I think most people in the industry agree that search engine optimization is both art and science. Although the SEO professionals have to adapt their techniques constantly due to the algorithm updates and changes of the big search engines, the many of the ‘core wisdoms’ in SEO remained the same over the last couple of years.

If your work in the SEO industry or are an SEO client, a webmaster or just web geek who is interested to learn how much he knows about Search Engine Optimization, check out my 8 favorite website to test your SEO knowledge:

SEOmoz Expert Quiz

SEOmoz Expert Quiz is the best online destination for testing your knowledge in search engine optimization, in my opinion. It includes 75 questions with a wide range of topics. You be awarded with a badge at the end. Depending on your final score, you’ll be an “SEO Novice” or “SEO Master”. Highly recommended.

SEO Test by SEMPO

The SEMPO SEO test is a good online quiz with some tricky questions. Although I expected that the official organization of Search Marketing professionals in the United States would have offered a more sophisticated test with a wider range of topics, it still give you a good idea where you stand with your SEO knowledge – especially, if you consider to enroll in one of the SEO or SEM online courses offered by the SEMPO institute. This online test has room for improvement with its 20 questions, but is still worth checking out.

Knowledge Tests By SEOconsultants.com

The Knowledge Tests by SEOconsultants offer 5 sets of questions for five different knowledge domains: “General”, “Google Guidelines”, HTTP Status Code”, “Internet History” and “Search Engine Trivia”. A good mix or simple and challenging questions. Answers come with useful explanations.

SEO & SEM Quiz by Vertical Leap

The SEO & SEM Quiz by the UK base search marketing company Vertical Leap is short and sweet – and requires some good insider knowledge about the search marketing industry. The 25 questions include some fun stuff, like “‘MSN Dude’ is a member of which forum?”. You’ll receive your score at the end, but unfortunately no explanation which the right answers are.

SEO Quiz by About.com

The SEO Quiz by About.com is a great online test which is embedded in the ‘web search’ section of About.com. Every question comes with a link list of topic related resources and related articles. This is a phantasitc quiz to test and expand your knowledge at the same time.

SEO Quiz by Webconfs.com

Webconfs.com, infamous portal for SEO tools and webmaster utilities, offers a good SEO Quiz with 10 questions. Despite its very generic design, the search engine optimization test includes some tricky questions and well-written, comprehensible explanations for the answers.

SEO Cartoon Quiz

The SEO Cartoon Quiz by Tel Aviv based internet marketing company AIMS is probably the most entertaining SEO test you’ll find on the world wide web. In the 15 ‘questions’, you have to guess what the cartoons represent. You don’t really test your own SEO knowledge – but it’s a lot of fun!

Needless to say that you need to take this tests with a grain of salt. Due to the fact-pace nature of the industry, SEO knowledge remains something fluid.

Did you find additional SEO online tests I should add to this list? Let me know!

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Having a presence on the World Wide Web is a must for everybody nowadays – whether you’re a job seeker, a small business owner or a boss of a large corporation. Not only is it crucial for networking, but also important in order to ‘control the message’ related to your name or business. Especially if you haven’t launched your own website yet and belong to a profession which is regularly discussed in online chat forums and professional rating websites (I recently wrote an article about doctor rating sites) – then you definitely need to become proactive.

Here are 7 tips what to do to manage your internet presence and take control of your online reputation:

1. Reputation management in the internet age requires commitment, willingness to communicate and openness to new technology trends. Google yourself. If you don’t exist online, that’s bad. If there are websites with unflattering stuff (binge parties etc.) about you (or another person with the exact same name) in the first 10 search results, that’s worse. Act immediately.

2. Take control of your web presence. Start to create of improve your online brand today. If you don’t have a personal website, don’t waste any time anymore. Don’t go for a cheap solution. It will look unprofessional. Hire a web designer or an internet consultant to help you to create visually appealing website to reflect sincerity and credibility. Even better, add a blog to your site. These economically challenging times are the perfect opportunity to be proactive and stand out from the crowd.

3. Update your website regularly. Add new content at least once, ideally two to four times weekly. Write about your biggest passion, write articles discussing your specialty, or share news about your industry, for example. Weblog software products, such as Wordpress or Typepad are user-friendly and therefore ideal content management systems for your website.

4. Use the internet to advertise your services. Many online directories like AnyWho.com offer to publish your website and business profile at no charge or for a low fee. It’s also highly recommended to create a profile on LinkedIn, the most popular and fastest-growing social networking site for professionals worldwide. Take advantage of all the possibilities the internet offers today to promote yourself, make new contacts and grow your business!

5. Initiate a dialog. If you have been mentioned on one of these rating websites, address any negative comments and respond to them. Many opinion forums will publish your answer directly below the comment about you. Make sure your response is factual and refrain from adding personal insults. Enable comments on your websites, interact with your readers – and be part of the online conversation in your niche or industry.

6. Continue to monitor what’s being discussed about you. Set up a Google Alert – or check with Twitter Search what kind of comments have been made about you. If you find negative remarks – try to establish a dialogue and find our the reasons for the criticism. Don’t let emotions get in your way.

7. Don’t sue – communicate instead.. Unless somebody’s comment is completely false, defamatory and has a damaging effect on your business. Before you take action in the heat of the battle, talk to your attorney or another legal advisor about your options.

Last, but not least. If you run a business, remember this: The importance of the World Wide Web as a consumer empowerment tool will continue to escalate. Countless other service providers and product manufacturers have accepted this new reality and faced it head-on. Take a leading role and use the opportunity to create a positive image with existing and potential customers by developing a well-defined internet communication strategy.

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Duane Forrester, who runs the in-house SEO program for the MSN properties in Canada, the US and The Americas gave some great SEO advice in a post on Search Engine Land:

• Rankings are NOT metrics
• SEO should be baked in, not spread on top
• SEO is a game of inches, not miles—there’s no ONE thing that will make you a hero
• Usability trumps SEO—the user’s experience should always be the # 1 focus

Google Analytics is currently my favorite web analysis tool. If you not familiar with it yet, I recommend to check it out.

In order to learn more about it, you can go to YouTube and watch a couple of the video tutorials. To start, Google has a great introduction for getting familiar with the interface of Google Analytics:

Great additional tips, info and add-ons:

- There is a great primer on Newsvine how you can set it up in three steps.

- In a great post on Top Rank Blog Thomas McMahon highlights five lesser know Google Analytics features.

- Daily Blog Tip mentions 5 great Google Analytics reports for bloggers.

- Wilson Web lists 10 tips for getting better data from Google Analytics.

- In case you have an online business, I recommend to read the post “Google Analytics E-Commerce Tracking: Installation and Setup” by Analytics Talk.

- Very informative also is the post “Flash Tracking” by A-SFUG.

- Needless to say that it’s always worth to check out the Google Analytics blog for news and updates.

- For all the Wordpress bloggers: I recommend to install the Google Analytics plugin for Wordpress. Its interface is very nice, and the fine grained stats and AdSense integration make it a particularly powerful tool.

I will write more about Google Analytics and other web traffic analysis tools. Come back and check for more!

A new whitepaper by search marketing firm iProspect shows that 62% of search users click on links found on the first page of search results.

Overall, 90% of search users will click on links found in the first three pages of search results. The findings show the increased importance of first page placement, along with the value of being found in the Top 20 and Top 30.

Other findings:

• 41% of respondents would either alter or abandon the keywords used in their queries if they could not find results on the first page.
• 82% of the time, respondents would alter search queries by adding descriptive words, most often resulting in a successful search.

Pretty impressive results. This definitely show how important it is to rank in the first 20 SERPs of the major search engines.

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After attending the Blog World Expo last weekend, I have to say that I feel enriched in many ways: I made new connections with interesting fellow bloggers of all sorts, learned a whole lot about blogging, microblogging, online journalism and social media at all these sessions and workshops – and I got new energy and inspirations as a blogger and online writer.

Although I lost my beloved cordless computer mouse (by Logitech) and customized mouse mat with a photo from the beach of Santa Monica, it was totally worth the 300 miles drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas (yes, I went by car) and be a participant of this young conference (2008 was the 2nd edition).

There are countless things I will remember from this great event – but these are my 5 most important takeaways:

1. Bloggers are cool and friendly
Whether is a short chat or an in-depth discussion – I experienced the bloggers at the Blog World Expo as friendly, communicative and helpful people. Even superstar bloggers I admire like Robert Scoble, John Chow, Doc Searls or Copyblogger Brian Clark were very approachable, chatty and forthcoming with all the ‘regular Joe’s’ at the event.

2. Blogs are media
“Blogs are media and are changing the game in advertising and branding”, said Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra during his keynote address last Saturday morning. Indeed – based on all the impressive stats Jalichandra presented from his latest ‘State of the Blogosphere’ survey (in-depth coverage in a separate post), the numerous exhibitors at the Expo with blogging related products and services and the wide range of workshop topics (how blogs changed – or are about to change – marketing, advertising, corporate communications, customer relationship strategies, personal branding etc.), I got even more ‘evidence’ that blogs and social media represent a whole new industry which has a major impact on consumer habits and disruptive effects on the traditional business models of a wide range of industries.

3. Traditional journalism is f**ed.
Because of my 15+ years background in journalism and my undiminished passion for newspapers, I don’t say this light-heartedly: I believe that 80% percent of media companies which are still in the ‘dead tree’ business will not survive in the digital age with their current approach/attitude. Although I’ve seen some great and promising examples during the conference how some of the old media companies adapt to the ‘new world’ of blogging and social media (more in upcoming posts), I share Jeff Jarvis scepticism that the MSM will ever ‘get it’ (his recent post titled “Zell is not your problem – you are” is a Must-Read for every journalist!). Only a few corporations in this business are willing to make the switch from old-fashioned (one-way) reporting to a real conversion with the consumers.
Additionally, I believe that there should be new, independent powerhouses which outsmart the ‘big boys’ on the web – for diversity’s sake in the media business. Where are the promising new media companies of the future? Is it Huffington Post or Techcrunch? Will it be one of the big blog networks like B5 media, Pajamas Media, Giga Omni Media and UK-based Shiny Media? Or is it more likely going to be Google, the ‘closet media company’? Either way: like in politics – it’s time for a change!

3. Despite the social media madness – it all comes down to real life contacts
I’ve probably never been at a conference before when I’ve have the word “social media” so many times. There were soo many sessions where bloggers were urged not only to create great content, but also to promote it (and themselves) on social bookmarking, social news and social networking websites. At the end of the conference, I got the impression that networking on the web is more exhausting that offline. The question remains: How valuable are hundreds of “friends” on sites like MySpace, Facebook and StumpleUpon or 5000 Twitter followers really for you career or personal life?
My take: All the social media sites are great tools to expand your reach in networking. But lasting connections and real friendships are still made offline, during an inspiring one on one conversation, a great dinner and a glass of wine.

4. The blogosphere discovers the importance of Search Engine Optimization.
But in my opinion, Search Engine Optimization was the up and coming topic and this year’s Blog World Expo. In the majority of the 10+ sessions I’ve been, the topic Search Engine Optimization came up and speakers offered (mostly valuable) SEO tips for bloggers. And there several sessions like the “SEO, SEM & New Media” workshop which were explicitly about SEO. As an SEO Specialist, I thought it’s great that every blogger attending the BWE go the chance to become familiar with the concept of Search Engine Optimizions and get some basic recommendations how to make their websites appealing not only to readers, but only to search engines.

5. Immediacy is everything! And: hashtags rule!
At the Blog World Expo, instant communication and immediate news exchange was everything. I expected that people would use cool live blogging tools like Cover It Live. Instead, everybody was using Twitter for the live coverage of the workshops. I realized quickly that I could get great summaries about all the BWE sessions by checking out all the tweets in Twitter Search with the hashtag #bwe08. Even better was the fact that I could narrow down the search to the session I was attending by typing in the combo of #bwe08 and the sub hash tag #cred (for the “Establishing Blogger Credibility” session). Needless to say that everything else about the conference – including general BWE news, meeting requests of fellow bloggers, memorable quotes of the sessions, party info and even contests by exhibitors (with trendy tech prices) – could be found on Twitter. Since my return from Vegas, my interest in microblogging increased substantially, and I am currently exploring various ways how to incorporate it more effectively into my daily blogging and communication activities.

Bonus takeaway: Avoid the Sahara Hotel. I don’t wanna go into details, but its rooms are below your basic hygiene expectations. And please, dear Blog Word Expo organizers, drop it from your list of official conference hotels.

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Blog World celebs John Chow and Tim Ferriss (Photo by Shashi Bellamkonda)

Richard Avedon once said: “All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.”

Truth or not – the good news is: Hundreds of little Avedons were among the attendees of this year’s Blog World Expo. Everybody took pictures of everything and everybody else (especially of the ‘celebs’). Since we live in the age of photo sharing, I don’t have to rely on my own snapshots anymore. As of now, 4587 photos related to the BWE have been posted on Flickr. Wow – and all these pics were taken in 3 days (if you include Friday with all the BWE partner programs)!

Since I was curious what kind of pictures my fellow bloggers were taking, I made the effort to browse through Flickr and find the accounts which include a great variety of this year’s new media and blogging conference in Las Vegas.

These are my 10 most favorite Blog World Expo photo collections on Flickr:

(It’s not a ranking – they’re all good…)

Special mention: Mostly Lisa, a.k.a. Lisa Bettany (I love her photography… although I wish she would have taken more pictures from the event..)

If you still can’t get enough, check the most recent or the most interesting pictures tagged “bwe08″ (one of Lisa’s pictures is no. 1).

Did you discover other great photo collections of the Blog World Expo which should be added to this list? Let me know!

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