Web 2.0 applications

feeds || RSS || blogging || why blog? || history of blogs || animation || audio
video || podcasting || interactive video

Overview

Web 2.0 applications offer what's called a "rich user experience" to visitors to your website. The aim is to enrich the internet experience - the bonus for your business is that you can retain visitors for longer and possibly engage them as community member of your business.

What are Web 2.0 applications?

They are the exciting tools like audio and video, podcasts and other dynamic interactive tools such as online software and widgets that you may have seen whilst browsing the internet. We can set your site up with tools such as RSS feeds, audio and video podcasting, and a range of the software solutions that will make your website very interesting.

A website that is interactive encourages visitors to return for updates, new information, and to possibly purchase your product or service. Remember most people need to be reminded of you a good 6 times before they will spend money with you. You have to provide reasons for them to come back to your site and gain something from the visit.

Web 2.0 applications represent the kinds of experiences and information formats that people are coming to expect from the web. Simply imagine that visitors to your website will behave and have expectations that are not far removed from someone visiting a traditional retail outlet.

If you could ask your web visitor "can I help you" the initial response would probably be "no thanks just looking" As per the retail model, visitors seek information and understanding from a business before they give anything . In fact you know yourself that you will feel comfortable sharing your contact details or even purchasing only when you are satisfied that a business has what you want, and that your service represents value

Most importantly your clients want to know they can trust you! Good use of Web 2.0 applications and tools can help you build a strong relationship with your potential clients and retain them for life. If they met you on the web via an audio or video introduction, you immediately are a recognisable face and personality that your clients relate to.
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Feeds

You can create your own material that can be fed to your websites on a regular basis or we can help you produce material to maintain your website's content and keep it fresh. This can be in the form of articles, tweets, blogs and other text information.
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RSS

RSS Feeds are news feeds from other people's websites with relevant information that your clients would find useful. This is a great way to feed your website with up to date content related to your business sector. You can use other people's material to keep your site interesting. You always reference who's material it is, it may be the beginning of a strategic alliance.
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Blogging

Blogging is a way of collecting links to webpages and sharing thoughts and ideas with people online. Blogs or Weblogs are online journals or diaries which people use to share information and ideas with the world. "A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world." As well as text, blogs often contain audio, music, images and video. They're also really easy to make, so you can have one even if you aren't very technical. Anything can be posted instantly to a blog and then linked to your business website.
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Why Blog?

Surfing's no fun if you can't tell people what you've found. What better way to encourage word of mouth then starting your own story. How many times have you sent e-mails to your mates with the address of a particularly interesting web page, annotated with your own hilarious comments? Or perhaps you were very impressed with a particular business and want to reward them by telling your friends and colleagues about them. Wouldn't it be good to get your own web page where you could publish these comments, plus the links you find, turn it into a daily or weekly journal of thoughts and ideas and make the whole thing available to the world? Well now you can, and if you do, you'll be joining the phenomenon that has become 'blogging'.
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The history of blogs

Blogging has become something of a big thing in the last few years, and some of the biggest and best known weblogs attract the kind of traffic that even big name e-commerce sites are jealous of. That is why business are now using blogs to attract web traffic to their own sites. Weblogs are more than pages of links - they tend to reflect the personalities of their owners. They are personal web pages, updated very often. They are the product of their owners' imaginations, interests and wit, and it's probably this personal touch which has made them so popular, especially for political issues. The word 'weblog' was coined by Jorn Barger, owner of the long-established and extremely popular Robot Wisdom weblog. To begin a blog, contact us for advice or go to a few of these online blog sites to do it yourself: myspace.com, wordpress.com, blogspot.com, youtube.com, livejournal.com, blogger.com, facebook.com, typepad.com
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Animation

Animation in the context of a website is primarily about using Flash - a programming tool that enables the web content of your site to move, change form and look spectacular. Having flash animation can create an atmosphere and feel for your website. It can also attract attention so its great to use for promotional aspects of your site. Our team can create content with flash for your your web project.
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Audio

Audio creates a 2 dimensional experience for your web visitor. You can use audio to share a story of success, to have your clients interviewed about their experiences, to talk about your business, to share ideas with your clients, the possibilities are endless. Its very simple to script what you need to say, to record the speaker and then to edit and upload the audio to your website or blog. We can set up the audio software on your website and assist in every part of this process with you if required. Each audio project is quoted upon and billed accordingly.
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Video

Video creates a 3 dimensional experience for your web visitor and allows you to build stronger relationship with your potential and current clients. Video is a great way to create visual and audio environment for your business to sell itself and inform the public of interesting information. Its also a format that everyone understands and is general hooked on when a video is offered on a site. Its the closest thing to television but its much cheaper than primetime advertising!
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Podcasting

Podcasting, a portmanteau of Apple's "iPod" and "broadcasting", is a method of publishing files to the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed and receive new files automatically by subscription, usually at no cost. You can of course charge subscribers to receive specialist information on a regular basis as a major membership benefit. Podcasting entails audio content that is delivered via an RSS feed presenting a downloadable or streaming file often as an mp3 format. You can use podcasting in a very dynamic and user friendly way to create an interactive environment on your site. Its a great way to ensure that fresh content that has been added to your site is automatically sent to your clients and subscribers who want to be informed of your latest news, offers and information that would benefit your clients.
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Interactive video

A combination of video and computer technology in which the user's actions, choices, and decisions affect the way in which the program unfolds. Interactive video has been used in interactive cinema presentations. The addition of video as a media type to Flash has increased the use of interactive video in web design.

Contact us to discuss the addition of web 2.0 applications to your site

Dreamweaver templates and themes

One simple and classy design provides multiple looks with a simple colour palette change. If you are a Dreamweaver user but really just want to add your content and get your website up on the net we can provide you with customised templates to choose from for simple HTML sites.

If you need a more complex site that has additional funtionality we can create this for you. We can include CSS, databases, eCommerce, CMS, video, blogs, sound, Flash content, podcast and other Web 2.0 rich user content.