Based on experience, the moment you stop building links that’s when your Google ranking start to sink.  So definitely, you don’t have to stop building links regardless whether your site is on the no. 1 page of Google and other major Search Engines.  You have to bear in mind that you’re not the only person doing the same thing.  Do not be complacent and always watch your back. It’s like deciding whether you have to stop promoting your site or continue campaigning for it.
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Firefox Add-ons are not just for developers or techie guys out there, it’s for everybody’s use. I myself use several firefox add-ons not on this premise.  I actually perform different task from design, to writing and even engaged in SEO activities.

What is a Firefox Add-on, according to Wikipedia, “Add-ons are installable enhancements to the Mozilla Foundation‘s projects (and compatible variants such as Portable Firefox). Add-ons allow the user to add or augment application features, use themes to his or her liking, and handle new types of content.”

To simplify, it’s an additional application to enhance a certain feature of Mozilla. I used to ignore this stuff thinking that it can do nothing for me. I only needed to use the web, that’s all, no more no less. But then when a friend of mine recommended Firebug, that’s when I started to love Firefox and literally browse all the add-ons on a specific, category that I think could be of help. The notion of add-ons for web developers and designers ONLY was cleared out.

Here are the 7 of my best Firefox add-ons I’m using right now, these are in random categories, and would typically be beneficial to everybody who uses the net.

1. Firebug.  Don’t get me wrong I’m not a web developer/designer but this could really come in handy especially if you want to customize a website template. It was referred to me before for the purpose of knowing exactly where a particular file in Joomla and other CMS needs to be accessed to be able to customize the template. If you only need to change the background color, fonts an image etc, why pay when you can do it on your own. It’s very simple firefox add-ons that have a lot of use, more so if you are a web developer. You can actually debug and edit live on your site.
2. Colorzilla. Since I design banner sometimes, colorzilla helped me pick colors on the web that is to my liking. I don’t have to guess what color was used. I only needed to click a button and point it on the color I like to pick. Simple as that.
3. Screengrab. One of my favorite. Very useful if you’re one of those who usually grabs a picture on web. No need for a screen capture and paste in on an image editor. You can copy the whole screen or only a portion of the screen and immediately save it on your pc.
4. Read-it-later. If you ‘re one of the person who simply browse the web for a nice read or a good buys, then you must really have it. You don’t have to bookmark everything that interests you, if you only need this temporarily then “read-it-later” will help you with that.
5. Highlighter. I don’t know with you guys but from time to time, I really needed to use this add-on.  It allows me to highlight something so I could get back to it while browsing another site. It’s also useful when I’m reading something and need to take a break.
6. SEOpen. If you are a website owner, this could come in handy. Nowadays you don’t necessarily need to have your own business to own a site.  It displays your ranking on Google Pagerank, inbound links, keyword density and a lot more. Really helpful if you want to gain insight of your site’s ranking. It would also help you analyze the things you need to do to compete on the first page of Google. You can even check your competitor backlinks.There are so many tools on the web for free if you don’t have the budget to pay for an SEO, this may be helpful to get you started. Study and analyze your competitor based on the backlinks is one of the ways to help you with your SEO plan.
7. Lastly, this I use a lot, AddThis . Lately, I’ve been sharing links to my network in Facebook, Twitter etc. I also use this as an email service to share something on the web.  This helps you get rid of going from one page to another just to share something to your friends.

Normally, this should be 10 but then, I don’t want to share something I don’t use personally. But if your already sharing an add-on and find it really usefully for everybody , feel free to share the no. 8, 9 and 10 or even more.

There are various ways to build links as mentioned on my previous blog but then again building links is not as easy as 1,2,3. To be able to really build effective links, it entails careful planning, yes, perhaps this is just a link referring back to your site but this could be hard to maintain. Another, you could be penalized by google without you knowing it, possibly you could also be considered as a “Spomments” , a blog related term meaning spam commenter. If that happens, good luck, though there are thousands of blogs, forums or what have you, it will be hard to retain the same ranking or at least get a link back to your site. Blog commenting is not only the way to build links, you may say, or there are numerous activities like directory and article submission, but take note they can also mark your submission as a spam, like I do with the directory I’m maintaining personally. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to scare the hell out of you, I just wanted to help the same way every blogger does to its readers.

So how do we build links the right way, first let’s create a plan, this enable us to manage our links easily, avoid duplication, getting banned from a particular site as well as help manage our resources. Let’s admit it, building links is time consuming and could be a little expensive if you hire someone to build links for you. This is a good move though since this will allow you to concentrate on your core business but we could avoid spending too much money on this if we can manage it well or hire the right SEO person or team to do it for you.

What we need to include in our link building plan? Let’s start with your goal, everybody knows that a goal should be S.M.A.R.T (Smart, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound). This should also be in line with your company’s goal. If you’re targeting specific sales for the month, this should coincide with your internet marketing strategy and traditional marketing efforts if you have one. From here, let’s set our budget, how much money are you willing to invest on this campaign. You also have to identify your target market, clearly state which niche you belong to. This is a critical part because this is going to be your reference in building links. Remember it’s important that you build links depending on your niche, relevancy to your site is very important. If you’re a web design company, submit directories on the relevant category, if you want to do blog commenting, comment on related sites, usually blogs related to web/graphics design and development or if you also offer SEO then also include that in your list of blogs to submit/comment to.

So now you have already distinguished your goal, working budget and target market. Next on the list for building links the right way is the activities you need to embark to. The best way to explain this is using this simple table below, you can create your own depending on the reports you need but make sure you have a means to monitor each activities on a regular basis.

Happy New Year to all our blog readers and posters. We had a great year 2009. Looking forward to an even better year in 2010. Hopefully we will reach new heights this year. We pleasantly noticed Google was kind to us in the last few days of 2009.. hopefully it will be kinder in 2010 not just to us but to all our clients as well. Happy New Year’s Web development and a Very Happy New Year’s Search Engine Optimization to everybody!