Since we're about to jump into 2010 (that's " twenty ten ," everyone), I wanted to ring in the new year with something that will hopefully kick start your collaborative efforts. This is a guest post from Shevonne Polastre, who wrote this article on behalf of TopHost.Gr , a Greek web host that offers shared hosting. Crowdsourcing has become more and more popular with private companies, non-profit organizations, and even government agencies.

For those who value Google's often delayed toolbar pagerank, Google is giving you all a nice New Year's Eve present - the annual page rank update.  It seems Google is now making this an annual gig as it also made a toolbar pagerank update the same time last year. Let's see now, the last time Google had a Toolbar PageRank update was last October .

Recently SEOmoz posted about running a test that proved their thesis that nofollow PageRank sculpting still works (while actually only proving issues with sample size & methodology ). But the issue of "proving" things with SEO publicly is typically a misguided one. It is so hard to control variables in tests, and even if you could set up a control set many test types would be isolated to fictional words.

You don't have to look far to find social media roundup posts this time of year. But what about the most effective one-two marketing punch for building community AND delivering conversions and ROI?  Social Media and Search Engine Optimization - or "Social SEO" as we like to call it. Out of the 300 or so posts published in 2009, I've picked the best of the year based on a mix of my own opinion and metrics such as comments, inbound links,

It wasn't so long ago that there was a stigma around finding a partner online. As we move into the future, and as the boundaries of reality and internet become increasingly blurred, finding that special person via dating sites has become far more socially accepted. As the New Year swiftly approaches, it's as good a time as any to look at what to expect in such a rapidly growing market and how best to prepare for it over the coming year.

How Do You Do Local SEO? It's quite clear that local SEO will be *one* of the places to be in 2010 and beyond. Need convincing? Check out: Google and Yelp's failed deal - If local search was unlikely to see a decent ongoing up tick, Google might not have as much interest in acquiring a site like Yelp. Even if Google was just buying Yelp out to remove competition for it's own local stuff, it still shows an acknowledgement that local search is quite important.

by Josh Bernoff As the decade I call the twenty-oh's ends, think on what a transformational change we have just all witnessed. Our obsession with the latest product from Google or Apple often clouds our recognition of the long-term effects. We all know where we are . But I think many of us have forgotten where we were , and just how dramatically things have changed in ten short years. Bill Gates in 2001 called this new decade "The Digital Decade." Boy was he right.

It's that time of the year again folks, time to not only ring in the New Year with a PageRank update, but also watch the ball drop tonight in New York.  Times Square will once again be hosting the traditional midnight ball drop. Are you braving the cold weather and the madding crowd just to be where the action is? Or are you going to just watch it at home either on live TV telecast?

Online video is an increasingly populur medium from both users' standpoints and business' alike. When done right, it can be a great way to increase engagement and spread brand awareness. It can also be used for search engine optimization purposes. I'm sure you've noticed videos come up in the blended search results for many queries. WebProNews fired a few questions at Benjamin Wayne, CEO of Fliqz , a Video hosting firm to see if he had some good tips to offer our readers.

Now that Christmas 2009 is behind us, it's time to start thinking about your SEO program and the Christmas and holiday season of 2010. OK, go ahead and groan. But you know it's time. Well, if you own an ecommerce or retail website and if you depend on Christmas and holiday visitors to make or break your annual sales numbers, now is the time to plan your search engine optimization efforts for the Christmas and holiday season of 2010. Years ago,