them with content is encouraging because people who know they know better will always want to share their expertise.
Building themed sites is an exciting undertaking. It does however, carry some challenges. First, creating these sites may naturally be technically challenging. Second, you'd have to pour in a lot of effort optimizing and marketing your pages. Many new sites don't take off for several months or years because of the difficulty of promotion. Third, managing content quality can be hard. It can be difficult to make sure that users only post good content.
It's clear that web 2.0 sites are the best ways to establish businesses online. If you think you're up to the challenge, there are online tools and resources that you can tap to help you overcome the hurdles.
