1
Front Matter
5 chapters2
Part I: How Search Engines Work
7 chapters- Part I — How Search Engines Work
- Chapter 1: How Google Actually Works — Crawling, Rendering, Indexing, and Ranking
- Chapter 2: The Ranking Algorithm — What We Know, Think We Know, and Are Guessing
- Chapter 3: Search Intent — Understanding Why People Search, Not Just What
- Chapter 4: Entities, the Knowledge Graph, and Semantic Search
- Chapter 5: E-E-A-T — Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness
- Chapter 6: Google Updates — Core, Helpful Content, Spam, and Surviving Algorithm Change
3
Part II: Keyword Research and Content Strategy
8 chapters- Part II — Keyword Research and Content Strategy
- Chapter 7: Keyword Research — Finding the Terms People Search (and the Ones You Can Rank For)
- Chapter 8: Content Strategy — Planning What to Publish, When, and Why
- Chapter 9: Writing for Search — Content That Satisfies Both Humans and Algorithms
- Chapter 10: Content Formats — Blog Posts, Guides, Tools, Videos, and What Ranks for Different Queries
- Chapter 11: Image, Video, and Visual Search SEO
- Chapter 12: Content Updating, Pruning, and the Lifecycle of Published Content
- Chapter 13: AI Content and the Future of Content Creation for Search
4
Part III: Technical SEO
9 chapters- Part III — Technical SEO
- Chapter 14: Technical SEO Fundamentals — Crawlability, Indexability, and Making Sure Google Can See Your Site
- Chapter 15: Site Architecture — How Your Pages Are Organized Determines How Authority Flows
- Chapter 16: Core Web Vitals — LCP, INP, CLS: Page Speed as a Ranking Factor and a User-Experience Imperative
- Chapter 17: Mobile SEO — Mobile-First Indexing, Responsive Design, and the Reality That Most Search Happens on Phones
- Chapter 18: Structured Data and Schema Markup — Helping Google Understand What Your Content IS
- Chapter 19: JavaScript SEO — When Your Site Is Built with React, Vue, or Angular and Google Can't See Your Content
- Chapter 20: International SEO — hreflang, ccTLDs, and Ranking in Multiple Languages and Countries
- Chapter 21: Site Migrations — Changing Domains, Redesigning, or Moving CMS Without Losing All Your Traffic
5
Part IV: Authority and Link Building
6 chapters- Part IV — Authority and Link Building
- Chapter 22: How Links Work — PageRank, Authority, and Why Links Are Still the Strongest Ranking Signal
- Chapter 23: Earning Links — Creating Content That People Want to Reference, Cite, and Share
- Chapter 24: Link Building Tactics — Guest Posting, Resource Pages, Broken Link Building, and What Still Works
- Chapter 25: Local SEO — Google Business Profile, the Local Pack, and Being Found When People Search "Near Me"
- Chapter 26: Toxic Links, Disavow, and Recovering from Manual Actions
6
Part V: Analytics and Measurement
5 chapters- Part V — Analytics and Measurement
- Chapter 27: Google Search Console — The Free Tool Every Website Owner Should Check Weekly
- Chapter 28: Google Analytics 4 — Measuring Organic Traffic, User Behavior, and Conversions
- Chapter 29: SEO Reporting — Dashboards, KPIs, and Communicating SEO Value to Stakeholders Who Don't Understand SEO
- Chapter 30: Rank Tracking, Competitive Analysis, and the Tools That Power Professional SEO
7
Part VI: Specialized SEO
7 chapters- Part VI — Specialized SEO
- Chapter 31: E-Commerce SEO — Product Pages, Category Pages, and Ranking Against Amazon
- Chapter 32: SaaS and B2B SEO — Content Marketing, Topical Authority, and Ranking for Commercial Intent
- Chapter 33: Programmatic and Enterprise SEO at Scale
- Chapter 34: Publisher and Media SEO — News, Evergreen Content, and the Discover Feed
- Chapter 35: YMYL SEO — Health, Finance, Legal, and the Sites Where E-E-A-T Matters Most
- Chapter 36: AI Search, SGE, and the Future — How AI Overviews, Chatbots, and LLMs Are Changing Search
8
Part VII: SEO as a Business
5 chapters- Part VII — SEO as a Business
- Chapter 37: Building an SEO Practice — Freelance, Agency, In-House, and Choosing Your Path
- Chapter 38: SEO Audits — The Comprehensive Assessment That Identifies Every Opportunity and Problem
- Chapter 39: The Business Case for SEO — ROI, Forecasting, and Convincing the CFO That Organic Search Matters
- Chapter 40: Capstone — Your Complete SEO Strategy: Audited, Researched, Planned, and Ready to Execute
9
Appendices
14 chapters- Appendix A — SEO Metrics, Formulas, and CTR Models
- Appendix B — The SEO Tools Directory (Free-First)
- Appendix C — The SEO Strategy Workbook
- Appendix D — Google Search Essentials: The Rules of the Road
- Appendix E — Structured Data and Schema.org Quick Reference
- Appendix F — HTTP Status Codes, robots.txt, and Crawl-Control Reference
- Appendix G — The Technical SEO Audit Checklist
- Appendix H — Keyword Research Worked Examples
- Appendix I — SEO Career and Certification Guide
- Appendix J — A Timeline of Search and SEO
- Glossary
- Answers to Selected Exercises
- Index
- Bibliography
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