The authors begin with an up-to-date introduction to the fundamentals: of how search engines have evolved, how search marketing works, and how searchers and site visitors really think when they're trying to find information. You'll walk step-by-step through every facet of creating an effective program: projecting business value, selling stakeholders and executives, building teams, choosing strategy, implementing metrics, and above all, execution. Drawing on their unsurpassed experience, the authors systematically address every issue you're likely to encounter, from enforcing search-engine friendly content standards through hiring consultants. You'lllearn how to:

• Handle the unique optimization and marketing challenges associated with large sites

• Create site standards that codify best SEO/SEM practices

• Align search marketing with your company's strategic and tactical goals

• Automate checking and reporting for every page on your site

• Create monthly scorecards and use them to drive improvement

• Provide effective guidance to content developers and designers, in language they'll understand

• Get your site indexed, choose target keywords, optimize content, and attract links

• Make the most of the leading search engines and specialized and local search

• Ensure that paid search efforts deliver optimal results, cost-effectively

• Measure site-wide success rates across multiple systems and technologies

• Hire the right SEO consultant—and avoid the wrong ones

Whether you're a marketing, Web, or IT professional, product manager, or content specialist, this book will help you define your SEO/SEM goals, craft a best-practices program for achieving them, and implement it flawlessly.