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Mike
04-07-2005, 09:11 AM
...to SitePoint's new search engine marketing guide? I'm just reading the sample chapters at the moment.

http://www.sitepoint.com/books/sem1/

Mike

MarkB
04-07-2005, 10:50 AM
Had my boss order it on Friday when we got our previous-customer email about it :) Can't wait!

Chris
04-07-2005, 11:45 AM
Dan is a good guy and I respect his opinion, but I haven't read it. I honestly can't imagine it being worth the price tag.

Cutter
04-07-2005, 12:20 PM
It might not be worth that much to us, but if you don't know anything about search engine marketing then it definately should be. The amount of time I've spent learning about search engines exceeds 500 hours in the past year.

chromate
04-07-2005, 12:50 PM
I haven't read all of that first chapter either. But what I have read does look good. It seems very detailed which is nice if you have a general interest in search engines beyond just wanting certain pages to rank well.

But in terms of just getting a page to rank better in the SERPs, there isn't actually that much you need to know. Which begs the question, is it worth the cost to buy the book, or should newbies just look on websites such as this to get started? I think I would still advise someone to look around the internet and follow advice given in SEO forums.

The $150 worth of advertising probably makes the price worth it for people without existing adwords accounts though.

Blue Cat Buxton
04-07-2005, 01:08 PM
The $150 worth of advertising probably makes the price worth it for people without existing adwords accounts though.

The third $50 voucher is only valid if you add $100 to the account at the same time, but I agree the $150 free advertising is what would make it attractive to me.

That said, $197 is a lot less than some other 'guru' how to guides sell for, and the Sitepoint book probably has much more value than a lot of those offer. (not that I have bought either :)

James
04-07-2005, 03:29 PM
Dan is a good guy and I respect his opinion, but I haven't read it. I honestly can't imagine it being worth the price tag.
I've heard that about most of the SP books from various people...

I also agree that since search engines change all the time, you need something that also changes all the time--unlike books, the information you find online is almost always current in regards to SEO. The same basic rules have always applied though.

paul
04-07-2005, 03:40 PM
You have to wade through a lot of garbage to find the good stuff online. Especially when you are just starting out, it is hard to tell which posters are worth paying attention to. The price is more than I want to spend, but for someone starting out, it might be worth it to come up to speed in a quick and organized manner.

chromate
04-08-2005, 01:33 AM
I've heard that about most of the SP books from various people...

Yeah, I've said the same about Kevin Yank's original PHP/MySQL book in the past. I think it's the nature of the topics they're dealing with though. Techy information is so easily found in a techy environment - where it's free - the internet :)

I bet they rake in SO much money from their catalog of books though. Good on 'em.

MarkB
04-08-2005, 01:44 AM
All the books I've bought from Sitepoint have been worth the money (I've bought the Web Dev Business kit - which made its money back with out first client - as 5 others). We bought the SEM kit purely for the 'SEO as business' advice and PPC advice it contains. It will make its money back, a few times over, with the first client as well.

For the solo web developer who just wants to get his pages ranked, then it's probably not worth it. But for web developers who do work for other people on a continual basis, this kit will come in very handy IMO.

Mike
04-08-2005, 02:41 PM
What was the web dev kit like Mark?

MarkB
04-08-2005, 11:22 PM
Perfect, if you're running a web design business and don't have a solid marketing plan. It helped us develop our marketing, and also our proposal process. :)

Mike
04-09-2005, 08:16 AM
Do you think it would work for another type of web dev business, like programming? Or is it specifically for design?

Thanks :)

MarkB
04-09-2005, 08:58 AM
If you're marketing services, then it is worth it. It basically covers how best to market yourself in a value/service-based market. :)

MarkB
04-12-2005, 09:05 AM
Just an update for those who're interested: the kit is (in my mind) well worth the money. If you're somewhat of an SEO expert like Chris, then perhaps it wouldn't be worth the investment - however, if he decided to market his SEO skills more, and wanted to do the whole SEO Consultant thing, then perhaps he (or others like him) would find the tools/templates on the CD-Rom worth it.

As a web developer whose clients are always looking for SEO work, then this is going to make back its money quite easily :)

Mike
04-12-2005, 12:17 PM
Oooo, sounds good Mark. Think I may get it when I have some spare time (and maybe the price comes down)...

MarkB
04-13-2005, 12:53 AM
Mike, in a month or so contact Sitepoint to see if they have any returned copies selling at a reduced price. That's how I bought my copy of the Web Biz kit cheap (not super-cheap, but at a decent discount).

Mike
04-13-2005, 07:55 AM
May do that, thanks Mark :)