I was presented with a question on SEOmoz the other day asking, “What’s the one definitive Internet marketing book that covers everything?” Um, does it need to be one book? Because I could not think of THE Book Of All Books – the Gray’s Anatomy of Internet Marketing if you will – the “one” internet marketing book that will answer all questions. There may be a great textbook out there, but the idea of learning Internet marketing from a text book just seems really bizarre in its own right.
So I created a must-read book list. I can say I have read (or mostly read) these books, and there is important enough messages in all of them to share with you here. If you think you’re an expert in one realm, you will be pleasantly surprised what you may learn from a different source. I try to supplement my reading without relying too much on one source for all of the answers. And frankly, picking up a book in addition to the blogosphere is a nice change of pace.
I don't own a Kindle.
Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug
Marketing in the Age of Google by Vanessa Fox
Web Analytics An Hour a Day by Avinash Kaushik
The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web by Tamar Weinberg
Pay Per Click Search Marketing An Hour A Day by David Szetela
A Few More On Deck
Of course there are other books I want to read as well, and just haven’t had the time to pick up or dig into. I recently got extremely sidetracked by The Hunger Games Trilogy. It can’t be all work and no play.
Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions by Tim Ash
Advanced Google Adwords by Brad Geddes
Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halverson
What’s on your marketing book list?
Addendum: Earlier I FAILED to add my friend Alan K’necht’s book The Last Original Idea: A Cynic’s View To Internet Marketing. Entertaining and worthwhile, it shares amusing stories of how Internet marketing has evolved over the years. Some I have completely forgotten about! And fwiw, it’s on the top shelf in the image above on top of Built To Last. It really is. 
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Do you realize how much reading homework you’ve just given me? Not to mention how many interlibrary loan forms I’m gonna have to fill out? That reminds me, I need to put in my request for the third hunger games book. Sigh.
But really, thanks for a great list!
Lois, it’s great to hear from you! Well, you see my “nice to read” list, and I’m sure that’s not a complete list in terms of my own homework
Read the Hunger Games first. The third book was the BEST – I am still suffer postpartum.
Thanks for the list! I have so much to read, and this helps immensely.
For working on my own writing, I’ve gotten dozens upon dozens of books in the online marketing arena- after all, I want to make sure I’m not covering material covered out there. In Social Media Marketing, there are over 50 titles listed on Amazon. They tend to be either for newbies or evangelical. Every so often I find one that goes into deeper thinking. My most recent good read is Aaron Goldman’s “Everything I Know About Marketing I Learned From Google” (authors beware long titles are a BITCH to post about).
On the evangelical side, I like both Clay Shirkey and Mitch Joel.
This is quite the list! I also enjoyed “Online Marketing Heroes” from Michael Miller.