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Web 3.0 Getting Closer with Google Friend Connect

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Posted by on Jan 25 2009

I’ve been blogging about and speaking about the evolution of search engine optimization for some time now. I’ve blogged that SEO should become SO. I recently blogged that SEO is getting harder in 2009.

Let’s face it the web is getting more and more social. Popular services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and MySpace (among others) are growing in popularity among mainstream users. The social features of these services are now easily added to your website or blog using Google Friend Connect.

Google released Friend Connect in early December 2008 in Beta.  It’s a free product that allows a webmaster to add social networking features to a website or blog just by copying a snippet of code.

The idea is you invite people to sign into your website using their existing ID from Google, Yahoo, AOL or OpenID.  Users can create a new profile or use an existing profile. This begins to deliver on a promise of Web 3.0 that will allow your profile to be portable among websites.

Users can post comments and engage in discussions on topics relevant to your site. Currently a wall gadget allows users to post comments and another gadget allows users to leave a rating on a page. Soon other gadgets from Google and the OpenSocial developer community will be available allowing your website to become an interactive destination. Users can invite other users from other social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to get engaged in discussions on your website! If that doesn’t excite you, check your pulse!

The fact this tool is available from Google helps to accelerate the mainstream adoption of social attributes on websites especially since it doesn’t require an entire new website redesign effort.

Marketers who have been slow to adapt to the social web better look over their shoulder. When you see a competitor offering its visitors the ability for community engagement through Google Friend Connect, you just may be playing catch up.

Marketers should be actively considering how they can offer their users a destination. The technology is available and it’s free. That’s the easy part.

The hard part is breaking through the paradigm thinking that you are in control of your website.  The web has gone social whether you like it or not.  Website visitors want to engage with you and with others. Give them a reason to engage. Build your community or risk losing them.

If this economy is forcing you to rethink some of your strategies you now have something else to think about. But, don’t wait too long or you just may be playing catch-up.

Bernie Borges
@berniebay

7 Comments to Web 3.0 Getting Closer with Google Friend Connect

  1. by Tony Lawrence

    On January 26, 2009 at 7:12 am

    "If that doesn’t excite you, check your pulse!"

    My pulse is fine :-)

    I added GFC in December. It's comment systems (the "wall" and the "review/rate" gadget) are awful – no paragraph breaks, no formatting at all.

    The GFC profiles are equally weak and disappointing.

    "Soon other gadgets from Google and the OpenSocial developer community will be available"

    Hasn't happened and I don't think it will. You don't find people talking about this and adoption rate is poor.

    I'll probably be removing this from my site soon unless something changes drastically.

  2. by Bernie

    On January 26, 2009 at 9:13 am

    Tony – thanks for your real world feedback on the efficacy of the product. Though there is obvious room for improvement in its execution I remain enthusiastic for what it represents. Whether Google gets this right or some other entrepreneur comes along with a better approach, making websites social with plug-and-play code is the direction we're headed.

    Keep us posted with any new experiences you have with this.
    Cheers,
    Bernie

  3. by Dianna Kersey

    On January 26, 2009 at 9:35 am

    Well isn't that what beta is? A testing of real world users in order to make the features and functionality better?

    Google has a lot of applications in beta at any given time…. just knowing that this kind of app is available and is developing is very pulse rhythmic!

    It is only a matter of time until people will have to talk about it, because its rolling out and will change the face of how we communicate. It's just a matter of time :)

  4. by Rahul

    On January 27, 2009 at 10:24 am

    Hey! Its still developing. But what do I get after I connect myself to GFC in a particular website ????? [:o]

  5. by Bernie

    On January 28, 2009 at 8:01 pm

    You provide your site visitors the ability to connect to each other, rate your content and generate community chatter about your content.

  6. by Rodrigo Oshiro

    On February 9, 2009 at 5:58 pm

    I found out about GFC only last week and I think its very cool!!! I added to my blog yesterday. It was very easy to add, but I found out that it is only useful if your friends are also bloggers. So if your friends are regular Gmail users (my friends and I exchange email threads all the time) and do not own a blog for themselves they will not find it very interesting. Neeways, I did :) .

  7. by Mariette Burdett

    On November 14, 2011 at 7:10 pm

    Hm, So i'm ok with this but nevertheless not entirely certain, thus i'm going to research a bit more.

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