In other threads members have stated that SEO changes every day and therefore reading books about SEO isn't especially helpful. I would appreciate it if members would post what aspects of SEO changes every day. Those of us who are new to SEO could learn a lot from your comments regarding how SEO really works. Thanks a lot.
The finer points of SEO changes everyday but the fundamentals don't. Reading a good book on SEO will allow you to get the foundations you need to keep up with the changes, which is something I'm still trying to do.
SEO is all about performance within the search engine rankings. Sometimes it's the ranking algorithm that changes, sometimes it's new robots or different bot behaviors, sometimes it's new black hat ways of gaming the engines, etc. Because of the cryptic nature of the search algorithms, there are people discovering and debating new things every day. If you want to keep up with what's going on out there and don't want to read 50+ blogs and/or read the various forums everyday (*sadly I do*), I'd suggest reading Search Engine Roundtable, http://www.seroundtable.com/.
Are there any other resources that you'd recommend for SEO. I once came across a site that described that they tested with different sites constantly with only slight changes. Is there anyway to stay on top of the techniques like the SEO gurus do.
You need to keep experimenting basically...but the fundamentals are the same..concentrate on good links and good content and also on increasing revenuw..SEO is all good for sure (i mean it drives traffic) but also concentrate on what to do with the traffic. SEO changes a lot to weed out blackhat and so on..but if you focus purely on building repulatable sites with great content and links, you're usually in favor and updates work out to your best.
Starke i would like to know the link of that site you talk. In my opinion seo changes everyday, but there is a base that never changes (or at least changes not very often). Also i believe SEO is not such a crazy thing. If you know the base, is good, if you know more, obviously better. Agree with RH78.
bEvolution, I ran across it a while ago and didn't save the site. They basically offered a newsletter for 10 bucks a month that listed what they learned from seo... Now... I'd probably subscribe.
Thank you so much for all the replies. This is very helpful so I hope more people will add their comments for those of us who are learning.
SEO doesnt change at all... In fact I dont think SEO exists. It's common sense. Have a good idea that attracts users, publish good content, update frequently. In return you get plenty of backlinks which equals better rank in SERPS which obviously equals more traffic and the ability to motenize that traffic.
I know Aaron Wall updates his book as the SE's change ( www.seobook.com ). But like others have said, the fundamentals don't change.
The basics of SEO doesn't change, though from time to time the search engines only do updates on their algorithms.
Another way to pick up some tricks is to go to the SEO company sites, and look for their success stories. Check out what they've done to/for those sites, and learn from their example.
I believe as you have a quality site, quality traffic, and basic seo knowledge you don't need to sweat SEO as much as you think.
Many of you are making SEO sound a lot less complicated than some others have implied. Thank you, it helps.
Since people mentioned books.... any other advice on books here? Can you share the name of the book that you found really interesting and useful ?
I feel never discount the learning curve. SEO is an ongoing learning process and if your basics are strong you can improve yourselves over a period of time. I found one good book called SEO Tutor at DP. Its written by one of members. The fundamentals of SEO is not changed frequently. This is one of the good books I came across.
I like your philosophy -- in fact it comes very close to my own techniques that I've practiced successfully since '99. Several other effective ingredients we could add to your formula might be knowing what sells best on the Web, conversion strategies and strictly associating your website with other similar sites within its industry -- much as one would find books filed categorically in a library. Hey thanks sipltech! -- much appreciated.
IMO SEO is subject to the law of diminishing returns - as more people adopt any particular SEO tactic the returns from that tactic diminish over time (SE's are also adapting to trends in SEO). Hence the need for evolution in the SEO arena and the reason things do change. My favourite book is the Internet itself