Rumour has it that an official announcement is imminent for Google's development of a social networking site to rival Facebook.

The Internet giant has had talks with online gaming companies including Playdom Inc and EA Games to include some of their games on the site.

Following the recent announcement of Facebook's 500 million user success, it's only natural that Kings of Search, Google Inc have decided to develop what could be the next social media phenomenon.

This may well work in their favour to once again dominate the web for all search queries. In recent years, social networking sites have become more intimate and trustworthy than search engines when making decisions, such as finding the best restaurants or choosing a city break.  Real reviews and recommendations via social networking sites have taken the lead - results almost seem as though they come from someone you know.

Users have now come to expect a more personal, descriptive answer to their online search query, as opposed to a simple list of sites, and there's a strong trend for preferred choice of options that come from within a users social circle. As Google would agree, social networking is certainly the way forward.

The scenario: A customer gets all the way through your site, products in basket, then at the last second, decides to do a 180, and leaves your store. Why do you think this is? 

Shopping Cart Abandonment is a problem for retailers across the board, and is a key concern to consider when it comes to marketing your eCommerce site. 

Naturally, you want your website to perform an element of data capture, which is crucial to forging meaningful long-term relationship with your customer.Unfortunately most new customers want to avoid a registration process and checkout as quickly as possible.  So how can retailers encourage more registrations without deterring customers?

Follow Up 

Follow a transaction by sending your new customer an order number and thank them for making their purchase. Ask the proactive, time-saving question “Would you like to save your details for next time?”  No mention of registering, just a focus on saving the customer valuable time in future.Give clear benefits of creating an 

account (faster and easier shopping, order tracking, ratings and reviews). Go at step further and pre-populatel the first name, surname and email address field with the customers details they provided a few minutes earlier. Simply ask the customer to choose a password and enter it twice for validation. At this point, keep the customer focused on the benefits of providing a password, by being selective in your choice of words - 'Save my details’ rather than ‘Create an account’ or ‘Proceed to registration’.  

Simple Checkout

Customers want to make their purchase, and move on.  Don't make them jump through hoops to spend their money with you. Provide only two options at the start of checkout – login and checkout. Don’t mention registration and account creation until the order confirmation page - even then you don't need to use the word 'register'.Ensure your checkout forms follow form best practice, therefore reducing potential usability issues for customers.Clearly promote the benefits of registering.

Avoid Distractions 

Make the process as simple as possible – remember the one key piece of additional information they need to provide is a password. Save asking visitors to choose a range of marketing preferences until they have registered, and then make it easy and intuitive for them to choose how they would like to receive marketing communication from you.

If you remove as many potential distractions as possible and don't force new customers to make a decision before they have completed their purchase, you are on the right track to a seamless transaction process, and building those crucial relationships in order to encourage repeat custom.

Many small businesses in the UK are failing to make the most of their online presence, with 47% of SME websites having either very basic or no SEO work at all.

A recent study - the State of UK Business Websites 2010,  looked at 1,001 SME websites and compared them against a range of SEO criteria.  A correlation between the size of a business and the levels of search engine optimisation was the first point found. It seems larger companies tend to have better optimised sites, while over 70% of companies with less than 50 employees have either very basic levels of optimisation, or none at all.

Amazingly, 12% of all business websites are not indexed in any search engine, which almost defeats the purpose of having a website in the first place. Many of the problems are down to businesses not implementing SEO basics. For instance, 35% of websites did not have unique page titles, and 56% lacked unique page descriptions. These are relatively quick SEO wins for small businesses.

Clearly, there are plenty of small businesses that are yet to see the value of effective SEO, or perhaps lack the knowledge to carry out the basics of site optimisation. These businesses should be looking to correct this as, implemented well, SEO has the potential to be a very important and cost-effective sales tool.

Whilst not every company will have the resources or know-how to run an effective campaign, simply getting the basics right, such as ensuring that a site can be indexed and contains relevant content, can make a noticeable difference to search results.

Social Media is becoming increasingly popular in the marketing world, and a highly effective tool in promoting brands for much less money than through traditional channels.

Two examples to illustrate this recently have been The Fairtrade reporting a 12% increase in Fairtrade goods following their online marketing campaigns through customer focus and understanding, and viral videos becoming widespread amongst music music labels.

It's clear that when we go back to basics, it's the very simple marketing techniques that work. In the world of social media marketing, the key being, to create conversation, follow the conversation, and join the conversation. We're all aware that understanding our customers is essential in the marketing process, and how better than to address your target base first hand? Engage your audience, find out what makes them tick, and more importantly, find out what doesn't.

The more time you dedicate to building a strong network of contacts, followers and industry experts, the quicker you build credibility, recognition and ultimately, convert those strangers into twenty minute meetings.

As if networking wasn’t fun enough, Bump, the app that makes it even easier to exchange information with other users by bumping phones, has just been released for the iPhone.

The app allows iPhone users to compare calendars, instantly connect on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and send messages back and forth. This is a great app for professionals that travel in groups of other smartphone users as it makes it simple to transfer information without the need to pass out business cards.

It’s easy to use; just open up the app and make the “bump” gesture with the device to share your contact information.You can set up your contact profile by selecting your existing address book entry or by creating something brand new. You can then customise which information you want to include or exclude. The ability to compare calendars and set up meetings on the move is a great addition and could be ideal for business networking events.Sharing your Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn information instantly, Bump can even compare contacts you have with the user you are “bumping” and show you further details – another great way to network on the move.

Businesses of all sizes and nature are flocking to social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

The fact is, that a presence on these platforms not only allows companies to engage in conversations with consumers, but also serves as an outlet to drive sales through deals and vouchers.

And while some of us have been participating in the social web for some time now, the rate of adoption among small businesses is increasing too. Social media as a marketing tool in small businesses has doubled from 12% to 24% in the last year. Last year, businesses were learning about social media.  This year, it's more about engaging it and using it properly to increase busines opportunities.

Businesses are finding different benefits and techniques to make proper use of social media marketing and it has become the most cost effective way of reaching the people we need to build a network and generate opportunities.

Since it's launch in February 2004, Facebook has become the most popular social networking site on the web.  This week, Facebook will reach a milestone of an impressive 500 million users.  

To celebrate, it’ll launch “Facebook Stories,” a visual memorial to all the ways the social network has changed people’s lives. Amongst the love stories and natural disaster reunion tales, it will be clear to see that the social network is no longer simply used by kids or peer groups - it has also become an important business tool.

Whilst previous announcements of the social networking leaders' milestones have been about the numbers, this time the company wants it to be all about the users.

This demonstrates the continued growth of the social networking site. People are now paying it the attention it deserves, and is has become the most cost effective way to do paid search and highly effective in reaching geographic and demographic areas.

Facebook reached 400 million users five months ago. This time last year, it had just reached 200 million and eight months before that it was at just 100 million. It's not surprising to see the social networking phenomenon has now become a key element of business strategy across the globe.

Coca Cola saw phenomenal results this week when they joined an online discussion using Twitter’s “promoted tweets”.

Where the usual number of visitors to click on a regular ad is around 0.02%, Coke saw impressive stats with an engagement rate of 6%.

Twitter first introduced the new advertising system in April, allowing companies such as Starbucks and Sony Pictures to pay to display their postings on pages of search results for popular topics. Disney Pixar became the first company to buy an ad within its “trending topic” section just last week.

Unlike search results, this form of sponsorship appears on the main page Twitter users see when they are logged into the service, at the bottom of the user-generated list of the 10 most popular talking points on the site.

Coke tweeted messages congratulating the England and US teams, linked to videos on YouTube and invited people to celebrate their teams’ success.

Naturally, many advertisers are now excited about the potential of social networks to promote word-of-mouth recommendations of their products.Using social networks as a business tool allows great opportunities to establish relationships with consumers that can’t be achieved through TV and press.

Twitter is quickly becoming a trend amongst individuals, businesses and brands worldwide. However although millions are signing up to the social networking phenomenon, a disappointing trend is the retention rate of users.   Many people sign up, test the waters for a few days, and quickly find it to be of no use or value, and promptly abandon their accounts.  As we always say, it's not the tools, it's how you use them. To remedy this, I've outlined the common mistakes of new users and some ways to help stop you becoming one of the Twitter quitter statistics...

Don't just follow celebrities and brands

This is one way traffic. Celebrity tweets are simply there to push messages your way - unless you're extremely lucky, they won't respond directly to you.  Follow relevant discussion groups and get involved. Comment on other people's tweets in order to increase your own visibility.

Have something interesting to say

Be creative. Not everyone is interested to know what people are having for dinner. The most interesting people are those who aren't openly trying to sell their products or striving for web fame. Talk about relevant subjects and consider what you want to get out of it. If you talk to interesting, relevant people, you will immediately add value to your business through building a strong network of quality contacts who will give credence to your knowledge.

Get Mobile 

Having Twitter on your mobile allows you to remain up to date and tweet more frequently.  Tweeting once or twice a day won't give you much value.  In order to build up a strong following and increase your credibility, you need to be dedicated to your tweets.

To get you started, check out Twitter Mobile for the iPhone... http://www.twittermobile.co.uk/nbsp;

Twitter isn't for everyone, but if you fancy giving it a try, do so with a little bit of knowledge - you never know, you may just get something out of it other than knowing everyone else's plans for the evening...