What Are Web 2.0 Websites and How Can They Help My SEO? – 102

Transcript for What Are Web 2.0 Websites and How Can They Help My SEO? -102;

Caleb Baumgartner: Welcome to Local SEO Tactics, the podcast where we bring you tips and tricks to get found online. I am your producer, Caleb Baumgartner, and in today’s episode, Jesse goes solo to explain the basics of Web 2.0. Jesse explains what websites are considered to be part of Web 2.0 and how you can leverage those sites as part of your SEO strategy. With these tips, you’ll learn how to avoid the potential pitfalls of an SEO strategy in this area while reaping the benefits. Thank you for listening and enjoy the show.

Jesse Dolan: Welcome back to Local SEO Tactics, where we bring your tips and tricks to get found online. I’m your host, Jesse Dolan here with a solo episode for you today. We’re going to be talking about Web 2.0s. That’s a term you’ve probably heard in the SEO industry, maybe something you’ve even dabbled with yourself. And today, we’re just going of go through a basic, what is it? Why is it? How can you leverage it? Things like that, which there’s a danger there. You can get a little spammy. So we are going to talk about some of the things to avoid and some history and context within SEO of what Web 2.0s are. Before we do that, I do want to mention our free instant SEO audit tool. If you haven’t used that, check it out. Go to LocalSEOTactics.com. Top right corner, click on the yellow button.

You can plug in your website or a competitor’s website, add the keyword that you want to optimize or score a page against, and it’s going to give you a free PDF with the good, bad, and the ugly of what’s going on, on that page, and a great punch list for some things that you can do to increase your SEO and optimize your page to be found for those terms. And if you run it against a competitor’s page, it can be reverse engineered, see what they’re doing and what they may be targeting. Some pretty good insights. So check that out. LocalSEOTactics.com. It’s completely free. Use it as many times as you want. So today, like I said, we’re going to be talking about, what are Web 2.0s? And so first, just to give a quick history and context of what they are. It’s a snazzy term. It can be a confusing term, because it is pretty all encompassing for what it is.

And I think something that people I’ve talked to over the years initially get hung up on is, when we use that 2.0 designation, we’re used to that software updates like iPhone iOS 14, 14.5, and so on and so forth. We’re used to that 1.0, 2.0 revision system. And for Web 2.0s, that’s just made up. There’s no revision of the web, if you will. That’s a term that was coined years ago, I think probably in the early 2000s, when these types of sites, which we’re going to explain here in a second, started becoming popular and it changed the way that we interact with websites. So, that’s the first thing to know. There’s no 3.0 and 4.0 looming. It’s a made up terminology, but it stuck and it references your type of website here.

So what are Web 1.0s? Start there. That’s your traditional website, probably you could call your website that you’re working on for your business a Web 1.0. That’s a website where it just has information. You’ve created a page or a site about your products, your services, your business, and you’ve published it online. Your clients and your customers and your consumers will visit it and obtain information. They’re going to read information. They’re going to watch a video maybe, but they’re not going to really interact post comment and engage on that website. They’re just there to consume information. It’s a very static website. That’s what you refer to as a 1.0. What are Web 2.0s? Well, they are the ones that we can engage with. Social media websites. Facebook is a Web 2.0. Yelp would be a Web 2.0. These kinds of sites where you can interact, engage, comment, post share, things like that. They’re just not static websites.

They definitely rely on user generated comment. Again, by way of Yelp, leaving reviews, testimonials, ratings, things like that. That’s what really drives Yelp, is that user generated content. If you can imagine, how could Yelp possibly exist without all that? That’s what they do. They’re a great version of a Web 2.0. Again, Facebook, things like that. But then also there’s a lot of other websites here we’re going to talk about, how to leverage them for your SEO to be clear, and again, what to avoid, but there are other websites you might not think of in that respect. So we’re going to break down a couple of different types of sections. So rolling back, Facebook, social media, whether it’s an app on your phone, which a lot of us probably when we think of Facebook, we don’t think of it as a website per se, but it really is, even though there’s an app on whether it be the Google Store or the iPhone Store, whatever you want to call them, you can download it and interact with Facebook through that app.

You can also go to facebook.com, log in, and it’s a website. And the content on there is findable on the web shareable on the web, things like that. So social media. Now, whether we mean Twitter or Facebook, TikTok, really all of these apps and websites are Web 2.0s that are social media. Again, they’re not a static website where some other person is putting the information on there and you’re just consuming it and reading it and watching it. You’re part of the community creating, sharing, commenting, improving, editing. That’s Web 2.0 and social media is definitely a part of that. Blogging platforms are a version of a Web 2.0. Whether it was Blogger, which a very popular website to post blogs, wordpress.com, which is not like the WordPress that you would use to create and publish your website on your own.com. WordPress.com, you can have your own website within that WordPress community, post a blog, things like that.

Wikipedia, wikis of any sort, Wikipedia being the most familiar to all of us, are Web 2.0s. Anybody can really create content, edit content, revise content, things like that on there. They’re very much an interactive Web 2.0 type of property. Video sharing, like I mentioned, TikTok. YouTube is a Web 2.0. Again, we’re creating videos. We’re providing content on that website that is YouTube for promotional purposes, for sharing purposes, entertainment, things like that. You can leave comments on other videos, as long as somebody has it enabled, of course. And then you can share that content as well. So YouTube and things like that are another great example of Web 2.0. And then other services as well. Flicker was very popular for a while. Instagram, like that, even though it’s more social media-like now, but just photo sharing sites, things like that.

Again, our example of Web 2.0s, even if you’re just sharing a photo, you’re still creating content on that website. You have the opportunity for tagging, for linking, for commenting, and things like that to expose your brand and your website. So those are versions of Web 2.0s. It’s basically, again, like I said, instead of just merely reading the website, you’re engaging, interacting, and helping to create it. That’s the big difference in what defines what is a Web 2.0. So now that’s a general education on what they are. I actually went back up. I completely forgot the third segment, which is something like a MapQuest There’s some functionality there and some utility there. Not so much in like reviews like Yelp and star ratings and things like that, but creating your business’ profile on MapQuest so when people go to MapQuest they can find you and get directions.

So it doesn’t have to be something that’s social sharing, but, again, just user generated content like Manta, different business directories, places where you can list your business, things like that. Those are, again, Web 2.0s. Even if they’re not as interactive as social, you can still create content on another person’s website. Again, that’s Web 2.0. They’re not the only ones creating the content, pushing it out to the public, you can be a part of creating content on that domain. If you ever find yourself in that scenario, that’s a Web 2.0, if you really distill it down. So are Web 2.0s good for SEO? Yes, they can be. They can also be very bad if you try to manipulate it. Now, there’s a lot of people out there listening to this that maybe are heavy into back linking, PBNs, and things like that to really leverage these Web 2.0s to create back links and to feed your website with some authority.

That can work and does work and people have a lot of success with that. It is something that I’m definitely not going to promote and condone and give you tips on doing it, just because if you don’t do it the right way, it can be pretty dangerous in the eyes of Google. I’m going to talk about leveraging Web 2.0s, but not in the sense of building up these big link farms and networks like that. If you want to learn more about that, just Google a topic and there’s plenty of people out there talking about how to do that for you. We’re going to talk about something a little more organic and stable here. So why are Web 2.0s good for SEO? Well, one, they generally tend to be pretty authoritative websites. Again, you think about a facebook.com or a youtube.com, those are good trusted websites by Google when I say trusted.

And so content that’s on those are going to get noticed and if you’re getting a link from an article or from a video, things like that, it’s generally going to carry some weight and you’re going to have a viable back link, an authoritative back link. They’re good for that, for their authority. They’re also really good because, quite frankly, they’re easy to use. All you have to do is have an account and post something or share something, and you’re going to get some value. Even if you don’t get the back link value, not every single one of you is going to link back to your website with a do-follow link and give you that link juice, so to speak. But still, if you’re putting your name, your address, your phone number, your business entity, context to what you do, you’re still feeding the database and the file cabinet of Google with information about your company, and it’s going to be relevant, even if you’re not getting that direct back link.

But if you’re on a website where it does allow you to place a back link, again, if it’s a wordpress.com or some of these other ones, you cannot only place a back link, if you’re maybe writing an article or a piece of content, you can pick your anchor text to have a very good back link pointing back to your website from this authoritative domain, with keywords in your content and your anchor text being a keyword that links back to your website, so they’re super easy to use to create those types of links. Even if some of these aren’t extremely authoritative like a Facebook or YouTube, if it’s some lesser known website that we’d consider as Web 2.0, there’s still a value in creating information, a listing. It depends on what the website is, but putting your information out there and linking back to your website, there’s still going to be value.

Unless it’s something shady or illegal, or you know what I mean, on the margin, if you should even be visiting it, if you feel like you’ve got to purge your browsing history after creating content on a 2.0, don’t go to that Web 2.0. Stick with the stuff that’s above the board and trusted. It’s really going to come down to ROI and your time. If it takes you five minutes or three hours to do this I would have that be a threshold if you’re going to pursue that or not. But in general, if you have a spot online on another website that you can create some content to share your brand, share your links, share your content, things like that. It’s going to be a good thing for you and Web 2.0s are inherently easy to use in that regard.

Another good benefit and reason to use Web 2.0s is not only are they going to either give you those back links or help feed the database of Google for more information about who you are. There’s a chance that the content you create on these Web 2.0s can actually rank on its own. So maybe for a certain topic your website is ranking, and then underneath you, or maybe even on top of you, is that article that you posted on a Web 2.0 site. People have another chance of get to your business through that link, through that article, through that website, but then also, that’s one more spot that you’re taking up that one of your competitors is not going to be on that page. So multiple reasons there too, not just for the actual SEO link juice, things like that, however you want to say it.

But the fact that this content itself can actually rank in and be a benefit to you as well is a great, I’d say, by-product because that’s not maybe your actual intent, because if you’re doing this, you’re not trying to get content on that platform ranked, you’re trying to benefit your website. But again, why not go ahead and do it. You have two great reasons there to be able to do it. In that regard, here’s a couple of quick examples for you of Web 2.0s where you can do just that. Now, not so much, just share your listing like a Yelp or a MapQuest, but actually create content and articles and share them to be found and published and linking back. Like I mentioned earlier, wordpress.com is definitely one of them where you can have your own little mini website and if you want to create multiples of those that are niche-y down in a certain category or topic or service and create content relevant to that, and link them back to your website, that’s a way of silo some of those, if you will.

Along the same lines with WordPress is a Weebly, W-E-E-B-L-Y, and Wix also great spots for you to just create a light and usually free website to put some content out there. In none of these cases would I be doing this as your primary page and site for your business. Again, this is how to leverage Web 2.0s to benefit your website. In addition, there’s two other ones for example, and if you want more, just Google Web 2.0 sites or best Web 2.0s, things like that, you’ll find a ton of this stuff online, but two other ones that are interesting is instructables.com. It’s pretty popular. A lot of you out there are probably familiar with it when I say that. Again, you can create an article or a how to guide to show a process of how to create something or modify something or things like that. Awesome spot. Again, very authoritative and relevant for certain DIY projects or different services and products.

So if you can create something on Instructables, great. You’re going to be providing content and information about your company, but also, if you do a really good job, that thing is going to rank and be shared and catch some attention on its own within Instructables and just help you build your brand, and again, get that real estate and get that authority that way. And in the same way, not so much from an instruction based standpoint, but sharingandcreativitymedium.com is another one for creating content, sharing it, and having it be found straight within that platform too to link back to you and for eyeballs to follow and get on your company. At the end of the day, I would say, again, how much of this you do, how much time and energy you put into it for you or people on your team is really going to determine where your ROI point is on, how many of these do you want to do? How many of these do you need? But definitely leverage them and have this be part of what you do for a strategy.

There’s just too many reasons to not do it and you’re going to get found in and get some traction there. One caveat and asterisk again is don’t be spammy. Don’t do this with directories or websites or listings that are just completely tangential to your business that have nothing to do with it. If you’re a home service provider, don’t be putting stuff on graphic design websites necessarily. I mean, have that way down the list, at least. And don’t overdo it. Everything in moderation. You can overdo this and it can be a negative impact for your website. If it gets to that point, that’s a little tricky to undo, to erase that stuff. So just try to be organic and be natural and not be too spammy with this and have it be part of your strategy. So hopefully that helps you guys out. We get asked about Web 2.0s quite often. What are they? And the point of this episode was hopefully to just give you an overall picture of what they are and some context.

So now you can talk about that when you’re sitting at the table with all your SEO friends having super exciting SEO discussions that your spouse or your significant other is super jealous of I think we all know exactly what I’m talking about there. At any rate, back to being serious, I want to read our five star review here for this episode. I’ve got a great review from Clint Sanchez. Shout out, Clint. We’ve collaborated on a few communications. Clint has sent in some questions that we’ve answered with Sue on some of those episodes and just been a great listener, audience member, and interaction, Clint. So thanks for leaving us this review on top of everything else. Clint says, “I’m a digital marketer and a web agency owner in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who just discovered this podcast,” this is a little bit old, this review, by the way. “Just discovered this podcast and I am blown away. I can’t eat these episodes quick enough. These guys are brilliant and offer awesome, actionable tips for SEO.”

Thanks for all that. The brilliant thing, again I would maybe defer to my wife to help argue against that, but we do appreciate the awesome feedback, Clint, and the praise that you’re giving lets us know that we’re doing the right thing. Like I say every few episodes, man, it’s just great feedback, lets us know we’re doing good, and that we’re resonating with you folks out there. If you feel like Clint or you want to share even just a five star review without any comments, we’d love to hear from you. If you do drop your name or your username or your handle on there and the comments, we’ll be sure to read that and give you a shout out on the show here. You can go to LocalSEOTactics.com. Go down to the bottom. Click on the button for reviews and we make it really easy for you to access whatever platform that you want. Facebook, My Business, podcasts, so on and so forth. As long as you keep sending them in, we’re going to keep reading them on the show. Appreciate you guys for tuning in and we’ll catch you in the next episode.