According to CIO magazine, a recent survey of over 200 CIO's for medium and small enterprises revealed that 83% of them were leveraging some kind of Web 2.0 technology. That is excellent news for those of us who are into the Web design space and don't care much for static Websites.

Unfortunately, many business professionals and Christian ministers will read that statistic and ask, "What is Web 2.0?"

If you either don't know what Web 2.0 is, or if you do but haven't started to make use of it yet, then you need to get with the program. The proper use of the next generation of Web technologies will sort the winners from the losers, and in a tightening economy you need every advantage you can get.

What is Web 2.0? There are a lot of answers to that question, and a lot of controversy over what qualifies. A simple definition would be the application of interactive and multi-media technologies to your Web presence.

What I'm going to do in this blog is just take a quick look at some of these technologies, and discuss how they are making a difference.

RSS Feeds - An RSS feed is an XML file that subscribers can pull in via their account with Yahoo, Bloglines, or some other aggregator. It allows people interested in your Website to easily keep track of new content as you publish it. RSS feed generation is a standard feature of Content Management Systems like Joomla, Drupal, or WordPress.

I'm an RSS junkie. On a given day, my RSS reader software pulls in headlines from about 50 different sources. I scan those headlines in the morning over a cup of coffee, and then decide which articles I want to read to get more information.

Guess what? If your site doesn't have an RSS feed then I, as a Web user, have to make a conscious decision to visit it from time-to-time to see what's up. I'm busy, just like everyone else. It is much easier for me to just pull in the headlines, skim them, and then go where I think the most value is. If you don't give me an RSS option, then I'm likely to forget about your site, or check it much less frequently.

Businesses of all sizes have figured out the value of making their headlines accessible to subscribers, and to other Webmasters who want to re-publish feeds as content. If you haven't made the jump to doing the same thing, then you really need to.

Corporate Blogging - Content is king. The original Websites for corporations and Web ministries were online brochures. They were slick, often laden with Flash movies, and didn't change much except to publish new, sterile press releases written by marketing weasels.

Okay, that was harsh. Let's say, "marketing professionals with a decided inability to tell objective truths."

In short, there usually wasn't much new to read, and what there was made watching paint dry seem exciting. This model of Website did nothing to endear the company/ministry to the general public. They didn't help build up the brand of the company/ministry they were supposed to be marketing. They didn't draw customers into a compelling story, or evoke strong emotions. They didn't build a connection.

This is why more informal blogging at a corporate level has taken off in a big way.

A blog is a personal space, so the rules are more relaxed than on the official corporate pages. For business purposes, of course, you normally aren't going to have your Director of Development blogging about his recently deceased dog or his daughter's battle with self-esteem issues. But, what about having the director of photography at a magazine blogging about what goes on behind the scenes at photo shoots, or a software developer discussing technology issues that he faces in building a new release, or a Priest at the OCMC blogging about the harrowing details of getting aid to embattled Christians in a war zone?

That's good copy. It's immediate. It's personal. It keeps people coming back. It builds a connection between key elements of your organization and the Web community.

It works. Try it.

Comments/Reviews - In the Year of Our Lord 2008 and beyond, Web users expect, demand might even be a better word, the ability to talk back to your Website. If readers of your site find an article that inspires, angers, or intrigues them, they want to tell you all about it. The same holds true with your product line. Whatever it is that you are offering, your customers want the ability to sound off about what they liked, and didn't like, about your goods and services.

If you don't let users interact with the site by giving feedback, then they feel cheated. This is strange, of course, because very few of them will ever actually post a reply to one of your articles. The stats tell us that only a small fraction of the readers of your content will actually be brave enough, and stirred up enough, to post a comment to an article or review one of your products.

But people who want that interaction, and can't have it, get really upset. Heck, even the people who would never actually post anything in a million years still feel better knowing they can.

If you have good articles, round out the offering by letting visitors post comments. If you have products, let customers write reviews. Some may be negative, if so, then they are the most valuable. Negative reviews give you a chance to improve your products and services. Positive reviews help attract more business. Either one is a win for you.

Multi-media - Users hate Flash intros. If you put a video on the front of your site, then most users will choose to skip it. No one likes to be forced to sit through a movie. But, users will choose to consume media on your site if they feel that it adds value, and if they can consume it on their terms. Do you have a product you need demonstrated? Then an interactive movie is a great way to do that. Do you have great interviews, interesting commentary, etc? Then consider not only posting the items directly playable on your site, but also producing podcasts that subscribers can subscribe to get that content automatically delivered by iTunes or some other method.

Chat - If your Web site doesn't have the opportunity for users to chat with your employees online, then consider adding it. Users struggling with your Website or your product really appreciate being able to chat interactively with support. It's a lot easier to initiate a quick one-on-one chat than to wait on hold. There are multiple helpdesk applications that you can install, for free, that offer this ability. Seriously consider adding this as a capability. One solution to check out in this space is Help Center Live. Visit the site here .

Web 1.0 was like the TV. You could ‘change the channel' and get information on demand (more or less), but you couldn't actively participate in the programming. Web 2.0 is more like Talk Radio combined with Tivo. Not only can you participate in the programming, you also have full control over how you consume the media offered. It's about choice and interactivity. If you ride that wave, then you can get to the top of the heap in your market or ministry space.

If don't, then you shouldn't be surprised when competing ministries and companies leave you in the dust.

Glen Chancy is CIO for corfun.com and publisher of Orthodox Biz. You can contact him here .

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 [Web 2.0 and the Small Business or Ministry]

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