Recently I presented a webinar for the Verizon Small Business Center on the topic of SEO (search engine optimization) strategies for your small business. I am not an SEO professional myself, so I called upon a panel of experts for small business SEO tips which I related during the webinar.

Along with giving some great SEO tips, the expert panel also recommended a reading list with resources and additional articles.

Here is the resource list they recommended so that you can study and learn more about how SEO can improve your online presence:

SEO Tools – An outstanding set of tools by Aaron Wall of SEOBook.com. I happen to know that Aaron has invested a lot of capital and effort into developing these sophisticated tools for the community. Highly recommended!

Bloggers Guide to SEO – If you have a blog and want to understand enough about search engine optimization to increase your blog’s reach, read this helpful guide. ( It may take a couple of read-throughs if you’re a complete newbie about SEO, but stick with it. You’ll absorb a little more each time you read it. ) Also by Aaron Wall.

Why Trust Matters and How to Earn It — In recent years, as the Web has grown larger, the concept of “trust” in your site has become more important — trust from human readers and trust from search engines. This article by Matt McGee of Small Business SEM explains what trust means in the context of a website. More importantly, it explains how to make YOUR site a trusted site.

SEO Success Pyramid graphic – Also from Matt McGee, this graphic is a companion to the article on trust. It describes visually the many components it takes to develop a trusted site. I recommend you print this graphic out, distribute it to your marketing and tech teams, discuss it in team meetings, and refer back to it from time to time.

Best Internet Marketing Posts of 2009 – At the end of each year, social media guru Tamar Weinberg pulls together a gigantic “best of” list of blog posts about Internet marketing. Her roundup contains well over 100 articles. A must read!

Local Business Listing Optimization Guide – If yours is one of the majority of small businesses that gets its customers locally (i.e., within a 50-mile radius), you need to be aware of some special techniques. This Guide is from Vedran Tomic, who happens to be one of our Small Business Trends experts and who goes by the screen handle “SEO Rabbit.”

List Of Linking Tools — Getting links to our sites from other quality sites is crucial to search engine position. Widely acknowledged as an expert in the field of link-building, Debra Mastaler suggests this list. Even if you think you know a little bit about building links, I guarantee you’ll see at least one tool you’ve never heard of before but will want to try out. See also Debra’s related article with link building tools.

5 Quick Ways to Improve Facebook SEO – With so many of us spending so much time on Facebook, don’t forget about increasing your company’s (and personal brand) Facebook presence for search purposes. This is a post from here at Small Business Trends that I recommend.

Do you have any articles, tools or resources about SEO that you’d like to recommend? Leave them in a comment below.