Jill Whalen's book

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by Simon, Jun 5, 2005.

  1. #1
    Has anybody read "The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines"?

    I'm on a really tight budget and am wondering if anybody has any advice as to weather it is worth the money.

    Can anybody suggest anything that is well worth the spend and contains some really good tips that I won't find trawlling this forum?

    For example is 'SEO Book' worth the money? Or is are these guides written for total mivices?

    Any advice much appreciated. :)

    -s.
     
    Simon, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  2. Ajeet

    Ajeet Well-Known Member

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    #2
    In my very early days of SEO, I had purchased Nitty-Gritty. Like most other things, its value depends on how mush you already know. The book focuses mainly on on-page SEO and discusses many ways of including keyphrases on a page without making the copy read bad. Upon reading it, I found that it was not worth the money. I wish it were priced at $5 or something close to that.
     
    Ajeet, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  3. Simon

    Simon Peon

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    #3
    Cheers Ajeet,

    I think that is what I needed to hear.

    -s.
     
    Simon, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  4. Blogmaster

    Blogmaster Blood Type Dating Affiliate Manager

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    #4
    Honestly speaking, I personally would advice anyone new to seo to read thru the sections here at digitalpoint to get an idea on how to prioritize. Reading seo books seems tiring to me since a lot of the information provided does not really apply to the hurdles which you yourself may be facing down the road.
     
    Blogmaster, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  5. Simon

    Simon Peon

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    #5
    Cheers SiteTutor,

    The big hurdel I'm facing at the moment is the worth of submitting to hundreds of directories. I'm wondering if it is worth my time?

    -s.
     
    Simon, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  6. Blogmaster

    Blogmaster Blood Type Dating Affiliate Manager

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    #6
    IMO it is NOT unless they are really subject related and contain more content than simply a lot of pages with a lot of links.
     
    Blogmaster, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  7. Blogmaster

    Blogmaster Blood Type Dating Affiliate Manager

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    #7
    Don't get me wrong, I sometimes do submit to random directories like the ones people list here (btw check out the first post for DMOZ to get a good laugh :) )
     
    Blogmaster, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  8. Simon

    Simon Peon

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    #8
    I found a list of sites at seoroundtable : http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/001402.html

    You think I am wasting my time submitting to these even though they come up as backlinks?

    -s.
     
    Simon, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  9. Blogmaster

    Blogmaster Blood Type Dating Affiliate Manager

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    #9
    Those are really good and not a waste of time IMO. There are also good ones on some of the lists featured here .
    I am just saying, prioritize timewise. :)
     
    Blogmaster, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  10. frankm

    frankm Active Member

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    #10
    When you are just starting a site, submit your site to directories / lists / other sites that could give you traffic. That's what this whole SEO thing is about: getting the right people to visit your site.

    So submitting to random directories can be good, but start with the sites that are close to your subject and have REAL visitors. That'll give you backlinks, higher PR and visitors all at the same time :) works for me
     
    frankm, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  11. Blogmaster

    Blogmaster Blood Type Dating Affiliate Manager

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    #11
    True, and don't be afraid to pay a little bit either if you think the directory will generate you business (thru direct traffic alone). Search engine rankings should not be your primary focus, rather an indirect side-effect which kicks in as long as you do things right :)
     
    Blogmaster, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  12. Simon

    Simon Peon

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    #12
    Cool, sounds like the line about 'intent' being the most important thing.

    Just got a G api key and used the dp ranking tool. getting some visibility for secondary keywords, which is encouraging.

    Made my day actually. :)

    Thanks all for the sound advice.

    -s.
     
    Simon, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  13. NewComputer

    NewComputer Well-Known Member

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    #13
    Stay away from Jill Whalen... Anyone who is a self proclaimed bitch is not interested in helping you, but more so about helping themselves...

    She was one of the first real profiteers from SEO work, back when adding one additional keyword would move you to the top of an algorithm in it's infancy...

    You will learn much more here, and at a few other forums...
     
    NewComputer, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  14. Infiniterb

    Infiniterb Well-Known Member

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    #14
    I've learned more reading through this forum than I have from any book. It's also easier to ask questions here and get a wealth of feedback as opposed to reading a book, then re-reading the passage again because you don't understand it.
     
    Infiniterb, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  15. compar

    compar Peon

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    #15
    See this web site: http://www.the-seo-bitch.info/
     
    compar, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  16. Simon

    Simon Peon

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    #16
    lol, Ok thanks guys, I had know idea. I've been subscribed to her newsletter through work for about 6 months. I give it a quick read over but have not paid it whole lot of attention until now.

    Cheers.

    -s.
     
    Simon, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  17. NewComputer

    NewComputer Well-Known Member

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    #17
    NewComputer, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  18. dejaone

    dejaone Well-Known Member

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    #18
    interesting. A big question is how do we judge the qualification of a SEO professional. Most people would look at whether their site ranks well for "Search Engine Optimization", "SEO", or "link building". With google's aging delay and frequent algo change. Some lucky guy with a older website will popup on the first or second page on SEO. When SEOers are thinking they're gaming the google ranking systems, but Google can make a SEO experts over-night.

    I always thought this is one of ways that Google wants to screw up SEO. :)
     
    dejaone, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  19. compar

    compar Peon

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    #19
    I rank #1 in Yahoo for 'SEO Services" but only #15 on Google today. Was as high as #7 last week, but I don't think that is an adequate measure of an SEO person's ability. The real question is what have they done for their client's sites.

    In my case my SEO Services page is an internal page two levels down in a fairly large web site. http://www.compar.com/internet/seo.html I really haven't even tried to force it to the top of the heap on the search engines.
     
    compar, Jun 5, 2005 IP
  20. NewComputer

    NewComputer Well-Known Member

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    #20
    I don't rank anywhere in any search engines for anything related to SEO etc... but, I have helped a lot of people get into the top 10 for their terms. Someone can be decent at SEO and not have an SEO website...

    PS: I have started making one... ;)
     
    NewComputer, Jun 5, 2005 IP