SEY series first published: January 2001
SEY 2004 last updated: January 2004

It's Not For Everyone

The aim of the Search Engine Yearbook (SEY) series is to create a single search engine resource that really covers it all. Although written in plain English, novices often find the vastness of the information intimidating.

The book is recommended for:

• Professional webmasters
• Professional researchers
• SEO professionals
• Internet marketing professionals
• Those looking to buy SEO services
• Serious Internet entrepreneurs
• and - of course - search engine fanatics

If you fall into any of the above categories (or aspire to), the Search Engine Yearbook delivers excellent value for money.

Table Of Contents

1.1 How Search Engines Work	19
1.1.1 Search Engines Versus Directories	20
1.1.2 Adding Your Pages	24
1.1.3 About High Rankings	28
1.2 Search Engine Relationships	32
1.3 Search Engine Metrics	33
1.3.1 Who's The Biggest?	33
1.3.2 Popularity	36
1.3.3 Visitor To Searcher Conversion Rate	38
1.4 Search Engine News	40
1.5 Search Engine Lists	41
1.6 Using Search Engines Effectively	42
1.6.1 Internet Search Tutorials	42
1.6.2 When To Use Which Search Engine	44
1.6.3 Cool Search Tools	44

2.1 Google	47
2.1.1 Key Information	47
2.1.2 The Company	48
2.1.3 Google And SEO	48
2.1.4 Google Features	50
2.1.5 The Google Toolbar	52
2.1.6 Google Labs	53
2.1.7 AdWords	54
2.1.8 Understanding PageRank	55
2.1.9 Google Information For Webmasters	62
2.1.10 More Google Resources	63
2.2 The Yahoo!, Inktomi, Overture, AlltheWeb, AltaVista Group	65
2.2.1 Key Information	65
2.2.2 How It All Started	66
2.2.3 Rapid Growth	66
2.2.4 Yahoo And Google	66
2.2.5 Why Inktomi Now Matters	67
2.3 Microsoft	69
2.3.1 That Microsoft Is Building A Search Engine Is Certain	69
2.3.2 But What If They…	70
2.3.3 Bottom Line (Candy Coated)	70
2.4 Ask Jeeves And Teoma	71
2.4.1 Key Information	71
2.4.2 The Ask Jeeves Story So Far	72
2.4.3 Is Teoma Any Good?	72
2.4.4 But Does Ask Jeeves / Teoma Matter?	73
2.5 DMOZ (ODP)	74
2.5.1 Why You Need DMOZ	74
2.5.2 Getting Listed At DMOZ	75
2.5.3 Step-By-Step Submission	75
2.5.4 If You Can't Get Listed	76
2.6 JoeAnt	78
2.7 GoGuides	79
2.8 Inktomi	80
2.9 Excite	81
2.10 Lycos	81
2.11 AOL Search	82
2.12 The Current MSN Search	82
2.13 Looksmart	83
2.14 HotBot	84

3.1 Search Engine Marketing Versus Search Engine Optimization	86
3.2 Keyword Targeting	87
3.2.1 Broad Versus Specific	88
3.2.2 Plural Versus Singular	89
3.2.3 Think Like Your Customer	90
3.2.4 Keyword Tools	92
3.2.5 Keyword Math	94
3.2.6 Keyword Gold In Other Places	95
3.3 SEM On A Tight Budget	99
3.3.1 Should You Hire A Pro?	100
3.3.2 Is Paid Inclusion Worth It?	107
3.3.3 Is Paid Placement Worth It?	110
3.4 Pay Per Click Resources	111
3.5 Search Engine Writing	114
3.6 Search Marketing Comes Of Age (By Mike Grehan & Fredrick Marckini)	116

4.1 The SEO Checklist	122
4.1.1 Checklist Summary	123
4.1.2 The Page Title	124
4.1.3 Body Text & Keyword Density	128
4.1.4 Above The Fold	129
4.1.5 Adjacency & Proximity	130
4.1.6 Headings	131
4.1.7 Bold Text	132
4.1.8 Domain Names	133
4.1.9 Layout & Design	136
4.1.10 Meta Tags… Maybe	137
4.1.11 Images And Alt Text	141
4.1.12 Link Titles	143
4.1.13 Optimizing Internal Links	144
4.1.14 The Table Trick	146
4.1.15 Comment Tags… Not!	147
4.1.16 Hidden Form Tags… Not!	148
4.1.17 External Code	149
4.1.18 Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)	150
4.1.19 Directory Levels	151
4.1.20 The Bottom Menu	152
4.1.21 The Sitemap	153
4.1.22 Invisible Text… Not!	155
4.1.23 Transparent Gifs… Not!	156
4.1.24 Hashes, Dashes etc.	157
4.1.25 Resubmission… Not!	159
4.1.26 Dedicated IP Addresses	160
4.1.27 Robots.txt And Robots Meta Tag	161
4.1.28 Doorway Pages	164
4.1.29 Themes	167
4.1.30 Redirects… Not!	168
4.1.31 Cloaking… Not!	169
4.2 Link Popularity	171
4.2.1 What Link Popularity Is	172
4.2.2 Increasing Link Popularity	173
4.2.2.1 Editorial Links	174
4.2.2.2 Directory Links	175
4.2.2.3 Affiliate Links	176
4.2.2.4 Write And Distribute Articles	177
4.2.2.5 Links In Exchange For Free Goodies	178
4.2.2.6 Testimonials	179
4.2.2.7 Awards	180
4.2.2.8 Reciprocal Linking	181
4.2.2.9 Posting To Forums… Not!	182
4.2.2.10 Free-For-All Pages… Not!	182
4.2.3 Directory Submission	183
4.2.3.1 Directory Submission Checklist	183
4.2.3.2 Specific Directory Requirements	184
4.2.4 The Future Of Link Popularity	186
4.2.5 Resources And Further Reading	187
4.3 Dynamic Content	188
4.3.1 The Problem	188
4.3.2 The