About three months ago, I was fortunate enough to be contacted by Wiley Publishing and asked to write a book about SEO. (I am pretty sure they are confusing me with Danny Sullivan but I don't plan on telling them until after the book is published ;-p) I am quite honored by the whole experience and want to make sure I use the opportunity to the fullest. This is where all of you come in :D. Below you will find my preliminary table of contents. Most of you are my target audience, and I would love to hear what you want to read.
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At Google, search engineers talk about 80-20 problems. They are describing situations where the last 20% of the problem is 80% of the work. Learning SEO is one of these problems. 80% of the knowledge SEOs need to know is available online for free. Unfortunately, the remaining 20% takes the majority of the time and energy to find and understand. My goal with this book is to solve this problem by making the last 20% as easy to get as the first 80%. While I don't think I will be able to cover the entire 20% (some of it comes from years of practice and as far as I know there is no secret shortcuts) I am going to include as much actionable advanced material as humanly possible. My current projection is 450 pages.
Below I have my table of contents for your consideration. Please feel free to leave suggestions and thoughts in the comments or e-mail me at danny (at symbol) seomoz.org
Below I have my table of contents for your consideration. Please feel free to leave suggestions and thoughts in the comments or e-mail me at danny (at symbol) seomoz.org
Search Engine Optimization Secrets: Table of Contents
Part 1: Understanding Search Engine Optimization
The Truth About SEO
Popularity
Relevancy
Part 2: Understanding How SEO Professionals See The Web
10 Foot View (Individual Content Pieces)
100 Foot View (Web Page)
1,000 Foot View (Website)
10,000 Foot View (Web Network)
Part 3: Picking The Right SEO Tools
View Source
Search Engines as SEO Tools
Search Engine Provided Tools
On-Page SEO Tools
Linkscape
SEO Toolbars
Unix Terminal
Part 4: Learning How SEO Professionals Find SEO Problems
5 Minute SEO Audit
5 Minute Brand Reputation Audit
Identifying Search Engine Penalties
Performing Competitive Analysis
Note: Longer audit processes are included later in the book
Part 5: Learning How SEO Professionals Solve SEO Problems
I am keeping this a secret for now ;-p
(That Danny guy is a jerk...)
Part 6: Making Money with SEO Consulting
(Still a work in progress, I want the content to be more about how to make money and less about the consulting process. Which direction do you think I should go?)
The Consultant Advantage
Identifying SEO Goals
Identifying Priorities
How to Explain Advanced SEO Concepts to Clients
Working With Large Scale Websites
Part 7: Getting to Know The Greatest People in The World (SEO Industry)
Brief History
Understanding The People Behind The Industry
The Importance of Knowing Who is Who
Part 8: Resources That Are Worth More Than The Price of This Book
I am keeping this one a secret for now too ;-p To make up for the sensationalist title, I will spill the beans a little bit and say that one of the chapters will be a compete and annotated SEO audit just like the ones I do for major clients at SEOmoz.
Part 1: Understanding Search Engine Optimization
The Truth About SEO
Popularity
Relevancy
Part 2: Understanding How SEO Professionals See The Web
10 Foot View (Individual Content Pieces)
100 Foot View (Web Page)
1,000 Foot View (Website)
10,000 Foot View (Web Network)
Part 3: Picking The Right SEO Tools
View Source
Search Engines as SEO Tools
Search Engine Provided Tools
On-Page SEO Tools
Linkscape
SEO Toolbars
Unix Terminal
Part 4: Learning How SEO Professionals Find SEO Problems
5 Minute SEO Audit
5 Minute Brand Reputation Audit
Identifying Search Engine Penalties
Performing Competitive Analysis
Note: Longer audit processes are included later in the book
Part 5: Learning How SEO Professionals Solve SEO Problems
I am keeping this a secret for now ;-p
(That Danny guy is a jerk...)
Part 6: Making Money with SEO Consulting
(Still a work in progress, I want the content to be more about how to make money and less about the consulting process. Which direction do you think I should go?)
The Consultant Advantage
Identifying SEO Goals
Identifying Priorities
How to Explain Advanced SEO Concepts to Clients
Working With Large Scale Websites
Part 7: Getting to Know The Greatest People in The World (SEO Industry)
Brief History
Understanding The People Behind The Industry
The Importance of Knowing Who is Who
Part 8: Resources That Are Worth More Than The Price of This Book
I am keeping this one a secret for now too ;-p To make up for the sensationalist title, I will spill the beans a little bit and say that one of the chapters will be a compete and annotated SEO audit just like the ones I do for major clients at SEOmoz.
(Note: All of this is subject to change and hopefully improvement)
P.P.S I always feel awkward trying to sell myself or my work. I apologize if this post rubs you the wrong way. If it does, feel free to either mail your complaints to me at SEOmoz on the back of a $10 bill or send them via e-mail to sam (at) seomoz.org (totally kidding... but feel free to spam Sam).
I think your book could use a chapter on link building.
This I second. It's one area I really struggle with.
We all need awesome links, but the getting them is tricky.
It's like Google planned that or something ;-p
Mean Googlists : )
Link building takes much more than reading a book on the topic. It is much like art in that you're either creative or you're not.
Every time Wiley's let me write a book, the title has ended "For Dummies".... I'm jealous. ;-)
As you know, there are a whole lot of snake oil salesman offering SEO "tips" that are out-of-date or just plain wrong, and a lot of information of similar quality circulates for 'free' (although it can be costly if you rely on it). Unless you're expecting your readers to be at a level of sophistication where the guidance is not necessary, I would suggest including material on separating the wheat from the chaff.
Danny as always your contributions to the cause of SEO are invaluable.
I might suggest one addition to Part 1 The History of Search Online. I find that a lot of really smart people think that if they have a good website, they should automatically rank well in a search. If I give them a background of how the online search has evolved it starts to make a lot more sense as to why SEO is so important.
I want a signed copy when it goes to press.
Very interesting and helpful comment as always. I'll try to add a more extensive history later on the book. (i want the first few chapters to be as actionable as possible)
That is an entire book in itself :-) I'll do my best to cover it.
Thanks!
Danny, congrats on the book!
As fate would have it, I've got a book being published by Wiley this October (https://InboundMarketingBook.com).
One thing I've learned is that you need to get used to the notion of self-promotion (I'm not used to it either, but notice the link above?).
Good luck with the book. You have fans over here in Boston.
That means a lot coming from you. Just pre-ordered your book and look forward to to reading it.
Best of luck!
Good luck
Thinking about what extra information would be valuable I would suggest thoughts on
A great opportunity...congrats...please, please tell the whole "Truth About SEO" and start dispelling some of the myths, rumours and guesses "out there"...
Oh, and perhaps some "real time" case studies with real numbers, names and sites...
I absolutely agree about the "real time" case studies. These are a great way to show and teach.
Doesn't have to be rocket surgery, just like "Here's what the site was like. Here's what we did. The result was this..."
kpaulin and drummerboy9000
I hear you loud and clear. I like real case studies as well. I will do the best I can (pesky NDAs ;-p)
I agree that a chapter on SEO analytics would be a good idea. You can't really be a good SEO unless you understand how to use analytics to find actionable data and refine your strategies.
Added to my alerts ;)
I'd love to see Part 6 focused more on your career options and opportunities with your SEO skills - how you can prove yourself to the marketplace and how you can leverage the knowledge you have to provide businesses with value (whether that's in-house, as an enterpreneur of your own website/business or as a consultant).
Congrats Danny!
...speaking of books I'm already sold on. Art of SEO? October?
yesplskthx.
Along with this I would like to see something on the pros and cons of going out on your own vs being an in-house SEO
Congrats
I'm pretty sure that the section on the industry will need a chapter on Vegas and one on Jager Bombs...
I could easily project manage a round of jager bombs and illustrate the success of imbibing them without no book learnin' sir.
My .02.
Every single "seo book" that I have read or seen has had the same "basic seo 101" information. (yawn)
I for one would like you to create plausible scenarios and examine the various methods involved. Create examples and problems using either fake or real world examples and then tell us how you solved the problems going step by step. Be as detailed as possible in your answers.
It is one thing to tell us "you should do a, b, c" and it is another thing to tell us "here is how (and more importantly why) you should do a, b, c)
I would also like to see you discuss in depth various SEO theories and how they have changed over time.
If you would like to hear some basic ideas of what I'm looking for, contact me via the message system on here. I can throw out 20 questions (you don't have to reply back with an answer) that would give you an example of the type of work that I think would make your book awesome !
If not, I would like to see more "why this is important, and here is a breakdown of it" than "this is important".
:)
Hi Danny,
Congratulations on the book, looks like it'll be a good'un already.
At the risk of repeating what may be above; Part 6, if you haven't already considered it the importance of project management is (for me) a must in this area.
Managing client expectations, tracking your own time and building your costs/fees around that is crucial to actually making a profit from SEO work. It's very easy to get excited and over service, which is great for your clients but not so much for you.
Whether you then go on to sell by time, fixed rates, seo 'packages' or payment on results (or any combination of the above) is then up to you.
This is absolutely fantastic.
You're talent for research and writing far exceeds what can be put into a blog post. A book is the perfect platform for your voice.
Congratulations Danny!
I really appreciate it Vinny :-)
Super Excited for you and the BOOK!
I think it would be interesting if in Part 6 you added a section that compared in-house SEO with Consultant SEO. Just a thought.
Congratulations, again, Danny! Looking forward to the book.
Love the breakdown of Ch. 2, from the 10 ft. view on up. I'm curious about "Unix Terminal" in Ch. 3 - the way it's positioned, that seems like the highest-level tool, which, not having used a Unix terminal in a long time, has me stumped.
As for Ch. 6, I like your intent, but the actual money-making side might get too far beyond the scope of the book - you'd be getting into sales, marketing, networking, etc., and I don't think one chapter can really cover that. Might make more sense to focus on how to manage being a consultant, how to deal with clients, and some of the day-to-day. If you want to get into the money-making side, what might be useful is something about how to package and price services. I see a lot of questions about SEO pricing models in Q&A.
BTW, if you type "seo secrets dover" in Amazon, it asks if you meant "sex secrets cover". I almost ordered some unrated Spanish soft porn instead of your book.
Yeah I really hope he tackles SEO pricing, and methodology of pricing. Maybe talking a bit of sales pitches, or how to make one get a consulting contract might be good. Not everyone in SEO has a solid sales type background and that may be something def. worth mentioning.
BTW, if you type "seo secrets dover" in Amazon, it asks if you meant "sex secrets cover". I almost ordered some unrated Spanish soft porn instead of your book.
It's a trap!!!!!
Hi Pete,
Thanks for the thoughtful comments. They were very refreshing given the comments you usually leave ;-p
I am not positioning the terminal as a high end tool but I do think it is one of the best. It gives you the opportunity to see webpages (and redirects) exactly like the crawlers.
Cheers!
I really want to read the SEO Books (like showcase, like book) - I hope see the book in Vietnamese version - I'm working on SEO industry and try to write SEO (for dummies).
Congrats
Just waiting for the book. I have subscribed to Amazon alerts. I can't just wait to see the book as it it more targeted towards professionals.
I appreciate if you could add up optimization strategies for Ecommerce stores selling loads of products. I see that you have it mentioned in the last topics in the index. I wish it could talk more about consultation given in advance to building an ecommerce website or application.
Cheers !!!
Danny,
I know this is a book on SEO, not SEM, but... I concur with above comments regarding need for some discussion on link building, etc.
Perhaps an ending chapter...something like
Tending to your Garden: Ongoing SEO and External Influences.
Because, regardless of how well you describe SEO, and how good any of us (and your readers) are at pure SEO, SEO alone very often cannot achieve the desired results, particularly in competitive spaces.
Sean Elkin
Congratulations Danny. Count me in as a customer for the book when it comes off the presses.
I can't wait to see which one of your pictures makes it on the books cover. I think I'll start a pool.
lol, it is times like this when I worry about how many pictures of me there are online... Damn you Facebook!
I am a little late to the comment party but here ya go:
If you use my idea feel free to give me a nod in your book… only kidding but no really give me a nod.
#1
I have read a few SEO Books but I haven’t read one where the author speaks to developers or helps the ‘SEO’ effectively communicate with the developers. You could either create a ‘Funny Story’ section that explains some of the frequent issues you have come across working with developers or have heard of and offer tips to make “beautiful website harmony” between the content writers, SEOs and developers. I think its important for someone to integrate the web developer, coder or whomever into a book on SEO as they a part of the story as well.
#2
I wouldn’t mind seeing a section on key differences between optimizing a content based website verses an ecommerce website that is if you feel there are any.
#3
There isn’t enough good data on geo-targeting in my option.
Just my thoughts.
A famous editor met with a doctor about his proposal for a book. After hearing the proposal and finishing dinner, the editor said, "I won't publish the book you proposed, but if you write a book about what you actually do every day, I'll publish that and it will be a success."
Interesting point. I'll ponder this for a while.
Hi Danny, Nice to see yourself promoting to write a book. Really feel happy about it. The contents sounds to be very useful to me. This is definitely a great way to teach, I believe.
Congrats and Best wishes on the book.
Has the book come for sale now? or when it is released?
10th March I believe
First rule in SEO: Don't listen to Matt Cutts
Second rule: see first rule.
What about a section on dealing with clueless management and gettting them to understand?
Or maybe, "These rules are strictly enforced, unless you are in the Fortune 500. In which case you can ignore the rules and just give us a call. wink wink nudge nudge."
You could refer to the Wizard of OZ. The giant head that everyone thinks is the wizard would be Matt, the man behind the curtain would be the actual algorithm. Pay no attention to the czar, pay attention to your stats.;)
The index looks fab! What I've been looking for is a structured tick list style SEO strategy. Allowing the SEOer to create a strategy in simple terms in order to collate the information into a table or tick box set up to allow a simple way of implementing the strategy!
Congrats!!
First of all, this looks like a good read, hopefully will remember to order it when its avail.
Suggestion from my impression:
Lastly, any chance of a teaser chapter soon? :)
Hi John-Chen, Thanks for the detailed comment. I and adding all of these to my brainstorm list that I constantly reread as I write the book. A lot of these will help me a lot. I'll be posting one or two sample chapters on this blog later in the year. Keep an eye out for them. :-D Cheers!
Congratulations, Danny! I think the book is going to be a huge success, and I can't wait to read it.
You stated that in Part 6 you wanted it to be more about how to make money and less about the consulting process, but I'd like tothe opposite. The better you are at consulting, the money will come thereafter.
I personally HOPE that Danny talks about the business side of consulting though. Such as what are the best contract options for consulting, how to scale what one should charge as a consultant should, etc. Looking at some solid business aspects of consulting would help me A LOT, but I don't think I am the only one who could get some aid from that.
kasi and DustinMa,
Great input. I will be changing that part to focus on the consulting process. (contracts are part of that)
On a side note, I was really happy to see so many more people interested in the consulting process rather than just the money aspect. it makes me very optimistic for the future of our industry.
I'm pretty sure you would cover these in other areas but what about Analytics and Conversion tracking? You can't track success without measurement.
Book sounds great I'm looking forward to it.
Thanks for the link to Amazon. Pre-ordered now, nice marketing.
I am not an expert in either of those areas (yet!) but I am happy to write about how they are quickly becoming essential for SEOmoz.
Luckily, our new SEO Sam is a Analytics/Conversion guru. Maybe a guest chapter? I'll bug him about it.
Congrats, Danny!
Sam is definitely the GA geek for the job - he understands the art of applied metrics and how to connect data with emotions to motivate his clients to make the changes they desperately need. He's got what isn't so easy to learn from a book, salesmanship. Which brings me to my point outside of congratulating you...
Like Rand Fishkin, I'd like to see more of a focus on the sales side of SEO. (Perhaps in chapter six, or 9 - 10?) That is afterall the ultimate goal for SEO's in my opinion (at least the one's that are not purely research focused or who don't teach SEO). To not only conduct deep analyses and produce reports, statistics and executable plans, but also be able to effectively COMMUNICATE the value to customers (whether they are your client or manager).
The work doesn't stop after mastering your skill. The real secret is learning how to market yourself and your knowledge, skills and experiences to the highest bidder. Teach people to make money and they'll buy your book. I think that is what you are doing, but just wanted to give you my philisophical rant about it since you asked.
Looking forward to reading your creation. Good luck!
Salario
Just curious, if you don't mind me asking, how many prints in the first run?
Sam and Rand are indeed great influences. They are both very smart and hard working. It helps me just by osmosis.
I'll make sure to cover some material on salesmanship. It is a tough ara to cover because it is so personal but I iwll do my best.
With regards to number of prints...
I actually have no idea. I should probably look into that ;-p
P.S. Glad to see you checking with your audience, smart move!
Good stuff, Danny.
I am gonna pre-order it, hopefully it comes out asap
Man, can you stop boasting about your book for a second Danny?
Kidding!!!
This is great news, both for you personally, SEOMoz, and for us!
The valuable "20%" cream we get here at SEOMoz on a daily basis helps feed our insatiable appetites for the edge in this industry, as well as serves as a platform to share our insights with our peers and mentors.
450 pages of Danny's 20% ? SOLD.
Oh and I'd like mine signed too please! ;)
Hi Danny,
As per your Index book looks good. so best of luck for the same..
I am from Shanghai, you would like to read this book written, I do not know whether there is a Chinese version of China's publishing?
Great suggestion, I will talk to my publisher and see what they can do. Thanks for the suggestion and support!
Here's my two cents - I think if you can focus on the aspects of SEO that are more 'timeless' that would be great. One of the reasons I like SEOmoz is because the information is current and applicable, and I don't think a printed book can ever really replace that. So if your book stays out of the realms of recent fashions and fads, and sticks to the age old truths, then I think it'll be an awesome read.
Or he could talk about previous "fashions and fads" a bit of the current ones and where it could all be headed.
History tends to repeat itself, and in order to know the future, we need to know the past. I think that is the same for SEO we have to understand why Google and search companies have created the guidelines they have, etc.
JoosE,
I hear you loud and clear and totally agree. Long term will be stressed over short term for sure.
Congrats Danny. I would be wonderful to have a chapter exclusively on local search optimization
I agree... as I am an italian speaking it would be nice that some book remembers that not all the web is in English and not all the SERP are on Google.com, Yahoo.com or Bing.com.
Congrats!
Looks interesting. I'll get notified. I was going to say I'd like to read the chapter on Making Money Consulting but then I would need all the chapters.
just pre-ordered. Looking forward to seeing how it shapes out over the next 9 months. Congrats!
When I am out shopping for a book, one of the topics that I look for is the 'Myths' section. You can find so much information online regarding SEO. It would be great to know the "Dont's".
Don't believe everything you read :D
Don't eat yellow snow.
Gee, a book is so "20th Century"...what's next...advertising for it in the newspaper? :.)
Hope it works out well for you...just make sure there is some dynamic online component to the static pages.
You need to add a section on how you show success - beyond just ranking position.
It'd also be great to have a section on estimating a time frame for success.
Congrats on the book, Danny. Hope you make a boatload of money.
This definitely seems worth the read. I'm particularly curious to see how you explain complex SEO topics to clients. It seems really easy to veer off topic or get way too deep into the details on some of these concepts. Looking forward to it.
I am particular excited about this chapter. Rand has been a great mentor and I think this is one of his greatest strengths. I have used his ideas and my own to explain SEO to a lot of prople. Clients and friends alike.
The book sounds fantastic. Congrats on being approached to write it! It doesn't have a salesrank yet (being it's not even in pre-order), so I marked it as inactive in my tracking database. However, the other book is in pre-order, so I'm now tracking its sales on novelrank.com.
Oh, and if you're looking for a link to see those stats... give me another month to finish of the front-end of the site. Here is the future home of it (unpretty version for a few more days):
https://www.novelrank.com/asin/0596518862
This sounds like a very cool project. I will be using it for sure once my book goes on sale. Thanks for sharing!
Danny how much are you getting for it?
Come on we're all friends here, your secret is safe with us :)
Is it true? Amazon just notified me that the item has been shipped! Cant wait to read it.
If you're familiar with David Allen's Getting Things Done, it might be worth using a variation of his model for Part 2. Many people are familiar with the model and it would provide a great bridge between the two lines of thinking.
I am very familiar with GTD. Implementing it has really improved my life. I'll reread it and see how many parallels I can draw.
Good suggestion.
Your "Foot View" sections really reminded me of his concepts. In GTD, Allen describes the Runway (next actions), 10,000 feet (projects), 20,000 feet (areas of focus), 30,000 feet (goals & objectives), 40,000 feet (vision), and 50,000 feet (purpose).
It's always been a model that really resonated with me regarding how I should look at my life. I think it would be great to utilize a similar model in your section on SEO professionals' understanding of the world.
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/book-review-david-allens-making-it-all-work-part-3-of-3.html
Wished amazon.co.uk had paypal as a payment option.
Thanks for the tip about The Art of SEO Danny. I just went to pre-order it, but shipping to Canada is $20. I guess I'll wait until a PDF download is available.
...or you could come to Seattle and pick it up at an SEOmoz PRO Seminar. ;)
Ooh! Good idea! I'll be there next week. Looking forward to it.
Hey Danny,
When do u think the book will be ready for release? Can't wait to read it
I am shooting for middle of March 2010. :-)
Congratulations Danny!
Now, you don't state whether this is a personal project or something being done from within SEOmoz, so forgive me if i'm making assumptions......
With both you and Rand writing books, it's a shame that all this effort is going into these projects, yet there haven't been any new PRO guides (e.g. Beginners guide to SEO V2 that Rand has been working on) released for ages.
I'd hate to feel that this benefit of being a PRO member has taken a backseat here.
I am glad you brought this up. I am doing this as a personal project outside of SEOmoz BUT I am writing about the processes and tactics we use at SEOmoz.
I still spend the same amount of time doing work at SEOmoz (I just cut into my personal time).
Rand is now done with his book but he has been very busy meeting with VCs. His schedule will be back to "normal" soon. (Rand has his own special kind of normal). Also as I mentioned above I am still working at SEOmoz the same amount of time as before.
With regards to guides, we have our search engine ranking factors coming out very soon and a new beginners guide to SEO soon after that. I am also going to start posting more mini guides sometime next week.
I hope that helps calm your fears. If not feel free to call or e-mail me. (Contact info is in the post and phone number is on our about page)
Cheers!
Hi Danny,
Indeed it does reassure me so thanks for the clarification.
Bravo on giving up your social time for this project. I've always been impressed with your blog posts as they are thorough, pertinent and practical so i'm positive the book will be equally valuable.
Good luck!
whats a 10 foot view? is that like a kerrick, or is it a complicated dance?
Also will there be an online website companion? Theres a lot of handy resources that would go out of date incredibly fast - is that you on the holding page .com for your book title?
Thinking a bit on where you can you get an education on seo and tools etc, will be out of date as soon as its published
Part 6: section on the consultant advantage - something on how to counter common reasons not to use a consultant
Also managing clients and client expectations & im 2nding the need to deal with link building(as its teh bit that often has a lot of client misconceptions)
How to create action in an organisation would be helpful
The online companion for the book will intergrated into SEOmoz. I wouldn't be able to take myself seriously if I wrote a book about SEO and made the huge mistake of making the companion site on a new domain. The domain strength of SEOmoz is essential.
Plus, IMHO many of the best resources on SEO are already here. It makes a lot of sense to have my book supplement the tools and guides here rather than try to reinvent the wheel.
Excellent ideas so far. I have one more: if you have problems to disclosure real situations you faced on one of your jobs, you could offer a consult for free in exchange to being able to publish everything you did on the book.
First off,
I'm very excited for this book.
One issue I'ved face as a learning SEO, is finding on-page SEO tools and link building tools that provide accurate data. I'm not sure if you were planning on working that in to one of the sections in part 3, but it's something I would find helpful.
Keep up the good work Danny.
I have read every book on seo going (well nearly) and they are generally aimed at newbies. A solid book examining 'advanced seo' techniques would please me.
I'm totally trying to steal both focus and your target audience, but can anyone name a decent seo book? Advanced is welcomed.
I liked Search Engine Optimization: Your Visual Blueprint for Effective Internet Marketing by Kristopher B. Jones. It was very thorough, useful and well written. It did, however, focus on beginner SEO.
(Disclaimer: That book is published by the same company as my book. That's not why I am recommending and I don't receive any benefit from it but it is worth noting the conflict of interest. )
Danny, I want your book on Kindle.
And yes, please go into more details regarding how SEO pros go about each project, from start to end.
There is a button you can click on the Amazon page that tells Amazon and Wiley that you want a Kindle version. If you have a chance, I recommend clicking it.
They just need to see demand before they go forward.
Thanks Danny, I did that. Hopefully there will be enough demand. My Kindle has been on the shelf collecting dust for a while.
BTW, do we have an estimation here? This year please? The sooner the better.
Nice Suggetion. This book could be useful for all seo peoples .
I am looking forward to reading this. Great outline!
I would love to contribute but can only wait for the book to be released, then watch and learn... Will certainly be buying it however!
The good strategy here is to not give away any SEO "secrets" for free, which is also why I am not going to be submitting feedback, even if I love the book idea ;).
But free is awesome! Plus open source companies have proven that you can give away information, and still make money by selling support.
I like this idea for SEO. I can tell you what you need to do to optimize your site, but if you want me to actually do it, I'll make some money on it.
(not really a pro SEO myself, that was just an example.)
I disagree here and I think Rand would disagree as well.
Think of all the posts SEOmoz makes such as the white board Fridays, etc. They give away TONS of solid, valuable information for free. Another example is Google offers almost all of its services for free.
If you can afford to give away free information and help, it allows clients to trust you, and then it allows for a growth in business.
Agreed.
The good will aspect of being open and honest with people even if they never pay you a dime is HUGE. You'll still be plenty busy since knowing what needs to be done and getting it done are two very different things. A good size business (one that can afford your service) wants to know you're capable but then they want you to do it so they can concentrate on the business.
I think everyone at SEOmoz is on the same page. Sharing information is a driving force in both our company and out culture. It has been essential to our growth.
In fact this is one of the reasons I am writing a book explaining SEO secrets.
For the most part, information is most vaulable when it is shared.
I'd love to see you focus somewhat on complimentary skillsets of a great SEO. Mainly, strategic forward thinking. Ranking is one thing, but without a broad based strategy I find it goes to waste. In many organizations it's the job of the SEO, even if not officially defined, to lead the strategy going forward. I think that defining a thought process is crucial.
I'd also suggest segmenting scale. In other words, content generation across sites of all different sizes. If you're dealing with a 10 page site of a small, local business it's clearly a different animal than a multi-million page site where internal linking and domain strength may be strong enough alone to accomplish your goal.
How do you deal with other departments? SEO has roadblocks in every direction. My method is education, and fact based arguments. Teaching a SEO how to win internal arguments, get buy-in and move forward may very well be the secret you're hiding in Part 5:-).
Will you be defining the in-house SEO role versus the consultant?
How about SEO salary expectations and career growth? How can a SEO become a broad internet marketing department leader?
It may also be useful to identify how other areas of internet marketing can be beneficial and point out resources for them. For example, using PPC to test SEO.
That's all I've got for now. Glad to throw my .02 in more anytime.
Best of luck and congratulations.
-Matt Leonard
I think sections on persistent SEO (techniques that have remained more or less the same over the years) and cutting-edge SEO (how to discover and stay on top of new trends) would be useful for less experienced readers.
I have actually already put a lot of thought into this. Writing a book is very different form writing a blog post. The last thing I want to do is write something that will be irrelevant weeks after it is published.
Luckily, most of the tactics and philosophies we use at SEOmoz are long term. That will be reflected in the book.
Rightly said Danny. Writing a book and writing a blog post is extremely a different experience and nice to hear that you are going to reflect ideas and tactics of seomoz on the book too.