The Latest SEO Trends and Metrics: What's Hot, What's No

If you’re not “living and breathing” search engine optimization, it can be easy to latch onto old SEO trends and metrics and focus obsessively on them, especially those few hot-button issues that get the most attention from the press or from your CEO.

It takes time and experience to stay on the cutting edge of SEO, and more than likely you don’t have that kind of time, considering your other marketing efforts. So here’s a quick update on what’s hot and what’s not in the world of search engine optimization.

What’s hot:

• Becoming a trusted contributor on social news/content sites like Digg, Propeller, Reddit, Mixx, StumbleUpon, Wikipedia, and Knol
• Building your personal and professional network in online communities like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, Bebo, MyBlogRoll, and the blogosphere in general, and then taking advantage of the residual network effect
• Link baiting—posting humorous/fascinating/contentious/controversial content that is a magnet for links
• Truly understanding and leveraging the power of “Long Tail” dynamics