The internet is an amazing technology that has delivered everything it promised in the last decade. In just a short time, the internet has revolutionised education, personal communications, urban planning, and especially the way we conduct businesses. The best part of it all, the internet is just getting started.
Web 3.0 is the third generation of web technology, and it is here to stay. The technology may be still new, and there is no standard definition of what it is or what it means, but it is one of the most critical technologies for businesses in the future. How will web 3.0 change the way we use the internet and how will it affect businesses? Read on to find out more.
What is Web 3.0?
The web 3.0 definition varies depending on who is asking, but in general, it is considered the third generation of the internet. Web 3.0 is also known as the semantic web or the spatial web. If you break the evolution of the internet into segments with the first being simple web pages and the second being apps, social media, and mass adoption, the emerging blockchain-based web would be internet 3.0. Essentially, it is a user-friendly, more secure, private and better-connected internet.
Web 3.0 is characterised by creating a virtual world within the Internet through websites such as online virtual shopping malls, allowing users to interact with each other and buy products. It offers not only personalisation but also the Semantic Web, which provides a framework for information to be reused and shared more easily among programs, communities, and companies.
Key features of Web 3.0
Semantic Web
The next evolution of the Web involves the Semantic Web. Web 3.0’s cornerstones are the semantic web and artificial intelligence. The semantic web improves web technologies in demand to create, share and connect content through search and analysis based on the capability to comprehend the meaning of words, rather than on keywords or numbers.
The semantic web will aid in teaching the computer what the data means, allowing artificial intelligence to develop and to make full use of the information. The primary concept is to build a spider web of knowledge across the internet that will aid in understanding the meaning of words through search and analysis.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence or AI, along with blockchain technology, is now the hottest and most disruptive technology on the market. Artificial intelligence, or machine intelligence in computer science, is intelligence or learning by machines. Combining this capability with natural language processing in Web 3.0, computers can now distinguish information like humans in order to provide faster and more relevant results. As a result, they then become more intelligent to fulfil the requirements of different users.
3D Graphics
Web 3.0 will have a big impact on the Internet’s future as it evolves from a simple two-dimensional web to a more realistic three-dimensional cyberworld. Three-dimensional design is widely used in Web 3.0 websites and services, such as online gaming, e-commerce and real estate.
Connectivity
With Web 3.0, information is now more connected thanks to semantic metadata. The user experience evolves to another level of connectivity that leverages all the available information through different channels of the internet.
Ubiquity
The concept of omnipresence, or existing or being present in several places at the same time, is referred to as ubiquitous. Content is accessible everywhere by multiple applications and devices connected to the web. The Internet will be made available to all of us, at anytime and from any location. At some point, Internet-connected devices will no longer be limited to computers and smartphones and technology will enable the development of a multitude of new types of intelligent gadgets accessible to the public.
What does it all mean for businesses?
Personalisation
Web 3.0 is all about personalisation and the Semantic Web while integrating real-time data through different platforms. Semantic technology will create a meaningful format around human interaction online and human interests. This format enables better online matchmaking and content distribution as well as better control of online privacy through smarter distribution.
The Web 3.0 world integrates relevant search, location-based services, mobile enablement and rich social interaction in a single online experience. A Web 3.0 environment dramatically enhances the user experience and delivers rich advertising and promotional opportunities for marketers – if companies or brands get the business model right.
Mobile Integration
It started as a trend and now as an adopted standard. Capitalizing on Web 3.0 requires you to offer a mobile experience to end-users, which enables your business to communicate more effectively and reach your audience easily. The long-term benefit of implementing a Web 3.0 strategy is improved intelligence and engagement with your customers. With Web 3.0, mobile user experience capabilities open the door for another level of innovation in advertising and promotion.
Now technology services have the ability to leverage not just the social graph data from Facebook, but even more to real-time/real-world information. These include your current location, weather, traffic, local merchants, other friends nearby, and how often you have been to a specific store or location will all be available soon. This in turn provides a whole new level of commerce opportunities for many potential advertisers.
Utilizing Big Data
Most companies and big enterprises these days depend more and more on big data. It is essential to have past customers’, current customers’, and potential customers’ interaction histories in a CRM tool. Not using big data means a loss of any buying opportunity.
Google Search
Google has launched Google Commerce Search 3.0, which brings the power, speed and flexibility of Google’s search technology to an online store to increase sales and usability through customized results. It is all about accuracy and intelligent data being provided to you in different channels.
Intelligent Marketing
With Web 3.0, businesses will have the ability to provide more efficient strategies through integrated intelligent data. Content will be presented to the user in the most relevant layer.
For example, Demandbase is a Real-time Targeting and Personalization platform for B2B. Demandbase works by identifying the companies that visit a website, and then make that insight actionable in existing Marketing and Sales programs and technologies.
Real-time identification means you are able to make targeting decisions as well as personalise the content or web experience based on otherwise unavailable attributes of the visitor, such as specific company, company size, number of employees, industry, or 1st party and CRM based attributes such as existing customers, strategic accounts, pipeline status, or even competitors.
Social Media
Web 3.0 will give marketers access to their audience data on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram while giving the end-user more control over who accesses that information. This means that marketers will not have to rely on third-party intermediaries to provide access, and they will be able to keep their customer data more secure.
Steps for businesses to prepare for the Web 3.0 era
Every business can already take certain steps to implement Web 3.0 technologies into their operations and start benefiting from the new realm. Here are five things businesses can start with:
1) Enable transparent operations
Introduce transparency into all brand-client collaborations where users have the opportunity to influence the result.
2) Drive value to customers
Explain and demonstrate clearly the real value to customers, preferably by solving their problems and making a positive social impact.
3) Protect user privacy
Enforce the principles of a privacy-driven economy where people decide what information they wish to open and to whom they reveal it to.
4) Implement modern technologies
Create technology solutions with Web 3.0-powered principles and the best practices of a decentralized economy.
5) Communicate and interact with consumers
Build a community around the brand via social networking apps while growing the audience and loyalty in open collaboration.
Web 3.0 is the future of business, and understanding how it works is crucial for entrepreneurs, companies, and corporations. You cannot afford not to be updated with the latest business trends. You have to make your business decisions carefully, keeping in mind that the future is here and continuously renewing. With Web 3.0, companies can operate freely, scale faster, and provide a better experience for users. The question is: will people take advantage, or will they miss out.
At Hashtaqs, we are always learning and strive to remain knowledgeable of the latest technological developments. And we believe that Web 3.0 will have a significant impact on how we interact with the digital world. And this transformation will affect everyone, not just consumers. The Web 3.0 impact on businesses will be both traditional and disruptive. It will also be equally massive.
Hashtaqs uplifts business through brand transformation and marketing advisory and implementation online and offline, internationalisation through business matching and community development.
Our consultancy work is supportable with the funding scheme of up to 70% for local SG businesses. Contact us for a consultation at +65 8868 1418 or email us at [email protected]. For more info, visit www.hashtaqs.com
