Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Secrets

Danny Dover is a passionate SEO consultant and influential writer. During his tenure at SEOmoz.org (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 5The Secrets of Popularity 6The Secrets of Relevancy 11Summary 14Chapter 2 I Relearning How You See the Web 15The 1,000-Foot View—Understanding the Neighborhood 16The 100-Foot View—The Website 21The 10-Foot View—The Webpage 27The 1-Foot View—Individual Content Pieces 40Summary 42Chapter 3 I Picking the Right SEO Tools 43View Source 44Useful Search Engine Queries 51Search Engine–Provided Tools 56Google Webmaster Tools 59Relevancy Determining Tools 68SEO Toolbars 73HTTP Header Analyzer 76Firefox User Agent Switcher 78Firefox Rendering Modifier 81Summary 83Chapter 4 I Finding SEO Problems 85The 15-Minute SEO Audit 86The 5-Minute Brand Reputation Audit 97Identifying Search Engine Penalties 103Summary 106Chapter 5 I Solving SEO Problems 107First Things First 108Fixing Popularity Problems 109Fixing Relevancy Problems 114Fixing Penalties 117Link Building Techniques 122Summary 127Chapter 6 I SEO Best Practices 129Page-Level Information Hierarchy 130Domain-Level Information Hierarchy 130URL 131Title Tag 134Meta Description 135HTML Headings (H1 – H6) 136Images 138Nofollow 139Rel Canonical Link Element 140Meta Keywords 142JavaScript and Flash 143301 Redirects 143Blocking Pages from Search Engines 144Traffic and Rankings 145Parameter-Driven URLs 146Footer Links 147Summary 148Chapter 7 I The SEO Consulting Process 149Answering Hard Questions from Clients 150Preparing for the First Meeting 159Paperwork: Setting Expectations 165Deliverables 169Establishing Price Points 170What to Give Away for Free 175Subsequent Meetings 176Summary 178Chapter 8 I Comprehensive Site Audit (Informational Website) 179How to Read This Chapter 180Sample Website 181Sample Report 182  After Completing the Report 199Summary 200MusicArtistDatabase.com Sample SEO Site Audit 201Chapter 9 I Comprehensive Site Audit (E-Commerce Website) 259How to Read This Chapter 260Sample Website 260Sample Report 261Summary 277SellTheWidget.com Sample SEO Site Review 279Chapter 10 I Understanding the SEO Industry 333A Brief History of SEO 334Who Are Internet Marketers and Where Can I Find Them? 335The SEO Pyramid and Wearing Multiple Hats 340SEO Leaders 343The People and Technology behind Google and Bing 346Long-Term Perspective in SEO 351Summary 353Chapter 11 I Search Engine Verticals 355Universal Search 356Local Search 357Image Search 362Video Search 365Instant Search 368Summary 370Chapter 12 I Optimizing for Alternative Search Engines 371Amazon 372YouTube 374Facebook 375Delicious 376Flickr 378Twitter 380Summary 382Chapter 13 I Test, Test, Test 383Setting Up a Testing Platform 384Running a Test 387Recording Results 389The Importance of Sharing Knowledge 391Summary 393Chapter 14 I SEO Resources 395SEO Cheat Sheet Part 1: On-Page Optimization 396SEO Cheat Sheet Part 2: Canonicalization Errors 397SEO Cheat Sheet Part 3: Meta Robots and Robots.txt 398SEO Cheat Sheet Part 4: Sitemaps 400SEO Cheat Sheet Part 5: User Agents 402Switching Domains Checklist 403SEO Quick Hit List 404Summary 404Appendix A I Attending SEO Conferences 405Picking the Right Conference 406What to Expect 410Preparing to Go 412What to Bring 413What to Do 414After the Conference 416Summary 416Index 417