2 posts tagged “search engine optimization”
The next book I've decided to profile is Search Engine Optimization: An Hour A Day by Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin.
I'm digging this book because it is easy to read, clear and really highlights the importance of Search Engine Marketing. At the same time, much like the Moran and Hunt book, these authors get it! The Search and Internet Marketing world is changing faster than the traditional publishing world can keep up. So, these authors have a Website at http://www.yourseoplan.com. Not only does this site work to promote their book, it also provides articles and resources that are useful and keep things current.
There is a great overview and then the authors break it all down. What steps do you take and when do you take them, and most importantly...WHY?
I'll be using excerpts from this book in my Internet-based Marketing class next week because our topic is SEO. We've covered analytics and PPC, we've moved quickly through RSS, Blogs, e-mail newsletters, social networking and mobile marketing with an emphasis on how this helps the natural search rankings. Now its time to really get into how all this helps. This book provides the context and the writing style that is real, clear and easy to apply to other businesses. It's a winner for sure!
This week I begin a listing of a series of books that I think are really important for Internet Marketing if you want to keep up!
I begin with Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to your Company's Web Site by Mark Moran and Bill Hunt.
Why do I like the book by Moran and Hunt? Well, it's thorough for one. It provides a host of information on this ever changing field. It is topical in approach and right from the start highlights why this field is so challenging. At the same time, it highlights not just the how-to of search, but it also gets into the challenges marketers face when trying to operationalize a search marketing effort.
Mostly, however its kept up to date through Moran's blog and his website at mikemoran.com.
Here's a listing of recent topics from his blog which highlight why it is so important to keep up. Multivariate Testing, Web Analytics Success, and Metrics-based Web Search are just a few of the recent postings in the blog.
So as a professor, if I use this book as a supplement in my class or recommend it to my Marketing and e-Business students, there is a place to go for them to stay on top of things when the book becomes out of date.
I HATE telling students to not pay attention to something in a text -- especially in this field -- because it hurts my credibility -- and the book's credibility.
So can I use this book in my Internet Marketing class? Yes I can. Will I? Well that decision won't be made until the summer when I once again take a hard look at the course and turn it inside out and upside down. It's a summer tradition with our Internet Marketing class at Champlain and is the only way we can keep it current.
There's a lot to teach in 15 weeks to Business, e-Business, International Business, Marketing, Multi-media and Graphic design, and PR students. SEM is just one aspect of a course that covers topics that include usability, ethics, SEO, SEM, Web Analytics, AdWords, social networking, RSS, Blogging, online visibility...and how to do this for a REAL client.
