2 Comments for The Art of SEO

• 1. Xarles  |  November 24th, 2009 at 9:04 pm

  SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” or un-paid (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results as opposed to search engine marketing (SEM) which deals with paid inclusion.

  Typically, the earlier (or higher) a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search and industry-specific vertical search engines. This gives a web site web presence.

  This book is written by four well-known SEO experts: Eric Enge, Stephen Spencer, Rand Fishkin and Jessie Stricchiola. Each one of the authors demonstrates their ability in explaining to the reader their wealth of knowledge on this subject. This is the first of its kind in my opinion for a book to cover so many aspects of SEO from the planning of your site and audience, to working and testing algorithms of the various search engines, to creating SEO friendly content, trakcing and measuring your results and ROI.

  A brief review of each chapters contents:

  Chapter 1 : The Search Engines: Reflecting Consciousness and Connecting Commerce
  Chapter 2 : Search Engine Basics
  Chapter 3 : Determining Your SEO Objectives and Defining Your Site’s Audience
  Chapter 4 : First Stages of SEO
  Chapter 5 : Keyword Research
  Chapter 6 : Developing an SEO-Friendly Website
  Chapter 7 : Creating Link-Worthy Content and Link Marketing
  Chapter 8 : Optimizing for Vertical Search
  Chapter 9 : Tracking Results and Measuring Success
  Chapter 10 : Domain Changes, Post-SEO Redesigns, and Troubleshooting
  Chapter 11 : Honing the Craft: SEO Research and Study
  Chapter 12 : Build an In-House SEO Team, Outsource It, or Both?
  Chapter 13 : An Evolving Art Form: The Future of SEO

  This book should be considered a ‘bible’ on SEO because I cannot think of any other topic that has been left out. I have already used this book for two websites my company has developed and improved its search results by at least 10-20%. SEO is definitely an art form in a way and so many designers and devlopers overlook this when they are creating a website because either of the lack of time or mainly due to the lack of knowledge.

  Even though this book has lots and lots of information, you can take parts or sections of this book and apply it immediately to a website you are currently working on or have worked on like I did.

  I cannot stress enough how important SEO is and this book is an invaluable resource.

  A must buy!

• 2. Uriah  |  November 24th, 2009 at 11:20 pm

  I did enjoy this overview of the SEO field. Granted, even though it has a first printing copyright of October 2009, there are already some outdated links, which only serves to highlight the incredible rate of development that the Internet engenders. This is an excellent introduction to a highly volatile field, and I was very impressed with the depth of subject matter. At the same time, I found the repetition from chapter to chapter of nearly identical text somewhat distracting, which is why I hesitate to give this book a full five stars.

  In some ways, this book sets the stage for the next evolution in marketing. Pay-Per-Click does not have the return on investment that Search Engine Optimization can have, and the authors do a very good job of outlining exactly why this is – and while there are many, many different signals which can be manipulated to some extent by a search engine optimizer (optimist?) the authors do an excellent job explaining the many pitfalls that can arise when SEO is done incorrectly. Still, I was somewhat perplexed to note that two tools I rely on most heavily seemed completely overlooked in the text, those being Google Alerts (which provides me with endless supply of keyword-relevant content as it hits the net) and Market Samurai, an astoundingly useful tool in my keyword research process.

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