MappingTheWeb //

“Meebo, the web-based IM service that aggregates all your messengers in one place, has raised $9 million in second round funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson… ”

They’ve also released some stats:

• 1 million registered users (up from 0.5 million three months ago)
• 1.2 million daily logins
• 75 million messages sent per day
• Average session time of 70 minutes
• 4.5 million unique screen names sign in monthly

via Mashable

Impressive stats, appropriate rewards… but what’s their secret?

1. They Kept Updates Coming

Ever since I started on Meebo, it has never stopped getting better.  It certainly started with a typical web based messaging package, but over time it all fell into place.  Chat logs were put in place, single sign-ons implemented, designs upgraded, emoticons, offline messaging, avatars - the list just goes on and on.  Done in increments, and communicated well, it leaves the audience happy, but wanting more.

2. They Blogged Well

Healthy communication with your audience is something Meebo pulls off handily - with a blog of course.   Now, you might be saying to yourselves - so what? Everyone does it now.  Well the difference is that rather than treating the blog as a public developmental log, it’s written in a personable friendly manner, revealing nuggets of interesting information every now and then.  How else would we know that hot pink was such a popular font color?

Also, Meebo’s latest blog entry will appear as a message window when you login.  The fact that it makes a good read, and it that appears in an unobtrusive way, gets the message across effectively.

3. They Expanded Your Presence Outside Their Site

It’s surprising that Meebo took so long to come out with their widget which would allow website’s to embed Meebo into them.  It’s even more surprising that NONE of the older and established players came out strong and did it first.  Since it’s release, the widget API increases visibility, provides a linkback, and promotes usage of Meebo, and it has been an invaluable move to release it.

4. They Connected with Their Community

Through wikis and forums, Meebo has established good communication between themselves and the community.  Meebo has even been translated into more than 60 languages at this point, because of user community efforts.  Go all out to help them, and the tech community will repay you in kind.

5. They Used Good old fashioned Link Karma

With good work, comes search engine rewards.  Meebo is king of the hill at the moment.  Do a quick search on Google and you’ll see that Meebo is ranked #3 if you search for “IM”, and #1 when you search for “web instant messaging”.  Do good, let people talk about you on their sites, and more will come.

What will Meebo do next?  I can’t wait.

This web commentary was contributed by James Yeang, editor of Friedbeef’s Tech.  He writes about solving everyday with simple technology.