Monoj Jasra caught up recently with Stephen Woessner to talk about the 15 steps to help improve performance he outlines in his book "The Small Business Owner's Handbook to Search Engine Optimization." The two discuss the most important steps to focus on, the importance of SEO for small businesses, and the effectiveness in article submissions for a link-building strategy, among other points.

Jill shares six redesign secrets and recommendations you need to know about SEO rankings in case the developer you hired doesn't -- from how to create your SEO site architecture to adding a content management system and changing URLs, to coding navigation menus. Knowing these give you a leg up.

Have you been thinking about your post-holiday online strategy? The seven days that lead up to Christmas still account for about 20% of holiday sales, according to Tyler Calder. Calder writes now is the time to think about taking advantage of all competitors who have begun to slow down PPC campaigns. He provides pointers on how to step things up and keep campaigns flourishing, and reminds us that after folks open their gifts on Dec. 25, many head online to look for sales.

In this week's Whiteboard Friday Rand Fishkin puts on a red Santa hat and white beard to look at a new model that cold attract inbound links. He takes us back to the 1990s to explain how links were earned. These days, SEO professionals have entered a new generation of link acquisition. The Web has become more selfish, Fishkin says. But if you think about the Web and link acquisition in the spirit of giving, similar to the holidays, you may receive more than you thought.

In a video, aimClear founder and SEO expert Marty Weintraub and Abby Johnson talk about the intersection between online pr and SEO, as well as link building. Weintraub notes that press releases hitch a ride through the news cycle in search engine results and often compete with other media links or agency links such as IRS.gov. He provides insight on how to build links, keeping releases in search engines longer.

David Harry is looking for some "fellow search geeks and phreaks" willing to help with a test to gain insight into the level of flux in personalized search on Google sites. He ran a test earlier this year, but in light of recent changes, he thought it time to run it again. For those willing to participate, Harry has a short list of items you will need to provide.

Justin Jed tells us about fixes to Bing's mobile iPhone application. Apparently people are generally excited about the application, but a few bugs stopped the application from working properly. For example, the use of voice search outside the U.S. appears to cash the application. Jed writes that Bing has identified the problem and has begun working on a fix.

Real-time search is history, for now. Personalized search is here to stay. It's going to be a two-engine search world. And, 2010 will be the year of conversion-rate optimization. These are some of the SEO predictions Rand Fishkin makes for next year, providing evidence to support his forecast.

In a video, Google's Aman Govil -- product marketing manager for the Google Content Network -- steps through the process of setting up a new Google Content Network campaign. One suggestion: consider creating one for search and another for content. He also highlights several tools, such as Wonder Wheel and Conversion Tracking.

Mary Bowling makes a case for how Google will continue its push to become the "undeniable leader" by providing local business information. She believes Google is clearly looking for that "winning combination" between local ads and local business listings -- what Bowling calls a "sea change" for local search.