So as Google and Microsoft sign deals with Twitter, now is the time to start becoming a little smarter at getting found in “real-time” searches. Basically it boils down to staying in the “real-time” conversation for relevant topics that people are searching for.

Top tips for Twittering (or other social media chit-chatting) include: using keywords, talking about current events, having lots of followers, starting conversations and getting responses.

It’s like having a conversation with a massive community of people and trying to get as many people interested in what you have to say as possible. Chatterbox away…but keep it relevant.

Expect to hear more about “real-time” searches in future blogs.

Twitter has signed deals with search rivals Google and Bing that will see entries from the micro-blogging site appear on both search engine websites.

The moves herald the start of the race to create a “real-time” search engine with the most up-to-date information on the web.

Google is planning to integrate the Twitter updates into its search results over the next few months.

At the same time, Microsoft announced it had also signed a deal with Twitter to provide real-time info - but only for net users in America.

One of the keys to a successful website is “usability”. Now a new report of UK high street brands has revealed that the Marks and Spencer and WH Smith sites are the most user-friendly.

The revamped M&S website has jumped from ninth place last year in the annual Online High Street Report. In third place in 2009 is John Lewis, while Boots the Chemist took fourth position.

For the first time, five of the high street brands scored more than 80% in the usability score, including the now on-line only Woolworths, which took fifth place in the survey.

Trenton Moss, director of Webcredible, the web usability consultancy behind the survey, is reported as saying that these days, especially during a recession, the user-friendliness of a retailer’s website could be the “key point of differentiation in a competitive market place”.

The criteria used to evaluate the websites included browsing, navigation, the checkout process, searching and product display pages.

The survey did, however, find a number of areas for improvement, such as allowing customers to alter the number of products displayed on a page and changing the colour of visited links.

Take note all your e-commerce owners.

Blogging is on the increase - and rightly so. Regularly updated website content, plus a number of well-placed keywords, will likely work wonders for your SEO rating.

But to make the most of your blogs, you need to know the best way to write them.

Here are a few top tips:

Have an opinion: People read bogs because they are interested in your subject matter and because they want to know your opinion. So tell them what you think - but without going too crazy and over-the-top (you don’t want to come across as mad!).

Less is more: Around 250 words will give people enough to read but without boring them. A short post that is easy to digest will be the one they remember.

Make headlines snappy: This is the place to get your point across in one simple sentence. Aim to grab your reader’s attention.

Add bullets: Lists are easy to read and simple to digest. Everyone loves a list, so add these to your blogs.

Easy to read: Short sentences and paragraphs are easier on the eye. Add in simple headers throughout your blog to keep the reader’s attention.

SEO friendly: Add in a few keywords but don’t over do it. The most effective way to use keywords is to ensure they appear “naturally” in text. But do think about what keywords people would use to search for your post and include them in the body text and headers.

Read it over: Before you post the blog, read it over again. Check for grammar errors and cut out the words that are not really needed.

Link up: Support your blog with links to other web pages that are relevant to your post.

Happy blogging!

So you’ve got yourself a shiny new website. Now the hard work really begins. It’s time to go out and get this website of yours seen and heard about.

Here’s a list of the tasks:

Great words: It’s one thing having a good-looking, all-flashing, all-dancing website but it’s also vital that you have good copy. Essentially the words are what will interest the majority of people so make sure these are well-written or professionally written (hire a copywriter if in doubt).

Marketing:

• Get into networking on-line and face-to-face. Tell people about your site and hand out business cards, leaflets, t-shirts… whatever will help people to remember your website address and what your business is all about.

• Newsletters are also a great way of keeping in regular touch with a range of potential customers (again, you might want to hire a pro to write good newsletters).

• Press releases: Find a freelance PR or journalist and ask them to help you with a few basic press releases.

• Forums: join forums and web groups connected to your own business and participate by sharing your knowledge.

Blog it: Search engine spiders love regularly updated copy and keyword-rich copy and one of the best tools for this is to write blogs linked to your website. Make it easy for your readers to keep tabs on your new blogs by offering an RSS Feed. And let them comment on your posts – they’ll want to see what you have to say about their comments, too.

Check out the competition: See what rival websites are up to, what they are offering, what their content is like, etc.

Finally, don’t be afraid to make changes: You might have a shiny, new website but if some areas are not working as you felt they should then make some changes. Ask your designer to make some adjustments or speak to a copywriter about sprucing up the content.

A new study paints the clearest picture yet of how people shop on-line. The research by marketing company Amaze, and in association with Glasgow University, shows that 87% of e-shoppers place items into their shopping basket in order to work out total costs.

They then take into account costs such as delivery, VAT, special offers, etc, before comparing the overall price with other on-line stores. And, assuming that the price is right, almost three quarters of these potential customers then report that they return at a later time to buy.

This kind of shopping shows that people are bargain hunters and that they are also willing to wait a while to seal their deals.

So if you’re designing an e-commerce site you’ll want to make sure that it’s possible for people to return to their shopping baskets at a later date to purchase their products. So why not turn the shopping basket into a wishlist-style basket? You’ll see more and more wishlist baskets popping up on sites in the near future, we’ll bet.