Search Engine Optimization for Dummies
Author: Peter Kent
PaperBack: 384 pages, $16.49
Published: April, 2004
First, let’s get the elephant out of the way. Why am I reading an SEO book for dummies. That’s a fair question but requires a bit of back history. Last year about this time I was asked to teach a four week workforce development course on online marketing at our local community college. Because I was responsible for developing all the materials I started working on a book to teach from. I knew this would pretty much be a beginner course so I went out and bought every book available at the time on online marketing and SEO. I used much of the information I read to help develop my outline. This ensured I would cover just about all of the basics.
SEO for Dummies was one of those books I purchases, but never got a chance to read before I had to start writing. It’s been on my bookshelf since then and pretty much lay at the bottom of the unread book pile. I finally decided to get it out of the pile and give it a read. While I wasn’t expecting to find anything new or particularly revealing here, I do like to read the work of others in my industry just to see what’s going on, how they write, how they present certain topics. This not only helps me improve my writing (I hope) but also helps to develop ways to tackle certain topics in a way that’s more readable to the layman. At least that’s what I tell myself!
Unfortunately, had I waited until now to buy this book I would have gotten the updated version, something this was in very bad need of. But that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy reading it. I’ve never put my eyes to the interior of a Dummy book before, but I did find the writing style to be quite easy to read and understand and it was actually kinda fun.
There is nothing here that is too complex for the SEO newbie or average business owner to understand and it seems that no essential element of SEO was left untouched. SEO for Dummies is full of practical tips, strategies and advice, all easily implementable by even the most novice of website owners. If you’ve been into SEO for even a little while this is probably not the book for you, but if you’re looking for a place to start and not knowing who to trust, pick up a copies of SEO for Dummies and let that be your starting point to get you going in the world of optimization.