Web 2 just isn’t stopping

Surveys and statistics released this week show that Web2 continues to explode and Web1 brochure sites are stagnating and getting left in the dust. Consider:

* Blogger.com is the web’s fastest growing service at 528% over last year.

* Myspace.com grew at +318%

* Wikipedia grew at +275%

* Traditional web1.0 sites are losing ground: MSN.com (+1%), AOL.com (0%), ebay.com (-3%), Yahoo.com (+5%) and Google is still positive at +21% but slowing.

The Wall Street Journal summarizes the ComScore Data in New Trends In Online Traffic

Here’s what it means for small businesses with websites:

1) If you don’t have a blog, better get on it. The party is in full swing. If you have a website now, think about converting it to a blog.

2) Content, content, content is the name of the new game. It is all about personal opinion, and ultra-specialized information from experts in their niche. High-quality content floats to the top of the pile. If you can’t write or don’t have time, hire someone to produce content for you. Be prepared to supervise though!

3) The days of hiring a web designer and then hiring an SEO company and then sitting back are long gone (if that was ever a reality). Start thinking about how you can update your site with new information at least twice a week.

4) If you are looking for an SEO/SEM company, ask to see their marketing plan for Social Bookmarking and content creation.

5) Use Multimedia. Audio podcasts, and shared videos online are key to marketing Web2.

The web has always changed, and this is just another change and evolution. Nice to see the chaotic, personal expression aspect of the web winning over the attempts to control and regulate.

Opportunity still abounds online, with more opportunities than time to implement them.