I THINK…

1. Relevant content should still be everyone’s first focus when developing a successful online business. Yes, other SEO strategies should still be practiced. The sharing of content still seems to be the driving force of the internet (be it videos, pictures, or articles).
2. Fresh content is not imperative for great rankings. It’s nice to see new material, but not imperative.
3. Link are very important, but they are easily manipulated. In no way would I recommend stopping link building, I just think it sucks how easily link authority can be manipulated. This even happens with some very reputable SEO’s when they recommend link sculpting. Isn’t that designing your site for the purpose of PageRank? Is there any statistics out there that says link sculpting actually benefits users (I am actually asking)?
4. Rand Fishkin over at SEOmoz.org has done an excellent job over the past few years and it seems to keep getting better. The make over of their new tools and campaign system is fabulous. Very happy to be a pro member.
5. Load speeds matter more than we realize. If your site loads faster and run more efficiently won’t it actually save time for Google? That seems like motivation enough for Google to push the importance of speed. Does anyone know how many pages Google crawls and how many servers they operate (again, I am asking)?
6. XML sitemaps don’t matter as much as we once thought they did. Nor am I convinced they help with rankings (verdict is still out).
7. Business owners should care more about customer experience than SEO strategies. SEO is a very close second, but we need to keep our priorities straight.
8. A lot of SEO’s skip an important step when working clients websites. Can anyone guess? I think a lot of SEO’s skip proper keyword research.
9. At some point (in the near future) Google is going to start adding more importance to social media links (like Twitter and Facebook). I had a personal feeling about this a few weeks ago and it was confirmed by this article (maybe I am not completely stupid). Again, this is just my speculation, but it does seem to make since.
10. That keyword density is important but not at the cost of making your content unreadable.

What do you think you think?

Related posts:

1. Pagerank 0 T0 3 In 30 Days
2. Buying Links: What’s The Big Deal?

Let me go ahead an preface this blog posting by letting everyone know that I do not, nor would I ever, recommend buying links to clients. I play by the same game as everyone else when it comes to Google and other search engines. Though I partly disagree with their opinion of buying links, it doesn’t change the fact that I must play by their rules. Google is a private company and they can, and they will, run their business the way they want too (in case you are wondering, I love Google and how they have revolutionized search engines and other products). If you are interested, or unaware, you should totally jump on over to Link Schemes offered by Google. This article will help you understand what Google thinks about buying links or participating in link schemes, hence the name.

This article is panning out totally different than I had planned. At any rate, I am going to list my questions about buying links. For the most part, they correlate with my original question.

What about push marketing?

If done effectively, push marketing can be very productive for a company (just think AOL and all of those free CD’s we all received). While keeping your mind on push marketing, isn’t link buying very similar to push marketing. I am not saying that push marketing is not bothersome, but it is an effective marketing technique that a lot of companies use.

If done excessively, won’t link buying ruin a site or business in the long run?

If someone only cares about SERPS, it is quite apparent in the way they handle daily website operations. Wouldn’t poor link buying just be a huge problem for them in the long run? Everyone knows there is so much more to running an online business than just ranking well. I do understand getting rid of major spammers, but if someone is willing to blatantly purchase links on porn or casino sites won’t this do enough damage on its on? And if they are willing to do that I am sure there are some other black hat techniques being utilized.

If done well, does link buying still fall under bad SEO practices?

There are plenty of instances where an SEO might want to purchase a link in a particular article that is relevant to their own website. Does this still fall under link schemes? If so, why does it? For me, especially since link buying is costly, I would never want to purchase a link on a non-relevant site that might not generate traffic. I guess I am asking if there is such thing as good link buying? It seems plausible to me.

On the other side, does a website owner ever want to offer a link to a completely irrelevant website that is of little value to their readers? If they do practices this behavior, shouldn’t their own stupidity take care of their success, or lack of success?

Why pay for links?

The Top Rank Blog touched on this subject as well. Basically, why would someone buy links when with just a little work and creativity they can generate so many more links across the entire internet? Unless the link totally makes sense to all parties involved, why would they pay for it as it seems wasteful? I have never participated in major link schemes, as I have never been able to work then into ANY business plan, but do you really gain anything more than just limited success?

Please don’t misunderstand my feelings. I just don’t see the big deal with buying links? I know, at times, that limited success is obtained, but it is never seems to be long lived. Keeping capitalism at hand, shouldn’t we just let internet users take care of the spammers? In theory, I know this is not always possible. With that said, I do appreciate what Google has done to rid the internet of spam website. If left alone, I think users who participate in questionable SEO/business practices will make their own mistakes, therefore making the internet a better place.

Just my thoughts on a questionable topic. What does everyone else think about buying links?

Related posts:

1. 10 Things I Think About SEO…I Think!
2. SEO Present: The Glory We All Seek?
3. SEO: The Perfect Example

I would like to by pass this article for just a second to talk about the SEO myth article. At it’s root, the article is great and informative. I don’t agree with everything Stephan writes, but this article can be very informative before you start talking to an SEO company or firm. Essentially, you will be able to more understand what SEO’s are talking about and what is actually needed within your niche and industry.

Okay, back to the point. Much like being hired for a job, you need to interview the company and make sure they are a good fit for you and vice versa. I am not meaning to stereo type in the posting, but much like a car sales man, if you do not understand what you need and what they are saying you can waste a lot of money.

Possible Questions will be bold and my responses will follow…

1. Are you going to guarantee your work? Is that even possible in the SEO industry? Can you guarantee rankings? While there are three different questions listed, the questions are definitely correlated. According to Google, no one can guarantee rankings (read here). Be vary wary of anyone calling you, or even the company you interviewing, if they claim that they can promise any certain outcome. While there should be clear, sustainable  goals no one should ever promise anything. Maybe, just maybe, someone might promise to increase rankings, which should kinda be a given. Most importantly, the results should be realistic and sustainable.
2. What is the first thing you will do when you take over my site’s SEO and marketing? Research, hopefully! Every industry is different and most businesses goals will be different. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for this data. The SEO company should have no beef handing this data over to you.
3. What about our competitors and our companies proprietary information? Respectful firms should only work on one site per industry and there should definitely be a non-compete clause. This area is very touchy and should be discussed at length, including what happens if and when you decide to stop using the SEO company. One things that should also be discussed is whether the contract is month-to month or for a set time period ( i.e. 6 months).
4. What does this bid include (don’t feel dumb–they will probably tell you without asking)? Does your company only SEO or is social networking included and SEM included? First, lets start off by saying it’s neither here nor there on whether the SEO company does just SEO or includes social networking or SEM in their package. While I personally believe the SEO encompasses a lot of things, some companies like to strictly focus on SEO. This is fine, you just need to understand what they are offering. I also feel as though it is easier to hire a company that can do both, but it is not necessary nor is it always the right direction for your business. I believe they are interconnected and it will be easier dealing with one company opposed to two or three companies.
5. Who will be making changes to my site, Twitter account, or Facebook page? Do I provide content or is there a writer on staff? While a lot of SEO and networking is off page, some things will most definitely need to be changed on your actual business website. This is very important as some companies might want to start changing your site structure and layout (not huge deal just something you need to be aware of).
6. Do you have some references? Absolutely check their references and look for there success online. Though sites like Compete and Quantcast are entirely accurate, you can do a little digging about companies web traffic.
7. Can I have access to all non-proprietary passwords and accounts? I am mainly referencing analytics software and social networking sites. For the most part the SEO company should freely give you access to this data. On a side note, you might want to set it up yourself so that you can have control over it. I have heard of some nasty stories of people losing Facebook fan pages and domain names becuase of sour business relationship.
8. What’s all this talk about ethical SEO? I keep hearing things about Black Hat and White Hat? There are a bunch of great articles that you can read here and here. While I feel like this line is blurred, you should definitely understand what can get your site banned in Google, Yahoo, and Bing. In my limited experience, most large SEO companies are very careful as they do not want to get one of their clients sites banned, although I am sure it happens.

Like all jobs, the hiring of an SEO company needs to mutually beneficial to both parties involved. Some firms might not be right for your company just like how some individual businesses might not be good for a particular SEO company. Spend a lot of time in the hiring process and interview several companies. All businesses need to make sure they are very happy with their SEO company as SEO is typically a marathon and not a sprint. With that being said, the partnership needs to last longer than a few months. I do understand that PPC  is very expensive, but jumping into a bad situation can make things much worse.

Yours Truly (IDK…)

Related posts:

1. SEO Consulting and Advice
2. Buying Links: What’s The Big Deal?
3. Can Social Media Take Over The Web?

I saw an article today over at Search Engine Journal talking about SEO being one of the best jobs in the world. As did SEJ, I am going to add my own thoughts to the original article which was written by SEO Chicks. Both are excellent and definitely worth reading.

Besides getting on paper (electronically, I guess…I don’t know) my thoughts and ideas about my profession, I do think it is a great idea (and motivator) to list the reasons why you love your job. While I was pursuing my teaching degree I have several professors tell me that being successful in teaching required passion. Simply “working” as teacher never helped any student succeed. I feel the same way about any profession, especially SEO. The competitive nature behind SEO requires a unique personality, I believe.The moment you lose your fire is the moment you should consider a new career.

Besides all that mumble jumbo, I felt as though this article written by SEO Chicks was very relevant to the current economic and job market. For the most part I am just happy to have a job. And more than than, I am quite thrilled I am able to do something I love. Like Sarah chatted about in the first few paragraphs of her article one might wonder how and SEO works so many hours. I would reply much very much the same way. I would say, ” How can you call it work if you love it so much?”

1. Freedom – While being an SEO is very demanding at times, it also comes with the ability to work at anytime. With that said it is important to be readily available between normal business hours but that is why I have an air card and a Motorola Droid (and soon an ipad if my wife will let me). I cannot explain it and sometimes it bothers my wife, but my best work tends to come between the hours of 9 pm and 3 am. This type of freedom has slightly changed as I have started working for more clients, but not as much as one would think.
2. No Degree Required – Or diploma for that matter. I love what Nick had to say over at SEJ. Coming from the teaching back ground (is it strange that I am not using my very expensive degree…?), I know exactly what Nick means. This is one of the few industries left where you can literally “fight” your way to the top. I love how the internet levels the playing field for all. I love reading those stories about “young adults” or kids making loads of money. It kinda give everyone that feeling of, “you know I can do that.”
3. Debates – If you happen to read both articles (which I totally think you should) then you will be familiar with SEO’s and what they think about debating. The debates are great. Not sure any SEO’s ever agree, but nonetheless, the debates are worth it.
4. Lending A Hand – I like the glory or beating competition and seeing your site climb the rankings. In the end though, it is really about helping a company grow and overcome financial struggles. I have had a few conversations where I was given a deadline to help a company or they were going to go out of business. I haven’t been able to help everyone but it feels great when I am able to benefit the company. Competitions is great and helps fuel success in this industry, but all SEO’s need to keep the companies long term growth in mind. Sometimes rankings are not the most important thing.
5. SEO Conferences – Who doesn’t like networking and learning new ideas and tips. In my mind, nothing compares to the kindness and willingness to help in regards to SEO professionals (at least out of industry). Drinks and nice hotels seem to make things better as well.

I am sure that everyone else has a few different reasons on why they loving being an SEO. Please give me more ammo as to why I should love my job!

No related posts.

Let me start this post by saying a few things. First and most importantly, doing an experiment like this was such a waste of my time (full time job, dad, full time blog).  After the first few days of this site being active I realized it was not going to work as planned and decided to have a little fun.  Ultimately, both plans fell through and I left the site alone. It has now been pulled off the web. Geez, what I would do with that 10 hours and $245 (break down of money will come later)!?

After my idea for the site fell through my new plan, no matter how pointless, was to do as little work as possible and see how high I could get my Pagerank. While this experiment had no definitive goal other than high, I feel as though I failed. Pagerank 3? Come on, that is so easy to achieve. And why did I think that achieving a high PageRank mattered. Most good SEO’s know that PageRank is just one piece of a giant pie. Now that I have brought it up I would like to discuss other places to generate traffic. Lets start with twitter and move on to Facebook, PPC campaigns (which don’t have to run you into debt), email subscribers, and the list goes on and on. So, while I believe in chasing PageRank, doing it passionately is not necessary. In fact, about a year ago Matt Cutts had a few things to say about PageRank Sculpting here. To reiterate my point about Pagerank I have decided to list a popular search result under a particular niche I work with. Tops placement is as follows:

1. PR 4
2. PR 4
3. PR 4
4. PR 4
5. PR 3
6. PR 5

I think you get the picture. Higher PR doesn’t always equate to higher rankings. Wow, I just did a great job explaining why my experiment was a waste of time.

The only thing that kinda made me happy was that it happened in 30 days, which I think can be explained by Google deciding to update it’s Pagerank. Simply, I got lucky on when I started the site and when Google decided to do a PageRank update. Had I opened the site a 1 month earlier my title would read “Pagerank 0 – 3 in 60 Days.” If I followed PageRank updates more carefully I probably would have been able to guess, within reason, when Google was going to update PageRank.

Again, before I list the steps I took I want to reiterate the importance of spending time writing relevant content, building quality links, appealing to your readers, watching conversions, optimizing landing pages, and basically caring about your readers and users as much (or maybe a little more than) as you do the search engines. Plus, there is much speculation and controversy around one aspect of what I did to obtain links (although more and more individuals are using this method).

My Time Wasting Journey

Like I stated earlier, after just a few days I decided to move away from the sites original plan. I only state this again to place emphasis on the number of pages I started with. I usually start a site with about 25 pages, which applied to this site as well. While I would recommend starting with more (possibly 50 – 75) I am not sure it is an exact science. I think having a base is very good but, but more importantly, I believe you should be constantly adding valuable content to your website. So over time what you start with doesn’t necessarily matter. Beside the number of pages I started with (happens to be 25), I decided to update the site at least once a week. I believe twice I update the site more than once a week. Most of the added pages went on my blog, but I did add one static article page. This was all I did in regards to adding content. After thirty days my site had 33 pages of content (genuine content–minus contact, about, etc). Most of my pages ranged in length from 350 – 500 words.

For the sake of time I decide to spend zero time working with on-page optimization. While on-page optimization is not necessary to achieve great rankings ( I am lumping everything together on this–however, this does not apply to the title tag as I believe it is very important) it can help in more competitive markets and really should be part of your “best practices” campaign. I have seen little jumps in rankings based on this form of optimization, but it has helped before. For more information regarding on-page optimization you should visit SEOmoz and Rand’s article here.

On to the most controversial step in regards to increasing PageRank or rankings. Again, once I decided my original plan was lame I moved on. Keeping that attitude in check, I was not going to put much time into this venture. This can be difficult as obtaining links is a process that takes time. It doesn’t always have to take time, but doing link building right is a marathon and not a sprint. To make this process easier I decided to buy links a few links (I have differing opinions than most in regards to buying links). I purchased 2 links on two pages that had a PageRank of 3 and 2 links on pages with a PageRank 2 (The total cost of the 4 links was $70 dollars). I purchased 1 directory ($100) listing in a high quality directory. I placed two links on two separate article pages that I had on other sites–both were PageRank one. Lastly, I built a Squidoo lens. I pointed all my links to my homepage. I am not sure if received any other links from other sites who might have found my site useful. Probably not as it is not that difficult to pick up a bloggers tone from the quality of their site. The total cost of my link building venture was $170.

Basically, that is all I did. Genius, huh? Not sure I would do this again, especially because I pulled the site off a few weeks later. Anyway, I guess everything can be turned into a learning experience.

Related posts:

1. SEO Present: The Glory We All Seek?
2. Best SEO Plugins
3. 10 Things I Think About SEO…I Think!

While this was not the first conference I attended (first as a vendor) this was the first conference where I heard some very strange comments. Some directed to the SEO industry. Some directed to me. Anyway, it was a great learning experience despite some of funny things I heard and witnessed.

1. I Don’t Have Time For Facebook -Yeah, who does? I log in to check my notifications and I spend a few hours checking profile and picture updates. I get where this person is coming from. Why should I or why should I pay anyone to waste time playing on the computer? A few words come to mind. How about 400 million potential customers? Do you care about that? Here is where I cam coming from. I have a sister-in-law who started a non-profit helping feed orphans in Africa. No big deal some might say. Except for that she is college student who is not of legal drinking age without much money. Do you know how she started this business and how she is already receiving donations? 2 words–SOCIAL MEDIA!
2. Your Website Will Never Get The Traffic My Site Gets – This was actually said to my face by another SEO. My colleague had to grab my arm as I was about to go crazy. Who says that to someone? This person knew nothing about me. Only that I am an SEO selling a product to the vacation rental industry (I was not selling my services by the way). At any rate, I was able to verify the number of visitors this individual was receiving through Compete and Quantcast (only estimates I know). Needless to say I shouldn’t have gotten bent out of shape!
3. Mobile Websites Are Here And Now – Really!?!? I thought that was so 2 years ago. I have a lot to write about this so I will wait for an actual blog posting.
4. SEO Is Dead – While I was still shocked to hear this statement said publicly at a gathering of SEO newbies it was not the first time I have heard this statement. Again, probably an entire post on this subject but I don’t believe SEO is dead. Not that I am the end all say all (not even close), but just because something changes doesn’t mean it is dead.
5. Blogs Are Dead – Say what? Get a few mommy bloggers on your side and see what happens.
6. The Best Directories Are Free – Surely this person got “free” and “spam” mixed up. I wanted to yell Best Of Web, Business.com, Joe Ant, and Yahoo at the top of my lungs (For a List of Best SEO Directories).

Has anyone else heard some crazy things about SEO?

Related posts:

1. Myrtle Beach VRMA 2010
2. Best Directories For SEO

Regardless of my stance on Google Buzz, this friendly sparring match with my friends got me thinking about all of Google’s products, the success of these products, and how this might relate to the SEO industry. As I sat at my desk questions started to speed through my mind. Why does a search giant like Google even care about social media? What about Google Checkout–was this venture necessary? Even more intriguing, why does a search giant care about competing with Microsoft Office with a product like Google Docs?

While I am not a part of Google (awww man…oh how fun that would be), I spent a little time (by little I mean like 30 minutes) thinking about why Google would move in any of these directions. To me (please Google lovers don’t blow up my comments), it appears as though Google creates a lot of good products, but most seem to fall short of excellence. I find this quite strange given Google’s reach, resources, and experience in web development. While I might be completely wrong (being wrong has become an everyday experience, especially after marriage), I just can’t help but feel as through Google is trying to show us SEO’s the road map of online success Let me explain.

Like most online businesses, you have to have a main purpose. No one can succeed with their hand in every single market. Google has worked wonders in the search area. Now, like most business face at some point, how do you keep the success hanging around. I kinda feel as through Google has perfected this step of keeping people around. In fact, as far as SEO goes I think Google has shown a type of path we should take in generating links and PR.

Think about it for a few minutes. Every few months Google makes a big move. The move typically creates a lot of buzz (nice play on words huh?) in the internet world. It’s got to be one of the best linking strategies, ever! Like most SEO believe…create unique content and the links will pour in.

I am going to apologize about the level of sources for this post. I really only have one. It make sense to me. With the advent of each new products, Google adds links and press. Secondly, I find it kinda strange that Google doesn’t create products that dominate their products respective markets. It appears that they have plenty of resources to accomplish that kind of feat.

At any rate, just a few thing I have been thinking about. I don’t know? I might be way off. It might just be a coincidence that it appears Google is following its own advice about how SEO’s should work. Does anyone have any thoughts about this rambling post?

Related posts:

1. Google Buzz: A Twitter Killer?
2. What Is Google Buzz?
3. Buying Links: What’s The Big Deal?

I know a lot of bloggers, especially bloggers who use Wordpress, never think about or edit their blogs HTML code. However, to explain a nofollow link I will need to display some HTML code.

<herf=”http://www.daddydewberry.com/” rel=”nofollow”>Daddy Dew</a>

<herf=”http://www.daddydewberry.com/”>Daddy Dew</a>

From the above illustration, you can see that the top link has a nofollow attribute. The bottom link is a traditional link. Just for clarification, nofollow tag is different from the meta tag noindex which looks like <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>. This meta tag actually tells the search engines to not index the particular page.

According to the Google guidelines:

In general, we don’t follow them. This means that Google does not transfer PageRank or anchor text across these links. Essentially, using nofollow causes us to drop the target links from our overall graph of the web. However, the target pages may still appear in our index if other sites link to them without using nofollow, or if the URLs are submitted to Google in a Sitemap. Also, it’s important to note that other search engines may handle nofollow in slightly different ways.

In my experience, links that carry this tag will not pass link popularity, link anchor text (in my example “daddy dew”), and Google willnot index the page. While the link getting indexed is often debated, my conclusions seem to point to that the link is not  indexed. Interestingly enough, there does seem to be evidence that points otherwise, especially in Yahoo.

The main purpose of a nofollow links is to link to a site without reducing page rank or passing anchor text. In general, the nofollow tag is used on blog comments, paid advertising, and sporadically by some bloggers. While I don’t completely dislike the nofollow tag for paid advertising, it does not make sense on comment blogging and other links. This article best explains why the nofollow tag sucks. The author of this post wrote, “the nofollow tag is like reaching out to shake someone’s hand but then putting a glove on right before you do.” Here are few questions that I have for bloggers who use nofollow tags on comments and other links. Why are you linking to a site that you do not trust or want to help? If a commenter offers relevant content and advice to your blog, why not reward them with a little link juice? Is it possible that your site throws up a red flag when every link on your site has a nofollow tag?

What Does This Mean For Me?

It depends.

As a blogger, I recommend a few things. While I might try and blanket the blogging industry in the next few statements you will need to filter through what is best for your blog or website. Unless you are offering paid advertising (again, just depends), most of your links should not have a nofollow tag (I can see where this might change with a forum or some similar site). To me it seems to defeat the purpose of what linking is all about. Link to the sites that you think are relevant and leave it at that. If you are using a blogging platform that automatically adds the nofollow tag (Wordpress), consider removing it or at least base it on individual comments. With how rampant comment spam can be you will most likely need to manage comments individually anyway. For instance, maybe make one commentator’s link dofollow and allow the others to be nofollow. If an individual offers substance to your blog shouldn’t offer them a little reward? Lastly, I don’t feel any site should be build around the success of your PageRank.

As an a blog promoter/SEO/commenter, I would recommend being aware of what sites have the nofollow tag. You can do this by using Firefox and installing a SEO toolbar. I would still comment on blogs that have the nofollow tag. There are a lot more far reaching benefits to offering sound advice than just getting a little link juice. Keep reading blogs and keep commenting.

Best Practices For Nofollow Links

The entire article is linked above. Best practices according to Google:

Untrusted content: If you can’t or don’t want to vouch for the content of pages you link to from your site — for example, untrusted user comments or guestbook entries — you should nofollow those links. ME: This is great advice. But at some point you might raise a red flag if all your links are nofollow. This probably does not apply to authority sites like Twitter and Wikipedia.
Paid links: A site’s ranking in Google search results is partly based on analysis of those sites that link to it. In order to prevent paid links from influencing search results and negatively impacting users, we urge webmasters use nofollow on such links. ME: Conflicting feelings so I am going to leave this one alone for now. At any rate, this is how Google feels.

I did add a short video offering a few extra points regarding nofollow links.

This is a widely debated topic and I would like to hear what other think about this topic.

Related posts:

1. Best SEO Plugins
2. Dofollow Comment Links – It’s Only Fair
3. SEO Past: A Ghost That Still Haunts?

Based on what I listed above, one of the main reasons I like Wordpress is how the simplified things have been made. This blogging platform has made it very simple for the everyday blogger to do more of what they like…share information. Below you will find some of my favorite SEO plugins to help make your blog rank better in search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

1. All In One SEO Pack – With over 4 million downloads to date, this SEO pack is on eof the most popular Wordpress plugin downloads. A few features includes advanced canonical URLs, can generate meta tags automatically, and provides integration for WP ecommerce sites. I personally install this plugin on all my websites.
2. No Follow Case By Case – This is not necessarily an SEO plugin, but I definitely feel that it applies to this post. This Wordpress plugin allows users to strip the nofollow tag from comments. It also allows users to add the nofollow tag on a case by case basis (hence the name). I feel adding dofollow links to your comments is a great way to reward your readers who leave great comments.
3. Automatic SEO Links – Interlinking is great among blogs. The problem is because some forget to do interlink. All you have to do is choose a word and a URL and this Wordpress plugin will replace all matches in the posts of your blog. I like to personally interlink all my posts on a case by case basis, but this is great for bloggers who are searching for an easier process.
4. Evermore – Evermore is a Wordpress plugin that can help with duplicate content. It abbreviates your posts on the home page and category pages. Yes, this is the exact same thing that the <!–more– > tag does, but again, this simplifies the process. I use this plugin on 1-2 blogs. Some developers build this feature into their themes, which I like.
5. Google Analyticator – Google Analyticator add the necessary JavaScript code to enable tracking from Google Analytics. Being able to view traffic stats is vitally important. Plus, Google Analytics is free.
6. Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – Again, this SEO plugin is more about exposure but it still helps spider bots find related content. This could be quite important for larger blogs. I feel like this plugin is a must.
7. Google XML Sitemap – This SEO plugin is quite popular with over 3 million downloads to date. This plugin will create an XML sitemap that will better enable search engines in reading and caching your blog. Every time you publish/delete/edit a post the plugin will update the XML sitemap.
8. SEO Friendly Images – This plugin is Wordpress optimization tool that will automatically update images without ALT and Title Tags. This plugin will add tags according to set options. Again, This plugin can help simplify something that can be done a case by case basis.
9. SEO No Duplicate – For whatever reason, if you have duplicate content on your site this SEO plugin is a must. This Wordpress plugin tells the search engines what post to cache.

I am sure that I missed a few SEO plugins that deserve to be here. Please use the comment section to add plugins or your thoughts (remember this blogs comments are dofollow).

Related posts:

1. Ninja Affiliate Review
2. What is A Nofollow Link?

Traditional Directories

• DMOZ – Free – At times, I have had some difficulties obtaining a link.
• Yahoo – $299/YR – The Yahoo directory occasionally sends decent traffic. I feel like this directory is one of the most important directories.
• Business.com – $299/YR
• Best Of The Web – $149.95/YR – Best Of The Web also offers an affiliate network for webmasters.
• Joeant – $39.99
• GreenStalk – $39.95
• Browse8 – $35 – This directory does not pass much traffic but has generated a back link in Google on most sites I submit.
• ROMOW – $60 – While this site is relatively unknown, I love the direction they are going.

Blog Directories

• Best Of The Web Blog – $75/YR – A must for all bloggers.
• Bloggeries – $39.99 – A really like the direction of this blog directory.
• Blogarama – $10 – Great networking site for blog owners.
• Blog Catalog – Free – Great networking blog directory that receives a few million visitors a month according to compete.com.
• Blogged – Free

Related posts:

1. 6 “I Can’t Believe That Was Said” Comments
2. SEO Past: A Ghost That Still Haunts?