Phil Wainewright first used the term “Web 3.0” nearly a year ago, and to date the concept has been even more difficult to pin down than Web 2.0 was when it was first coined. Already the term attracts controversy, with Wikipedia barely mentioning it except to say that there is not “sufficient consensus from the community of Web designers to justify the creation of a new term to describe the next generation of the Web.” Is it real, and what does it mean for SEO?
The question of whether it’s real doesn’t have a simple yes or no answer; the most accurate answer is “not yet.” Pieces of it are just beginning to come into being as the technology starts catching up with our ideas of what we’d like to be able to do. And even once it does exist, it might not be called Web 3.0. This should be a relief to many who are thoroughly fed up with the use of the term “Web 2.0.”
Part of the problem, too, is that there is some disagreement over what this new web will look like. It seems as if there are as many definitions of Web 3.0 as there are people trying to define it! In this article, I’m going to attempt to give you some idea of the common visions for Web 3.0, and how they might affect your job as an SEO. I can’t take the credit for any of these paradigms of possibility; they all stem from my reading on the subject, and have been expressed by a variety of observers.
One way that Web 3.0 might go looks more like Web 3D. In this vision, the Web begins to look like a series of 3D spaces –- rather like Second Life, taken further. The idea is that the ability to interact in a simulated 3D space online opens up new ways to connect and collaborate. It’s hard to say how this would play out (pun not intended); combined with microphones, the ability to control a PC via voice and gestures, and virtual reality gaming features such as goggles that immerse the user in a new environment, it could lead to a totally different way to experience the web.
This kind of Web 3.0 would still have a place for SEO, but it would be somewhat different from today. You will still be trying to help your clients become more popular, but – more popular in what? Search engines will still be important, but you’ll need to be even more aware of your client’s target audience, where they prefer to congregate (i.e. what kinds of sites), and where they go to find out about the kinds of products and/or services your client offers. Put in Web 2.0 terms, vertical and social search engines would probably be more important in that kind of world than they are today.
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