SEO For Dummies - How much did I miss?

[CelestiaLegends]

Hey there ^_^

I've read SEO for Dummies, and thats about my background in SEO. I'm very interested in the field though, and I'm just a bit curious - what isn't covered in that book? Are there any major topics that were missed?

(Personally I found the book very informational and an easy read. Thats where I found the site too ^_^.)

[CaseyC]

I am in the same boat as you. I too have read the book, or most of it, and am curious what was left out. My bet will be that most will say it is a good starting point, but that it has left out a lot of details and intricacies.

I look forward to others responses.

[PhilC]

It's an impossible question to answer unless you've read the book, and it's probably that most people haven't read it. It may not be a matter of what's been left out - it may contain misinformation.

[lots0]

what isn't covered in that book?
Most all of the important stuff.

Books on SEO are fine if all you want to do is study history.

SEO is dynamic it changes everyday, sometimes every hour, what was good SEO when this book was written (even if it was only written a few months ago) may very well no longer be considered good SEO.

Like Phil, I have never read the book, I never have time to study history.

There is a LOT of flat out misinformation on SEO out there. A lot of people jumped up and wrote books after a few days of reading SEO forums, as a way to make money, not necessarily to help people rank their sites better. (not saying that this book is that way, I never read it)

This is a great place to ask questions about SEO, you may not always get just one answer though, cuz often in SEO there is more than one way to accomplish the same goal.

[CelestiaLegends]

Most all of the important stuff.

Books on SEO are fine if all you want to do is study history.

SEO is dynamic it changes everyday, sometimes every hour, what was good SEO when this book was written (even if it was only written a few months ago) may very well no longer be considered good SEO.

Like Phil, I have never read the book, I never have time to study history.

There is a LOT of flat out misinformation on SEO out there. A lot of people jumped up and wrote books after a few days of reading SEO forums, as a way to make money, not necessarily to help people rank their sites better. (not saying that this book is that way, I never read it)

This is a great place to ask questions about SEO, you may not always get just one answer though, cuz often in SEO there is more than one way to accomplish the same goal.

Thanks! That was definitely informational =)

How do you recommend someone learn SEO? I've never heard of a SEO class or an SEO certification. Are SEO Experts mostly self-claimed, or experts by peer-recognition? (If reading books isn't a good way, what sites or organizations would be good to learn from?)

Thanks ^_^

[PhilC]

Spend time reading in forums - especially forums that are not too big, and where threads don't grow to enormous (silly) proportions. This is a good place, and there are other suitable ones. Also, don't be afraid to ask about what you don;t understand - however basic you think it is. There are many people who are coming to seo for the first time, and the replies to those questions can ve very helpful to them as well as to you.

There are some useful articles out there, and probably some good ones on this site somewhere. Searching on things like 'search engine optimization basics' can turn up some useful stuff.

On the whole, SEOs are self-taught. We have learned by doing what I just suggested.

Don't be too influenced by reputations. Most of the most knowledgable people don't even show themselves, and they are strangers to everybody. Peer recognition is the reason for most reputations, and not necessarily expertise.

[lots0]

How do you recommend someone learn SEO?
I don’t recommend people learn SEO. I recommend that they hire a good established SEO/SEM.

SEO has become a rather complicated business, most average webmasters don’t have the time or resources (or NEED) to learn SEO. The best most webmasters can do is to learn how to make their pages and their site “Search Engine Friendly”.

I've never heard of a SEO class or an SEO certification. There are (or were) a couple of SEO classes being offered. In my opinion, the only real benefit you would receive from a class on SEO, is learning to make your pages and site “Search Engine Friendly”. Save your money, you can learn how to do that here.

Are SEO Experts mostly self-claimed, or experts by peer-recognition? There are no “SEO Experts”. If you see anyone claiming to be an “SEO Expert” run like hell and keep your hand on your wallet....

[PhilC]

LOL!!! But there *are* SEO experts.

Seo is very simple, and for most sites, only the basics are needed to get decent rankings. Paying for that basic knowledge isn't worthwhile, imo, because what is learned through paying, can be learned in a short space of time in forums and with articles.

Beyond that, the "expertise" starts. It starts with *good* keyword research, and goes all the way up to the expertise to get top rankings for very competitive searchterms. Along the way, it includes things like *good* internal linkages, *good* seo copywriting, and so on, and can reach into *good* multi-site strategies.

It's true that most of it is described as "search engine friendly" stuff, but a beginner isn't as able to do the friendly stuff as well as someone with experience - expertise.

[lots0]

CelestiaLegends, in my opinion, if you really want to learn SEO, figure out the question(s) you want an answer to, then research here and other respected sources of information for the answer to your question. If you can’t find an answer or find too many answers, open a thread here (or any respected SEO forum) and ask your question. Then when you still don’t have an answer or an answer you like, do your own research and testing to get your answer.

Beyond that, the "expertise" starts. It starts with *good* keyword research, and goes all the way up to the expertise to get top rankings for very competitive searchterms. Along the way, it includes things like *good* internal linkages, *good* seo copywriting, and so on, and can reach into *good* multi-site strategies. Ok Phil, I won’t use the word “good” in this context anymore, if you don’t. ;-)

Yup, SEO is simple, all it is, is just,
Keywords, content, code and navigation... :rolleyes:

[PhilC]

Yup, SEO is simple, all it is, is just,
Keywords, content, code and navigation... :rolleyes:There can be a lot more to it than that when the competition starts to get tougher.

[lots0]

Not the way I define “code and navigation”.

[PhilC]

Ok :rolleyes:

[seobook]

would just like to say that some seo / sem books are wrote in a manner to where they hold up well over time.

the SEO for Dummies book does have some good content about content creation and whatnot. it could discuss link popularity a bit more, but is by no means a bad book

Andrew Goodman's AdWords guide is good stuff.

some books are frequently updated too.

on any subject - especially one as dynamic as seo / sem - I doubt there is only one book that you read which will make you instantly able to know everything about the marketplace, but some of them will help lead you in the right direction.

sure SEO or marketing might not be for everyone, but many of the books I have read helped me learn a bunch. forums have also helped me as well

forums are not without problems though:
- flame wars
- owner biases. "this is ethical or that isn't fair" or the "buy my stuff syndrome"
- outdated threads
- abandoned communities
- advertising of products which may or may not be worth buying
- strict link policy OR people falsely recommending garbage for affiliate commission or personal profit
- people over emphasizing small details and leading readers of the thread to miss the big picture

any way you slice it / any way you learn you will probably make at least a few mistakes but learning from the mistakes of others without having to repeat them all yourself has some value to it.

of course having an SEO Book is a good portion of my business model, but it is usually best to use multiple sources of data to learn and there is also some value to a linear guide as a starting point.

I read lots of books. I read like 150 blogs. I read like a dozen forums. because they co exist I may be less likely to read some of the others as often, but I willl not immediately discount any of the data formats alltogether just because the others exist.

you still post and help a lot of people out Lots0, but most people with your knowledge and experience level are not so willing to help people. for every good forum thread on the web there are also many many bad ones.

[Nacho]

I read lots of books. I read like 150 blogs. I read like a dozen forums.
See, Aaron knows very well that old saying, "no one becomes successful working from 9 - 5".

Other tips, besides good reading which you will find in the Search Engine Marketing 101 (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=2086) thread, learn how to code HTML very well, to the point that it can pass validation tests. With no offense to anyone, because if you're here, you must likely have a notion of a clean-cut webpage. However, you have no idea how much noise (aka "garbage") the search engines see when crawling the web. When you stand out with clean code, you get rewarded.

After that, you will gain most of your results by doing SEO strategies, which is far from anything to do with whatever you do in the code. For example, finding creative ways to add rich content to your site without any copyright violation (ie. a food site might invite users to post recipes). Part of these strategies you will get from understanding your log files with a good web analytics software (I recommend Urchin, in process to be bought by Google - discussed here (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?threadid=4919)). As well as knowing how to become a popular site, so checkout the Link Building 101 (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=2616) thread as well.

Most of all, it will only be PRACTICE that will make you PERFECT. You need as much as you can of it, you can start doing that now by trial and error based on what you learn.

<added>Just noticed that was my 1,000th post :) </added>

[lots0]

some books are frequently updated too.
I was only talking about hard copy books that can’t be updated.

Something like your SEOBook is in such a format that you can update, add or remove data whenever the need arises, far superior to the old style hard copy books I was talking about.

Aaron, as far as I am concerned your stuff is one of those respected sources of information I spoke about.



abandoned communitiesouch


<added>
Congrats N!

[seobook]


I was only talking about hard copy books that can’t be updated.
I still think there is some value to some of those too... although many do tend to be quickly dated.

I think another thing that is often missed is that many webmasters think that all they need is SEO, and in many cases websites would be much smoother if people also looked at other topics too.

Something like your SEOBook is in such a format that you can update, add or remove data whenever the need arises, far superior to the old style hard copy books I was talking about.
I do think it makes it a lot easier if the book can learn and be changed as the field changes.
Aaron, as far as I am concerned your stuff is one of those respected sources of information I spoke about.
rock on with you. coming from you that means a bunch :)

Congrats Nacho

[creativecraig]

If you have your own site I would also say to test things out and practice, never take for granted what you read in a forum or blog, unless they can provide evidence - but giving away that sort of information can be gold dust.

Set up a test site and practice the different aspects of SEO that you read about, you will gain so much more than just reading.

My 2 cents :)

[Marcia]

Set up a test siteEven if they're not 100% for test, it can be so important so have some sites of your own to try new things with. I'm ripping one of my own completely apart and making multiple changes now for MSN, and I would NEVER do that with a site that wasn't my own.

Seo is very simple, and for most sites, only the basics are needed to get decent rankings.That's the truth. And a site or two of your own that you enjoy working on are probably the best way to start, particularly in less competitive areas, where it's easier to see what works and what doesn't with on-page optimization.