Gyutae Park asked a few link-building buddies their thoughts on tactics for building great links and posted their responses online, along with a few photographs. He asked "What are some of the biggest considerations when building links for better rankings?" and "What are some of the most effective tactics that are Google-proof?" The tips and tricks run the gambit, from paying attention to where links are placed on the page, to sponsoring local business, charities and school sporting events in exchange for a sponsored link. Along with the dos, the post also provides a few don'ts. Like, don't …

Google's paid link detection algorithms keep improving, making it increasingly difficult to buy links. In a recent discussion at SES Chicago, panelists Todd Friesen, Doug Heil and Dave Naylor didn't recommend black hat tactics. Eric Enge summarized the discussion by adding that Friesen and Naylor recommended starting with a few paid links to get a site off the ground. "Heil and I recommended engaging in natural link building from the start," Enge writes. "None of the parties recommended taking substantial risks."

A fundamental flaw in Google's AdWords' platform is proving to be extremely frustrating. When purchased keywords have a low search volume, ads often do not appear in queries, even if users are searching on the exact phrase you bid on. In this case, Google serves up a message that the quality score is great, but doesn't trigger the ads when you search on targeted keywords. Getting the ads to show requires you to bid on slightly less relevant keywords. This post provides tips on handling this glitch.

Online search marketing can play a powerful role in reinforcing your brand, according to Christopher Wallace. He reminds us that if potential customers can't find you, they'll surely find your competitors. And when they do, chances are they will think your competitors are more competent because they were found -- and not you. Wallace offers tips on paid and organic search strategies. He also believes it's important to join the conversation on social media to drive relevant traffic to your site and manage the perception of your brand. It's no secret you are your best advocate. "Think of …

Many link builders and viral marketers think about high-quality resources or the "ultimate" guide to topics when creating content that naturally attracts links. But for link creators like bloggers, journalists and social media participants, it's sometimes less about linking to great content and more about only doing so when you can get something in return, according to Rand Fishkin. For example, Fishkin tells us Twitter users like to link to things that will make their visitors appreciate them. This way they come back for more. So, it becomes important to "play to the linker's egos" and selfishness. You'll …

Few people who have small businesses really understand how to play the pay-per-click game, according to Saad Kamal, whose friend spent more than $4,800 on PPC campaigns in a little more than two months. The friend used AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing and didn't see a return on investment. After digging his friend out of the SEM mess, Kamal decided to put together a list of tips that should bring success to "any average Joe" who implements a PPC campaign. Suggesting a few ideas that some may disagree with, Kamal explains these unconventional ideas have worked for him. …

Video search engine optimization has become a hot topic. Grant Crowell shares some insights from the Search Engine Strategies Chicago Conference and Expo by encapsulating a panel discussion. Speakers on the SEO panel sharing tips on optimizing video on YouTube were Gregory Markel, Greg Jarboe and Steve Espinosa. Citing Jarboe, Crowell writes that "how-to" videos are the best strategy for SEO and viral marketing, and suggests building a "How-To" YouTube channel similar to this blog post. The detailed post includes tips on video dimensions, description fields, video images, link building, piggybacking on popularity, tracking and more.

How do you legitimately steal clicks from competitors ranked above you without getting into trouble? Max Capener offers up several "psychological subtleties" you can use to "window dress" your position in search engine results. They range from getting an indented listing, to lowering your ranking to No. 10. Capener suggests many tricks to draw attention to your listing. One way of getting attention is to add a phone number to your meta description, he writes. Aside from adding credibility to your site, if users searching for information have Skype installed on their computers, the link turns into a …

Link-building requires you to build relationships with key bloggers and publishers in vertical markets you target. Loren Baker provides helpful hints on emailing publishers or approaching professional bloggers to get their approval to share links. Baker shows you how to "cut past the boilerplate emails and link requests, and build not only a business relationship with a publisher, but also a long term friendship." For starters, he points to reading the blogger's posts, so you can relate to the topics he/she writes about.

Matt Story gives us a list of video games that highlight potential industry opportunities for marketers looking to get some hands-on experience in video games. The list, Story writes, is aimed at marketers "looking to update their gaming prowess" before heading into the New Year. Nintendo's Wii Fit, one of the four titles Story details, turns "normal living rooms into fitness facilities." The game not only dispels the myth you must have a game controller in your hand at all times, it promotes ongoing physical wellbeing. "As game developers master the new peripheral, a larger number of titles …