The gentle art of search engine positioning is much more than adding a few metatags to your webpages. Still, it is not as difficult as some search engine positioning experts would like us to believe.
Mike Moran and Bill Hunt present a book on search engine marketing for medium sized and large companies.
The search engine marketing community is spoilt for good tutorials, online as well as offline. However, from time to time there arrives a new book that brings in a new dimension to the discussion on how to develop search engine marketing strategies.
Search Engine Marketing Inc. is such a book. What sets it aside from regular search engine 101s is its strong focus on the particular needs of larger companies.
Yes, it does contain everything you need to know about keyword selections, the use of title tags and headline styles, link building tactics, search engine friendly copy, getting your site indexed and the lot.
In fact, it is so comprehensive that you will probably need a couple of days to get through it all.
However, in addition to this Mike Moran and Bill hunt have included chapters on:
- The development of overall search engine marketing strategies
- Setting up your central search team and the division of labor between different teams within the organization
- Measuring the effects of search engine marketing
- Selling your search marketing proposal internally (including how to convince the executives)
Moreover, unlike some tutorials, this book discusses the use of paid search program in parallel with so-called “organic” search marketing techniques, i.e. attempts at getting good rankings in the regular search results.
One of the things we like about this book is the authors’ use of exemplification. We follow their attempts at getting good rankings for “Snap Electronics’” digital cameras, leading to realistic assessments of what is possible and where not to go when you are competing with some of the World’s leading companies.
The book is for beginners and more savvy search engine marketers alike. It is not, however, for anyone looking for the short and snappy idiot’s guide to search engine marketing or for a short introduction to show their boss.
Mike Moran is an engineer from IBM with more than 20 years experience in search engine technology. Bill Hunt has worked with search engine marketing since 1994, is CEO and founder of the SEM company Global Strategies International, and is an active search engine marketing writer and conference speaker.
The book can be bought online from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
The Search Engine Marketing Kit -- a hands on guide to SEM
Sitepoint is an extensive web site giving out free advice to webmasters regarding everything from web design to search engine marketing. They normally know how to make complex issues understandable and doable. Hence we had great expectations when we started reading their new Search Engine Marketing Kit.
The author, Dan Thies, has been a search engine consultant since the turn of the century and is well known i search engine marketing circles. He should know what he is talking about.
And he does. The tutorial is well written, easy accessible for beginners and professionals alike and brings you a large amount of information.
What you get is a large loose-leaf binder, a large number of printed sections to put into that binder as well as a CD-ROM.
The binder or book is organized into seven chapters, all of which can be read independently of the others.
The chapters are:
- Understanding search engines - a search engine technology primer.
- Search engine optimization basics - on keyword strategies, page lay out and site structure.
- Advanced SEO and search-engine friendly design - including web server issues, content management systems, domain management.
- Paying to play: pay-per-click and paid inclusion - looking at Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and more.
- Running a search engine marketing business - teaching you how to build your own search marketing company.
- Interviews with search engine marketing professionals - including friends of Pandia: Andy Beal and Jill Whalen
- Tools - including keyword research tools, submission services, browsers, PPC tools and services, web site statistics and more.
We like the systematic approach of the book. Thies takes the time needed to make sure that the reader understands the basic concepts used in SEM.
You cannot discuss, let alone practice, search engine marketing, unless you know the difference between organic listings, directory listings and sponsored results. Readers who already know the basics, can use this part of the text to teach colleagues struggling to understand what SEM is all about.
By starting out explaining how search engine actually gather and present data, Thies also makes it easier for beginners to understand how you can influence search engine rankings, also when it comes to more advanced techniques including, for instance, server management.
What makes this tutorial different from some search engine marketing guides, is the fact that it includes topics that goes beyond regular organic search engine optimization. There is, for instance, a separate chapter on pay per click text ads.
There is also a chapter on how to run your own search engine marketing business. That's a first, as far as we know.
The CD-ROM contains practical templates for search engine marketing campaigns as well as for search engine marketing businesses.
Go to the The Search Engine Marketing Kit home page
Download free chapter (Sitepoint requires that you give them your email address)
Search Engine Positioning
Search Engine Positioning is written by Fredrick Marckini, CEO and founder of the iProspect, one of America's leading search engine optimization companies. It is definitely one of the best and most comprehensive books we have read on the subject.
The book is easy to read, and will be useful for beginners in the field of search engine positioning, as well as for those that have some experience in optimizing websites.
The fact that the book is published in 2001, does not mean that the book is completely up to date. The speed of current search engine development makes it impossible to publish paper based book containing all the latest information. However, it does cover the new anti-spam policies of search engines like Google and AltaVista, and the recent emphasis on link popularity and theme based sites.
Among the topics covered are:
- The history of search engines and search engine positioning
- Understanding search referrals and traffic
- Choosing the right keywords, in the right combinations
- Factors that greatly affect your relevancy in spider-based search engines
- Meta tags, metadata and where to place keywords
- Domain name selection
- Site submission
- Spamdexing
- Web site design
- Rank-checking tools
- Building informational pages
- Buying advertising on search engines
- Cloaking
There are also separate chapters on the major search engines and directories containing recent data on partnerships, the number of documents indexed, support, factors that influence rankings and much more. iProspect offers an additional free newsletter containing the latest search engine positioning news and updates.
The book includes CD-ROM with trial versions of software and links to relevant search engine positioning resources.
Buy this book from Amazon.com
Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk
Search Engine Visibility
Search engine marketing expert Shari Thurow has written a new guide that aims at helping "web designers, web developers, programmers, ad agencies, web design firms, online marketers, copywriters, and anyone who builds web sites, to build a better web site, one that can be found through search engines and directories."
Does she succeed? Yes, she does.
Search Engine Visibility is well written an is easy to understand. Moreover, Thurow has achieved a good balance between detail and accessibility that makes this a good book for newcomers to the field of search engine marketing.
More seasoned search engine marketers will probably not find that many new tricks of the trade, but you never know. Shari Thurow is a well respected expert in the field of search engine friendly web design. She may have caught a few details other experts have missed. She certainly clarified a few points for us.
The book covers all the main areas of search engine marketing and web site design, including:
- How to optimize the text of web pages -- including keyword placement
- The link component
- Navigation schemes
- The popularity component and the quest for links
- How to solve problems following the use of javascripts, cascading style sheets, frames, Flash and dynamic web pages
- Pay per click and paid inclusion
- Search engine and directory submissions
- Spam
And that's not all. You will probably be able to find most of this information on the Web, but Thurow will certainly save you a lot of work. For a newcomer this is definitely a good place to start learning the ins and out of search engine oriented web design.
Shari Thurow: Search Engine Visibility, New Riders Publishing 2003, 206 pp, ISBN 0-7357-1256-5
Buy
this book from Amazon.com
Buy
this book from Amazon.co.uk
Search Engine Visibility companion site
Maximize Web Site Traffic
Streetwise Maximize Web Site Traffic by Robin Nobles and Susan O'Neil provides a step-by-step guide to search engine optimization, with detailed information on the major search engines.
We would not necessarily follow all their advice. We do not, for instance, agree with the idea of resubmitting Web pages regularly regardless of ranking or age. Still, the wealth of information makes this a very useful book. Beginners in the field of search engine promotion will find it particularly attractive.
Among the topics covered are:
- How to choose effective keywords
- Keyword weight
- Creating titles that command attention
- Tips for keyword meta tags
- Effective doorway pages
- Spam
Buy this book from Amazon.com
Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk
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