Just starting a post to compile useful tools, with a short description of why they’re useful. Most of these were compiled by going on a huge stumbleupon spree using very specific tags (in this case “seo”). I would say this experiment was very successful, and I’ll be using StumbleUpon in this manner in the future.

Scripts, WordPress Plugins, Firefox Plugins, etc.

• “Link Building Pro” (seox.com) – A javascript for automatically inserting a source link  with keyword rich anchor text to the clipboard if someone copies ANYTHING from your page. Good for SEO, and encourages people to list you as a source. Discovered from the SEO tag on stumbleupon.
• Cross-linker – WordPress plugin that may no longer be functional, worth a shot however. Turns all instances of a phrase throughout a blog as a link to a pre-defined URL.
• wp db backup – A plugin that automatically backs up a wordpress database.
• Breadcrumb NavXT – A wordpress plugin that adds some nifty navigation/link hierarchy thats useful for SEO and usability.
• Intense Debate – A wordpress plugin that alters the commenting system, allows comment email subscription, reply by email, and comment threading. Increases reader  engagement. View the features page here.
• Digg Digg – A wordpress plugin that immediately inserts all the share/bookmarking buttons on your posts and pages, and allows custom formatting options. Very useful. Not restricted to digg as name might imply.
• Better Google Analytics Firefox Plugin – Will take a snap shot of a report and export it to google docs.
• Firefox addon to turn off google personalized search.
• Seoaddons.com – A long list of firefox addons, cms mods, and other SEO-related goodies. My personal favorite found from here was a firefox addon called KGen which shows you the keyword composition of pages you’re viewing so you can scope  out the competition.
• Google chrome plugins for SEO

Informational Articles

• Article detailing how to display videos, and play audio on facebook fanpages using a trick utilizing self-hosted flv files.
• Article on using StumbleUpon appropriately, and a little bit about their advertising package too.
• A guide to writing content to the Reddit demographic.
• A list of the top 250 article directories sorted by pagerank of homepage.
• A checklist with rank of importance on common SEO optimization details.
• How someone dropped their page load speed, now a factor in ranking, by as much as 75% using rackspace cloud VPS and wordpress.
• Top SEO Blogs Ranked by Traffic, and Feedburner Count
• An article that shows two image snapshots of the same page that underwent a split test, and explains how they doubled their conversion rate with a few relatively small changes.
• Various methods of inducing a 301 redirect.
• 21 Linkbuilders Share Advanced Linkbuilding Queries (Google Searchers for Backlink Building)

Keyword Analysis

• Spyfu.com – Keyword that gives approximate traffic to website/keywords, and adwords price range for hits. Pretty cool.
• Google Alerts – A useful tool that allows you to setup emails watching for keywords. Sets up an RSS feed for your use OR sends you daily/weekly emails. Can use advanced google search operators (big key to success there).
• Nichebot.com – A pay membership service that helps with appropriate keyword targetting.
• Keyword Discovery (Trellian) – Another membership site, similar to wordtracker or nichebot, but surprisingly expensive. $200/month.
• Google Keyword Research Tool – Gives approximate amount of monthly trafic, as well as average cost per click rate. In order to see the CPC information click the “Choose columns to display” drop down, and click show all.
• Google Trends – Information on  keywords that are hot right now.

Video Sites

• blip.tv – Video hosting website. Allows clickable links to be placed within  the videos.

Useful Pay Services

• Aweber.com – A useful email autoresponder/newsletter service, that has a monthly recurring pricetag on it.
• Mailchimp.com – Similar newsletter service to aweber. Free for first 500 leads.
• Copyscape.com – Checks articles for plagiarism. Very cheap.
• Uniquearticlewizard.com -
• Seolinkvine.com -

Useful Free Services

• Google Website Optimizer – A tool provided by google for optimizing conversions via multivariate split testing. Tool introduced to me by this article, which also lists ideas for things to test for optimal improvement.
• KPMRS.com – Website that keeps track of your keyword-specific rankings in each of the most popular search engines. Really cool tool!

SEO/Marketing Free Discussion Forums

• Digitalpoint
• WarriorForum
• Highrankings

Article Directories

• buzzle.com
• ezinearticles.com
• work.com
• articleblast.com
• goarticles.com
• articlecity.com
• articlebase.com
• A list of the top 250 article directories sorted by pagerank of homepage.