If you’re looking for a solid book on SEO which is to the point and fluff-free, then I recommend reading The Truth About Search Engine Optimization written by Rebecca Lieb. Rebecca Lieb is VP and editor-in-chief of the ClickZ Network. She has held leadership positions at both strategic e-services consultancies and global entertainment and media companies, including Universal Television and Networks Group (formerly USA Networks International). I got a chance to catch up wit Rebecca to ask her a few questions about her book and SEO – check out our chat below:

[Manoj]: What inspired you to write “The Truth About Search Engine Optimization”

[Rebecca Lieb]: More and more people are recognizing the importance – even the existence – of SEO. These range from the smallest mom ‘n’ pop businesses to CMOs and marketing executives at large corporations who are obliged to manage SEO initiatives and have no idea how, or even where to start. There’s plenty of material available on the expert-to-expert level,and geek-to-geek, but what I saw a need for was a straight-talking, non-intimidating and above all non-technical book for business people and marketers who need to wrap their minds around the basic, fundamental concepts of SEO.

[Manoj]: In this day in age the hype is all about Social Media – so why is SEO so easily overlooked?

[Rebecca Lieb]: Social media is definitely the flavor du jour, but I don’t agree that means SEO is overlooked at all. In fact some of the most compelling and immediate benefits of social media are the myriad opportunities for enhancing SEO: link juice, keyword-rich content and user-generated content are just three examples of how social media can support and enhance any SEO strategy. The two aren’t mutually exclusive at all. They go hand-in-hand.

[Manoj]: SEO is actually complementary to Social Media (especially in regards to Reputation Management), can add some insight here?

[Rebecca Lieb]: Sure. When there’s negative or inaccurate information about you, your company, brand or products on the web you can’t make it go away. What you can do, however, is use a combination of SEO, content, and social media strategy to counterbalance or even to overshadow the information that’s out there. Optimized pages and entire sites can tackle the issue head-on, and a really strong optimization effort can, if not eradicate the negative information, at least push it much farther back in search results. Like social media, SEO and reputation management go hand-in-hand online.

[Manoj]: Why do you think SEO still provides one of the best ROIs compared to other online strategies?

[Rebecca Lieb]: While the results of SEO aren’t permanent and can always be improved upon, a solid SEO initiative is a long-term strategy, not a one-off tactic such as a media buy that begins…then ends. SEO isn’t free. It requires strategy and execution. But it’s also something that can be built into a web site or a blog from the get-go — and hey, you’re building it anyway, so why not build it right? It’s dividends pay off well into the future because hey, if searchers can’t find you on the web, they’ll find your competitors. Would you open a store with no sign in front and an unlisted number? I don’t think so. SEO is that essential to any business with a web presence.

[Manoj]:Part 10 discusses going beyond traditional SEO, to things like Mobile SEO. What are the best techniques for mobile SEO?

[Rebecca Lieb]: Mobile SEO is actually getting easier as devices, such as the iPhone, become more sophisticated and are able to render regular websites rather than require special domains, formats and coding, e.g. .mobi. However optimizing for mobile is a tad more complicated. In a way, you need to be more optimized than for the web, as that tiny screen doesn’t display as many search results as a PC will. Before getting bent out of shape about this, marketers would do well to consider how well-suited their brand or product is for mobile usage. If you make semiconductors or industrial machinery, for example, it’s probably not so essential your site be good to go for mobile. But if you’re a restaurant, or a drugstore, or a cab company — basically, a hyperlocal business that people will search for in a mobile environment, the time to start thinking about mobile SEO is yesterday.

[Manoj]: If readers could take away just 1 thing from your book, what would that be?

[Rebecca Lieb]: SEO isn’t rocket science. A lot of it is just plain common sense. But to understand, plan and execute on an SEO strategy you do need to have a fundamental understanding of how search engines work, what they look for in a web site, and how to create sites search engines “like.” Luckily, none of this is geeky, or hard, or technical. But it’s also not an afterthought. I mean, you wouldn’t design and build a house, then suddenly slap your forehead and say, “Yikes – I forgot to add bathrooms. Guess I better build them in now!” So wrap your mind around the concepts and bake SEO in earlier, not later. It’s not rocket science!