Customer Reviews

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Secrets

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't usually do reviews but this book took me by surprise. I am impressed with the content, it was a fresh perspective on search engine optimization and it offered some really practical, useful advice that virtually anyone who understand the basics of SEO would be able to implement.

I eagerly pre-ordered the book because I have read Danny's articles on SEOmoz. It came 7 days ahead of the scheduled release date so I was delighted with Amazon.

I started reading and I couldn't put it down. Maybe I'm a nerd but I live and breathe online marketing and SEO was the core of it all.
Here are some of the key takeaways:

1. SEO Consulting Process - Learn how to win clients, how much you should charge for your services (master services agreement,
NDAs, SOW) and the best deliverables/reporting for your clients.

2. Suggested SEO Pricing - Website Audit, E-Commerce Site Audit, Link Building, Reputation Management, Social Media Management,
Keyword Research and etc. (Very helpful if you are looking at doing consulting work, it is so hard to determine the right price
point on your own).

3. 58-Page Comprehensive Technical SEO Site Audit - Unless you paid for SEO site audits in the past you won't be able to get a more
in-depth sample. Oh and he also show you how to do the Site Audit as well.

4. How to Conduct an E-Commerce Audit - In my opinion the first 4 items are worth it's weight in gold for a SEO freelancer, SEO
consultant or even an SEO agency.

5. SEO for Local Business - What works and what doesn't: customer opinions/reviews, universal search, image search, video search
and ranking factors.

6. Optimizing for Alternative Search Engines - Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, Delicious, Flickr and Twitter (this help outline how
search and social is truly intersecting and in order to be successful on the web you need to go beyond Google).

7. The Essentials - The book includes an explanation of how SEO works, top SEO tools to use, finding and troubleshooting common and
advanced SEO problems and of course SEO Best Practices (some of which you can find on SEOmoz).

The bottomline: Danny makes SEO actionable for the average person, more importantly he makes it lethal for the seasoned SEO veteran
(you can become a superstar-SEO-ninja with this book).

Since the SEO field is always rapidly changing, I highly recommend picking up this book as soon as possible (today if you can) because it will give you 80-90 percent of everything you need to start consulting successfully with SEO right away. I teach SEO at a local community college and I am contemplating to make this a required reading, it is that good and applicable.

Just go the book, and haven't put it down since. I have been doing SEO for 8 years and this is by far one of the best if not the BEST book on SEO techniques out there. I recommend it for everyone.

With the Kindle I have been purchasing every SEO book that has come out for a couple months now, looking and looking for that needle in the haystack. All you have to do is go back and look at all the reviews I have done on them. Finally the book I have been looking for and hoping for has come out. The way its written, the notes on the side explaining subjects more, the highlights in the book exactly where I would highlight are perfect.

It's a book that says exactly what it means he tells you secrets, he opens your mind and doors to SEO. Chapter 14 SEO Resources gives you all the info you need, he even goes into attending an SEO Conference. I have never read about that in any SEO book. Why is this important you ask, because if you haven't been to an SEO conference you need to get your but there and his book explains everything.

The Tips in the book are great, as well as the entire book overall. There is lots of crap out there, don't be fooled Danny knows his stuff inside and out, shows hard examples and everything.

Actually, don't go buy it and make my job of getting my clients to the top way easier for me.

I consider myself an intermediate level (in-house) SEO for the Real Estate industry. Lately I've been looking to take myself to that next level, so I've been studying, testing, studying and testing and then testing my studying. So far so good...

People in my industry have been noticing the results I'm getting for our company, and have been approaching me to do work on the side for them. While normally this would be a great thing, I've been a little hesitant to accept clients as side work. I did some work for the first client that approached me, and quickly realized I was stepping into a whole new realm of reporting and accountability. I mean, I had no formal processes, contracts, reports, etc. to provide the client. Obviously this was going to be a problem if I wanted to continue down this path towards becoming a full time SEO consultant.

By a stroke of luck, I happened to be flying through my Twitter stream that same day and stumbled upon someone who had tweeted how they were excited to get their copy of Danny Dover's new book, SEO Secrets. The title alone drew me in, but the description was what made me purchase the book. It seemed to be speaking to most of the issues I was facing.

So, I got the book this last Friday and spent most of the weekend reading it. It was a great read compared to many of the other SEO books I've tried in the past which have never lived up to the hype. SEO Secrets was very well structured all the way down to the little "tips" scribbled into the side bar of the pages.

I'm going to stop blabbing on now and just say this: SEO Secrets was definitely worth the money (and time) spent. You should get a copy.

This is a great book for people who are moving from basic to advanced in their SEO knowledge. If you know what a title tag and meta description are but aren't sure exactly what a sitemap or .htaccess file does then this book is for you.

The authors writing style is fun and educational at the same time. Tech geeks have a sense of humor that is a mix of dorky and oddball and his personality really comes out at fun times. It's a really good read for anyone that wants to double check they understand what they think they learned at some of the best industry conferences.

However, I do feel there is an advanced to expert level book waiting in the wings from this author. Having been the SEO specialist at one of the best industry companies, SEOmoz, I think he held back on providing some of the really neat tricks in his bag.

All around a great book to have in your library both physical and on the Kindle.

Danny was the lead SEO at SEOMoz and made a great video about local search last November. That video compelled me to signup for the pro SEOMoz membership. I am an in-house SEO, and by March 2011 I was ranking #1 in most relevant keywords for my market (seattle painting, house painting) primarily because of the tools, strategies, etc. I learned from Danny and SEOMoz.

Purchasing any book Danny might work on is a no-brainer for me...however I was blown away by what I am learning from the book. Many SEO books on the market are basically re-hashed material you can find by searching for "what is SEO"..with low hanging fruit advice like "get your tags right, get good links, create good content", etc ; Search Engine Optimization Secrets however breaks down the SEO PROCESS from creating strategic plan to technical hurdles, best practices, site audits, implementing tracking tools, and so on. I consider myself an adequate SEO but this book has made me re-examine my process; I could be squeezing more juice out of certain procedures I paid little attention to.

I wish I would have read this book sooner.

This book is a must read for anyone who is involved in practising SEO, especially if you run a business that offers SEO services. The word "Secrets" in the title has been fully justified by the many tips that are completely unique. So yes, even if you've been practising SEO for many years, you'll definitely learn something new. I refer to other reviews for this book for more reasons why you should buy this book.

BUT, although it is a very comprehensive guide on establishing your SEO business, and practising SEO in general, it's not the end. If you'd go to your first client, after reading this book, I think you'll find your self lacking some knowledge to be the top SEO practitioner you want to be. To be fair, the author does not claim it is the SEO bible.

E.g. the topic link building could have been more comprehensive, and this book gives too less information about writing good content for SEO, which in my opinion is a great deal in SEO. But fortunately there are other great books for that.

So if you want to start with SEO, start with this book, but don't end with it.

If you have picked up other SEO books, you will agree that for the most part they are centered primarily around the theory behind SEO principals. Danny on the other hand steps out of this norm and writes what in my opinion is one of the best SEO books out there.

Whether you are an advanced SEO or a novice it does not matter. There is an even blend of advanced concepts along with intermediate definitions as well. He also adds enough witty comments to the verbiage that keeps all readers engaged.

You also not only learn the theory of SEO elements, however, you also gain plenty of consulting experience as it relates to pricing SEO engagements, developing master services agreements, and developing solid client deliverable materials.

Great value for the money and a must read for all levels of search marketers.

-Ross

Danny Dover's book is nothing less than fantastic! This book has taught me more than the other 5 I have sitting on my bookshelf combined. It's a professional book, practically university grade material and easy to understand and follow. I read 7 chapters in my first sitting and couldn't put it down.

Great job Danny, I'm very impressed with your knowledge and kindness to teach others.

I'm only 50 pages in and Danny has already taught me 5 new things about SEO. Like the sites he works on, the information is well-organized and easy to digest. I have read a lot of SEO books, and without even having had finished this one, i can tell it will be amongst the very best. Thanks Danny.

By far the best most current book on SEO out there.

I bought the hard cover and just bought the kindle version as well. I want to make sure I have it everywhere I go.

There is 14 chapters of great lessons and tips in here, the basics about understanding engines, solving seo problems, best practices, different search verticals and one of my favorites about optimizing for alternative search engines. While google is very important they aren't the only team on the field. At the end of the day it's about sales and your potential customers no matter where they come from.

Danny explains how to read chapters, gives sample websites, reports and more.

For us in the seo biz (I have been in it for 8 years) he talks about seo consulting process, dealing with hard questions from clients, your first meeting, expectations and so much more.

Everything is in here for business owners to seo consultants it's a easy read with lots of side notes on subjects. I learned more useful information in this book then alot of the seo classes I have taken at a much much much higher cost.