Links to More Information and Resources » Search Engine Optimization Guide

Threadwatch - A popular community blog on all things search
SearchEngineWatch Blog - SEW, operated by Danny Sullivan, is one of the most respected sources for SEO and search news inside and outside the webdev community
SEO-Scoop - Donna Fontenot's personal and often introspective take on SEO
StuntDubl - Todd Malicoat's SEO tips and tricks journal
Cre8pc Blog - Kim Krause Berg presents on usability, marketing, webdev, and the search markets
Jim Boykin's SEO Thoughts - The owner of WeBuildPages, a reknowned development and SEO shop, Jim's blog is geared to industry insiders and those who want an expert view
Matt Cutts - One of Google's search engineers, Matt is Google's official representative to the SEO world
SERoundtable - Barry Schwartz's roundup of all things search related
SEOBook - Aaron Wall's accompaniment to his excellent book on SEO
Link Building Blog - Patrick Gavin and Andy Hagans of Text Link Ads combine for great advice on the subject of where and how to get links to your site
Search Engine Journal - Loren Baker's collection of posts and guest writers about events and phenomenon in SEO/M
Marketing Pilgrim - Andy Beal's journal of the search engine space and SEO events
Google Blogoscoped - Philipp Lenssen's journal of Google events, with an SEO bend

SEO/M & Webdev Forums

Cre8asite Forums - Cre8asite is an open community of dedicated SEOs, usablity professionals, web developers, and others who come together to provide some of the best advice related to online marketing and development on the net. It's also where you'll find myself (randfish) moderating and posting on a daily basis
SEW Forums - Danny Sullivan's Search Engine Watch website's online forums. A place where many high visibility folks in the SEO/M space come to post
HighRankings Forums - Jill Whalen, a very well-known and respected SEO, runs HighRankings, a place where you'll also find experts like Scottie Claiborne, Dan Thies, and Alan Perkins
DigitalPoint Forums - Shawn Hogan's incredibly popular (and somewhat noisy) forum on everything related to the web
WebProWorld Forums - A large web development and SEO forum with a very diverse group of posters

Industry Conferences

Search Engine Strategies (SES) Conferences - Each year, SES runs 6-10 conferences worldwide, including several shows in North America that I'll typically speak at
WebMasterWorld (WMW) Conferences - 2-3 Times each year, Brett Tabke, the owner of WMW, runs conferences that attract a large group of SEOs
Ad:Tech - An interactive marketing conference that has begun to address many of the issues of SEO and search marketing as well
SEO by the Sea - An industry insider event sponsored by Bill Slawski, as well as a blog on SEO events and subjects

How Search Engines Operate

Modern Information Retrieval - The reference standard textbook on Information Retrieval Science by Ricardo Baeza-Yates
How Search Engines Work - from Danny Sullivan in 2002
Search Engine Reference Page - from Wikipedia
The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine - by Larry Page & Sergey Brin, founders of Google
A Comparison of Search Engines and a Guide to How they Operate - from Berkeley University's Internet Guide
List of IR Resources Online and Books/Publications - from Avi Rappoport of SearchTools.com

Link Analysis

Search Engine Ranking Factors - From SEOmoz; see section on "Factors Affecting the Value of a Link" for link analysis information
Block Level Link Analysis - From Microsoft Research on how search engines can segment pages into pieces of content to help devalue links from non editorial content

Keyword Research

Wordtracker - Keyword research software
Overture Tools - Measuring keyword popularity
Digitalpoint KW Tool - Free data from Overture & Wordtracker (though shortened in each)
Keyword Research Services - From Dan Thies; $100 reports are worth thousands
Dan Thies' Blog at Sitepoint - Coverage of a range of SEO issues with a focus on KW research
Measuring Keyword Competition - HighRankings Thread (9 Pages)

Accessibility

Dive into Accessibility - From Mark Pilgrim, a guide to making a site accessible in 30 days
Making a Great Website for Everyone - From Carmen Mardiros of Mardiros Internet Marketing
Mistakes to Avoid - From IBM's articles on WebDev

Information Architecture

Louis Rosenfeld - Information Architecture expert and author of the O'Reilly Book on the subject
Introduction to Information Architecture - from Subha Subramanian at Sitepoint

Duplicate Content Issues

Copyscape - Tool to search for copies of your pages on the web
Aaron Wall on Dup Content Penalties - Citing posts at WMW
Review of Dr. Garcia's Speach at SES San Jose on Dup Content - From SERoundtable
What is Duplicate Content - From Sitepoint Forums

Usability

Steve Krug - Usability consultant and author of Don't Make Me Think, my favorite book on usability
Kim Krause Berg's Usability Reports - A steal for a corporate review at $800
Usability Guidelines - From the National Cancer Institute; a great list
Website Usability Evaluation Form - From MIT

Web Design

A List Apart - Blog and Resources for Web Designers
Applying CSS to Web Design - from Intensivstation
Using Pattern Design to Lay Out Web Pages - from 37 Signals
Sample Web Color Schemes - from Return of Design
Biggest Design Mistakes of 2004 - from Web Pages That Suck

Content Writing for the Web

50 Writing Tools - from Poynter Online
Write Effectively for the Web - from the LifeHacker blog
Resurrect Your Writing - from Digital Web Magazine
Writing, Briefly - from Paul Graham
The Nitty-Gritty of Writing for Search Engines - from Jill Whalen (of HighRankings); it's $50 but worth every penny
Crappy Content - thread from HighRankings forum by Scottie Claiborne

Link Bait

The Art of Linkbaiting - by Nick Wilson of Performancing
Linkbaiting for Fun & Profit - by yours truly at Search Engine Journal
Examples of Link Bait - from SEOBook

Community Building

20 Tips for Community Building - from Threadwatch
Implementing a Forum - a HighRankings thread with lots of generalized tips on community, too
Building an Online Community - from Digital Web Magazine

Press Releases

Optimization of Press Releases - Paid services from SEO-PR
Writing for the Press - From Michael Iwalaski in the HighRankings Newsletter
Online PR and Press Release Optimization - by Lee Odden at ISEdb
Press Release Service - From PRWeb (free and paid options)
Press Release Service - From PRNewswire (also has free and paid options)

Public Relations

Public Relations as a Submarine - from Paul Graham
Trends to Watch in PR - by Erica Iacono at PR Week
List of Popular PR Weblogs - from PubSub
How to Get Blogged - from TechCrunch

Link Building

Advanced Link Building Tactics - from SEOmoz
131 Link Building Strategies - from Chris Sherman at SEW
Technique for Selecting Sites for a Link Request - by Eric Ward (see more articles from Eric, the godfather of linking, here)
Jump Start Link Building (while dodging the Sandbox) - by Andy Hagans

Search Spam

Google, Yahoo!,& MSN - Spam reporting links for each of the major search engines
Debate on White Hat vs. Black Hat SEO Techniques - from SEOmoz, a discussion on the pros and cons of spamming the search engines
Manipulating Search Rankings - An interview with Greg Boser of WebGuerilla in Wired News
SpamDexing - Another name for search engine spamming; definition from Wikipedia

Website Analytics and Visitor Tracking

Web Metrics - Book by Jim Sterne
Key Performance Indicators to Track - from the Web Analytics Association
Web Analytics for Retailers, Parts 1, 2, & 3 - by Brian Eisenberg at ClickZ
Top 10 Ways to Use Analytics to Improve your Site - from Conversion Rater
Web Analytics Blog - from Omniture

Selecting an SEO/M Firm

SEOmoz's List of Trusted SEO/M Firms - I've personally met or worked with all of the folks on this list and can vouch for their ability and integrity
Google's Recommendations for Choosing an SEO Firm - with advice on how to avoid companies that could hurt your site
Resources to Help Select a Firm - from Lee Odden of TopRank Marketing
Reputable SEO Companies - Thread from SEW Forums
Checklist of What to Look for in an SEO Company - from Stuntdubl