A trio of interesting and valuable SEO articles crossed my path in the last day or so. You may find them interesting, too:

New Rules for SEO Success in 2013 (Inc.)

The Value of Local SEO to Small Businesses (Search Engine Journal)

9 SEO Quirks You Should Be Aware Of (Search Engine Land)

No? Time to think again: G+ is the second-largest social network on the planet. ZDNet has the stats.

With, evidently, another PR fail. Addicting info reports.

Okay, that’s a stretch.

But:

There are those who say gun violence is primarily a mental illness issue — and according to a new study, Facebook activity reveals clues to mental illness.

Hmmmmmmm.

LinkedIn goddess Donna Serdula alerts us to the fact that LinkedIn Answers is going away at the end of this month. I’m sorry to see the feature go, but I’m not all that surprised. I’ve often said it’s one of the best-kept secrets on LinkedIn: a good place for discussions, and a good way to help boost one’s SEO profile.

Unfortunately, LinkedIn Answers was crippled by two things: it was pretty much hidden on the LinkedIn landscape, and it was a magnet for countless irrelevant postings that were off-topic and spammy.

Something will come along to replace it, but ultimately I think what LinkedIn really needs are thematic professional communities that have moderated discussion boards — with experienced and engaged moderators who will delete the spam, keep people focused and on topic and facilitate worthwhile and constructive discussions.

I’ve been online since Prodigy was The Next Big Thing, and I can’t think of one worthwhile community in which I’ve been involved that didn’t involve some serious level of human moderation.