Rating: 

Harold Davis has put together a concise yet thorough summary of most things you need to do to be well ranked by search engines. Much of the information he shares, you could find on dozens of different blogs, but scattered in fragments that would take you a fair amount of time to compile. For this I give Harold props for picking out the best topics to include, and explaining them in an ion that the principle is true, though you may neeasy to read and informative fashion.

SEO is a very difficult topics to, because so many of the techniques you discuss can quickly become outdated. Whether you consider this good or bad, most of the techniques discussed are presented in a high enough level fashed to figure out some specifics on your own on how to apply it. If you're looking for a step-by-step how-to book, this isn't it. If you're looking for a guide of the things you need to consider and how to accomplish them, this is it.

Though most of the topics included in the shortcut would be nothing new to an experienced online marketer, there may be a few tidbits that he could pick up or may have forgotten in your recent activities. For a beginner, this book is well worth its cheap price. Save yourself the time and effort of hunting down the same information across the Internet, and then build on it from there. I would definitely recommend this book well in advance and then some of the overhyped e-books published by individuals that are just looking to make a buck. At least you know with O'Reilly behind this title, it is coming from a reputable source.

Intended audience: Beginner to Intermediate
Rating: Very Good