Search Engine Optimization For Dummies, 5th Edition

Search Engine Optimization For Dummies, 5th Edition

by Peter Kent
Released July 2012
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781118396124

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Book description

Increase your online ranking with this beginner guide to SEO!

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an integral part of getting a site to rank high in the various search engines in order to attract potential customers. With this new edition of a bestseller, you?ll learn the ins and outs and best practices of successful SEO in order to make your website content more search-engine friendly so that it ranks higher among search engines and draws high-volume traffic.

  • Covers search engine basics to help you get started

  • Introduces new coverage on content marketing and reuse, new tracking tools, platform management, and reputation management

  • Details ways to build search-engine friendly sites, register your site with directories and indexes, and use analysis tools to track results

  • Explains how to use link popularity in order to boost rankings

  • Zeroes in on advertising your site by using pay-per-click options

Search Engine Optimization For Dummies, 5th Edition is the fun and friendly place to start learning how to move your site to the top of the rankings.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Title Page
  4. Introduction
  5. Part I: Search Engine Basics
    1. Chapter 1: Surveying the Search Engine Landscape
      1. Investigating Search Engines and Directories
      2. Where Do People Search?
      3. Search Engine Magic
      4. Gathering Your Tools
    2. Chapter 2: Search Results, Deconstructed
      1. The Big Two: Organic and PPC
      2. Looking at Local Results
      3. Checking Out Shopping Results
      4. Staying Current with News Results
      5. Viewing Video and Image Results
      6. Getting Friendly with Social Results
      7. Collecting Bits n’ Pieces
    3. Chapter 3: Your One-Hour, Search Engine–Friendly Web Site Makeover
      1. Is Your Site Indexed?
      2. Taking Action If You’re Not Listed
      3. Picking Good Keywords
      4. Examining Your Pages
      5. Getting Your Site Indexed
    4. Chapter 4: Beating the Competition - Planning a Powerful Search Engine Strategy
      1. Don’t Trust Your Web Designer
      2. Understanding the Limitations
      3. Eyeing the Competition
      4. Going Beyond Getting to #1
      5. Controlling Search Engine Variables
      6. Determining Your Plan of Attack
      7. Look Away a Few Minutes
      8. Two Things to Remember
    5. Chapter 5: Making Your Site Useful and Visible
      1. Learning From Amazon
      2. Revealing the Secret but Essential Rule of Web Success
      3. Making Your Site Work Well
      4. Panda — Google Endorses Good Design
      5. Keep It Fresh (Perhaps)
  6. Part II: Building Search Engine–Friendly Sites
    1. Chapter 6: Picking Powerful Keywords
      1. Understanding the Importance of Keywords
      2. Thinking Like Your Prey
      3. Starting Your Keyword Analysis
      4. Using a Keyword Tool
      5. Choosing Your Keywords
    2. Chapter 7: Creating Pages That Search Engines Love
      1. Preparing Your Site
      2. Seeing Through a Search Engine’s Eyes
      3. Understanding Keyword Concepts
      4. Creating Your Web Pages
    3. Chapter 8: Avoiding Things That Search Engines Hate
      1. Dealing with Frames
      2. The HTML Nitty-Gritty of Frames
      3. Handling iframes
      4. Fixing Invisible Navigation Systems
      5. Flush the Flash Animation
      6. Avoiding Embedded Text in Images
      7. Reducing the Clutter in Your Web Pages
      8. Managing Dynamic Web Pages
      9. Using Session IDs in URLs
      10. Examining Cookie-Based Navigation
      11. Fixing Bits and Pieces
    4. Chapter 9: Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap
      1. Tricking Search Engines
      2. Concrete Shoes, Cyanide, TNT — An Arsenal for Dirty Deeds
      3. Doorway and Information Pages
      4. Using Redirects and Cloaking
      5. Tricks versus Strategies
      6. Link Tricks
      7. Paying the Ultimate Penalty
    5. Chapter 10: Bulking Up Your Site - Competing with Content
      1. Creating Content Three Ways
      2. Writing Your Own Stuff
      3. Convincing Someone Else to Write Content
      4. Using OPC (Other People’s Content)
      5. Understanding Copyright — It’s Not Yours!
      6. Hunting for Other People’s Content
      7. A Word about Duplicated Content
    6. Chapter 11: Finding Traffic Through Local-Search Marketing
      1. Why You Shouldn’t Skip This Chapter
      2. Understanding Local-Search Marketing’s Importance
      3. Looking Through Local Search
      4. How Does Local Search Work?
      5. Two Ways to Reach People Locally
      6. “Localizing” Your Web Pages
      7. Registering for Local Search
      8. Finding More Local Systems
      9. Don’t Forget Local-Local Directories
      10. The Other Side of Local: Review Sites
      11. Working with the Yellow Pages
  7. Part III: Adding Your Site to the Indexes and Directories
    1. Chapter 12: Getting Your Pages into the Search Engines
      1. Linking Your Site for Inclusion
      2. Simple Link Submissions to the Major Systems
      3. Submitting an XML Sitemap
      4. Submitting to Secondary Systems
      5. Using Registration Services and Software Programs
    2. Chapter 13: Submitting to the Directories
      1. Pitting Search Directories Against Search Engines
      2. Why Are Directories So Significant?
      3. Submitting to the Search Directories
      4. Finding Specialized Directories
      5. Using “Local” Directories
      6. Submitting to Second-Tier Directories
    3. Chapter 14: Product Search: Remember the Shopping Directories and Retailers
      1. Understanding Where People Search for Products
      2. Working with the Product Indexes
      3. Exploring More Shopping Services
      4. The Classified-Ad Sites
      5. Working with E-Commerce or Merchant Sites
      6. Managing Your Data
  8. Part IV: After You've Submitted Your Site
    1. Chapter 15: Using Link Popularity to Boost Your Position
      1. Why Search Engines Like Links
      2. Understanding Page Value and PageRank
      3. Page Relevance
      4. Hubs and Neighborhoods
      5. Trust in TrustRank
      6. Inserting Keywords into Links
      7. Good Links and Bad
      8. Recognizing Links with No Value
      9. Recalling a Few Basic Rules about Links
    2. Chapter 16: Finding Sites to Link to Yours
      1. Controlling Your Links
      2. Doing a Link Analysis
      3. Generating Links, Step by Step
      4. Be Careful Whom You Link To!
    3. Chapter 17: Even More Great Places to Get Links
      1. Got Content? Syndicate It!
      2. And More Link-Building Ideas . . .
      3. The nofollow Curse
      4. Who’s Going to Do All This Work?!
    4. Chapter 18: Social Networking - Driven by Drivel
      1. Just What Is Social Networking?
      2. Beware the Social-Networking Hype
      3. The Drivel Factor
      4. The SEO Benefits of Social Networking
      5. The Google+ Factor
      6. Social Networking — a Book in Itself
    5. Chapter 19: Video: Putting Your Best Face Forward
      1. The SEO Benefits of Video
    6. Chapter 20: When Google Bites Back: A Guide to Catastrophe
      1. How, and How Much?
      2. Is It Really a Penalty? A Little Analysis
      3. Pulling It All Together: Have You Been Penalized?
      4. Why Aren’t You Indexed?
      5. Digging Your Way Out of the Hole
  9. Part V: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 21: Ten Things to Know and Do When Picking an SEO Firm
      1. Read This Book
      2. Why You Don’t Need an SEO Firm to Optimize Your Site
      3. Find Firms Through Referrals
      4. Look for Niche Services
      5. Understand What the Firm Is Providing — Specifically
      6. Understand What the Firm Expects of You
      7. Look at Samples
      8. Ask for References
      9. Compare Dollar for Dollar
      10. Will the Firm Provide Reports?
    2. Chapter 22: Ten-Plus Myths and Mistakes
      1. Myth: It’s All about Meta Tags and Submissions
      2. Myth: Web Designers and Developers Understand Search Engines
      3. Myth: Multiple Submissions Improve Your Search Position
      4. Mistake: You Don’t Know Your Keywords
      5. Mistake: Too Many Pages with Database Parameters and Session IDs
      6. Mistake: Building the Site and Then Bringing in the SEO Expert
      7. Myth: $25 Can Get Your Site a #1 Position
      8. Myth: Google Partners Get You #1 Positions
      9. Mistake: You Don’t Have Pages Optimized for Specific Keywords
      10. Mistake: Your Pages Are Empty
      11. Myth: Pay Per Click Is Where It’s At
      12. Mistake: Ignoring Site Usability and Aesthetics
      13. Mistake: Believing Everything You Read
    3. Chapter 23: Ten-Plus Ways to Stay Updated
      1. Let Me Help Some More
      2. The Search Engines Themselves
      3. Google’s Webmaster Pages
      4. Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide
      5. Bing SEO Tips
      6. Search Engine Watch
      7. The Official Google Webmaster Help Group
      8. WebMaster World
      9. HighRankings.com
      10. Get the Search Engine Buzz
    4. Chapter 24: Ten-Plus Useful Things to Know
      1. Managing Sitelinks (Multiline Search Results)
      2. Checking Your Site Rank
      3. Checking for Broken Links
      4. Assessing Traffic with the Alexa Toolbar
      5. Installing Firebug
      6. Finding Your Keyword Density
      7. Analyzing Your Site’s Traffic
      8. Tracking Phone Calls
      9. Checking for Duplication and Theft
      10. Using 301 Redirects
      11. Getting Multiple Results on the Search Results Page
      12. Identifying Fake PageRank
      13. You Need an Attractive Site
      14. Finding More SEO Tools
      15. Fixing Your Reputation
  10. Cheat Sheet

Product information

  • Title: Search Engine Optimization For Dummies, 5th Edition
  • Author(s): Peter Kent
  • Release date: July 2012
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781118396124