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Search Engine Optimization for Dummies [Paperback]

Peter Kent (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (149 customer reviews)


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Paperback, April 23, 2004 --  
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Search Engine Optimization For Dummies Search Engine Optimization For Dummies 4.6 out of 5 stars (149)
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Book Description

April 23, 2004 0764567586 978-0764567582
“If we build it, they will come.”

Unfortunately, in the field of Web sites, that’s an unfulfilled dream. Having a Web site does not automatically guarantee having traffic, even if you register the site with appropriate search engines. Whether you’re an e-tailer who wants customers, a business that wants clients, or an organization that wants to get your message out, Search Engine Optimization For Dummies explains the rules of the game with information on:

  • Spiders—not the yucky kind, but the software that grabs Web pages, and then,,reads and indexes the information
  • Search indexes or engines, search directories, non-spidered indexes, and pay-per-click systems
  • The eight search systems you really need to impress and how to get your pages into them
  • Keywords and how to choose them strategically and use them often
  • Submitting to the directories, including the biggies (Yahoo! Directory and the Open Director Project) and second-tier directories
  • Using shopping directories for e-commerce sites, complete with a list of nine popular ones and CPCs (cost per click) for various types of merchandise on various sites

Written by Peter Kent, e-commerce consultant, popular speaker, and critically-acclaimed author, Search Engine Optimization For Dummies helps you build a search engine- friendly site (or fix an existing site) and build traffic, showing you how to:

  • Use effective Web site structure and text, including filenames, directory structure, title tags, descriptive meta tags, keyword meta tags, and an HTML navigation system,
  • Avoid things search engines avoid, such as frames, invisible navigation systems, including those created with Java applets, Java Scripts and Macromedia Flash, cluttered sites overloaded with HTML unrelated to content, and more
  • Bulk up your site with content—original or recycled
  • Use specialized search systems to attract valuable, highly targeted traffic
  • Use link popularity to boost your position and your PageRank

Complete with a tear-out cheat sheet and information about Web sites you may want to hit for even more information, Search Engine Optimization For Dummies will help you make the Web site hit list.



Editorial Reviews

Review

  “…required reading for anyone with a presence on the internet…better than the rest…might be the best investment you ever make…” (ITWales.com, August 2004)

“..money well spent if you’re serious about boosting your web potential…” (4 stars…)” (Internet Works, October 2004)

From the Back Cover

Build sites search engines love, and see your business boom

Find out how to make your site pop to the top when the search is on

Search engines, search directories, search systems – it’s enough to make you search for antacids! Well, relax – this book not only tells you which is which, it gives you the inside track on which ones to impress. Find out about pay-per-click search engine advertising, what your site needs to lure search engines, how and where to register, and more.

The Dummies Way

  • Explanations in plain English
  • "Get in, get out" information
  • Icons and other navigational aids
  • Tear-out cheat sheet
  • Top ten lists
  • A dash of humor and fun

Discover how to:

  • Choose powerful keywords for your pages
  • Increase visibility in search engines
  • Avoid penalties
  • Encourage other sites to link to yours
  • Track your hits
  • Use pay-per-click advertising productively

Product Details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: For Dummies (April 23, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0764567586
  • ISBN-13: 978-0764567582
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (149 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #699,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
140 of 146 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I suppose with an average of 5-Stars my review ranking makes me the curmudgeon since I offer only 3-Stars. Dummies books many times become complicated because they flounder around instead of getting straight to the subject matter, this book is no exception. While offering a plethora of important and valuable information the writings start, stop and go back and forth too often. I was armed with a highlighter and notepad but found myself constantly referencing back and forth, forced to re-read passages to collect all the data important to optimize according to the authors recommendations.

An example is discussing topics, which engage the readers interest only to suddenly stop with, "More on this subject in Chapter X." Ok, so I put my highlighter down until later. This becomes frustrating. Discuss highlights in the book with an introduction and get to the point in one place, not later in several places. The checklist offered on the inside cover is a nice highlight and covering the topics once again in an introduction should be enough and will lead to less confusion.

As with all tech books, without any fault to the author, the subject matter becomes dated quickly. This is the case with SEO for Dummies but the basics offered are valuable as a starting point in optimizing your web site. Although keywords, content and reciprocal linking are stressed heavily, my own inadvertent experiment has shown content to actually be at least as valuable if not more important than incoming links for high-ranking sites. As an example, I have two web-blogs with Google rankings of 2 and 3 respectively which have virtually no incoming links only a lot of content. In these cases content proves extremely valuable. These blogs are relatively young.

The author makes an attempt to explain Googles algorithm but fails miserably to make a point, and serves no purpose in advancing SEO knowledge and very little is mentioned about the Google "Sandbox" which is the initial purgatory new sites are sent to while Google decides a web sites worthiness. Understanding the sandbox in extremely important so the Webmaster pro or amateur realizes page ranking comes with sweat equity and patience.

My largest disappointment came when visiting the authors web site which was not up to date and had several "dead links." At this writing his Google site ranking is 5/10, which is very good but one must practice what they preach and these instances were glaring errors. Another problem is the author spends time discounting the use of "Frames/Frameset" but his site uses frames as viewed in the source code. If they should be avoided why does his site contain them?

I recommend this book if purchased with a deep discount. Next thoroughly read and digest the research information at www.marketingexperiments.com and incorporate all your information and experience into a business plan using their template. In combination with SEO for Dummies your site will be enhanced for SEO and you'll have a deeper understanding of Google and other methods of SEO to increase site traffic as well as page ranking.
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71 of 81 people found the following review helpful
Great Book February 3, 2005
Format:Paperback
I am a neophyte in web design and have a tech person in another city who has just started doing web design. She designed our websites but was not up on optimazation, and I wasn't either. We both ordered the book and have now designed two websites using it.

The first searches fairly well but it wasn't being found at all until we used the suggestions/instructions from the book so it certainly helped.

The second site was designed using the suggestions for titles, descriptions and keywords. I also believe the designer used all of the other directions for other parts of the site. We are just trying to get the site recognized at this point.

I would have to say, at least for myself, we would have not known any of the "secrets" to getting recognized without using the book. I am confident over time we wil get both sites readily recognized by the engines. It does seem to be somewhat of a science and the book help a lot.

I personally highly recommend the book and I don't normally give out 5's for anything, a big help.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Thank you! A book that tells me exactly what SEO is AND confirms you don't have to be an IT certified whatever to figure it out. My clients want good search results, and from reading this book, I can now confidently design their pages to get just that.

Something I love about this book as well as all the Dummies books: As you go through the book, Peter tells you exactly what Chapter to go to for more on a certain point. You don't have to read this book from Front to Back- use it as a reference tool and learn as you go.

Easy to read and plenty of humor packed in to encourage you to continue learning, this gets a thumbs up!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Interesting read
Very informative book. Covers multiple aspects of SEO. This is a must have if you are new to this. Easy to understand and interesting read.
Published 1 month ago by int4d
Helpful for Newbies
I've personally been working on my own website for over ten years and I can say that I learned most of the things in this book by trial and error. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Rebecca Johnson
Intravec designs " www.intravecdesigns.com "
This is a great book for beginners that need the knowledge of how important SEO can be to building your clientele list. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Intravec
A Dummy No More!
The SEO bible you've been looking for!

Search Engine Optimization for Dummies is the first book I've read on the SEO subject and it does not disappoint. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Bookoholic
A Must Have Resource
Since I don't have the money to engage a costly SEO group, I've been building an eCommerce site on a shoestring with the help of Peter's book. It's indispensable. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Chet Baker
Great Starting Point
This book covers all the basics, and some advanced material.
After having a company make my web site, because the supplier required it, they also tried to sell me SEO... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Robert E. Ryan
Appropriate for intelligent non-experts
This is the best Dummies book I've read. As an intelligent non-expert, there was nothing I couldn't follow with a bit of concentration. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Aquilonian
Read this before building your website
I attended a few training seminars on SEO and social media marketing. The seminars had been very helpful in fixing many things in my blogs and websites. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Walter G. Gozar
Great SEO Book!
I admit that I love all the Dummies books for the most part but this one was one of the best. I had not planned on reading any of the "techie" books on SEO but just read one that... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Chameleon
informative
Search engine optimization includes on page and off page promotion. This book share a lot of information in on page optimization. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Expendable
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
You've got a problem. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
rodent racing, reciprocal link requests, important search site, search engine perspective, new page that appears, syndication sites, other search systems, racing scores, index your site, search engine designers, search engine position, keyword tool, getting links, paid inclusion, doorway pages, programmable keyboard, keyword analysis, syndicated content, engine optimization, search engine business, reciprocal linking, session ids, link farms, link campaign, content syndication
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Open Directory Project, Ask Jeeves, Google Toolbar, Internet Explorer, Alexa Toolbar, Google Catalogs, Term Suggestion Tool, New York, Web Directories, Cascading Style Sheets, Evaluate Load, Our Price, United States, Google Zeitgeist, Adding Your Site, Apple Pie, Carrot Cake, Microsoft Excel, Optical Zoom, Soft Recliner, Women's Overalls, Adobe Acrobat, American Pride Polo Shirt, Click the Advertiser Center, Free For All
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