TABLE OF CONTENTS -- INTRODUCTION FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR, ALEXIS D. GUTZMAN -- ABOUT THE GUIDE -- RESEARCH FOR THIS EDITION -- CHAPTER 1: WHAT THE SEARCH ENGINES TOLD US -- FIGURE 1-1: SEARCH ENGINES BY AUDIENCE REACH -- CONTENT IS KING -- HIRE AN EXPERT YOU CAN TRUST -- EVERYONE IS AN INFORMANT: YOU WILL BE CAUGHT SPAMMING -- CLOAKING: MOSTLY NOT FORBIDDEN -- PAID SUBMIT BUYS YOU "BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT" -- CHAPTER 2: SEO BUSINESS BACKGROUNDER: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE SELECTION PROCESS -- 3 REASONS YOU NEED TO GET HIGH RANKINGS -- 1. MAKE SURE PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR YOUR BRAND, COMPANY, OR DOMAIN NAME FIND IT -- 2. HELP PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR ITEMS DEEP WITHIN YOUR SITE, SUCH AS PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OR ARTICLES -- 3. GET YOUR WEB SITE TO APPEAR WHEN PEOPLE SEARCH BY RELATED TERMS AND PHRASES -- WHAT IS OPTIMIZATION, AND HOW IT IS DIFFERENT FROM PAY-PER-CLICK (PPC)? -- OPTIMIZATION: AN INTERNAL PROCESS -- WHAT ABOUT PAID-SUBMISSION SEARCH ENGINES? -- WHAT ABOUT DIRECT FEEDS? -- PAY-PER-CLICK (PPC) SERVICES -- FIGURE 2-1: SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION AND PAY-PER-CLICK COMPARED -- WHAT SEO MEANS TO YOUR BOTTOM LINE -- FIGURE 2-2: SEVEN STEPS TO CALCULATING THE DOLLAR VALUE OF SEO -- 7 REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO HIRE A PRO -- 1. BECAUSE DO-IT-YOURSELF SOFTWARE DOESN'T DO A GOOD ENOUGH JOB -- 2. BECAUSE YOUR IN-HOUSE EXPERT PROBABLY ISN'T AS EXPERT AS HE THINKS -- 3. BECAUSE EVERYONE WHO WRITES CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON YOUR SITE NEEDS OPTIMIZATION TRAINING -- 4. BECAUSE IT DEPARTMENT OR IN-HOUSE WEBMASTER MAY BE TOO BUSY -- 5. BECAUSE THE COST OF DOING IT WRONG IS TOO HIGH -- 6. TO PARTICIPATE IN DIRECT FEED PROGRAMS -- 7. BECAUSE PICKING THE RIGHT TERMS IS HARDER THAN IT LOOKS -- 8 (OR 10) THINGS YOU CAN YOU EXPECT FROM AN SEO FIRM -- 1. RESULTS MEASURED IN ONE OF SEVERAL WAYS -- 2. TRAFFIC, CONVERSION, AND ROI REPORTS.

3. NEED TO MODIFY CODE ON MANY/MOST PAGES OF YOUR SITE -- 4. NEED TO CREATE ADDITIONAL PAGES TO INCREASE RELEVANCE FOR SPIDERS -- 5. NEED TO CREATE SITE MAP TO INCREASE NAVIGABILITY FOR SPIDERS -- 6. NEED TO PURSUE RECIPROCAL LINKS TO ELEVATE YOUR LINK POPULARITY -- 7. RESPONSIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE -- 8. A LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP -- 9. POSSIBLE NEED FOR ACCESS TO YOUR CONTENT DATABASE FOR PARTICIPATION IN DIRECT FEED PROGRAMS -- 10. PPC MANAGEMENT -- 8 WAYS TO WORK MORE EFFECTIVELY WITH YOUR SEO FIRM -- 1. MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTAND YOUR REVENUE MODEL, AND MEASURE CAMPAIGN SUCCESS BASED ON THAT -- 2. MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES YOU MONEY AND WHAT COSTS YOU MONEY -- 3. GIVE THEM SPECIFICS -- 4. KEEP THEM AWARE OF CHANGES AND SITE FREEZES -- 5. MAKE SURE YOUR IN-HOUSE WRITERS LEARN FROM THEM -- 6. HAVE SALES, MARKETING, PR, AND CUSTOMER SERVICE USE KEYWORDS IN COMMUNICATING WITH THE WORLD -- 7. GET A COMMITMENT FROM IT TO MEET THEIR DEADLINES -- 8. PLAN ON REGULAR MEETINGS WITH STAKEHOLDERS -- 9 STEPS TO CALCULATING ROI ON SEO -- FIGURE 2-3: WORKSHEET FOR CALCULATING ROI ON SEO -- FIGURE 2-4: EXAMPLE OF CALCULATING ROI ON SEO -- CHAPTER 3: HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT SEO FIRM FOR YOU -- 5 (OR 7) THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN AN SEO FIRM -- 1. GOOD TRACK RECORD WITH COMPARABLE KEYWORDS/CLIENTS -- 2. GOOD REFERENCES -- 3. PRICING YOU CAN LIVE WITH -- 4. REPORTING ON USEFUL INFORMATION -- 5. TACTICS THAT DON'T EXCEED THE RISK YOU'RE WILLING TO TAKE -- 6. PARTICIPATION IN DIRECT FEED PROGRAMS -- 7. ABILITY TO DO INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSIONS -- 2 THINGS NOT TO LOOK FOR IN AN SEO FIRM -- 1. RANKING REPORTS WITH MONEY-BACK GUARANTEES -- 2. GUARANTEES OF SO-MANY CLICKS -- GUIDELINES FOR DECIDING WHAT YOU NEED FROM AN SEO FIRM -- 5 RISKS OF SELECTING THE WRONG SEO FIRM -- 1. BEING BANNED FROM ONE OR MORE SEARCH ENGINE -- 2. HAVING YOUR LINK POPULARITY ELIMINATED.

3. HAVING ALL YOUR SEARCH-ENGINE TRAFFIC RE-ROUTED TO YOUR COMPETITOR OVERNIGHT -- 4. MISSING TRAFFIC THAT YOU DESERVE -- 5. GIVING UNETHICAL PEOPLE ACCESS TO YOUR WEB SERVER -- CHAPTER 4: THE QUESTIONNAIRE EXPLAINED -- COMPANY INFORMATION -- PRICING -- MAINTENANCE -- CONTRACTS AND CONSULTING -- OWNERSHIP -- PAGE CREATION -- REPORTING -- INTERNATIONAL -- KEYWORD RESEARCH -- TACTICS: SAFE AND EFFECTIVE -- TACTICS: POTENTIALLY PROBLEMATIC -- SIDEBAR: HAVE YOU HEARD FROM SOMEONE LIKE CHRISTINE HALL? -- OTHER SEARCH-ENGINE-MARKETING SERVICES -- CLIENT RESULTS -- CLIENT COMMENTS -- CHAPTER 5: THE SCORING EXPLAINED -- SCORING CLIENT SUCCESS -- ASSIGNING SPECIALTIES -- OPTIMIZATION (O) -- PAY-PER-CLICK (P) -- METRICS (M) -- DIRECT FEED (D) -- INTERNATIONAL (I) -- PRICING -- CHAPTER 6: COMPANY PROFILES OF 55 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION FIRMS IN THE US AND CANADA -- @WEB SITE PUBLICITY, INC. -- 1ST ON THE LIST PROMOTION INC. -- 360TRAFFIC -- 6S MARKETING INC. -- ACKLEY'S CUSTOM SITE SUBMISSION -- ASPENSITES -- ATTACH -- BACKBONE MEDIA -- BRUCE CLAY, LLC -- CENTRIC -- COASTAL SITES, INC. -- ECOMBUFFET.COM LLC -- ELAUNCHES.COM -- GET CUSTOMER TRAFFIC.COM -- GRANTASTIC DESIGNS, INC. -- HIGH RANKINGS -- IHELPYOU, INC. -- INFUSE CREATIVE -- INTELECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. -- INTRAPROMOTE, LLC -- IPROSPECT -- KEYWORDRANKING.COM -- MARKET MY SITE! -- MARKETLEAP -- MARKETTRIX INCORPORATED -- METAMEND -- MY MARKETING PRO -- NETPATHS.NET -- NETSETGO MARKETING -- NEXUS INTERACTIVE -- OUTRIDER -- PAGE ZERO MEDIA -- PAGEVIEWS -- PLATINUM WEB SITE SERVICES -- POSITION RESEARCH -- PRIME VISIBILITY -- PRIORITY PLACEMENT WORLDWIDE -- PROMINENT PLACEMENT, INC. -- PROMOTEWEBS -- SAGEROCK -- SEARCHENGINEPOSITION INC. -- SEARCHINTELLIGENCE -- SHARPNET SOLUTIONS INC. -- SITELAB INTERNATIONAL INC. -- SPECTRACOM INC. -- SUBMIT360 -- TRAFFICBOSS -- TRAFFICLEADER.

TRANSCENDIGITAL LTD -- UNREAL MARKETING SOLUTIONS -- VKI STUDIOS -- WEB IGNITE CORPORATION -- WEBADVANTAGE.NET -- WEBMAMA.COM -- YOUNG & ROEHR GROUP -- THE EDITORIAL AND RESEARCH TEAM -- APPENDIX A: TRANSCRIPT OF YAHOO INTERVIEW -- APPENDIX B: TRANSCRIPT OF GOOGLE INTERVIEWS -- APPENDIX C: TRANSCRIPT OF FAST INTERVIEW -- APPENDIX D: TRANSCRIPT OF TEOMA INTERVIEW -- APPENDIX E: TRANSCRIPT OF OPEN DIRECTORY PROJECT INTERVIEW.