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I've been blogging about and speaking about the evolution of search engine optimization for some time now. I've blogged that SEO should become SO. I recently blogged that SEO is getting harder in 2009.

Let's face it the web is getting more and more social. Popular services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and MySpace (among others) are growing in popularity among mainstream users. The social features of these services are now easily added to your website or blog using Google Friend Connect.

Google released Friend Connect in early December 2008 in Beta.  It's a free product that allows a webmaster to add social networking features to a website or blog just by copying a snippet of code.

The idea is you invite people to sign into your website using their existing ID from Google, Yahoo, AOL or OpenID.  Users can create a new profile or use an existing profile. This begins to deliver on a promise of Web 3.0 that will allow your profile to be portable among websites.

Users can post comments and engage in discussions on topics relevant to your site. Currently a wall gadget allows users to post comments and another gadget allows users to leave a rating on a page. Soon other gadgets from Google and the OpenSocial developer community will be available allowing your website to become an interactive destination. Users can invite other users from other social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to get engaged in discussions on your website! If that doesn't excite you, check your pulse!

The fact this tool is available from Google helps to accelerate the mainstream adoption of social attributes on websites especially since it doesn't require an entire new website redesign effort.

Marketers who have been slow to adapt to the social web better look over their shoulder. When you see a competitor offering its visitors the ability for community engagement through Google Friend Connect, you just may be playing catch up.

Marketers should be actively considering how they can offer their users a destination. The technology is available and it's free. That's the easy part.

The hard part is breaking through the paradigm thinking that you are in control of your website.  The web has gone social whether you like it or not.  Website visitors want to engage with you and with others. Give them a reason to engage. Build your community or risk losing them.

If this economy is forcing you to rethink some of your strategies you now have something else to think about. But, don't wait too long or you just may be playing catch-up.

Bernie Borges

I've been blogging about and speaking about the evolution of search engine optimization for some time now. I've blogged that SEO should become SO. I recently blogged that SEO is getting harder in 2009.

Let's face it the web is getting more and more social. Popular services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and MySpace (among others) are growing in popularity among mainstream users. The social features of these services are now easily added to your website or blog using Google Friend Connect.

Google released Friend Connect in early December 2008 in Beta.  It's a free product that allows a webmaster to add social networking features to a website or blog just by copying a snippet of code.

The idea is you invite people to sign into your website using their existing ID from Google, Yahoo, AOL or OpenID.  Users can create a new profile or use an existing profile. This begins to deliver on a promise of Web 3.0 that will allow your profile to be portable among websites.

Users can post comments and engage in discussions on topics relevant to your site. Currently a wall gadget allows users to post comments and another gadget allows users to leave a rating on a page. Soon other gadgets from Google and the OpenSocial developer community will be available allowing your website to become an interactive destination. Users can invite other users from other social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to get engaged in discussions on your website! If that doesn't excite you, check your pulse!

The fact this tool is available from Google helps to accelerate the mainstream adoption of social attributes on websites especially since it doesn't require an entire new website redesign effort.

Marketers who have been slow to adapt to the social web better look over their shoulder. When you see a competitor offering its visitors the ability for community engagement through Google Friend Connect, you just may be playing catch up.

Marketers should be actively considering how they can offer their users a destination. The technology is available and it's free. That's the easy part.

The hard part is breaking through the paradigm thinking that you are in control of your website.  The web has gone social whether you like it or not.  Website visitors want to engage with you and with others. Give them a reason to engage. Build your community or risk losing them.

If this economy is forcing you to rethink some of your strategies you now have something else to think about. But, don't wait too long or you just may be playing catch-up.

Bernie Borges