In October, Stephen Baker wrote about one of the more easily understandable concepts for Web 3.0. I like to think of it as “Web 2.0 on steroids.” Having just returned from a conference where he was part of a panel that tried to define Web 3.0, he saw three important ideas emerging:
Easier, cheaper, and more pervasive. According to Baker, many people who might have become involved with Web 2.0 stayed away from it because the technology was too confusing. He thinks they’ll start participating as the technology gets easier and users see it as relevant to their lives – and the networking effects of getting more people involved will make Web 3.0 more useful.
Always on, everywhere. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting closer all the time. When is the last time you were totally out of contact – no phone, no Internet, no possible way to reach you? I’d add another, possibly discomforting level to that: the ability to easily receive geography-based information (such as ads delivered to your cell phone from nearby stores, or being able to ask it “Where is the nearest burger joint?” and get an answer). The disturbing part is that whatever is serving you this information knows where you are.
Controlling our data. Baker believes we’ll be able to use a variety of systems “to wrap our personal data with various types of protection.” He also thinks we’ll benefit from “new systems of reputation and ranking” to “help us figure out which data sources to take seriously and which to shun.”
This vision of Web 3.0 implies a seamless integration of devices. Your data moves with you and knows where you are. We can see some of this already happening with devices such as the Slingbox from Sling Media that let you watch your cable, satellite, or DVR programming from your laptop, desktop, PDA or smartphone.
What would this vision of Web 3.0 mean for SEO? First of all, it could bring SEO and web site design even closer together. You will need to give serious consideration to what kinds of devices visitors will be using to view your information. You might even have to build different sites for different devices.
Even if you don’t go that far, you’ll need to understand how users of different parts of your site might use it differently. Is the visitor who is looking up product reviews doing it casually from their laptop – or in a store from their cell phone, making comparisons and trying to decide what to buy? The kind of browser and keywords used could give you a clue (if you’re looking right at products you’ll probably use more specific keywords), so you might want to have alternate versions of your content available for those browsing your client’s site from a smaller screen. Having an adaptable web that is ready whenever and wherever your customers are means that you’ll have to be just as adaptable in giving them content in the way that best suits their needs of the moment.
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