Danny Dover is a passionate SEO consultant and influential writer. During his tenure at [...] (as Lead SEO), he did SEO consulting for many of the world's most popular websites including Facebook, Microsoft, and Comcast. His oft-cited expertise has been translated into Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, German, and Hungarian. He has spoken at numerous SEO conferences and his writings have been accessed online in more than 175 different countries. Erik Dafforn is Executive Vice President and Director of Organic SEO for Intrapromote, LLC, a Cleveland-based Search and Social Marketing firm. He's written over 200 articles on SEO strategy and techniques.

Chapter 1 I Understanding Search Engine Optimization 5

The Secrets of Popularity 6

The Secrets of Relevancy 11

Summary 14

Chapter 2 I Relearning How You See the Web 15

The 1,000-Foot View-Understanding the Neighborhood 16

The 100-Foot View-The Website 21

The 10-Foot View-The Webpage 27

The 1-Foot View-Individual Content Pieces 40

Summary 42

Chapter 3 I Picking the Right SEO Tools 43

View Source 44

Useful Search Engine Queries 51

Search Engine-Provided Tools 56

Google Webmaster Tools 59

Relevancy Determining Tools 68

SEO Toolbars 73

HTTP Header Analyzer 76

Firefox User Agent Switcher 78

Firefox Rendering Modifier 81

Summary 83

Chapter 4 I Finding SEO Problems 85

The 15-Minute SEO Audit 86

The 5-Minute Brand Reputation Audit 97

Identifying Search Engine Penalties 103

Summary 106

Chapter 5 I Solving SEO Problems 107

First Things First 108

Fixing Popularity Problems 109

Fixing Relevancy Problems 114

Fixing Penalties 117

Link Building Techniques 122

Summary 127

Chapter 6 I SEO Best Practices 129

Page-Level Information Hierarchy 130

Domain-Level Information Hierarchy 130

URL 131

Title Tag 134

Meta Description 135

HTML Headings (H1 - H6) 136

Images 138

Nofollow 139

Rel Canonical Link Element 140

Meta Keywords 142

JavaScript and Flash 143

301 Redirects 143

Blocking Pages from Search Engines 144

Traffic and Rankings 145

Parameter-Driven URLs 146

Footer Links 147

Summary 148

Chapter 7 I The SEO Consulting Process 149

Answering Hard Questions from Clients 150

Preparing for the First Meeting 159

Paperwork: Setting Expectations 165

Deliverables 169

Establishing Price Points 170

What to Give Away for Free 175

Subsequent Meetings 176

Summary 178

Chapter 8 I Comprehensive Site Audit (Informational Website) 179

How to Read This Chapter 180

Sample Website 181

Sample Report 182

After Completing the Report 199

Summary 200

[...] Sample SEO Site Audit 201

Chapter 9 I Comprehensive Site Audit (E-Commerce Website) 259

How to Read This Chapter 260

Sample Website 260

Sample Report 261

Summary 277

[...] Sample SEO Site Review 279

Chapter 10 I Understanding the SEO Industry 333

A Brief History of SEO 334

Who Are Internet Marketers and Where Can I Find Them? 335

The SEO Pyramid and Wearing Multiple Hats 340

SEO Leaders 343

The People and Technology behind Google and Bing 346

Long-Term Perspective in SEO 351

Summary 353

Chapter 11 I Search Engine Verticals 355

Universal Search 356

Local Search 357

Image Search 362

Video Search 365

Instant Search 368

Summary 370

Chapter 12 I Optimizing for Alternative Search Engines 371

Amazon 372

YouTube 374

Facebook 375

Delicious 376

Flickr 378

Twitter 380

Summary 382

Chapter 13 I Test, Test, Test 383

Setting Up a Testing Platform 384

Running a Test 387

Recording Results 389

The Importance of Sharing Knowledge 391

Summary 393

Chapter 14 I SEO Resources 395

SEO Cheat Sheet Part 1: On-Page Optimization 396

SEO Cheat Sheet Part 2: Canonicalization Errors 397

SEO Cheat Sheet Part 3: Meta Robots and [...] 398

SEO Cheat Sheet Part 4: Sitemaps 400

SEO Cheat Sheet Part 5: User Agents 402

Switching Domains Checklist 403

SEO Quick Hit List 404

Summary 404

Appendix A I Attending SEO Conferences 405

Picking the Right Conference 406

What to Expect 410

Preparing to Go 412

What to Bring 413

What to Do 414

After the Conference 416

Summary 416

Index 417