Banner ads are not created equal. Some are meant to be effective in conveying your message, while some are meant to be clicked! Low click rates experienced by some online advertisers are not necessarily the result of the medium but rather, the effectiveness of your banner ads in building brand awareness, generating click-throughs, and boosting sales depends on how it was created. Click-through rate or CTR is a way of measuring the success of an online advertising campaign. A CTR is obtained by dividing the number of users who clicked on an ad on a web page by the number of times the ad was delivered (impressions). For example, if your banner ad was delivered 100 times (impressions delivered) and one person clicked on it (clicks recorded), then the resulting CTR would be 1 percent.
In the niche magazine space banners work. Unlike bigger sites, users coming to niche sites are not just “surfing the web”. The days when people said they found your site by “just surfing around” are over. Users are more educated to the online experience that ever before. They are coming to a site for a reason. They are looking for something specific. Maybe it is a hobby they are looking to explore, or an article about knitting. In any event, most users do not just happen upon a rock climbing site or ATV web site for example. Sales people take note, niche users come to niche sites for a reason. So, this makes that niche user a prime target for niche banner advertising. Advertising a car supermarket on www.carsupermarkets.co.uk or car leasing company on www.contracthireandleasing.com will work very well because these are very busy, industry specific websites. Advertising car leasing on a website listing used cars for sale or vans on a car website will not deliver the same level of response or reach the target audience.
100% of all internet users surveyed have used Google. 49% of all online searches are done through Google each day. These users are searching for something specific. This means that banner ads on niche sites are very important. If they were not, Google’s multi-million dollar ad words business would go belly up. It is interesting to note that even Google is recognizing the resurgence of banner ads as they have now begun to serve banner ads into the spots previously reserved for those little text ads on the right and top of every search results page.
In the end you will still come across advertisers that simply do not believe that banner ads work. My research and experience report that banner ads on niche oriented site tend to earn a .15% greater click thru rate than banners on bigger non-niche sites. The biggest click thru rates I have ever seen were reported in a study by Nielsen/NetRatings that showed the right approach to creating banner ads can entice viewers to actually click on a banner. The banners of Harry and David, a gourmet food gifts store, yield a very impressive click rate of 67.21% among at-home viewers; while iWon/PaceFoods' banners generated 40% click rate among the at-work viewers. These figures refute the myth that banner ads will always have a low click-through rate.
Well designed banner ads on niche specific sites where the ad matches the potential user are unstoppable. All advertising works best when a customer wants to see it. One of the major factors influencing the effectiveness of banner advertising will be the quality, popularity, and specific target audience of the website carrying your banner advert.
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please visit Ryan’s online at http://www.RyanDohrn.com or e-mail him at ryan@ryandohrn.com
Monday, May 05, 2008
Monday, March 03, 2008
Let the “Big Dogs” Fight. Niche Magazines Shine Bright
While the big publishers fight for their share of the netscape, its time for niche publishers to show why being agile is often better than being big.
My wife and I raise AKC Pembroke Welsh Corgi dogs. Small feisty little critters, but loving none the less. We also have an English Jack Russell Terrier. For those that do not know the breed, they weigh less than 15lbs, but think they are a Doberman on steroids. They are agile, quick and often very quick to the punch. They will often loose to a bigger dog in a fight for table scrapes, but the big dog will know that they have met their match. Thus the tale of big dog publishers and the rest of us ensues. We fight for what is left, but can we even make a meal of the left-over’s? Can we beat them at their own game? Perhaps we need to jump while they are distracted with bigger issues. While the top consumer mags are fighting for space online, you as niche publishers can shine bright with specialized content and specialized media that the big dogs only wish they had time to focus on.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com, March 3, 2008) -- When the magazine industry turned out for its latest digital conference last week, no one doubted the importance of the web. But now that they've moved online, many major magazine publishers are finding themselves nobodies in the new neighborhood, overshadowed by digital brands like Yahoo, MySpace and Huffington Post. So how much of the internet's growth can magazine brands snare for themselves?
What makes self owned and small publishers different is your ability to be agile and makes changes in a moments notice. All too often, I see niche publishers miss this opportunity to out shine the big players. Corporate owned pubs have many checks and balances in place that stop them from make snap decisions and putting up content fast. They have big fish to fry and there are about twenty chefs in the kitchen. I often teach that perfect preparation makes for perfect plans. But, when it comes to competitive strategy, often the more agile ship will win the battle.
Bigger magazines have their minds focused on the bigger issues. This gives niche publishers a chance to slip and steal the prize. What is the prize? Users.
Using very specific key words, key phrases and creating relevant contextual content, niche publishers can place content online that will be search engine friendly and thus will get you better results. Better results equals more users.
Contextual content is simply content that is relevant to your subject matter and that is presented in text on your page. For example, if you are a knitting magazine, you will want to have knitting in your title tag, knitting in your meta data and knitting in your most prominent main page content items. While bigger pubs might cover knitting, their sites will be laden with larger corporate issues and not fine tuned like yours. You have the ability to be simple, straight forward and proactive. You can add knitting video without getting corporate approval or having your video screened by a lawyer. Grab a camera and ask a friend to shoot you teaching a new knot or a new pattern. Do not wait for it to be perfect. We all have to start somewhere. Have an idea, put it up and ask users to take a poll. Want to share a user letter, place it in your blog. No blog yet? Come on now, catch up.
To win online you need to look for ways that you can be more agile and shine bright. You have the ability to throw stuff on the wall and see what sticks. This will make your magazine better and your presence online better.
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.RyanDohrn.com
© 2007 Ryan R. Dohrn
My wife and I raise AKC Pembroke Welsh Corgi dogs. Small feisty little critters, but loving none the less. We also have an English Jack Russell Terrier. For those that do not know the breed, they weigh less than 15lbs, but think they are a Doberman on steroids. They are agile, quick and often very quick to the punch. They will often loose to a bigger dog in a fight for table scrapes, but the big dog will know that they have met their match. Thus the tale of big dog publishers and the rest of us ensues. We fight for what is left, but can we even make a meal of the left-over’s? Can we beat them at their own game? Perhaps we need to jump while they are distracted with bigger issues. While the top consumer mags are fighting for space online, you as niche publishers can shine bright with specialized content and specialized media that the big dogs only wish they had time to focus on.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com, March 3, 2008) -- When the magazine industry turned out for its latest digital conference last week, no one doubted the importance of the web. But now that they've moved online, many major magazine publishers are finding themselves nobodies in the new neighborhood, overshadowed by digital brands like Yahoo, MySpace and Huffington Post. So how much of the internet's growth can magazine brands snare for themselves?
What makes self owned and small publishers different is your ability to be agile and makes changes in a moments notice. All too often, I see niche publishers miss this opportunity to out shine the big players. Corporate owned pubs have many checks and balances in place that stop them from make snap decisions and putting up content fast. They have big fish to fry and there are about twenty chefs in the kitchen. I often teach that perfect preparation makes for perfect plans. But, when it comes to competitive strategy, often the more agile ship will win the battle.
Bigger magazines have their minds focused on the bigger issues. This gives niche publishers a chance to slip and steal the prize. What is the prize? Users.
Using very specific key words, key phrases and creating relevant contextual content, niche publishers can place content online that will be search engine friendly and thus will get you better results. Better results equals more users.
Contextual content is simply content that is relevant to your subject matter and that is presented in text on your page. For example, if you are a knitting magazine, you will want to have knitting in your title tag, knitting in your meta data and knitting in your most prominent main page content items. While bigger pubs might cover knitting, their sites will be laden with larger corporate issues and not fine tuned like yours. You have the ability to be simple, straight forward and proactive. You can add knitting video without getting corporate approval or having your video screened by a lawyer. Grab a camera and ask a friend to shoot you teaching a new knot or a new pattern. Do not wait for it to be perfect. We all have to start somewhere. Have an idea, put it up and ask users to take a poll. Want to share a user letter, place it in your blog. No blog yet? Come on now, catch up.
To win online you need to look for ways that you can be more agile and shine bright. You have the ability to throw stuff on the wall and see what sticks. This will make your magazine better and your presence online better.
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.RyanDohrn.com
© 2007 Ryan R. Dohrn
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Can Publishers be sued for user comments placed on their site?
This is a common question I get while speaking and consulting. Can Publishers be sued for user comments place on their site via forums and bulletin boards. The answer is Yes. Seek advice from a legal professional! My experience tells me this... you can be sued for anything. Period. Will you loose or win in court is the better question. The answer received a bit more clarity when the Middle District Court of Florida ruled this week that the federal Communications Decency Act protects site operators from liability for user comments. "The court finds that the mere fact that Xcentric provides categories from which a poster must make a selection in order to submit a report on the ... website is not sufficient to treat defendants as information content providers," wrote Judge Marcia Morales Howard of the Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers division.”
Legal wins by publishers continue across the nation as site publishers embrace user generated content to drive traffic and give users a reason to return to their sites on a daily basis.
There is a quiet dance that must occur on magazine web sites between user generated content and publisher generated content. I talked about this a bit in a previous post about user generated video. Read that post here. http://ryandohrn.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=26
User generated content is critical to your sites success online, but “the mix” of this content and the content generated by your editorial team is the real point to focus upon. In some cases a sub site makes the most sense with some information that pulls back and forth between the sites. If your magazine deals with very exclusive and very expensive editorial content then user generated content will often take a back seat, but should not be forgotten. But, this is a bit of a different debate than if you should place user generated content online at all for fear of being sued. Consult a lawyer for legal advice, if you are asking for my opinion, from a internet perspective, user generated content is critical to your success online as it will drive traffic, increase revenue and give your site an overall fraternal feel that makes users feel comfortable on your site. When users feel comfortable on your site, they feel at ease with your magazine. This in turn, will drive them to subscribe to continue that “all in the family” feeling. Also, when users feel a part of your family, they are more open to receiving e-mail blasts and offers from you that also drive revenue.
Wendy Davis from Media Post posted the following online at Media Post that should set most publishers minds at ease to the end that in most cases the publishers win.
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=76849&Nid=39529&p=469455
THE PUBLISHER OF ONLINE COMPLAINT site Ripoff Report has won a lawsuit filed by a Colorado company that took issue with users' posts about it tagged with labels like "con artists," "corrupt companies" and "false TV advertisements."
In the case, a federal district court in Florida late last week dismissed a defamation and trademark infringement complaint brought by Whitney Information Network, a company billing itself as offering education in real estate investing, against Xcentric Ventures, the Arizona company that runs RipOffReport.com and BadBusinessBureau.com.
The court ruled that the federal Communications Decency Act protects site operators from liability for user comments--even when the company behind the sites has created tags for commenters to use to classify their posts. "The court finds that the mere fact that Xcentric provides categories from which a poster must make a selection in order to submit a report on the ... website is not sufficient to treat defendants as information content providers," wrote Judge Marcia Morales Howard of the Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers division.”
Whitney Information Network's in-house lawyer declined to comment on the matter, or state whether the company planned to appeal.
Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law and a well-known advocate for online publishers, said the case seemed "entirely consistent with existing precedent," even though the result--that tags created by publishers are treated as if they were user-created--might seem counterintuitive.
He said the court's rationale stems from the concept that "the Web site wrote those terms, but really they're given effect only when the users choose them."
The case raises the same legal issue as another pending lawsuit against roommate-matching site Roommates.com. In that case, a fair housing group in California sued Roommates.com for civil rights violations on the theory that the site enabled discrimination by giving users questionnaires with choices like "I will not live with children," as well as options to indicate whether they're willing to live with straight roommates only, gay roommates only, and the like.
The 9th Circuit appellate court initially ruled last May that Roommates.com was not immune from liability under federal law on the theory that the site had collaborated with users to create the content. "By categorizing, channeling and limiting the distribution of users' profiles, Roommate provides an additional layer of information that it is 'responsible' at least 'in part' for creating or developing," a three-judge panel of the court wrote.
But the 9th Circuit later vacated that ruling and ordered re-argument, which it heard late last year. A host of other Web companies--including Amazon, Google and eBay--unsuccessfully attempted to file a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Roommates.com, but the court rejected it in December, apparently because accepting it would have created a conflict of interest for one or more judges deciding the case.
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=76849&Nid=39529&p=469455
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.ryandohrn.com/
By Ryan R. Dohrn ©2007
Legal wins by publishers continue across the nation as site publishers embrace user generated content to drive traffic and give users a reason to return to their sites on a daily basis.
There is a quiet dance that must occur on magazine web sites between user generated content and publisher generated content. I talked about this a bit in a previous post about user generated video. Read that post here. http://ryandohrn.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=26
User generated content is critical to your sites success online, but “the mix” of this content and the content generated by your editorial team is the real point to focus upon. In some cases a sub site makes the most sense with some information that pulls back and forth between the sites. If your magazine deals with very exclusive and very expensive editorial content then user generated content will often take a back seat, but should not be forgotten. But, this is a bit of a different debate than if you should place user generated content online at all for fear of being sued. Consult a lawyer for legal advice, if you are asking for my opinion, from a internet perspective, user generated content is critical to your success online as it will drive traffic, increase revenue and give your site an overall fraternal feel that makes users feel comfortable on your site. When users feel comfortable on your site, they feel at ease with your magazine. This in turn, will drive them to subscribe to continue that “all in the family” feeling. Also, when users feel a part of your family, they are more open to receiving e-mail blasts and offers from you that also drive revenue.
Wendy Davis from Media Post posted the following online at Media Post that should set most publishers minds at ease to the end that in most cases the publishers win.
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=76849&Nid=39529&p=469455
THE PUBLISHER OF ONLINE COMPLAINT site Ripoff Report has won a lawsuit filed by a Colorado company that took issue with users' posts about it tagged with labels like "con artists," "corrupt companies" and "false TV advertisements."
In the case, a federal district court in Florida late last week dismissed a defamation and trademark infringement complaint brought by Whitney Information Network, a company billing itself as offering education in real estate investing, against Xcentric Ventures, the Arizona company that runs RipOffReport.com and BadBusinessBureau.com.
The court ruled that the federal Communications Decency Act protects site operators from liability for user comments--even when the company behind the sites has created tags for commenters to use to classify their posts. "The court finds that the mere fact that Xcentric provides categories from which a poster must make a selection in order to submit a report on the ... website is not sufficient to treat defendants as information content providers," wrote Judge Marcia Morales Howard of the Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers division.”
Whitney Information Network's in-house lawyer declined to comment on the matter, or state whether the company planned to appeal.
Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law and a well-known advocate for online publishers, said the case seemed "entirely consistent with existing precedent," even though the result--that tags created by publishers are treated as if they were user-created--might seem counterintuitive.
He said the court's rationale stems from the concept that "the Web site wrote those terms, but really they're given effect only when the users choose them."
The case raises the same legal issue as another pending lawsuit against roommate-matching site Roommates.com. In that case, a fair housing group in California sued Roommates.com for civil rights violations on the theory that the site enabled discrimination by giving users questionnaires with choices like "I will not live with children," as well as options to indicate whether they're willing to live with straight roommates only, gay roommates only, and the like.
The 9th Circuit appellate court initially ruled last May that Roommates.com was not immune from liability under federal law on the theory that the site had collaborated with users to create the content. "By categorizing, channeling and limiting the distribution of users' profiles, Roommate provides an additional layer of information that it is 'responsible' at least 'in part' for creating or developing," a three-judge panel of the court wrote.
But the 9th Circuit later vacated that ruling and ordered re-argument, which it heard late last year. A host of other Web companies--including Amazon, Google and eBay--unsuccessfully attempted to file a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Roommates.com, but the court rejected it in December, apparently because accepting it would have created a conflict of interest for one or more judges deciding the case.
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=76849&Nid=39529&p=469455
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.ryandohrn.com/
By Ryan R. Dohrn ©2007
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Which presidential candidates embrace the Internet in a big way?
Let me first begin by saying that I have been a Republican since birth. I have voted in nearly every presidential election and have always voted Republican. I will probably do the same this November. In my quest for clarity on the issues, I spent some time looking at the “Big 3” candidates from each party to see which of them spent some time and effort to devote a section of their Web site to technology and the Internet. (Huckabee, McCain, Romney, Clinton, Obama and Edwards)
After all, the Internet is my life, my business and OUR future.
On each web site I went to the tab marked “issues.” Funny thing, with the exception of Mike Huckabee, almost all the candidate sites look the same. Very similar in look and feel. This begs me to ask who copied whom? All the sites were well optimized, well laid out and you can tell that each candidate employed some people with excellent web knowledge. Why then did so many of my GOP faithful not even mention the Internet on their sites. If they did, it was buried so deep I could not find it. So, who is the net important enough too that they mentioned it in prime space on their sites… and the winners are…
Of all the candidates, the only candidate with “Technology” on the main issues tab was Barack Obama. From there he digs deep into the issues of technology, media and the internet. From his site, “Protect the Openness of the Internet: A key reason the Internet has been such a success is because it is the most open network in history. It needs to stay that way. Barack Obama strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet. Users must be free to access content, to use applications, and to attach personal devices.”
Oh my and Barack dares to even include technology in a speech, oh my aching heart….
From Barack Obama.com- Technology and Innovation for a New Generation
“Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.”
— Barack Obama Presidential Announcement Speech in Springfield, IL 02/10/07
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/technology/
Broadband to my farm in South Carolina… John Edwards where are you? You are from here.
John Edwards had the second best thoughts on the Internet. However, you had to dig a bit past the first issues tab, but it was easy to find. From his site, “Building a Universal, Affordable Internet: The country that developed the internet is now 16th in the world in broadband penetration. While half of urban and suburban households have broadband, less than a third of rural homes do. John Edwards will set a national broadband policy to help make the Internet more affordable and accessible to all Americans, regardless of where they live or how much money they have.”
http://www.johnedwards.com/issues/open-media/
Considering that the Internet drives more than 35% of all retail commerce and that 85% of Americans have daily access to the Internet and that nearly 55% off all political campaign money is raised online, you would think that the net would play a bigger role in the “issues” of the candidates running for President of the United States.
Good thing for the GOP is this… I am not a one issue kind of guy. I want to keep more of what I make and be sure that I get back all the money I have put into the system. I want my kids to be safe and I want to die knowing that I made decisions to the best of my ability. If there is one thing the winner of this presidential race can do for me is set up a call with Steve Jobs and ask him to bring down the price of Mac’s. Or, at least open up the market to the Dell’s of the world. Steve, come on, you need more money? Man that would save me some money.
Long live the net.
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.RyanDohrn.com
By Ryan R. Dohrn©2007
After all, the Internet is my life, my business and OUR future.
On each web site I went to the tab marked “issues.” Funny thing, with the exception of Mike Huckabee, almost all the candidate sites look the same. Very similar in look and feel. This begs me to ask who copied whom? All the sites were well optimized, well laid out and you can tell that each candidate employed some people with excellent web knowledge. Why then did so many of my GOP faithful not even mention the Internet on their sites. If they did, it was buried so deep I could not find it. So, who is the net important enough too that they mentioned it in prime space on their sites… and the winners are…
Of all the candidates, the only candidate with “Technology” on the main issues tab was Barack Obama. From there he digs deep into the issues of technology, media and the internet. From his site, “Protect the Openness of the Internet: A key reason the Internet has been such a success is because it is the most open network in history. It needs to stay that way. Barack Obama strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet. Users must be free to access content, to use applications, and to attach personal devices.”
Oh my and Barack dares to even include technology in a speech, oh my aching heart….
From Barack Obama.com- Technology and Innovation for a New Generation
“Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.”
— Barack Obama Presidential Announcement Speech in Springfield, IL 02/10/07
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/technology/
Broadband to my farm in South Carolina… John Edwards where are you? You are from here.
John Edwards had the second best thoughts on the Internet. However, you had to dig a bit past the first issues tab, but it was easy to find. From his site, “Building a Universal, Affordable Internet: The country that developed the internet is now 16th in the world in broadband penetration. While half of urban and suburban households have broadband, less than a third of rural homes do. John Edwards will set a national broadband policy to help make the Internet more affordable and accessible to all Americans, regardless of where they live or how much money they have.”
http://www.johnedwards.com/issues/open-media/
Considering that the Internet drives more than 35% of all retail commerce and that 85% of Americans have daily access to the Internet and that nearly 55% off all political campaign money is raised online, you would think that the net would play a bigger role in the “issues” of the candidates running for President of the United States.
Good thing for the GOP is this… I am not a one issue kind of guy. I want to keep more of what I make and be sure that I get back all the money I have put into the system. I want my kids to be safe and I want to die knowing that I made decisions to the best of my ability. If there is one thing the winner of this presidential race can do for me is set up a call with Steve Jobs and ask him to bring down the price of Mac’s. Or, at least open up the market to the Dell’s of the world. Steve, come on, you need more money? Man that would save me some money.
Long live the net.
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.RyanDohrn.com
By Ryan R. Dohrn©2007
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
My Web 2.0 for 2008
As publishers and sales executives in the magazine business of 2008, it is critical that you know the meaning behind the term Web 2.0. After all, it is one of the only gauges we have for determining if your Web strategy, web site and other related digital plan are “up to snuff”.
I can think of no better place to help us learn about this term than Wikipedia. Why? Because Wikipedia is the collective thoughts, definitions and the like from a group of smart or informed people. There collective definition is much better than my single explanation.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Web 2) On September 30, 2005, Tim O'Reilly wrote a piece summarizing his view of Web 2.0. The mind-map pictured above (constructed by Markus Angermeier [1] on November 11, 2005) sums up some of the memes of Web 2.0, with example-sites and services attached.In studying and/or promoting web-technology, the phrase Web 2.0 can refer to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.[2][3] Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs. According to Tim O'Reilly,"Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform." [4]Some technology experts, notably Tim Berners-Lee, have questioned whether one can use the term in a meaningful way, since many of the technology components of "Web 2.0" have existed since the early days of the Web.[5][6]An IBM social networking analyst, Dario de Judicibus, has proposed a different definition which is more focused on social interactions and architectural implementation:"Web 2.0 is a knowledge-oriented environment where human interactions generate content that is published, managed and used through network applications in a service-oriented architecture." [7]
More from Wikipedia on this subject online at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2
Now, for my thoughts. I would encourage all publishers and editors to review my top ten for Web success in 2008. I feel the following components are critical to your success and your quest for life beyond Web 2.0.
1. Unrestricted access to main site stories without registration. Only keep valuable data, like archives, behind a registration system.
2. Archives. Archives are critical to a magazines success online.
3. Easy to find search box that allows users the ability to search all pages of the site and return results that can either be narrowed down or expanded upon once the search is returned.
4. Web extras and web only content. There are additional sidebars that drive readers from the magazine to the web for more. And, the same goes for the web, the web extras should drive them back to the magazine.
5. Online subscription pages. Your readers should be able to do all their circulation fulfillment and management online.
6. Video. There should be 2 sections, publisher created videos and users created videos.
7. Blogs or editorial only sections. It is critical that magazine staff get involved online and write. It is perfectly ok to keep the public and staff blogs separate.
8. Community components. Special sections that have some similar components to MySpace.com or Facebook.com where readers can share, discuss and become a part of your online property.
9. Searchable advertiser index or searchable pages of your actual magazine. This is not to say every page of your magazine is online. Give readers the ability to find advertisers and/or more from your magazine. Digital editions can help solve this problem. As well, digital editions will help prepare you for the day when digital readers will become more prevalent within the public sector.
10. Dedicated insertion of advertisers into the online content. Ads that are outside the content in the stark white exile of your site not only tell the advertisers that you want them as far away as possible, but tells the readers that too. In addition you reduce ROI for your advertise by as much as 35%. Use Interactive Advertising Bureau standards and integrate ads in a rich way into your site.
Web 2.0 goes far beyond site structure and goes deep into content management technology as well. So, do not think that the above list is complete as it is not and it is my opinion. Read, read and then read some more. Also, listen to my new Digital Media OZ radio show as I ask experts about this very topic.
Blessings for a great 2008.
RRD
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.RyanDohrn.com © 2007 Ryan R. Dohrn
I can think of no better place to help us learn about this term than Wikipedia. Why? Because Wikipedia is the collective thoughts, definitions and the like from a group of smart or informed people. There collective definition is much better than my single explanation.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Web 2) On September 30, 2005, Tim O'Reilly wrote a piece summarizing his view of Web 2.0. The mind-map pictured above (constructed by Markus Angermeier [1] on November 11, 2005) sums up some of the memes of Web 2.0, with example-sites and services attached.In studying and/or promoting web-technology, the phrase Web 2.0 can refer to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.[2][3] Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs. According to Tim O'Reilly,"Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform." [4]Some technology experts, notably Tim Berners-Lee, have questioned whether one can use the term in a meaningful way, since many of the technology components of "Web 2.0" have existed since the early days of the Web.[5][6]An IBM social networking analyst, Dario de Judicibus, has proposed a different definition which is more focused on social interactions and architectural implementation:"Web 2.0 is a knowledge-oriented environment where human interactions generate content that is published, managed and used through network applications in a service-oriented architecture." [7]
More from Wikipedia on this subject online at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2
Now, for my thoughts. I would encourage all publishers and editors to review my top ten for Web success in 2008. I feel the following components are critical to your success and your quest for life beyond Web 2.0.
1. Unrestricted access to main site stories without registration. Only keep valuable data, like archives, behind a registration system.
2. Archives. Archives are critical to a magazines success online.
3. Easy to find search box that allows users the ability to search all pages of the site and return results that can either be narrowed down or expanded upon once the search is returned.
4. Web extras and web only content. There are additional sidebars that drive readers from the magazine to the web for more. And, the same goes for the web, the web extras should drive them back to the magazine.
5. Online subscription pages. Your readers should be able to do all their circulation fulfillment and management online.
6. Video. There should be 2 sections, publisher created videos and users created videos.
7. Blogs or editorial only sections. It is critical that magazine staff get involved online and write. It is perfectly ok to keep the public and staff blogs separate.
8. Community components. Special sections that have some similar components to MySpace.com or Facebook.com where readers can share, discuss and become a part of your online property.
9. Searchable advertiser index or searchable pages of your actual magazine. This is not to say every page of your magazine is online. Give readers the ability to find advertisers and/or more from your magazine. Digital editions can help solve this problem. As well, digital editions will help prepare you for the day when digital readers will become more prevalent within the public sector.
10. Dedicated insertion of advertisers into the online content. Ads that are outside the content in the stark white exile of your site not only tell the advertisers that you want them as far away as possible, but tells the readers that too. In addition you reduce ROI for your advertise by as much as 35%. Use Interactive Advertising Bureau standards and integrate ads in a rich way into your site.
Web 2.0 goes far beyond site structure and goes deep into content management technology as well. So, do not think that the above list is complete as it is not and it is my opinion. Read, read and then read some more. Also, listen to my new Digital Media OZ radio show as I ask experts about this very topic.
Blessings for a great 2008.
RRD
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.RyanDohrn.com © 2007 Ryan R. Dohrn
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