You’ve heard it, you wonder what it is, yet you don’t ask. (I understand, you would sound silly)

Web 2.0 is a new animal, a new kind of web build - a new experience. Wikipedia defines Web 2.0 as a “second generation of services available over the World Wide Web that lets people collaborate and share information in a new way.”

Web 2.0 sites generally have a different look and feel as compared to traditional websites. Though there are no standards set for Web 2.0 they do share some characteristics in their appearance and experience.

Appearance:

• Large font headings
• Soft shadows
• Reflective logos
• Gradient backgrounds
• Glossy menus
• High contrast & bright colors
• Photo borders a la Flickr ®
• Rounded corners
• Greater white-space

Experience:

Some companies are finally realizing that web visitors come to your site for information - not a mission statement. Enter - dynamic content, enter -ajax. An example of a Web 2.0 characteristic is presented in my Live Search above and the Tag Cloud Bar at the bottom of this screen. Note that when information is input into the search bar that results are presented on the fly. Also when you click the bar at the bottom of this page that the window isn’t refreshed. Weeeeee - that’s ajax. That’s Web 2.0 - how neat.

Ok, while the technologies bring sites to life web marketers need to realize that there are also drawbacks. The biggie: SEO.

Associated with these chosen technologies the content for these page elements is not actually on the page but stored in an external javascript, .txt or .xml file. Remember “content is king”? As explained, the content is not on the page. So while the Web 2.0 experience can be fun or entertaining, remember the search engines.

Hybrids. Content rich sites with Web 2.0 features is best. It’s good for the users and friendly to Google.