Can a developer in Yuma, Arizona casually engage a commercial broker in Parsippany, New Jersey for the ideal loan package? Can a real estate investor in South Africa share successful strategies with an apartment owner in Anchorage, Alaska? In the world of Web 2.0, the answer is yes.

While exact definitions of Web 2.0 vary, one component crosses all: interaction. The individual visiting a website is no longer a passive receptacle of information, but instead becomes a contributor, editor, conversation partner, organizer, and colleague. How does this happen? Following is a review of common tools that open the doors for sharing and interactivity. All of these tools can be found and utilized on this website.

The Comment Box

Though ubiquitous on blogs at the bottom of pages, the comment box is a very powerful tool. Most comments submitted on articles become part of the permanent content of the website and are indexed by search engines. Authors and site visitors frequently respond to comments, creating a dialog that can take on a life of its own. Many sites offer a separate subscription for comments allowing visitors to track a “conversation”. From a marketing standpoint, including a link with a comment provides both access to the visitor’s website and a valuable “inbound link” for search engine ranking.

The Share Button

Also ubiquitous at the bottom of blog pages is the “Share This Post” button. Using the share feature literally opens the door to a universe of online communities. With a single click, the website visitor can “vote” on an article, share an article with his or her online community, and/or e-mail the article to colleagues. These sharing features provide a democratic means for quality content to rise to the top of the Internet.

Bookmark Sites

There is a genre of websites that allows users to save and organize their favorite content on the Internet. Given the avalanche of information available on the Web, these sites provide order and sanity for the user. Bookmarks can be public or private and accessed from any Internet connection. Individuals can subscribe to public bookmark pages and following the bookmarks of an industry expert is a quick way to get up to speed on Internet resources. The example below highlights the Google Bookmarks link in the Share This Post window.

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