Book Review: Search Engine Visibility

January 22nd, 2005

A Review of Shari Thurow’s Book, Search Engine Visibility

If you have a product or service to sell online, the most important competitive advantage you can leverage is carefully targeted content. It is not glitzy advertising or high-tech design techniques using the latest technology though I am convinced that this too is important. Shari Thurow’s book, Search Engine Visibility, is a reference book that I constantly turn to as I plan each new web site’s architecture and content.

As a consumer of web design services and possibly of web content services provided by a writer, you may benefit from reading this book prior to hiring a design firm. Ultimately, you will own and benefit from your web site. It is best that you have a clear plan in mind for the content you wish to deliver to your customers or clients. Much of this book is directed specifically to web designers, but there some key concepts of which I want my clients to be aware.

Shari does an excellent job of analyzing the foundation of a successful web site. There are basically three components of this success:

The text component includes the selection of relevant keywords and how to structure your web site around those keywords and phrases via natural themes extracted during your research. It also includes the placement of keywords and correct usage of title and Meta tags.
The link component is largely related to your web site’s architecture, or the way pages and folders on your site relate to each other via navigation hyperlinks. Shari discusses best practices that increase a web site’s usability from the standpoint of search engines and of site visitors alike.
The popularity component refers to the importance assigned to your web site by search engines. A more popular web site will appear above less important sites in a search engine’s results. This component is affected by how well you and your web designer have implemented the other two components, but also is highly influenced by incoming links from other web sites. Some of the most important incoming links come from web directories such as Yahoo!, Looksmart, and the Open Directory.

Though I rarely recommend a book wholeheartedly to my clients and peers, this volume definitely makes the cut. It surpassed my expectations and I have seen results by following Shari’s sage advice. While room remains for more in-depth books on this topic or on related sub-topics, this book is an excellent introduction to search engine visibility.

Title: Search Engine Visibility, First Edition
Author: Shari Thurow
Publisher: New Riders Publishing
ISBN: 0735712565
Date: January 2003
Format: Paperback
Pages: 297
Cover Price: USD: $29.99 CDN: $46.99 UK: �23.50