SEO
Best Practices to Make It SEO-Friendly
React and other similar libraries (like Vue.js) are becoming the de facto choice for larger businesses that require complex development where a more simplistic approach (like using a WordPress theme) won’t satisfy the requirements.
Despite that, SEOs did not initially embrace libraries like React due to search engines struggling to effectively render JavaScript, with content available within the HTML source being the preference.
However, developments in both how Google and React can render JavaScript have simplified these complexities, resulting in SEO no longer being the blocker for using React.
Still, some complexities remain, which I’ll run through in this guide.
On that note, here’s what we’ll cover:
React is an open-source JavaScript library developed by Meta (formerly Facebook) for building web and mobile applications. The main features of React are that it is declarative, is component-based, and allows easier manipulation of the DOM.
The simplest way to understand the components is by thinking of them as plugins, like for WordPress. They allow developers to quickly build a design and add functionality to a page using component libraries like MUI or Tailwind UI.
If you want the full lowdown on why developers love React, start here:
React implements an App Shell Model, meaning the vast majority of content, if not all, will be Client-side Rendered (CSR) by default.
CSR means the HTML primarily contains the React JS library rather than the server sending the entire page’s contents within the initial HTTP response from the server (the HTML source).
It will also include miscellaneous JavaScript containing JSON data or links to JS files that contain React components. You can quickly tell a site is client-side rendered by checking the HTML source. To do that, right-click and select “View Page Source” (or CTRL + U/CMD + U).
A screenshot of the netlfix.com homepage source HTML.
If you don’t see many lines of HTML there, the application is likely client-side rendering.
However, when you inspect the element by right-clicking and selecting “Inspect element” (or F12/CMD + ⌥ + I), you’ll see the DOM generated by the browser (where the browser has rendered JavaScript).
The result is you’ll then see the site has a lot of HTML:
Note the appMountPoint ID on the first <div>. You’ll commonly see an element like that on a single-page application (SPA), so a library like React knows where it should inject HTML. Technology detection tools, e.g., Wappalyzer, are also great at detecting the library.
Editor’s Note
Ahrefs’ Site Audit saves both the Raw HTML sent from the server and the Rendered HTML in the browser, making it easier to spot whether a site has client-side rendered content.
Even better, you can search both the Raw and Rendered HTML to know what content is specifically being rendered client-side. In the below example, you can see this site is client-side rendering key page content, such as the <h1> tag.
Websites created using React differ from the more traditional approach of leaving the heavy-lifting of rendering content on the server using languages like PHP—called Server-side Rendering (SSR).
The above shows the server rendering JavaScript into HTML with React (more on that shortly). The concept is the same for sites built with PHP (like WordPress). It’s just PHP being turned into HTML rather than JavaScript.
Before SSR, developers kept it even simpler.
They would create static HTML documents that didn’t change, host them on a server, and then send them immediately. The server didn’t need to render anything, and the browser often had very little to render.
SPAs (including those using React) are now coming full circle back to this static approach. They’re now pre-rendering JavaScript into HTML before a browser requests the URL. This approach is called Static Site Generation (SSG), also known as Static Rendering.
In practice, SSR and SSG are similar.
The key difference is that rendering happens with SSR when a browser requests a URL versus a framework pre-rendering content at build time with SSG (when developers deploy new code or a web admin changes the site’s content).
SSR can be more dynamic but slower due to additional latency while the server renders the content before sending it to the user’s browser.
SSG is faster, as the content has already been rendered, meaning it can be served to the user immediately (meaning a quicker TTFB).
To understand why React’s default client-side rendering approach causes SEO issues, you first need to know how Google crawls, processes, and indexes pages.
We can summarize the basics of how this works in the below steps:
- Crawling – Googlebot sends GET requests to a server for the URLs in the crawl queue and saves the response contents. Googlebot does this for HTML, JS, CSS, image files, and more.
- Processing – This includes adding URLs to the crawl queue found within <a href> links within the HTML. It also includes queuing resource URLs (CSS/JS) found within <link> tags or images within <img src> tags. If Googlebot finds a noindex tag at this stage, the process stops, Googlebot won’t render the content, and Caffeine (Google’s indexer) won’t index it.
- Rendering – Googlebot executes JavaScript code with a headless Chromium browser to find additional content within the DOM, but not the HTML source. It does this for all HTML URLs.
- Indexing – Caffeine takes the information from Googlebot, normalizes it (fixes broken HTML), and then tries to make sense of it all, precomputing some ranking signals ready for serving within a search result.
Historically, issues with React and other JS libraries have been due to Google not handling the rendering step well.
Some examples include:
- Not rendering JavaScript – It’s an older issue, but Google only started rendering JavaScript in a limited way in 2008. However, it was still reliant on a crawling scheme for JavaScript sites created in 2009. (Google has since deprecated the scheme.)
- The rendering engine (Chromium) being out of date – This resulted in a lack of support for the latest browser and JavaScript features. If you used a JavaScript feature that Googlebot didn’t support, your page might not render correctly, which could negatively impact your content’s indexing.
- Google had a rendering delay – In some cases, this could mean a delay of up to a few weeks, slowing down the time for changes to the content to reach the indexing stage. This would have ruled out relying on Google to render content for most sites.
Thankfully, Google has now resolved most of these issues. Googlebot is now evergreen, meaning it always supports the latest features of Chromium.
In addition, the rendering delay is now five seconds, as announced by Martin Splitt at the Chrome Developer Summit in November 2019:
Last year Tom Greenaway and I were on this stage and telling you, ‘Well, you know, it can take up to a week, we are very sorry for this.’ Forget this, okay? Because the new numbers look a lot better. So we actually went over the numbers and found that, it turns out that at median, the time we spent between crawling and actually having rendered these results is – on median – it’s five seconds!”
This all sounds positive. But is client-side rendering and leaving Googlebot to render content the right strategy?
The answer is most likely still no.
In the past five years, Google has innovated its handling of JavaScript content, but entirely client-side rendered sites introduce other issues that you need to consider.
It’s important to note that you can overcome all issues with React and SEO.
React JS is a development tool. React is no different from any other tool within a development stack, whether that’s a WordPress plugin or the CDN you choose. How you configure it will decide whether it detracts or enhances SEO.
Ultimately, React is good for SEO, as it improves user experience. You just need to make sure you consider the following common issues.
1. Pick the right rendering strategy
The most significant issue you’ll need to tackle with React is how it renders content.
As mentioned, Google is great at rendering JavaScript nowadays. But unfortunately, that isn’t the case with other search engines. Bing has some support for JavaScript rendering, although its efficiency is unknown. Other search engines like Baidu, Yandex, and others offer limited support.
Sidenote.
This limitation doesn’t only impact search engines. Apart from site auditors, SEO tools that crawl the web and provide critical data on elements like a site’s backlinks do not render JavaScript. This can have a significant impact on the quality of data they provide. The only exception is Ahrefs, which has been rendering JavaScript across the web since 2017 and currently renders over 200 million pages per day.
Introducing this unknown builds a good case for opting for a server-side rendered solution to ensure that all crawlers can see the site’s content.
In addition, rendering content on the server has another crucial benefit: load times.
Load times
Rendering JavaScript is intensive on the CPU; this makes large libraries like React slower to load and become interactive for users. You’ll generally see Core Web Vitals, such as Time to Interactive (TTI), being much higher for SPAs—especially on mobile, the primary way users consume web content.
An example React application that utilizes client-side rendering.
However, after the initial render by the browser, subsequent load times tend to be quicker due to the following:
Depending on the number of pages viewed per visit, this can result in field data being positive overall.
However, if your site has a low number of pages viewed per visit, you’ll struggle to get positive field data for all Core Web Vitals.
Solution
The best option is to opt for SSR or SSG mainly due to:
- Faster initial renders.
- Not having to rely on search engine crawlers to render content.
- Improvements in TTI due to less JavaScript code for the browser to parse and render before becoming interactive.
Implementing SSR within React is possible via ReactDOMServer. However, I recommend using a React framework called Next.js and using its SSG and SSR options. You can also implement CSR with Next.js, but the framework nudges users toward SSR/SSG due to speed.
Next.js supports what it calls “Automatic Static Optimization.” In practice, this means you can have some pages on a site that use SSR (such as an account page) and other pages using SSG (such as your blog).
The result: SSG and fast TTFB for non-dynamic pages, and SSR as a backup rendering strategy for dynamic content.
Sidenote.
You may have heard about React Hydration with ReactDOM.hydrate(). This is where content is delivered via SSG/SSR and then turns into a client-side rendered application during the initial render. This may be the obvious choice for dynamic applications in the future rather than SSR. However, hydration currently works by loading the entire React library and then attaching event handlers to HTML that will change. React then keeps HTML between the browser and server in sync. Currently, I can’t recommend this approach because it still has negative implications for web vitals like TTI for the initial render. Partial Hydration may resolve this in the future by only hydrating critical parts of the page (like ones within the browser viewport) rather than the entire page; until then, SSR/SSG is the better option.
Since we’re talking about speed, I’ll be doing you a disservice by not mentioning other ways Next.js optimizes the critical rendering path for React applications with features like:
- Image optimization – This adds width and height <img> attributes and srcset, lazy loading, and image resizing.
- Font optimization – This inlines critical font CSS and adds controls for font-display.
- Script optimization – This lets you pick when a script should be loaded: before/after the page is interactive or lazily.
- Dynamic imports – If you implement best practices for code splitting, this feature makes it easier to import JS code when required rather than leaving it to load on the initial render and slowing it down.
Speed and positive Core Web Vitals are a ranking factor, albeit a minor one. Next.js features make it easier to create great web experiences that will give you a competitive advantage.
TIP
Many developers deploy their Next.js web applications using Vercel (the creators of Next.js), which has a global edge network of servers; this results in fast load times.
Vercel provides data on the Core Web Vitals of all sites deployed on the platform, but you can also get detailed web vital data for each URL using Ahrefs’ Site Audit.
Simply add an API key within the crawl settings of your projects.
After you’ve run your audit, have a look at the performance area. There, Ahrefs’ Site Audit will show you charts displaying data from the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) and Lighthouse.
2. Use status codes correctly
A common issue with most SPAs is they don’t correctly report status codes. This is as the server isn’t loading the page—the browser is. You’ll commonly see issues with:
- No 3xx redirects, with JavaScript redirects being used instead.
- 4xx status codes not reporting for “not found” URLs.
You can see below I ran a test on a React site with httpstatus.io. This page should obviously be a 404 but, instead, returns a 200 status code. This is called a soft 404.
The risk here is that Google may decide to index that page (depending on its content). Google could then serve this to users, or it’ll be used when evaluating a site.
In addition, reporting 404s helps SEOs audit a site. If you accidentally internally link to a 404 page and it’s returning a 200 status code, quickly spotting the area with an auditing tool may become much more challenging.
There are a couple of ways to solve this issue. If you’re client-side rendering:
- Use the React Router framework.
- Create a 404 component that shows when a route isn’t recognized.
- Add a noindex tag to “not found” pages.
- Add a <h1> with a message like “404: Page Not Found.” This isn’t ideal, as we don’t report a 404 status code. But it will prevent Google from indexing the page and help it recognize the page as a soft 404.
- Use JavaScript redirects when you need to change a URL. Again, not ideal, but Google does follow JavaScript redirects and pass ranking signals.
If you’re using SSR, Next.js makes this simple with response helpers, which let you set whatever status code you want, including 3xx redirects or a 4xx status code. The approach I outlined using React Router can also be put into practice while using Next.js. However, if you’re using Next.js, you’re likely also implementing SSR/SSG.
3. Avoid hashed URLs
This issue isn’t as common for React, but it’s essential to avoid hash URLs like the following:
- https://reactspa.com/#/shop
- https://reactspa.com/#/about
- https://reactspa.com/#/contact
Generally, Google isn’t going to see anything after the hash. All of these pages will be seen as https://reactspa.com/.
Solution
SPAs with client-side routing should implement the History API to change pages.
You can do this relatively easily with both React Router and Next.js.
4. Use <a href> links where relevant
A common mistake with SPAs is using a <div> or a <button> to change the URL. This isn’t an issue with React itself, but how the library is used.
Doing this presents an issue with search engines. As mentioned earlier, when Google processes a URL, it looks for additional URLs to crawl within <a href> elements.
If the <a href> element is missing, Google won’t crawl the URLs and pass PageRank.
Solution
The solution is to include <a href> links to URLs that you want Google to discover.
Checking whether you’re linking to a URL correctly is easy. Inspect the element that internally links and check the HTML to ensure you’ve included <a href> links.
As in the above example, you may have an issue if they aren’t.
However, it’s essential to understand that missing <a href> links aren’t always an issue. One benefit of CSR is that when content is helpful to users but not search engines, you can change the content client-side and not include the <a href> link.
In the above example, the site uses faceted navigation that links to potentially millions of combinations of filters that aren’t useful for a search engine to crawl or index.
Loading these filters client-side makes sense here, as the site will conserve crawl budget by not adding <a href> links for Google to crawl.
Next.js makes this easy with its link component, which you can configure to allow client-side navigation.
If you’ve decided to implement a fully CSR application, you can change URLs with React Router using onClick and the History API.
5. Avoid lazy loading essential HTML
It’s common for sites developed with React to inject content into the DOM when a user clicks or hovers over an element—simply because the library makes that easy to do.
This isn’t inherently bad, but content added to the DOM this way will not be seen by search engines. If the content injected includes important textual content or internal links, this may negatively impact:
- How well the page performs (as Google won’t see the content).
- The discoverability of other URLs (as Google won’t find the internal links).
Here’s an example on a React JS site I recently audited. Here, I’ll show a well-known e‑commerce brand with important internal links within its faceted navigation.
However, a modal showing the navigation on mobile was injected into the DOM when you clicked a “Filter” button. Watch the second <!—-> within the HTML below to see this in practice:
Solution
Spotting these issues isn’t easy. And as far as I know, no tool will directly tell you about them.
Instead, you should check for common elements such as:
- Accordions
- Modals
- Tabs
- Mega menus
- Hamburger menus
You’ll then need to inspect the element on them and watch what happens with the HTML as you open/close them by clicking or hovering (as I have done in the above GIF).
Suppose you notice JavaScript is adding HTML to the page. In that case, you’ll need to work with the developers. This is so that rather than injecting the content into the DOM, it’s included within the HTML by default and is hidden and shown via CSS using properties like visibility: hidden; or display: none;.
6. Don’t forget the fundamentals
While there are additional SEO considerations with React applications, that doesn’t mean other fundamentals don’t apply.
You’ll still need to make sure your React applications follow best practices for:
Final thoughts
Unfortunately, working with React applications does add to the already long list of issues a technical SEO needs to check. But thanks to frameworks like Next.js, it makes the work of an SEO much more straightforward than what it was historically.
Hopefully, this guide has helped you better understand the additional considerations you need to make as an SEO when working with React applications.
Have any questions on working with React? Tweet me.
SEO
The 11 Best SEO Books You Must Read Today
SEO is a rapidly evolving field, making it important for professionals to continuously expand their knowledge and skills.
We’ve put together a list of essential SEO books suitable for readers at various levels.
Some books on this list provide a foundation in core concepts, while more advanced practitioners can explore topics such as entity optimization.
The list includes specialized resources tailored to specific areas of SEO. For example, some books offer strategies for businesses targeting local audiences, while others serve as comprehensive guides to link building tactics.
For those interested in Google’s perspective, another book provides insights into the company’s philosophies and principles.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced professional, this list caters to diverse interests and skill levels, ensuring there’s something for everyone.
Books On Search Engine Optimization
1. SEO For Beginners: An Introduction To SEO Basics
Published by Search Engine Journal, this is a comprehensive guide to SEO. It covers everything from link building and SEO history to busting common myths and offering expert tips.
While it’s for beginners, veterans can also gain new insights. The book breaks down complex ideas into bite-sized pieces, making it a great starting point.
It’s well-structured, with each chapter tackling a different SEO aspect – from search engine mechanics to the latest algorithm updates.
The authors don’t just stick to theory. They provide real-world examples and case studies to show how these concepts work in practice. This mix of theory and application makes the book a valuable resource for anyone looking to improve their SEO.
Key reasons to give it a read:
- Get a solid grasp of SEO basics from industry pros.
- Easy-to-follow explanations of tricky concepts.
- Practical advice you can apply to your SEO strategies.
- Stay in the loop with current SEO trends and Google updates.
- Benefit from the collective wisdom of top SEO experts.
2. Entity SEO: Moving From Strings To Things
By Dixon Jones, CEO of InLinks
Dixon Jones’ book “Entity SEO: Moving from Strings to Things” explains the shift from old-school keyword SEO to modern entity-based optimization.
It explains how search engines now use the Knowledge Graph to understand relationships between concepts and offers practical advice on adapting your SEO strategy.
Key points:
- Making your brand an “entity” in your niche.
- Using structured data effectively.
- Getting quality links and mentions.
- Creating content rich in entity information.
The book uses real examples to show how these concepts work in practice. It’s meant to help SEO professionals at all levels understand and prepare for where search is heading.
Worth reading if you want to:
- Get a solid grip on entity SEO.
- Learn actionable entity optimization tactics.
- Establish your brand as a recognized entity.
- Master the use of structured data for SEO.
- Future-proof your SEO strategy.
3. The Art Of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization
by Eric Enge of Stone Temple Consulting, Stephan Spencer, and Jessie C. Stricchiola
Covering everything from SEO 101 to advanced tactics, this book starts with the basics of how search engines work and then dives into the meat of SEO: keyword research, on-page optimization, technical SEO, and link building.
The authors break down complex strategies into actionable steps, making implementation a breeze.
What sets this book apart is its holistic approach. It’s not just about ranking; it’s about aligning SEO with your business goals and integrating it into your digital strategy. The book also discusses the role of content marketing and social media in boosting SEO performance.
Reasons to read this book:
- Get a complete SEO education, from basics to advanced strategies.
- Learn to align SEO with your business objectives.
- Access practical, step-by-step guides for implementing SEO tactics.
- Understand how to integrate SEO with content marketing and social media.
- Benefit from the collective wisdom of three renowned SEO experts.
4. The Psychology Of A Website: Mastering Cognitive Biases, Conversion Triggers And Modern SEO To Achieve Massive Results
Matthew Capala’s “The Psychology of a Website” offers a fresh take on website optimization. Instead of focusing on technical aspects, it dives into the psychology behind user behavior and conversions.
Capala, a seasoned digital marketer, shares actionable tips for creating websites that perform well in search results and keep visitors engaged and more likely to convert.
The book kicks off by exploring how our brains work when we browse websites. Capala then gets into the nitty-gritty of optimizing different website elements, from how they look to what they say.
A big focus throughout is user experience (UX). Capala stresses that a great website isn’t just about ranking high on Google – it needs to be easy and enjoyable for people to use.
While UX is key, Capala doesn’t ignore SEO. He offers practical advice on keyword research, on-page optimization, and building links while keeping the focus on creating content that actually connects with users.
By blending psychological insights with practical digital marketing strategies, Capala offers a well-rounded approach to website optimization that can lead to significant improvements.
Reasons to read this book:
- Gain insights into the psychology driving user behavior and conversions.
- Learn to create websites that not only rank well but also engage visitors.
- Get practical strategies for optimizing design, content, and calls-to-action.
- Discover how to enhance user experience and mobile performance.
- Learn to integrate SEO best practices with a focus on user engagement.
- Benefit from real-world examples and expert insights from a seasoned digital marketer.
5. The Best Damn Website & Ecommerce Marketing And Optimization Guide, Period
SEO veteran Stoney DeGeyter’s book “The Best Damn Website & Ecommerce Marketing And Optimization Guide, Period” covers SEO basics to advanced tactics for websites and online stores.
It starts with SEO essentials and then dives into advanced topics. The book’s standout feature is its focus on ecommerce, addressing product pages, category optimization, and effective product descriptions.
DeGeyter emphasizes a holistic SEO approach that aligns with business goals and user experience. He also covers analytics for strategy refinement.
This guide suits both small business owners and ecommerce marketers.
Reasons to read:
- Master SEO fundamentals and advanced strategies.
- Learn ecommerce-specific optimization tactics.
- Discover product page and description best practices.
- Understand user-generated content’s SEO impact.
- Align SEO efforts with business objectives.
- Benefit from decades of industry expertise.
6. Ecommerce SEO Mastery: 10 Huge SEO Wins For Any Online Store
Kristina Azarenko’s “Ecommerce SEO Mastery” offers 10 key strategies for online stores. The book tackles common ecommerce SEO challenges like thin content and complex site structures.
Azarenko breaks down each “SEO win” with practical advice on implementation.
Topics include:
- Ecommerce keyword research.
- Product & category page optimization.
- Leveraging user-generated content.
- Building quality backlinks.
- Site speed and mobile optimization.
- Structured data.
The book provides real-world examples and emphasizes data-driven SEO. It guides readers through using tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to track progress.
Reasons to read:
- Learn 10 powerful ecommerce-specific SEO strategies.
- Gain insights from a renowned SEO expert.
- Discover how to optimize product and category pages.
- Leverage user-generated content for SEO benefits.
- Learn to build high-quality backlinks.
- Apply real-world examples and case studies.
- Adopt a data-driven approach to ecommerce SEO.
7. Product-Led SEO: The Why Behind Building Your Organic Growth Strategy
by Eli Schwartz
Eli Schwartz’s “Product-Led SEO” offers a fresh take on SEO strategy, emphasizing business goals and sustainable organic growth.
Drawing from his work with major brands, Schwartz presents a framework that integrates SEO with overall company strategy.
The book challenges traditional SEO tactics, advocating for a holistic approach that prioritizes user value.
Key topics include:
- User intent optimization.
- Content strategy for the full customer journey.
- Measuring SEO’s business impact.
Schwartz focuses on the strategic “why” behind SEO tactics, encouraging critical thinking and adaptable strategies for long-term success.
Reasons to read this book:
- Gain a strategic perspective on SEO that aligns with business objectives.
- Learn to create sustainable organic growth through user-centric approaches.
- Discover how to optimize for the entire customer journey.
- Understand methods for measuring and communicating SEO’s business impact.
- Access real-world case studies and examples from major brands.
- Benefit from the author’s extensive experience in driving impactful SEO results.
Books On Link Building
8. The Link Building Book
by Paddy Moogan
Paddy Moogan’s “The Link Building Book” is a comprehensive, free online guide.
It covers link building basics, tactics for acquiring high-authority backlinks, content creation, and practical steps for planning and executing campaigns.
The book emphasizes white-hat techniques and quality over quantity, making it valuable for both SEO novices and pros.
Reasons to read:
- Master link building fundamentals and best practices.
- Learn diverse tactics for acquiring high-quality, relevant links.
- Understand how to assess potential linking websites.
- Discover content strategies that naturally attract links.
- Learn to plan and execute effective link building campaigns.
- Benefit from practical advice and real-world examples.
- Access updated, valuable insights at no cost.
Books On Local SEO
9. Local SEO Secrets: 20 Local SEO Strategies You Should Be Using NOW
by Roger Bryan
“Local SEO Secrets” by Roger Bryan is a must-read for businesses targeting local customers. It offers 20 proven strategies to boost local search visibility and drive growth.
Key topics include:
- Local SEO fundamentals and how it differs from traditional SEO.
- Optimizing Google Business Profile listings.
- Building local citations and leveraging structured data.
- Creating local content and managing online reputation.
- Implementing and tracking local SEO strategies.
The book provides actionable advice, real-world examples, and step-by-step instructions. It’s valuable for small business owners, marketers, and SEO consultants working with local clients.
Reasons to read:
- Learn 20 proven strategies for improving local search visibility.
- Understand key local ranking factors like Google Business Profile, reviews, and citations.
- Master GBP optimization for local SEO success.
- Discover how to use structured data and local content effectively.
- Learn reputation management best practices.
- Get practical, easy-to-implement instructions and examples.
- Learn to measure local SEO performance with analytics tools.
Books On Search Engines
10. How Google Works
by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg
“How Google Works” by ex-Google execs Schmidt and Rosenberg offers an insider’s view of the search giant. While not focused on SEO, it provides valuable insights for digital marketers and business leaders.
The book offers practical advice and real-world examples applicable to businesses of all sizes.
Understanding Google’s philosophy can inform more effective, customer-focused digital marketing strategies.
Reasons to read:
- Get an insider’s view of Google’s success principles.
- Understand how to create a user-centric business strategy.
- Discover ways to foster innovation and experimentation in your organization.
- Gain insights into data-driven decision-making processes.
11. Entity-Oriented Search
“Entity-Oriented Search” by Krisztian Balog is a deep dive into modern search engine tech. It focuses on entities, knowledge graphs, and semantic search and is aimed at readers with a background in information retrieval (IR).
A key strength is its coverage of cutting-edge research, like neural entity representations and knowledge-based language models. While tech-heavy, it touches on applications in QA, recommender systems, and digital assistants and discusses future trends.
It’s essential reading for IR, natural language processing (NLP), and artificial intelligence (AI) pros seeking in-depth knowledge of modern search engines.
Reasons to read:
- Deep dive into entity-oriented and semantic search tech.
- Research on knowledge graphs and semantic understanding.
- A detailed look at entity extraction, linking, and ranking algorithms.
- Insights on neural entity representations and knowledge-based language models.
- Expert knowledge from a renowned IR and search engine specialist.
Conclusion: Choosing Your Next Book
These 11 SEO books have got you covered – whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro.
For beginners, “SEO for Beginners” and “The Art of SEO” are solid starter packs that’ll teach you the SEO fundamentals.
As you level up, books like “Entity SEO” and “Product-Led SEO” explore more advanced topics like optimizing for entities and aligning SEO with business goals.
Several books focus on specific areas:
- “Local SEO Secrets” is a must-read if you’re targeting local customers.
- “Ecommerce SEO Mastery” zeroes in on ecommerce SEO.
- “The Link Building Book” is your starting point to master link building.
On the technical side, “Entity-Oriented Search” dives deep into semantic search and cutting-edge search engine tech. “How Google Works” gives you the inside scoop on Google’s mindset.
The key is picking books that match your skill level and areas of interest. Whether you want to learn SEO from scratch, level up your game, or specialize, there’s a book for you.
The Amazon links in this post are not affiliate links, and SEJ does not receive compensation when you click or make a purchase through these links.
More SEO & Marketing Books Worth Your Time:
Featured Image: PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock
SEO
The 100 Most Searched People on Google in 2024
These are the 100 most searched people, along with their monthly search volumes.
| # | Keyword | Search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | donald trump | 7450000 |
| 2 | taylor swift | 7300000 |
| 3 | travis kelce | 4970000 |
| 4 | matthew perry | 3790000 |
| 5 | kamala harris | 2730000 |
| 6 | joe biden | 2480000 |
| 7 | caitlin clark | 2400000 |
| 8 | olivia rodrigo | 2100000 |
| 9 | jd vance | 2060000 |
| 10 | billie eilish | 1720000 |
| 11 | sabrina carpenter | 1680000 |
| 12 | kate middleton | 1660000 |
| 13 | patrick mahomes | 1570000 |
| 14 | gypsy rose | 1520000 |
| 15 | jason kelce | 1490000 |
| 16 | mihály csíkszentmihályi | 1460000 |
| 17 | timothee chalamet | 1450000 |
| 18 | tyreek hill | 1380000 |
| 19 | lola beltrán | 1350000 |
| 20 | lebron james | 1330000 |
| 21 | lauren boebert | 1310000 |
| 22 | barry keoghan | 1300000 |
| 23 | brock purdy | 1280000 |
| 24 | drake | 1250000 |
| 25 | griselda blanco | 1210000 |
| 26 | ryan reynolds | 1200000 |
| 27 | zendaya | 1180000 |
| 28 | scottie scheffler | 1170000 |
| 29 | aaron rodgers | 1170000 |
| 30 | casimir funk | 1170000 |
| 31 | zach bryan | 1150000 |
| 32 | tom brady | 1150000 |
| 33 | jacob elordi | 1140000 |
| 34 | blake lively | 1130000 |
| 35 | millie bobby brown | 1120000 |
| 36 | margot robbie | 1110000 |
| 37 | luisa moreno | 1110000 |
| 38 | bruce willis | 1090000 |
| 39 | v | 1090000 |
| 40 | eminem | 1050000 |
| 41 | cillian murphy | 1040000 |
| 42 | anthony edwards | 1020000 |
| 43 | peso pluma | 1000000 |
| 44 | fani willis | 1000000 |
| 45 | etel adnan | 1000000 |
| 46 | dua lipa | 991000 |
| 47 | jennifer aniston | 986000 |
| 48 | bianca censori | 983000 |
| 49 | megan fox | 982000 |
| 50 | shannen doherty | 977000 |
| 51 | mike tyson | 973000 |
| 52 | megan thee stallion | 971000 |
| 53 | ariana grande | 960000 |
| 54 | james baldwin | 958000 |
| 55 | britney spears | 954000 |
| 56 | oj simpson | 941000 |
| 57 | lainey wilson | 937000 |
| 58 | dan schneider | 933000 |
| 59 | emma stone | 932000 |
| 60 | raoul a. cortez | 930000 |
| 61 | dolly parton | 926000 |
| 62 | joe burrow | 925000 |
| 63 | anya taylor-joy | 925000 |
| 64 | amanda bynes | 924000 |
| 65 | danny masterson | 920000 |
| 66 | matt rife | 918000 |
| 67 | kendrick lamar | 912000 |
| 68 | messi | 901000 |
| 69 | bronny james | 901000 |
| 70 | adam sandler | 898000 |
| 71 | james earl jones | 897000 |
| 72 | coco gauff | 892000 |
| 73 | michael jackson | 884000 |
| 74 | victor wembanyama | 870000 |
| 75 | pink | 865000 |
| 76 | luka doncic | 861000 |
| 77 | selena gomez | 861000 |
| 78 | jelly roll | 861000 |
| 79 | jonathan majors | 840000 |
| 80 | justin fields | 824000 |
| 81 | meghan markle | 821000 |
| 82 | florence pugh | 819000 |
| 83 | post malone | 813000 |
| 84 | jayson tatum | 808000 |
| 85 | diddy | 804000 |
| 86 | justin jefferson | 799000 |
| 87 | sza | 794000 |
| 88 | ana de armas | 793000 |
| 89 | cj stroud | 790000 |
| 90 | ben affleck | 788000 |
| 91 | jake paul | 786000 |
| 92 | zac efron | 783000 |
| 93 | scarlett johansson | 779000 |
| 94 | deion sanders | 771000 |
| 95 | dr. victor chang | 760000 |
| 96 | andrew tate | 759000 |
| 97 | jason momoa | 756000 |
| 98 | pedro pascal | 755000 |
| 99 | bad bunny | 744000 |
| 100 | christian mccaffrey | 735000 |
| # | Keyword | Search volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | taylor swift | 17000000 |
| 2 | trump | 12400000 |
| 3 | matthew perry | 9100000 |
| 4 | sydney sweeney | 8500000 |
| 5 | travis kelce | 7500000 |
| 6 | oppenheimer | 7300000 |
| 7 | messi | 7000000 |
| 8 | elon musk | 6500000 |
| 9 | sinner | 6300000 |
| 10 | cristiano ronaldo | 6100000 |
| 11 | kate middleton | 5900000 |
| 12 | billie eilish | 5200000 |
| 13 | joe biden | 5000000 |
| 14 | xxxtentacion | 5000000 |
| 15 | 大谷翔平 | 4900000 |
| 16 | virat kohli | 4800000 |
| 17 | jenna ortega | 4700000 |
| 18 | v | 4600000 |
| 19 | ronaldo | 4600000 |
| 20 | kamala harris | 4300000 |
| 21 | olivia rodrigo | 4200000 |
| 22 | griselda blanco | 4000000 |
| 23 | margot robbie | 4000000 |
| 24 | cillian murphy | 3800000 |
| 25 | carlos alcaraz | 3600000 |
| 26 | dua lipa | 3600000 |
| 27 | zendaya | 3600000 |
| 28 | djokovic | 3500000 |
| 29 | bianca censori | 3500000 |
| 30 | jude bellingham | 3400000 |
| 31 | alcaraz | 3400000 |
| 32 | millie bobby brown | 3400000 |
| 33 | ana de armas | 3300000 |
| 34 | sabrina carpenter | 3300000 |
| 35 | henry cavill | 3300000 |
| 36 | ryan reynolds | 3200000 |
| 37 | ice spice | 3200000 |
| 38 | anne hathaway | 3100000 |
| 39 | timothée chalamet | 3100000 |
| 40 | putin | 3100000 |
| 41 | barry keoghan | 3000000 |
| 42 | lana rhoades | 3000000 |
| 43 | michael jackson | 3000000 |
| 44 | peso pluma | 3000000 |
| 45 | ariana grande | 3000000 |
| 46 | jacob elordi | 3000000 |
| 47 | lebron james | 3000000 |
| 48 | blake lively | 2900000 |
| 49 | bruce willis | 2900000 |
| 50 | lamine yamal | 2900000 |
| 51 | emma stone | 2900000 |
| 52 | shubman gill | 2900000 |
| 53 | simone biles | 2900000 |
| 54 | rohit sharma | 2900000 |
| 55 | brad pitt | 2900000 |
| 56 | eminem | 2900000 |
| 57 | jennifer aniston | 2800000 |
| 58 | timothee chalamet | 2800000 |
| 59 | mike tyson | 2700000 |
| 60 | megan fox | 2700000 |
| 61 | lola beltrán | 2700000 |
| 62 | caitlin clark | 2700000 |
| 63 | leonardo dicaprio | 2700000 |
| 64 | johnny depp | 2600000 |
| 65 | scarlett johansson | 2600000 |
| 66 | selena gomez | 2600000 |
| 67 | drake | 2600000 |
| 68 | mihály csíkszentmihályi | 2600000 |
| 69 | anya taylor-joy | 2500000 |
| 70 | madonna | 2500000 |
| 71 | britney spears | 2500000 |
| 72 | max verstappen | 2500000 |
| 73 | jeremy allen white | 2500000 |
| 74 | gypsy rose | 2500000 |
| 75 | andrew tate | 2500000 |
| 76 | kylie jenner | 2500000 |
| 77 | travis scott | 2400000 |
| 78 | fabrizio romano | 2400000 |
| 79 | jennifer lawrence | 2400000 |
| 80 | meghan markle | 2400000 |
| 81 | hardik pandya | 2400000 |
| 82 | keanu reeves | 2400000 |
| 83 | angelina jolie | 2400000 |
| 84 | glen powell | 2400000 |
| 85 | jd vance | 2400000 |
| 86 | shannen doherty | 2300000 |
| 87 | jungkook | 2300000 |
| 88 | jason momoa | 2300000 |
| 89 | jennifer lopez | 2300000 |
| 90 | bellingham | 2200000 |
| 91 | jeffrey epstein | 2200000 |
| 92 | justin bieber | 2200000 |
| 93 | florence pugh | 2200000 |
| 94 | kim kardashian | 2200000 |
| 95 | ben affleck | 2200000 |
| 96 | haaland | 2200000 |
| 97 | zac efron | 2200000 |
| 98 | tyson fury | 2200000 |
| 99 | imane khelif | 2100000 |
| 100 | adam sandler | 2100000 |
In almost every industry, there are celebrities, professionals, or influencers that other people want to emulate. For example, an amateur tennis player might want to know which tennis racket Novak Djokovic uses. Or a football player might want to know the shoes Trent Alexander-Arnold wears.
In fact, Equipboard has taken this idea seriously and created a site around the gear used by professional musicians.
You can do the same for your industry too.
Here’s how:
- Go to Keywords Explorer
- Enter the names of famous people in your niche
- Go to the Matching terms report
- Filter for keywords related to gears using the Include filter
For example, if I entered the names of professional tennis players (Roger Federer, Emma Radacanu, Rafael Nadal) and filtered for tennis gear keywords (e.g., shoes, racket, wristband, shorts), I see 960 potential keywords I could target. If I were a tennis site, I could create a category page for each celebrity and list out all their preferred equipment.
Another way is to enter a relevant keyword into Keywords Explorer, go to the Matching terms report, and observe keyword patterns. For example, if I were a fitness site, I could enter “weight loss” into Keywords Explorer.
The first thing I’ll notice is that many people are actually interested in how certain celebrities lost their weight. The second thing I notice is that the keywords all form a pattern: [first name][last name] weight loss.
As such, I can use the Word count filter to look for keywords that have 4 words, which gives me a list of celebrity-related weight loss keywords:
Want to do keyword research for your site? Sign up for Keywords Explorer.
SEO
WordPress Announces New Executive Director
Automattic CEO and WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg announced a new Executive Director for WordPress.org after the previous director’s resignation. Social media reactions, while generally positive, were notably subdued, with many comments focused on the recent WordPress controversy.
New Executive Director
Mullenweg announced that Mary Hubbard, was hired as the new Executive Director. Hubbard was formerly the Chief Product Officer for WordPress.com from 2020 and will begin her new position on October 21st. She recently resigned as the Head of TikTok Americas, Governance and Experience.
The Executive Director position at WordPress.org opened up after the resignation of 8.4% of Automattic employees, including the previous Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Mullenweg offered employees who wished to leave $30,000 or the equivalent of six months pay, whichever was higher. The severance package was offered after the recent issues between Automattic, Mullenweg and WP Engine (WPE) which resulted in WPE filing a federal lawsuit against Mullenweg and Automattic, alleging attempted extortion.
Muted Response To Announcement
A post in the popular Dynamic WordPress Facebook Group generated 21 responses within seven hours, with most of the comments a discussion about the recent drama and the Mullenweg’s ownership of WordPress.org and other similar topics (view the discussion here, must join the private group to view).
The response to the official WordPress.org announcement on X was muted, with about equal amounts of people posting welcomes as those who were taking the opportunity to post their displeasure and opinions about recent events.
Seven hours after posting the announcement there were only 15 responses, 21 retweets, and 117 likes.
Screenshot Of Tweet
Typical Expressions Of Welcome
Welcome!
— Robert Jacobi (@RobertJacobi) October 8, 2024
Welcome Mary!
— Michael Potter (@Michael_6of7) October 8, 2024
Typical Other Responses
What does the E.D. do for https://t.co/sbi8NmJkOL? Is https://t.co/sbi8NmJkOL part of the Foundation? Part of Automattic? Something else? Unlike WPEngine, the differences between these organizations, their ownership, and governance are incredibly confusing.
— Jeff Severson (@jeffseverson) October 8, 2024
“Our”? I thought Matt owns this establishment, with foundation having nothing to do with https://t.co/Duw3H6Qbg3. 🤨🤷
— Viktor Nagornyy (@V1ktor) October 8, 2024
Fire @photomatt
— Shay Grafdelver (@shaygrafdelver) October 8, 2024
Read the official announcement on WordPress.org
Featured Image by Shutterstock/michaelheim
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