I asked 12 SEO pros what their favorite SEO books are

Here’s what they said:

Author’s:Stephan Spencer, Eric Enge, Jessica Stricchiola

First edition: November 6, 2009

Recommended By: Aleyda Solis

Here’s why Aleyda recommended this book:

“I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn SEO from scratch or gain insight into a specific area of ​​SEO. This is the most complete SEO book out there!”

Author:Eli Schwartz

First edition: April 27, 2021

Recommended By: Gus Pelogia, Philipp Götza and Patrick Stox

Here’s why Gus recommended this book:

“I read Product-Led SEO before I started working in Product Development and now I’m reading it again. This book takes you out of your SEO shell and talks about SEO strategy and approach vs. tactics.

It takes you beyond the usual SEO approach (e.g. we need more keywords) and gives examples of how businesses can approach SEO as a holistic strategy. It’s also an basic and quick read, I was nodding along as I read it.”

Author:Andreas Voniatis

First edition: March 25, 2023

Recommended By: James Flint

Here’s why James recommended this book:

“This is a great book if you already know some Python and want to improve your SEO skills, it dives right in without any unnecessary talk. Andreas does a great job of combining the two fields and providing a great hands-on approach.”

Author: Jakub Wiktor

First edition: March 5, 2019

Recommended By: Dan Taylor

Here’s why Dan recommended this book:

“Feck Perfuction is a must-read for me for anyone who wants to refresh themselves and open themselves up to breaking things and standing out. It’s thought-provoking and I’ve found it helps you better understand the flaws in things and turn them into their opposite weaknesses, as well as better communicate intricate SEO topics rather than just defaulting to “it depends.”

Victore doesn’t promote specific steps, but rather changes in the way of thinking that allow you to create marketing that will resonate with your audience.

Author:Jason Barnard

First edition: January 11, 2022

Recommended By: Michal Pecanek

Here’s why Michal recommended this book:

“I believe that proper integration of SEO with brand management has reached a whole modern level of importance with the widespread adoption of generative AI tools. Do you want ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AIO to regularly showcase your brand and products? Focus on reputation management, entity SEO and building a robust brand.

Jason’s alias is The Brand SERP Guy – that says it all. I like that his book is useful for SEO at any level, because it’s an often overlooked area. If you’re a pro, you can just skip ahead to the insights and tips. I read most of the book because it’s a quick read anyway. It should be required reading for anyone stern about building an online presence.”

Author:Ryan Stewart

First edition: February 26, 2020

Recommended By: Joshua Hardwick

Here’s why Joshua recommended this book:

“My favorite thing about this book is how practical it is. Ryan shows you how to actually manage an SEO project for clients (or your own site) and provides the spreadsheets/processes he uses for free so you can follow along. It could probably utilize a refresh since it was last updated in 2020, but it’s still an amazing book for anyone who wants to learn how to actually do SEO instead of just drowning in theory.”

Author:Chet Holmes

First edition: May 27, 2008

Recommended By: Glen Allsopp

Here’s why Glen recommended this book:

“There are a lot of things to love about this book, but I especially loved the concept that Chet calls the ‘Dream 100.’ It’s about building relationships with the Dream 100 people who can impact your business, whether that’s a potential customer, someone who can promote your work, etc.

I have always tried and believed in giving value to people from the very beginning, even if they have no influence on what I do online. That is why this is most critical to me.

Chet helped me think about systematizing the process and making it proactive, rather than reactive and in the moment. The relationships I built have been instrumental to many of the companies I work for, and I love that the book gives so many concrete examples of how Chet himself used them in his own journey.”

Author:Tim Soulo, Joshua Hardwick, Patrick Stox

First edition: January 1, 2023

Recommended By: Patrick Stox

Here’s why Patrick recommended this book:

“Ahrefs SEO for Beginners is the perfect read for modern SEOs. It’s clear and provides all the practical information you need to be successful.”

Author: Tim Soulo, Sam Oh

First edition: 2023

Recommended By: Theo Haines, 3 years ancient ¼

Here’s why Theo recommended White Haired SEO:

“It’s a lovely book because it has bluebirds in it—that’s my favorite. I like the part where she scares away the bluebirds… I like how the book flies into the library!”

Author: Paddy Moogan

First edition: 2013

Recommended By: Chris Haines

Here’s why I recommend this book:

“As a novice SEO, I found this book useful in 2013 to lend a hand me in my work. At that time, there was no book that told me everything there was to know about link building, but this book filled the gap.

Because it has recently been updated and made available for free on the Internet Here“I re-read this book after more than a decade and it still provides valuable information that has made me think about link building in a different way.”

Author:Dixon Jones

First edition: September 1, 2021

Recommended By: Louise Linehan

Here’s why Louise recommended this book:

“Even though I’ve known (and written) about entities and semantic SEO for many years, I still learned a lot from this book. Dixon Jones provides a thorough historical account of how search engines came to decipher entities, which must have taken a lot of research. One thing I was particularly surprised to see was how heavily Google relies on Wikipedia data and human input to identify and categorize entities. I knew Wikipedia played a role in this, but I didn’t realize the full extent.

The book also reminded me of the importance of entity SEO in building an authoritative brand, and I picked up some great practical tips, such as using Google Knowledge Graph and Structured Data tools to research (and replicate) the entities of my main competitors—a tactic I had never considered before. The detailed historical context combined with the useful, practical advice definitely made this book worth reading.”

Final Thoughts

If you want to learn SEO from scratch, you can either pick and choose from thousands of articles online or pick a book from this list — like our SEO for Beginners book . Both methods will teach you about SEO, but I find that an SEO book is usually the best place to start if you want to get a decent foundation in SEO or are looking for a more in-depth perspective on the subject.

Once you have mastered the basics, you can start absorbing regular updates on SEO online or reading more specialized books from your favorite SEO experts on this list.

Want to share what SEO books you’re reading? Let me know is LinkedIn.