Book excerpt: ABOUT THE BOOK Who doesnt know Google? From its software and operating system products to its core search functionality, Google is close to omnipresent in our technologically interconnected world. A professor of mine once mentioned Google back when I was studying computer science. He said the search algorithm was brilliant, but the minds behind the mathematical feat were not so adept at web design. This explains Google Searchs simplistic search box and buttons. Not that any fancy, superfluous design was needed since search was the main function of the tool and Google delivered. Indeed, Google delivered and became one of the largest and most reputable companies on earth today. Spearheading the evolution of search engines for an ever-growing Internet, Google helped bring about the advent of a new industry that developed side-by-side with Internet marketing: search engine optimization (SEO). Ranking among the top results in Googles search results page is a marketers dream goal and a businessmans dream: period. There was a documented case back in Googles early years where a small business website was able to become the top result for a particular keyword for just one day, and ended up raking in an impressive $20,000 in profit. The numbers speak to what a powerful tool Google is for generating traffic to websites. The numbers tell how lucrative it can be if you can hack your way to the top of Google Search. MEET THE AUTHOR G Dino (Gino R. Dino) is a freelance web content specialist. He studied Computer Science but is now more adept in SEO than computer programming. He has been writing and developing myriad sorts of Web content on various topics for different people and companies since January of 2009. He enjoys doing what he does as much as he loves learning on the job. When hes not writing for a living, hes writing for leisure. When hes not writing for leisure, hes reading or gaming for inspiration. When hes not doing either, he hatches schemes to change or destroy the world. Researching various areas of marketing, the Internet, and what eventually became a combination of both, G is well acquainted with various concepts and practices in marketing, branding, search, social media, and web copy. Aside from wanting to share what he discovers, he also tries to regularly update his personal technology blog (http://www.xeroavitar.com), while stoking the flames of his penchant for literary writing. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK We skimmed through the basics of ensuring useful content because that is the simplest to remember: ensure quality, useful content. It is a stark contrast to how important it is and how challenging it can be to actually maintain quality in your content. It is of foremost importance to remember that with quality, useful content, you may eventually reach the top of Google Search even without the tweaks. Now, lets delve into the technical details the hacks that Googlebot is sure to notice, starting from the top. We are literally starting from the top, particularly the first few HTML tags and META elements that Googlebot sees first when it crawls a website. Once more, lets put Googlebots skin on for a moment, and breeze through links in the Internet as you would streets in your neighborhood. Say for instance we come across anchor text within a particular website that says dog kennels and training and points to the URL dogstrainingandsupplies.com. Lets go through a simplified blow-by-blow account of what Googlebot sees and likes. CHAPTER OUTLINE The Hacker's Guide To Getting To The Top Of Google Search + Let's Start at the Beginning – Google's Beginning + The Quest to Reach Google's Summit: A Brief History of Past SEO Efforts + Getting to the Top of Google Search + Content is the Core + ...and much more