It seems like Facebook is aiming to become your portal to the world.  The increased functionality and embedded applications available in Facebook make it easier to accomplish your web related tasks without leaving the portal.

I think it’s still a long way off, but more sites are developing facebook apps that allow you to stay with your FB page.  For instance, here’s an article on Zipcar:

Zipcar Members Can Now Reserve A Car On Facebook

and more apps are coming each day.  I think that more websites and businesses will have to develop facebook related apps to allow users to seamlessly move between sites and applications, without logging in again.

After a lot of research and testing, I’m pleased to ControlScan services for PCI compliance. They have a process in place to assist you in obtaining and maintaining PCI compliance for your website.

There are two main steps to obtain PCI compliance.

1.  A questionnaire about your business and card-handing practices.

2.  A remote scan of your server, to determine any vulnerabilities that might exist.

This service is $249 / year, which allows you to scan your site quarterly.   My recommendation to my ecommerce clients at this point it this:  Try the service for 1 year – fill out the questions, and scan your server.  This will help you button up your site, and when your merchant account provider asks you about PCI compliance, you are ahead of the game.  So far PCI enforcement seems pretty lax, but that could change any time.  Having some PCI documentation under your belt will also help you if there are any security issues.

The site is here – read about the included services, and sign up using the buy now button on the left.

If you are a mobile merchant – that is, you often set up a booth to sell your wares, or collect payments from clients while on the road, then having a solution to take credit card payments might appeal to you.  CDG Commerce offers just the thing you need – a wireless terminal.  Take a look:

CDG's wireless credit card terminal

CDG Commerce is known for providing a low cost processing solution, and this is no different.  The wireless access is $20 / month, and the merchant account is an additional $10 (which includes a web virtual terminal, and ecommerce capabilities).  If you are looking for low cost processing, this is it!

You can read more and apply for the service here.

Here’s a nice article on SEO, which lists the “durable” seo elements to focus on for your website:

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2111842/8-Durable-SEO-Elements

An interesting revelation from Google CEO Eric Schmidt – google changes their search algorithm a little bit each day.  EACH DAY!  So jumping onto the latest hot SEO tip may backfire.

I’d summarize this article as follows – make your site user friendly and provide great content.  That’s it.  Serve your constituency well, and the search engines will reward you.

Google launched its “wallet service” as described here:
Google Wallet Rings Up Visa, Amex, Discover as Partners

This is an interesting way to pay for items, but it does require merchants to sign up and have specialized hardware at their registers.  I understand the appeal of these kinds of systems, but I’m wondering if they will really take off.

Here’s my question – does this really make it easier to pay for things?  The current system of pulling out your “real” wallet, swiping a card, and signing a piece of paper is pretty painless right now.  I suppose this reduces some security concerns, but it does add more management tasks for the consumer – funding the account, keeping card information updated online, etc.   Also, you need a phone that supports it – which many people still do not have.  Most people have pockets or purses, which is all you need to put a “real” wallet.

It’ll be interesting to see how it goes – the current pay system is pretty well entrenched, and convenient, so I think it will be hard to displace.