Sphinn.com, once powered by open source software – Pligg, has just announced that they have launched a brand new platform. This week marks their first week in Beta, and things have been going very well.

If you visit the new Sphinn, you’ll notice a much cleaner design which resembles more of their main site at Search Engine Land. The matching colors and layouts look amazing.

In addition to the cosmetic upgrades, the backbone of Sphinn has improved quite a bit as well. Sphinn.com has newly added features such as the ability to create personal networks of friends within the site, filters which allow you to show only submissions from within your network or favorite categories, the ability to subscribe and unsubscribe from stories, and the ability to save stories.

Of course, there are many additional enhancements to the new Sphinn.com, and these can only be witnessed by visiting the site and logging in. If you’re not already a member of the Sphinn community, you can register for an account for free. In addition to reading SEOHosting.com’s blog, joining Sphinn.com is a great way to get the latest news and buzz related to search engines.

Sphinn provides news and related information for the following topics: search engine optimization, pay per click, search engine marketing, social media, link building, analytics, and more. It is one of my personal favorite social networks because their focus is entirely on topics that interest me.

Ann Smarty, author of the successful Search Engine Journal, wrote an article titled, How To Build Links and Awareness by Pitching Bloggers. In this article she addressed that bloggers can be an excellent resource towards building links for the fact that most bloggers are always on the hunt for new material to write about and they are connected with many friends which gives your links the opportunity to go viral. The article was submitted into Sphinn, so be sure to help Ann out by casting your vote.

The author of a blog titled, Link Building Best Practices, wrote a very thoughtful piece that distinguishes the difference between SEOs and Link Builders. It is stated that there is a clear difference between the two skilsets and it is noted that commonly most people are either one or the other but not both. Understanding the difference between the two very well might break the boundary and expand the skilset from both professions. You should take a moment to help out by casting a vote on Sphinn.

SMX in London is at full force this week and one of the more popular topics — you guessed it — link building. Wiep Knol, author of a very informative link building blog, provided some coverage for all the folks who could not attend SMX in London with an article titled, Blog Your Mind Link Building Techniques. Without a doubt, there are some excellent links and references found in this article including a wonderful overview of the line up of professional speakers who gave speeches. As with the other two articles, providing your vote on Sphinn will help out the author.

What an amazing week to learn more about link building. What other articles did you read this week that helped you? Drop a comment below and share your thoughts.