Bookshelf: A Roundup Of 2009's Best SEO Books

**
A Roundup Of 2009's Best SEO Books
**

**
by Chris Sherman
**

Time was when someone asked me to recommend a good book on search
marketing, there were only a few available—Search Engine Visibility
<http://www.searchenginesbook.com/index.html>
, by Shari Thurow, Winning Results with Google AdWords
<http://www.pagezero.com/publications/winning-results.php>
, by Andrew Goodman, Search Engine Marketing, Inc.
<http://searchengineland.com/the-bible-of-search-engine-marketing-15299>
, by Mike Moran and Bill Hunt, and a few others. These books have
mostly stood up to the test of time (and all have been relatively
recently updated with second editions), but search marketing
techniques and tactics change quickly, so its always good to be on
the lookout for new publications.

This year weve seen a significant increase in the number of search
marketing books being issued in dead-tree format. Over the course of
the next couple of weeks, Ill be doing a roundup of the best that
Ive seen. Ill publish my reviews in three parts, and will activate
the menu links below as each goes online:

A Roundup Of 2009s Best SEO Books (this article)
A Roundup Of 2009s Best Search Advertising Books
A Roundup Of 2009s Best General Search Marketing Books

*A roundup of 2009s best SEO books*

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/23148333@N06/4151361916/>
*The Art of SEO*

by Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin  Jessie Stricchiola

OReilly Media, $44.99

ISBN-10: 0596518862

If you could assemble a dream team of highly respected SEOs, with
years of collective experience practicing the art of SEO and
constantly pushing the envelope to develop new strategies and tactics
to gain competitive advantage—the four authors of this book would be
at the top of any list of candidates.

*The Art of SEO* is a deep dive into virtually all aspects of search
engine optimization, from basic blocking and tackling to highly
complex techniques that address thorny challenges for website owners.
The authors are all not only skilled practitioners of what they
rightly describe as an art, but are also adept communicators who can
explain sometimes arcane topics clearly and with insightful examples
drawn from experience.

All four authors are longtime speaking veterans at Search Marketing
Expo <http://searchmarketingexpo.com/>
and two are columnists for Search Engine Land—Eric Enge for
Industrial Strength
<http://searchengineland.com/library/industrial-strength>
and Stephan Spencer for 100% Organic
<http://searchengineland.com/library/100-organic>
.

Of all the books on SEO Ive seen this year, this one is most likely
to wear out from frequent use as you return to it again and again for
practical advice.

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/23148333@N06/4150603211/>
*When Search Meets Web Usability*
<http://www.peachpit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321605896>

by Shari Thurow  Nick Musica

New Riders, $29.99

ISBN-10: 0-321-60589-6

Usability is one of those words that many SEOs have heard, but
dont really use as part of their working vocabulary. And thats a
shame, because website usability is an increasingly important factor
in how search engines determine relevance, and thus, rankings.

Unlike other books on SEO, *When Search Meets Web Usability* doesnt
focus on page or site-level optimization tactics and techniques.
Instead, the focus is squarely on the /user/—specifically, on
searcher needs and behavior, and how you can design your website to
satisfy those needs and accommodate the behavior in a way that leads
to fulfillment of /your/ ultimate goal: conversion.

The authors offer some great insights into searcher behavior and how
good usability makes sites more search engine friendly. There are some
excellent checklists and questions to ask yourself that go a long way
toward improving both the user and search engine experience of
virtually any website.

And if you (or your boss/client) is skeptical that paying attention
to search usability can really have an impact on the bottom line,
there are some great worksheets and examples that clearly map out
costs and returns of both neglecting and including usability as part
of your SEO efforts—without taking anything away from the rest of
the book, these alone are worth more than the price of the book.

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/23148333@N06/4151361932/>
*SEO Warrior* <http://www.seowarrior.net/>

by John I. Jerkovic

OReilly Media, $44.99

ISBN-10: 059615707X

Like *The Art of SEO*, *SEO Warrior* serves as a comprehensive
overview of current SEO best practices, and offers some good insights
into some of the tools available to make life easier for the
practitioner.

*SEO Warrior* would be a good choice if you want to get up to speed
quickly on current search engine optimization techniques. Although
John Jerkovic writes in the preface that he wrote the book with a
diverse audience in mind, the book is really most appropriate for
practitioners who have to get their fingers dirty with the daily
routines of SEO rather than managers or executives.

Jerkovic comes from a programming and computer networking background,
and there are numerous examples throughout the book that make liberal
use of code. This is great if youre programming-literate (especially
since in most cases youre free to use the code in your own SEO
efforts). But it can be a bit intimidating for readers who arent
familiar with JavaScript, PHP or PERL.

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/23148333@N06/4151361946/>
*The Truth About Search Engine Optimization*
<http://www.ftpress.com/title/0789738317>

by Rebecca Lieb

FT Press, $18.99

ISBN-10: 0-7897-3831-7

Anyone who attends search marketing conferences knows that some of
the best learning and insights into whats currently happening with
SEO takes place outside of the session rooms, in informal
conversations in hallways, restaurants and bars.

Reading *The Truth About Search Engine Optimization* is similar in
many ways to hanging out with the pros and networking at conferences.
The book is organized as 51 truths about search engine optimization,
each a nugget of wisdom gleaned from Liebs many years experience of
working with writers and subject experts as Executive Editor of online
marketing publication ClickZ.

Liebs style is conversational and breezy, and while she offers tons
of tactical and how-to advice, she also deals with business and
marketing issues that are sometimes overlooked in other SEO books. As
such, this makes *The Truth About Search Engine Optimization* probably
the best book in this batch to give to C-level executives or other
business-types who are less concerned with nuts-and-bolts and more
concerned with how SEO efforts impact the bottom line.

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/23148333@N06/4151361954/>
*Search User Interfaces* <http://searchuserinterfaces.com/#>

by Marti Hearst

Cambridge University Press, $50.00

ISBN-10: 0521113792

With our focus on search marketing at Search Engine Land, its
unusual for me to review an academic textbook, but *Search User
Interfaces* is an unusual book—and I mean that as high praise.

Author Marti Hearst is a professor in the School of Information at
the University of California, Berkeley. A primary focus of Dr.
Hearsts research is user interfaces for search, and shes invented or
participated in the development of many of the search interfaces that
are now standard on the web.

For search marketers, the book offers some great insights into how
people interact with search engines—what they look for, things they
like and dislike, and how the overall search experience can be
improved—all things that we can learn from to improve our own
campaigns. Apart from being a fascinating history of the development
of search interfaces, the book also discusses research that points to
new developments we can expect in search interfaces in the coming
years that will undoubtedly have an impact on how we practice our
craft as search marketers.

Whats unusual about the book? For starters, the entire book is
available free online <http://searchuserinterfaces.com/book/>
. You can also watch videos from Dr. Hearsts U.C. Berkeley course,
Search Engines: Technology, Society, and Business
<http://www2.sims.berkeley.edu/courses/is141/f05/schedule.html>
. Speakers include a veritable whos-who of luminaries in interface
design, including Dr. Jan Pedersen, Yahoo Search, Manager of Search
Relevance (also a chief architect of AltaVista), Dr. Peter Norvig,
Googles Director of Search Quality, Sergey Brin, co-founder of
Google, Dr. Sue Dumais from Microsoft Research and many more.

In all, a wealth of information to satisfy the inner search geek in
all of us.

Next up (links will be activated when published):

A Roundup Of 2009s Best Search Advertising Books
A Roundup Of 2009s Best General Search Marketing Books

FTC 16 CFR Part 255 Disclosure: The publishers of most of the books
reviewed here provided Search Engine Land with complimentary review
copies, but had no editorial influence and did not provide any
compensation to be included in this roundup.

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the author, and not
necessarily Search Engine Land.

Chris Sherman
<http://searchengineland.com/author/chris-sherman/>

is Executive Editor of SearchEngineLand.com and President of
Searchwise LLC, a Boulder Colorado based Web consulting firm. He also
programs and co-chairs the Search Marketing Expo - SMX conference
series <http://searchmarketingexpo.com/>
.

<font size="-1">
Upcoming Search Marketing Expo events you won't want to miss:<ul><li><a
href="http://searchmarketingexpo.com/west/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=text&utm_content=footertext&utm_campaign=SMX%2BWest%2B2010">SMX
West - Santa Clara, CA</a> - March 2-4, 2010</li><li><a
href="http://searchmarketingexpo.com/advanced/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=text&utm_content=footertext&utm_campaign=SMX%2BAdvanced%2B2010">SMX
Advanced - Seattle, WA</a> - June 8-9, 2010</li><li><a
href="http://searchmarketingexpo.com/munich?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=text&utm_content=footertext&utm_campaign=SMX%2BMunich%2B2010">SMX
Munich</a> - March 23-25, 2010</li><li><a
href="http://www.searchmarketingexpo.com.au/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=text&utm_content=footertext&utm_campaign=SMX%2BSydney%2B2010">SMX
Sydney</a> - April 22-23, 2010</li></ul>Attend a <a
href="http://searchmarketingnow.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=textlink&utm_campaign=SMN%2Bgeneral">Search
Marketing Now</a> Webcast - it's free! Upcoming webcasts:<ul><li><a
href="http://searchmarketingnow.com/webcasts/wc091201">Ask the Search
Engines: War Stories from the World Tour</a> - December 1, 2009</li><li><a
href="http://searchmarketingnow.com/webcasts/wc091208">Turning Clients Into
PPC Champions: How to Make PPC Meaningful to "the Other Guys"</a> -
December 8, 2009</li><li><a
href="http://searchmarketingnow.com/webcasts/wc091210">Taking over an
existing PPC Account: Best Practices</a> - December 10,
2009</li></ul>Interested in advertising or sponsoring Search Marketing Expo
or Search Marketing Now webcasts? <a
href="http://thirddoormedia.com/contact/sales.shtml?utm_source=searchcap&utm_medium=email&utm_content=textlink&utm_campaign=General%2BSales">Contact
us</a>.

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