What is the best SEO book

Through all your reading, what is the best SEO book for someone that knows a little bit but not much about the subject?

Google

Books get outdated pretty quickly, I'd stick to online sources that can update all the time as the SEO field is almost always changing.

check the downloads section here. there's a link to Arron walls' SEO book, which is considered one of the best

If you know your way around usenet you can search for nzb 'SEO Bible wiley'. Not sure if it's the best but it's pretty complete.

The problem with SEO books is that by the time the book is published, the search engines have already changed their algorithms -- making the book almost obsolete. If you are going to read only one piece on search engine optimization, I suggest you read Brett Tabke of WebmasterWorld.com's "Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone: 26 steps to 15k a day."

Algorithms change, but we rarely know *exactly* when or how they change.

There are also many best practices that are applicable long term.

A good SEO book for a beginner provides an intro to SEO and it's tecniques. A more advanced book, might just highly some strategies that have worked over time (even those that are now dated). For more advanced users having familiarity with blackhat techniques can be useful.

You want to know what SEO is, what some best practises are, how it has evolved, some advanced strategies (including blackhat).

BTW - Having knowledge of blackhat approaches helps to:

• Know which things to avoid to prevent penalization.
• Brainstorm on how adapt techniques in a way that is still useful, but within the whitehat realm.

I think Aaron Wall's book is the best way to get a quick start, if you are someone comfortable with reading a full book. However, I believe that Aaron will be discontinuing the book soon in favor of his blog and private SEO community:
SEO Community Forums