Building better web sites with user generated content

If you've not yet taken a look at www.youtube.com, www.digg.com, www.imagini.net and other ‘web 2.0’ offerings that represent some of the fastest growing web sites online, you may be forgiven for being unaware of the term ‘user generated content’. So what does it mean for small business?

User generated content is (as the name implies) content, ie text, images photographs, audio and video that is generated and uploaded by the visitors to a website rather than it’s owners. One of the most important aspects of these sites is that they attract very high volumes of traffic and very rapid growth. Just take a look at the counter on www.imagini.net to see it growing by the second. This is because users who have contributed their own content or profile help promote the site through word of mouth as they feel part of it. After all, us humans are needy creatures who thrive on recognition and attention! For business this presents two distinct types of opportunity.

The easier of the two is simply to submit content about your business to web sites such as www.digg.com and del.icio.us which allow news and content to be submitted for free and rated by other users. This not only provides increased exposure for your business, but also provides all important additional inbound links to your web site. With a little research you’ll soon find that certain stories catch the imagination of users far more readily than others. Once again, a clear online marketing plan, strong brand values and more than a touch of brave quirkyness will help!

The second major opportunity for businesses wishing to utilize user generated content is to consider building user contribution into their own web site or better still into their entire business.

Companies with a good reputation are understandably apprehensive about providing open public comment and feedback forums but one case study that proves this needn't be the case is that of LEGO. In 2003 / 2004 the LEGO group was on brink of collapse due to rising development costs and falling sales. What LEGO has implemented in order to recover is a radical structural shift putting its loyal customers at the heart of research and development, made possible only by internet technology. http://factory.lego.com is a unique internet based building environment where users (young and old) develop new creations, share these with others, discuss, compete and receive payment in bricks for their efforts. LEGO group realised that it's greatest asset is it's loyal customers, and instead of fearing negative customer feedback they created an online environment to promote feedback and facilitate fresh ideas. In doing so they helped reduce their staffing requirement by 20% and turned around a net loss of -£175.5 million to profit of +£130 million in 2 years.

In an age where rapid development and new ideas are what drives sales, surely technology that engages and stimulates customer contribution is something that you can’t afford to fear?