I’ve launched the
SEO Handbook ↗
The name should be self explanatory, but since you’re still reading….
what is it?
It’s the guide I wish had existed when I first started in SEO.
It covers the full discipline: on-page, technical, off-page, keyword research, local, international, content strategy, and AI search. There’s also a glossary, checklists, and a news section for algorithm updates. It’s built to be a reference you come back to, not a single read.
why build it?
When I was starting out, finding SEO answers online usually fell into three buckets: either a contradictory mess on Reddit, outdated or factually spurious blogs, or initially promising articles that ended up being thinly veiled advertising for a premium tool.
I wanted to learn properly. To understand the actual problem instead of outsourcing it to software. So I built something that helps with that.
I also used this as an opportunity to create a site in Astro with SEO built in from the start. When I built this site, liamhayward.co.uk, I used ol’ faithful WordPress and my trusty stack of plugins: Yoast, Wordfence, LiteSpeed, etc.
However my SEO tinkering often meant I needed to be able to colour outside the lines, and I regularly found myself hitting the boundaries of the WordPress CMS or being told the feature I needed was available in yet another plugin.
what’s next?
I’m keeping it updated as search changes. More topics, refinements to existing content, whatever it needs.
If you’re into SEO and you like practical, no-nonsense explanations, take a gander – I hope it’s worth bookmarking.