Being able to “chat” with visitors to your website - offering live advice or support for example - can often mean the difference between having a visitor and a customer.

If it’s something you’ve been thinking about adding to your website - or something that you are currently paying through the nose for - you might be interested in a new service from Google called Chatback.

To use Chatback on any of your websites, you will need a Google Talk account (if you already have a GMail account then you already have a Google Talk account - just login). It’s then just a case of copying some code and pasting it where you want your Chatback badge to appear on your website page(s).

Visitors to your site don’t need a Google Talkback account to use Chatback. When they visit your site, they’ll see a badge like the one on the right showing your online status (available, busy or offline) and, if you’re available, they can just click and start chatting. Simple as that.

Chatback uses the web-based Google Talk Gadget so your visitors don’t need to download anything. It opens in a new window so they can keep chatting with you even if they browse to other pages. Perfect if you want to direct them to a page while you continue to chat.