So, you just got a job in the SEO industry?

Being a relative newbie to the SEO industry myself I absolutely wish I had these resources at my disposal from day one. That being said, first things first! I want to say congratulations on your new job venture. Trust me, SEO is an addiction! Once you start SEO, you just can’t stop.

Now if you are that green to the industry you are probably wondering “Where the hell do I start?” Trust me; we have all felt that way! But don’t worry - Stephen Peron over e-Visibility Blog put together a list of SEO 101 sites, forums, links, tools and more. Here is the low-down!

SEO News Sites

You have to read every day! If you do not like reading, then I recommend you walk over to your boss right now and say “I quit.” It is important to stay updated on what is going on in the industry, because it is always changing.

For the latest new in Search Engine Marketing:

• Search Engine Land
• Search Engine Watch
• Search Engine Round Table
• SEO Moz
• Sphinn
• Search Engine Journal

For some great tips on Social Media:

• Pro Net Advertising
• Quick Sprout

If you refuse to read or can multi-task, then try some Podcasts and Videos:

• Webmaster Radio
• Daily Search Cast
• Web Pro New Video

Chat it up. No question is stupid. It is very important to get active in Forums:

• Search Engine Watch Forums
• Cre8asite Forums
• Digital Point Forum

Now you may be wondering, “How the hell am I going to keep track of this all?” Lucky for you, there are RSS Readers:

• Blog Lines
• Net Vibes
• Google Reader

SEO Tools

Now that you are up to speed on what is going in the world of search, let’s arm you with some SEO Tools.

First off, download FireFox Internet browser and never open Internet Explorer again.

Then download these plugins:

• SEO for FireFox - Enables you to get site information with a click of a mouse. (I use this every day)
• Google Tool Bar

Spider Test Tool - Great tool that simulates what a search engine spider picks up on your site.

Keyword Research Tool - Very simple and straightforward.

Keyword Trends - Google’s version and MSN’s version

Competitive Research - Compete, Quantcast, SEODigger, SEOmoz Page Strength

Back Link Checker - Check out what anchor text people are using to link to your site.

Keyword Density - Do you have the right amount of keywords on your site?

Duplicate Content - Don’t let Google Bot find duplicate content on your site.

301 checker - Make sure those redirects are true 301 redirects.

Google Data Centers - Check your rankings from various data centers. They could be different.

Quick Snapshot - Collects a large amount of information

Domain Research - Domain Bots, Whois Checker

Site Functionality - Find out what people are clicking on!

MSN Lab center tool kit - Way too much to mention, but useful.

PollDaddy - Need a poll on your website?

Site Maps - Great tool for making sitemaps.

Free Internet Marketing Tools - an online collection of many of the links posted above.

Hopefully this points you in the right directions. Good luck, and most importantly remember to have fun. If you stop having fun then change your career.

For all of you who are experts please add anything I may have missed in the comment below and I will update the list.