Search Patterns

A guest posting today from Mark Walsh, as I am in a dentist chair in West London having some extensive work done. I've asked Mark to provide a review of Search Patterns by Peter Morville and Jeffery Callender:

Search Patterns is definitely as book for those who have a genuine interest in the subject rather than just a curiosity as it is very specific on the one subject matter, and at times does require some concentration to digest the content.

The book initially covers how search plays a part in our lives regardless of whether we use the internet or not. Although it’s an eye opener and good background, this does seem to continue for too long and I was left wondering when the book would really get started.

The book comes to life more once different search terms and results are covered and at this stage I did feel I was either learning, or having things pointed out to me that I already knew but had not necessarily observed consciously.

Mobile phones are covered extensively throughout the book and importance is iterated regarding aspects such as how search fields need to have suggested search to minimise use of the keypad, and search result pages have to cater for the smaller screen.

I do find that now when I use search, I am not just looking at the results but thinking much more about the types of results I am being presented with, the content in the result, what images or social network links I am also being presented with, and the page layout presented to support the device I am using to search with.

Mark Walsh is consultant Retail Systems Business Analyst and Test Manager, who is currently working alongside me on an eCommerce project for a major high street retailer.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/markwalsh99

Quoted by Blogging to Drive Business book

Arriving in cardboard and plastic wrapping this weekend just gone was my copy of 'Blogging to Drive Business' book by Eric Butow and Rebecca Bollwitt.

I was lucky enough to review a preview version of this book a few months ago after I was asked to write a review of it.

Upon opening it, there are a number of quotes about the book on the inside pages, including mine :-)

"Blogging to Drive Business is a no-nonsense and practical guide for who have yet to embark on the road to enhanced corporate communications. It explains why, who, what & how to start and maintain a valuable connection with your customers via this engaging medium. "

Are you an SEO Warrior?

I've recently been sent O'Reilly's SEO Warrior book to review. However, due to my current work load, I've not been able to spend the time to fully read and digest the book to be able to review it. I've also been spending a fair amount of time reading up on SEO recently, so wanted to take a fresh approach to this book that would give it a fair chance.

I therefore asked James Cole, an eCommerce analyst looking to expand his knowledge in the Search Engine Optimisation arena, to read and review it (and in return I would publish it here and let him keep the book).

SEO Warrior sets out to be a comprehensive guide to all the facets of modern SEO, from which search engines matter and why, to Robots Exclusion Protocol and the minutia of XML sitemaps.

To do this it covers a lot of very in depth technical details about site design, construction and code which requires a very good grasp of these areas, but this knowledge is rewarded with plenty of examples and large appendices of scripts to show how to create what is being described.

However, rather than just dealing with the site technicalities of SEO, where SEO Warrior really sets itself apart is by taking a much wider view of the subject. It does this by including chapters on best practice from the first realisation of the need for a site, long before any code is written (and also long after, as it heavily emphasises the long term benefits of good SEO). Covering themes like domain name and hosting options, site structuring, keyword research, competitor analysis, guidelines for content, search engine spam and the latest SEO issues gives the reader an idea of the bigger picture and where their site can fit into it.

So whilst it has fairly high prerequisites to get the most out of its depth, it’s the breadth of topics covered that makes SEO Warrior an invaluable resource for anyone looking to improve their understanding of what can be an arcane subject at times.

Thanks James