Businesses will have to change the way their websites operate if they want to remain competitive during the next phase of the Internet, technology industry insiders say.

Dave Chalk, founder of Vancouver-based e-learning company Chalk Media, says Web 2.0 will radically change the way traditional and Internet-based firms conduct their operations.

Tech-savvy firms, he adds, will be able to rise rapidly while major players who don't adapt will be at risk of collapse.

"You've got to watch your back door," ˜Chalk said after speaking at the recent Techvibes Massive 2006 technology conference at Vancouver Science Centre. "There's no rite of passage in business."

Web 2.0 refers to the emerging trend of computer users who prefer to use Internet search engines, primarily Google, to acquire information, products and services on their own, rather than be wooed through mass marketing.

Chalk says this practice is being sparked by the boom in wireless devices, which will help small businesses better keep pace with corporate giants.

In other words, he notes, websites can't just be online brochures anymore.

They must perform functions for clients - ranging from giving directions to a restaurant with the aid of a Google map, storing and sorting photos, listing key company decision-makers and compiling statistics and analysing market trends in real time.

As a result of a user's ability to search for companies in seconds via Google, a company's web address won't matter as much as its search-engine ranking, based on keywords (or meta tags) within the site, he predicts.

"Of course, we (still) want a nice name," says Chalk. "It tells (website visitors) what we are, but it really doesn't matter as it once did."

Lindsay Smith, producer of the Techvibes event, says Web 2.0 is "drastically changing" the way companies communicate with customers.

Companies are not pushing information anymore, she adds, but rather customers are pulling it to themselves.

"Three or four years ago, e-mail marketing and sending out newsletters was a really hot item," says Smith.

"Now, people are used to getting those newsletters and it's getting harder to get to the client based on mass communication. So (companies) are having to become a bit more strategic on how they get that messaging out, and Web 2.0 is providing different tools to help them do that."

But, she suggests, the onus is still on the company to provide as much information as possible on its website.

The difference is that customers will be able to pick and choose data they want to use, and arrange for it to be sent to them automatically.

"The company would prepare all of that information, but then (the) user would say, 'I don't want all of that information; I just want bits and pieces and then I get it whenever I want it, rather than when you want to give it to me,' " says Smith.

Wireless devices will fuel the growth of Web 2.0, predict Chalk and other industry insiders. Cellphones, BlackBerries and other personal digital assistants (PDAs) will also be the saving grace of small businesses with few employees that are trying to keep pace with larger firms.

Jeff McDowell, director of alliances for Waterloo, Ont.-based Research in Motion (RIM), which manufactures BlackBerry, says use of the device is rapidly increasing among small businesses.

McDowell says his firm's research shows 52 per cent of small and medium-sized companies will enable wireless e-mail services in the next year or two, compared to only 30 per cent of large businesses. Meanwhile, more small business employees work away from their premises than staff at bigger firms.

"(Wireless devices) are now more economical for small businesses to deploy," says McDowell. BlackBerry, he adds, is helping these companies mobilize industry professionals, field services and sales forces, business opportunities and information technology opportunities.

The increased usage has translated into RIM developing more partnerships with small technology firms.

"We help them engineer their product and we help them take it to market," says McDowell, adding his group within RIM works with more than 400 Internet-service firms.

He and other tech types predict the exploding use of wireless devices will drive Web 2.0. "It's a great opportunity," notes Chalk. "It's probably one of the best times in history."

The tradeshow attracted about 5,000 attendees and more than 150 exhibitors, a 20- per-cent boost over last year, ranging from Rogers Communications to one-person public relations firms.

"Our goal is to educate businesses on how technology can help them grow their businesses, save money and run more efficiently," says Smith.

Techvibes.com brings together technology professionals and provides a bridge between the technology industry and businesses in all sectors.

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)