The SEO’s Handbook – 53 Resources For First Time SEOs

Here is a list of great SEO resources that I found here.


Blogs

The world of SEO is constantly changing because search engines constantly change their algorithms. These sites offer news, information, and tips about SEO.

1. Search Engine Land – The most well respected search engine and SEO news website.
2. Search Engine Guide – They focus on SEO for small businesses.
3. Search Engine Watch – One of the oldest blogs out there.
4. SEOmoz – Not only will you find blog posts from the SEOmoz staff, but you will also find blog posts from other SEOs through YOUmoz.
5. Online Marketing Blog – They have a great mix of SEO, PR, and social media articles.
6. Search Engine Roundtable – This is one of the more unique blogs out there. They literally try to cover everything in the search space.
7. SEO Book – A blog by one of the best SEOs out there.
8. Matt Cutts – This is a blog by the head of Google’s Web Spam team. When he talks, you better listen.
9. Search Engine Journal – One of the oldest SEO news blogs.
10. Marketing Pilgrim – A blog started by Andy Beal, a guy who knows how to create and grow a SEO company.
11. John Battelle’s Search Blog – John loves to analyze the search space and the growth of different search engines.
12. Google Blog -This is Google’s main blog and they discuss everything related to Google.
13. Traffick – Another good SEO blog… they also have a strong knowledge of PPC.
14. SEO by the Sea – Very detailed resourceful blog posts.
15. Google Blogoscoped – This blog is also all about Google. But the difference is, this one is written by an outside party instead of by someone at Google.
16. SEO Black Hat – If you want to learn about the dark side of SEO, this blog should do the trick.
17. Wolf Howl – A blog by an SEO who isn’t afraid to speak his mind.

Information

Although blogs are going to be your main source of information, they don’t cover everything.

1. Search Engine Comparison Chart – Not all search engines have their own algorithm. You’ll be surprised on how many search engines get their results from other search providers.
2. Marketing Terms – This dictionary will help you understand all of the marketing terms you run into.
3. Google’s SEO Guidelines – Google’s take on SEO as well as a starter guide.
4. SEO Beginners Guide – SEOmoz has very detailed guide on SEO for beginners. It is a long read, but you can easily split it up over a few days.
5. SEO Chat – Find weekly SEO videos here.
6. Search Engine Colossus – There are a lot more search engines than you may know of. This is a place where you can find them all.
7. Web Pro News – Find video interviews of SEO experts on this site.
8. Simplifying SEO – Eric Enge simplifies SEO.
9. SEO Cheat Sheet – If you are having someone else help you with your SEO, make sure they follow everything on this sheet.
10. SEO FAQ – When you first get started you are going to have questions. This should answer the majority of them.
11. SEO Pyramid – Make sure you start off with a strong base and build your way up.

Tools

SEO is a very time consuming process. These tools will not only make your life easier, but they’ll help you understand what you need to do and how to rank well on search engines.

1. SEO ToolSet – Here are the tools that one of the first SEOs created.
2. SpyFu – If you are interested in learning what search terms your competition is ranked for or is adverting on, then this will be a great tool for you.
3. SEOmoz’s Tools – Although these tools cost money, they are worth it.
4. Wordtracker – You don’t have to wonder how popular keywords and phrases are.
5. Meta Tag Analyzer – Find out your website’s keyword density.
6. Google Toolbar – This toolbar will show you what your Google PageRank number is. The closer you are to 10, the higher you will usually rank.
7. Anchor Text Analyzer – Find out what anchor text people are linking to you with and your competition with.
8. Google Webmaster Tools – Get an inside view of how Google looks at your website, and submit an XML sitemap to them.
9. Digital Point SEO Tools – A collection of 17 tools.
10. SEO Chat Tools – They have a lot of good tools such as a spider simulator.
11. SEO for Firefox – If you want to be an SEO, this plugin will make you want to use Firefox.
12. AdWords Estimator – Although you aren’t looking to pay for traffic, this estimator will give you a good idea of how many clicks you can get from Google.
13. DIYSEO – Keep track of your SEO progress
14. Backlink Checker – See how many people link to your website VS your competition.
15. Google Datacenter Search – Your website’s rankings will vary on different datacenters.

Forums

Sometimes you are going to be unsure of what to do. The best thing to do when this happens is to ask someone for advice. Through forums you can communicate with other SEOs.

1. High Rankings Forum – A good community with a lot of friendly SEOs.
2. Webmaster World – One of the oldest and most popular SEO forums out there.
3. SEO Chat Forum – Another popular forum that discusses SEO and other webmaster related topics.
4. Digital Point Forum – The most active forum in the SEO world.
5. Search Engine Watch Forum – Almost 60,000 SEOs discuss search related stuff here.
6. SEO Black Hat Forum – There is a lot of good information here, but you have to pay for it.

Conferences

A good way to learn SEO is in person. Going to conferences won’t just keep you up-to-date on the SEO world, but it will allow you to learn from some of the most successful SEOs.

1. Search Engine Strategies – They hold conferences every couple months all over the world. They also have workshops before the conference starts.
2. PubCon – This conference started from the Webmaster World forum. Not only will you learn about SEO, but it is one of the funnest events because it is in Vegas.
3. Blueglass – A new up and coming conference that ties in the web 2.0 world with the SEO world.
4. SMX – They have some of the best panels and speakers that you’ll ever here at a search conference.