Time to crank out one more post before the year ends. Rather than put together a list of resolutions as many do, I thought it would be fun to look back and highlight some of the top posts on this blog. Posts were selected from a combination of those that received the highest number of backlinks, those that went popular on Sphinn & Digg and this author's personal favorites.

1.) 10 Signs That You May Be a Blog Addict

Blogs exist on just about every variety of subject one can imagine. Add to that the thousands of new blogs that are launched each and every day. So, what does it take to really have an active blog that people will subscribe to and come back again and again to read? Creativity and dedication for one. But even more than these, it requires an addiction to the act of blogging itself. This post provides ten humorous signs that may qualify you as a blog addict.

2.)  Using Social Media To Help Manage Online Reputation

This post deals with the issue of online reputation management is becoming more and more a concern for any business. While most companies are able to secure the number one spot in the organic search results for their brand via their company web site, what about the remaining first page real estate and even that of the second and third pages? How can companies, especially small to medium sized businesses, control that real estate without necessarily deploying multiple company web sites? The answer - social media.

3.)  The Paid Links Industry Needs To Go Underground

This post was written in the aftermath of Google lowering the PageRank of hundreds if not thousands of sites who they assumed to be selling paid links. It is a call for the paid links industry to go underground, recognizing the fact that Google has declared war on it. Google's war on paid links is clear-cut evidence that they work, however they are not going to continue to work if those engaged in buying and/or selling paid links don't begin to be a bit more secretive about strategy.

4.)  Trading In My White Hat For a Black One

It was discovered during the Thanksgiving holiday that Google changed their webmaster guidelines to now label those who buy and sell paid links, "spammers." The changes essentially revealed that buying or selling links that pass PageRank can penalize a site not only in its Google Toolbar PageRank status, but also in Google search results. What does this mean for those that consider themselves "white hat SEOs" such as myself? Better go shopping for a new hat - a nice black one.

5.)  Things That Bug Me Regarding Those Who Sell Links

Another "paid links" post, this one related to thinks that bother me with those who sell paid links. What would those things be? Essentially making Google's job or identifying and devaluing the links way too easy. It is a call to action of sorts for sellers of paid links to be a bit more secretive in how they actually disclose paid links so the big bad Google cannot detect them so easily.

6.)  7 Things Twitter Addicts Can Do When Twitter Goes Down

On December 15th, Twitter was supposed to be scheduled for downtime which had Twitter addicts everywhere scratching their heads as to what they would do with their time while the service was offline. This post provides a humorous look at what Twitter addicts can do to pass the time when their favorite micro-blogging service is down.

7.)  Is Google Misleading Search Marketers?

It is common knowledge that Google will set up and optimize an AdWords campaign for their advertisers. However, will they do the same for organic search? I don't think so... at least I hope not. This post was birthed out of a conversation with a potential client who informed me that Google was going to "SEO" their site for free. This led me to question whether Google reps were actually promising to optimize web sites for organic search or were they misleading advertisers, blurring the line that separates organic search from paid search.

8.)  SEO So Easy a Monkey Could Do It, Or Can They?

Automating the SEO process was been a hot topic in 2007. With many companies looking to develop programs to automate the SEO process, this leads one to wonder if search engine optimization can actually be accomplished with software. In other words, can monkeys do the jobs of humans?

9.)  Traditional Companies Need Not Fear Social Media

Traditional companies have been very slow to embrace social media. In fact it seems that some are downright scared to death of it. Sites like MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, even Twitter continue to grow in popularity as well as usage and yet the willingness of many companies to jump on board is to say the least - apathetic. This posts show why companies need not fear social media and even why they should embrace it.

10.)  Should SMBs Be Worried About Google's Universal Search?

In May of this year, Google announced that they had begun to roll out "universal search" features, where their search results pages would contain more than just web pages and documents. Additional content would include videos, images, news, maps, books, and even stock quotes. This had some small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) concerned. The feeling is that they will have less opportunity to occupy that coveted first page of real estate due to the fact that they could now face competition from additional forms of media. Do their worries hold any merit? This post examines that very question.

11.)  Responding To and Following Up on RFPs (Request For Proposals)

We get a handful of RFPs (request for proposal) each and every week, We actually call them "Request Free Quotes" (RFQs) as they typically come from potential customers submitting a form from our site. Receiving several RFQs each week not only requires a significant amount of time to respond to them in a timely manner, but requires a strategic follow-up plan to ensure that we give ourselves the best opportunity to secure the new business. This post details how how we initially respond to these and our process of following-up on them.

12.)  How To Detect Problematic Customers Before They Become Paying Customers

When talking to potential customers, I can usually tell in a minute or less if they are going to be problematic. Call it intuition. Call it sixth sense. Or simply chalk it up to over ten years of experience. This posts provides five signs to look out for that might indicate that a problematic relationship lies ahead.

13.)  10 Steps To a Successful SEO Relationship

There are fundamental principles that both parties must follow if they are going to have a successful SEO relationship. Like any partnership, there are do's and don'ts that each party must practice if the relationship is to be a success. While not a complete list, this post lists ten important things to practice in order to have a successful SEO relationship.

14.)  How To Establish Trust With Users in the Online World

Establishing trust with consumers is crucial to the success of any online business, especially those who are selling a product or service. This is oftentimes easier to do in the "real world" than it is on the Internet. This post outlines some steps web sites and ecommerce shops can take to establish trust with their users and ultimately convert them into a paying customer?

15.)  Better Business Bureau Discriminates Against Online Companies

This was a rant against the Better Business Bureaus' BBBOnLine Reliability Program where by charging an additional fee to members who wish to place a BBB logo on their sites, they end up discriminating against businesses who solely conduct business online as they have no other way to inform their customers that they are members.


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