Best SEO Books - Top Ten MUST READ Books On Search Engine Optimization

As I work with clients, I often get asked, Jason, what books should I read on SEO? What do you recommend? I am rather unusual in the SEO industry because I actively want to involve my clients in the SEO learning process... I see my role as much as an SEO teacher as an SEO consultant, whereas many SEO consultants see themselves as the know-it-all-expert and in some terrible cases try to keep their clients in the dark about SEO. Educate thyself! Here are my favorite TOP TEN books on SEO. Or, if not books, things to read!

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1. Google SEO Guide - FREE from Google

Google's own guide. Albeit rather hidden, and only focuses on on page. But it's free and it's by Google. Get it, download it, read it. Also functions as a sleep aid!
> Get it!

2. SEO Fitness Workbook (Jason McDonald, 2012)

This is my own book. My goals are to help the average business person or marketer with a simple, step-by-step guide to SEO. The 2012 edition includes free access to my SEO Toolbook, with links to over 100 amazing free SEO tools available on the Internet. > Get it!!

3. Search Engine Optimization for Dummies (Peter Kent, 2010)

I love dummies! This is one of the best dummies books, and Peter Kent does a great job of explaining the step-by-step things to do for successful SEO.
> Get it!

4. SEO - The Free Beginners Guide

Not the best written guide, especially compared with Google's... But still worth while. Especially Chapter 7 on links. Google's lack of discussion of links is conspicuous by its absence, so be sure to check out Chapter 7 here.
> Get it!

5. Search Engine Optimization All-in-One For Dummies (Bruce Clay, 2009)

A big book, waaaaaaaaayyyyyyy toooooooooo long. But still crammed packed with interesting information and Bruce Clay is the grandpappy of SEO teachers, so an obligatory shout out. Can't go to sleep? Although it does have useful information, it sadly needed a sharp editor. Doubles or triples as a sleep aid, but still worth the purchase and read.
> Get it!!

6. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): An Hour a Day (Jennifer Grappone, 2011)

Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin have written a solid, introductory text to Search Engine Optimization. The idea of an 'hour a day' is critical - SEO is like physical fitness: slow and steady wins the race.
> Get it!

7. Google+ for Business: How Google's Social Network Changes Everything (Chris Brogan, 2010)

Google+ is the new kid on the social media and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) block. This isn't the best book, ever, but it is a good book on a critical SEO subject: Google+. Looking forward in 2012, we all need to get on Google+ and start plussing! Google clearly is intertwining SEO with Google+ and social search.
Get it!

8. Outrank Your Competition: 50 Online Marketing and SEO Tips for Small Businesses (March Menninger, 2011)

Lists and lists and lists of great things to do to improve your rank on Google and Bing. SEO is all about details, and a book of lists makes my list of the top ten SEO books. Why? Because the devil is in the detail. This book isn't the best written book, but it has TONS of great ideas.
> Get it!

9. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Secrets (Danny Dover, 2011)

Danny Dover has written a book on SEO, more for experts than for the average business owner. So I recommend that you get this book, only after you have read and digested the introductory texts like my own or Peter Kent's. At that point, you are ready for some esoterica, and Dover's book is a great place to start moving up from practitioner to expert.
> Get it!

10. Free: How Today's Smartest Businesses Profit by Giving Something for Nothing (Chris Anderson, 2010)

Free is a critical part of successful Internet marketing. It's not enough to do great SEO, it's not enough to worship the Gods of search engine optimization. It's not enough just to get clicks; you need to get actions (registrations, purchases). Start with something free - a free download, free consult, free e-book.
> Get it!

• Read my Top Ten Best SEO Books Ever list on Amazon.com!