August 15, 2004

SEO Book by Aaron Wall

Written by Brian Turner

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SEO Book by Aaron Wall

The Short Review:

Simply put, if you’re new to SEO, need to learn more about it, or generally want an introduction to search marketing, then SEO Book by Aaron Wall is the ideal primer.

It deals with the core fundamentals of SEO, and covers a range of issues from beginner to intermediate, and is is a simple, easy, yet very informative read.

The price? Well, if you apply any of his tips, you’ll probably save much more than that by avoiding key mistakes he comments on. Don’t think of it as “just a book”, but instead as necessary business invesment.

I certainly recommend “SEO Book” to anyone looking to read an authoritative introduction to search engine optimisation and marketing, in a book that is friendly and engaging and speaks from real commercial experience.

http://www.seobook.com

The Long in-depth Review

It’s a brave person indeed who dares to write a book about SEO. There are a handful of books already dominating the industry, by names such as, Mike Grehan, Shari Thurow, and Jill Whalen. Everything else just seems like flotsam in comparison. So how does Aaron Wall’s SEO Book fit in?

Aaron Wall’s rise to fame has been more than a little meteoric – originally a low-key marketing and SEO consultant, he attributes his first real attention to his article “When Google Cancelled Christmas”, which was written contemporaneously with the immediate fallout of the notorious November 16th Google Update: Florida.

Since then, Aaron has really dug his heels into the SEO industry, and is now a moderator on SEO and Google issues at v7n and SearchGuild; as well as his being a frequent (and thought-provoking) poster at the Search Engine Watch forums.

Primarily, though, Aaron has also turned his SEO Book website, seobook.com into a widely read blog commentary on SEO industry news.

So how does his actual “SEO Book” read?

Structure

The book is effectively structured into 3 sections:

1. basic marketing and web development,
2. pure Search Engine Optimisation,
3. Pay Per Click

The marketing section opens up, and Aaron immediately shows us he’s a Seth Goldin disciple, enthusing with confidence over key, basic, and fundamental marketing angles, that are so easily overlooked.

There’s a sudden lack of confidence on the web development pages, though, and the book starts to read a little clumsy in parts – not least that he references a few bits of code in HTML 4.0 rather than XHTML 1.0 (something probably to be corrected in later editions, before the Design Police crucify him :) ).

It also can’t help that Aaron is basically covering basic marketing and web development is less than 20 narrow pages. But the basic points are made: the primary purpose of a commerce site is to convert visitors into sales, and Search Engine Optimisation essentially arises from web accessibility.

Then Aaron gets into Search Engine Optimisation proper, and deals with topics with specific reference to Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Teoma. He also mentions other search engines, but tries to address most points specifically with regards to these four market giants (or, 3 giants and 1 stable smaller market share).

The general content is pretty sound, and Aaron tries to back up comments with observations. He also makes sure to show the reader that he’s writing from real experience (which in SEO, is the most valuable asset of all).

There are a few points I’d contest, not because I think he’s wrong, as much as there are sometimes wider arguments to be made. But overall the pages on Search Engine Optimisation itself hold strong and fast, and are obviously written by someone who has real knowledge and real experience of SEO, rather than the general regurgitation of “facts” that can often fill SEO forums.

The following and final section deals with PPC – Pay Per Click – and how to use this not simply to your advantage, but also with regards to maximising your returns. He makes key points of how it can often be better to be a cost-effective second, than a loss-leading first, and firmly makes the point of targeting specific users, rather than general search terms.

Criticisms

The single big criticism is that I would personally have liked to have seen more coverage of wider issues of search engine theory. Not least, specific issues – such as comments on published search engine papers and patents, as well as issues of future development in SEO. However, it is both a credit – as well as limitation – that Aaron has kept to the basic concerns of *now*, rather than possibly distract from that important foundation with contentious speculation.

Another possible criticism is that there was a little affiliate marketing in a couple areas of the copy I had. Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong with that, and although Aaron is general pretty open about the whole affiliation process, it does sometimes spoil the objectivity of it all. EDIT: Aaron is removing affiliate links from later editions of the book.

Positivisms

The one resounding message that comes through the book is that SEO isn’t about having pages on search engines – it’s about specific targeting of consumer markets, all in a way to maximise revenue.

It is a fact of SEO that a lot of people working on optimisation forget this essential part of the process – and that SEO is ultimately for human visitors, rather than search engines spiders – and that when you target human visitors, you do so to get them to convert into some form of profit, through direct sales of services and/or products, or click-through marketing.

It is from this backdrop of sales and marketing that Aaron pushes SEO Book, and he constantly affirms this message throughout his examples, and confidently expounds upon the marketing points and purposes of the entire SEO process.

General Comment

The book itself is written for the “beginner” through to “intermediate” user. That means if you’re relatively new to commercial SEO then SEO Book will provide a sound and accessible “no bull” foundation for you to work from.

For the more advanced commercial optimiser, SEO Book is a general jaunt through the essential basics. In that regard it provides an often pleasant reminder of key points, and there is little to really contest or quibble about.

Overall

Really, this really isn’t a “SEO Book” but instead, “Introduction to SEM Book”, as the marketing element of SEO is a prime consideration here. And that’s a good thing.

Overall, though, I did like this work. If you are entering commercial SEO, or simply working on hobby sites, SEO Book works as an excellent primer on the core foundations of SEO that you’ll need to familiarise yourself with. In that regard, if you’re looking for search engine traffic, then SEO Book is almost certainly a sound business investment.

Available at: http://www.seobook.com

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