These days, it seems that everyone is talking about the importance of user generated content (UGC), and the many ways it is changing the face of the Internet.

A significant number of the Internet's most popular websites are largely fueled by user generated content. From YouTube to Twitter to Facebook to Wikipedia to Amazon, the list of sites using UGC reads like a who's who list of the Internets biggest players. But what is UGC, and more importantly, why is it so important?

The phrase user generated content is used to describe any materials that are published on a website by the sites users. User generated content is sometimes referred to as content generated media (CGM) or user-created content (UCC).

UGC can refer to any type of material posted on a site by a non-administrative user. So where traditional content on a website is more often than not created by a professional affiliated with the site, user generated content is unique because it is created by the sites own users.

The nature of the way content is being created on the Web is shifting from the tradition of posting pre-packaged and professionally prepared materials to a trend in which consumers are encouraged to guide and direct the conversation. Whether this is product recommendations, rants, opinions, discussions, or debates, users are now largely dominating Internet dialogue.

You can see examples of this everywhere when surfing the web. Articles on Wikipedia, Tweets from your favorite celebrity, product reviews on Amazon.com, Facebook profiles, and You-Tube videos are all forms of user generated content.

So, how can you take advantage of this important trend? What can you do to your web site right now to start capitalizing on peoples willingness to contribute?

The quickest and easiest place to start is to use a comment script such as XCommentPro. This will allow people the option of commenting on your web site content. This could be articles you have written, photographs you have taken, product reviews you have put together, or anything else where your visitor might have their own opinion.

This may sound way beyond your current level of technical expertise, but there are inexpensive comment scripts and software tools around to help with adding this kind of feature to any web site.

You do need to choose your comment script carefully though, as there are large differences between the feature sets on offer. Do you want your visitors to have the ability to add a rating? Do you need to have a bad word filter that will replace expletives with asterisks? Do you want e-mail notifications whenever new comments are added? Do you want the ability to delete posts remotely?

If you plan well, using the right tool can make adding a user-generated-content element to a web site effortless, and the benefits are numerous.

A comment script can help generate additional traffic, boost the time spent on a site, increase the number of return visits, and ensure the site is constantly refreshed with new content without you having to lift a finger.

In summary, UGC is not going to be a short-lived craze or fad. It is a phenomenon that is here to stay and that will continue to transform the Internet into a multi-dimensional communication channel in which the voice of the audience is as important, if not more so, than the publisher.