The Bottom Line
Pros
- More than just a book about download speed
- Also covers SEO and sales optimization
- Helps you get the most of customer perception
- Lots of research went into this book
- Very complete chapter on Ajax optimization
Cons
- An overview of concepts that have even more in-depth coverage in other books
Description
- Chapters 1 and 2 - Natural search engine optimization - get your site found in search plus a case study.
- Chapters 3 and 4 - Pay-per-click search optimization - pay to get your site found with PPC advertising plus a case study.
- Chapter 5 - Conversion rate optimization - convert visitors to sales and have your site make money.
- Chapter 6 - Web page optimization - speed - what most people think of when they think website optimization.
- Chapter 7 - CSS optimization - build a CSS architecture to create a faster and efficient site and development environment.
- Chapter 8 - Ajax optimization - make your Web applications really fly, and make them easier for your customers to use.
- Chapter 9 - Advanced Web performance optimization - techniques for IT folks and sites with critical speed needs.
- Chapter 10 - Website optimization metrics - measure the success of your optimization techniques.
Guide Review - Website Optimization by Andrew B. King
Andrew King has been the leader in website optimization for years now. And up until recently, that meant that if you needed your site to be fast, you wanted Andy to analyze your site. But with this book Andy shows that there is so much more to website optimization than just how fast your pages download. Even SEO is only a portion of this book. If you're trying to build or maintain an enterprise-class corporate website, then you need this book. In it you'll learn how to build and maintain a site that grabs customers and keeps them.
The first part of the book covers search engine marketing optimization. Yes, there are other books out there that cover more about SEO than this one does, but Andy boils the information down into some of the most important aspects of SEO work. My favorite part is where he talks about the most common barriers to SEO. If you do no other SEO other than removing the problems he identifies you'll go far towards getting a top 10 listing for your keywords. If you follow his best practices you'll have even more success.
The second part covers performance optimization including download speed, CSS optimization, Ajax optimization, advanced techniques, and how to analyze if your efforts are working. This is the stuff most optimization books focus on, and Andy covers it well. I love the Ajax chapter, as it helps you create Web applications that work, not just Ajax for the sake of Ajax.
All-in-all, this is a book for any Web developer who wants to take her site to the next level. And if you're a professional Web designer or developer (or want to become one), knowing the techniques in this book will help you get good jobs. Buy the book, you won't regret it.
