[ page last updated: Aug. 07, 2005. ]
In an attempt to wade through all the junk sites that pretend to talk about search engine optimization, i’ve started a small list of sites that actually discuss the topic in an intelligent way, contributing something valuable to the debate, and don’t just try to sell you something. I will try to keep this list short, and up to date, so check back occationally.
- Search Engine Roundtable
- Organic SEO Wiki
- WebmasterWorld
- Digital Point Forum (thanks Martin)
- HighRankings Forum
- Search Engine Watch
- Google Summaries ( Vaughn Aubuchon )
Most of these sites just monitor current trends, overall activity, and marketing theories. They tend to look at the bigger search engines like google, yahoo, and msn and their associated technologies. Many experienced (resisted the urge to say ‘seasoned’) SEO experts cluster around these sites, which makes their forum sections especially valuable for learning about the topic in general.
Additional articles and information:
These sites were once in the “little list” but have fallen from grace..
They remain here mostly because they still have something useful to add, but may not be as completely dedicated to the subject.
Comments 20
Good list, and I’d add to that the Digital Points Forum – http://forums.digitalpoint.com/ – I just came across it yesterday and I reckon it’s one of the best forums I’ve come across in a long time.
Posted 17 Jul 2005 at 8:00 pm ¶Discussing (=’speculating about’ in the SEO world) trends, events and findings is one thing, understanding the basics of SEO is another story. You should add links leading to serious SEO articles as well. You can start here and follow the links then: http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/web-links.htm?node=141
Posted 18 Jul 2005 at 9:26 am ¶I agree with you Sebastian -
Posted 19 Jul 2005 at 1:11 pm ¶it’s almost as if you need to be exposed to all the hype before you can actually tell what is truely valuable info.
in the end though, it all comes full circle, and it’s back to basics.
>contributing something valuable to the debate, and don’t just try to sell you something.
What is the difference between selling you something directly and a site that publishes my articles and then sells advertisements to people like me which later try to sell you something? This question comes from a person who has had their content published on or paid $$$ to advertise on most of the sites on that list (some sites, such as ISEDB, both sell me ads and publish my articles).
And as far as not trying to sell you anything goes, not all profits are in terms of dollars. I usually prefer links to dollars myself. Look at the top post on that RealSEO site, it’s an affiliate link to a cooperative link building network which builds link credits for the person mentioning it. But then again I only recently interviewed the guy who created that link network, my site must be crap because it sells something.
A few sites that should be on any such short list:
searchenginewatch.com
searchengineguide.com
threadwatch.org
Of course, those sites do sell ad space.
Labor of love is cool, but it is even cooler to get paid doing what you like.
Posted 27 Jul 2005 at 2:25 am ¶ah, where to begin.. (that’s some lighting fast posting by the way. all i did was get some coffee)
“contributing something… and don’t just try to sell..” ==> i guess i was a bit vague on this one (i’ll probably clean up this statement). it’s just that the are so many sites that use ads in an aggressive manner, popups, content buried in a sea of ads (that sort of thing). this makes it very hard to compile a strong set of sites for later reference. that is why i started this list.
i guess i’m looking for balance. lots (if not most) sites have some kind of ad content, this site will probably have google ads soon too. but the issue for me isn’t ads, it’s intent. if the site has ads but i feel like they want me to see the main content first, that’s good. otherwise, i’m probably not going to stick around. My twisted logic: if the site is so worried about making money that it seems desperate (for me to accidentally click), how can i trust that they know anything about SEO?
anyway, to address your earlier question (my opinion), i don’t mean to distiguish between a site that is “selling you something directly and a site that publishes… then sells..” and all possible combinations in between. although i believe a site owner is both responsible for the ads they put on their site as well as the sites they choose to sell their articles to. instead i’m looking for depth, details, and value. (ie: if someone has sold their article to a site that features a million ads, i’ll probably just look for the original source of the content and link to the author’s site – which is probably what the author wants anyway)
on a side note, it’s funny you should mention ISEDB and RealSEO. i just bumped ISEDB from the list to make room for Vaughn’s site. i was going to bump RealSEO but i didn’t. the problem is that as i add sites to the list, the good one’s get harder and harder to compare side-by-side. i didn’t just want to make the list longer, but i’m sure there are many more sites worth listing. i will definitely check out the 3 sites you recommended (thanks aaron) as soon as i get a chance.
(/end coffee.)
Posted 27 Jul 2005 at 3:52 am ¶>but the issue for me isn’t ads, it’s intent.
that is hard to judge, and sometimes the best ads do not even register as being ads (that is why Google offers text ads on Google.com – many people do not recognize them as being ads. until I started learning about search engines I didn’t)
some sites, like SearchEngineWatch or SearchEngineGuide, have a ton of ads because there content is so good that many people want to advertise there. sure their needs to be some balance, but I guess what I have learned is that you can’t tell a lot about the quality of the information based just on the ads displayed. sometimes it takes a while to figure out what is best, etc
>i believe a site owner is both responsible for the ads they put on their site as well as the sites they choose to sell their articles to.
If you publish Google AdWords on your site you will soon be publishing ads outside of your control, including search spam software, site submission scam services, and lots of other rip offs. Google does allow you to make a negative ad display list to block certain sites, but that has a limit of 200 URLs, and that will proably not be enough to filter out all the crap.
The PageRank meter at the bottom of the page provides a static link into the site where the image comes from, effectively working as a PageRank hoarding scheme.
Posted 27 Jul 2005 at 5:28 am ¶Very nice! I’m putting you at my favourits. Soft voice over the net: http://home.usefulnewsonline.com/36/home-and-garden-accessories-home-gyms/ , Revelations of John
Posted 21 Sep 2005 at 1:17 pm ¶I like the list of sites you have chosen, I know all of these companies and they are all really good, though I wish my SEO site http://www.minnesota-seo-company.com was listed as well even though it is a new site but again good list good companies.
Posted 05 May 2006 at 6:57 pm ¶hi jason,
thanks for the kind words..
Posted 06 May 2006 at 1:03 pm ¶i checked out your site and it looks like you’re off to a good start.
i think your design is chill, soothing.
let me know if there are any articles in particular you’d want me to read.
but, as the title of this post suggests, this is a short list..
so, if i add your site to the list, it would likely result in somebody else’s site getting bumped.
still, i would like to keep this list current – so all suggestions (for sites) are welcome.
Hi, Nice list you have…
Please check our website (http://www.neuroseoservices.com) if you can include it in this list.
Thanks & Regards,
Posted 31 Jan 2008 at 1:44 am ¶Amit Verma
hi Amit,
thanks for checking out the site..
unforetunately, this is a list of sites that provide infomation on SEO best practices and does not include any links to sites that provide commercial SEO services.
but, hey, here’s a free SEO tip for ya..
Posted 31 Jan 2008 at 3:37 am ¶next time, maybe use a little basic html to link up the reference to your website. more people are likely to visit it that way. ;)
Its nice to see there are sites that stay away from commercial intentions and providing valuable insights. Commercial sites, most of the time, are frowned upon. Maybe because internet started as an information sharing mechanism rather than with commercial intent.
Posted 27 Aug 2008 at 11:09 am ¶Really if these sites have rich content and hight quality.
Posted 28 Apr 2009 at 12:59 am ¶Nice info for seo, thanks.
Posted 18 Jul 2009 at 11:54 am ¶Thanks for this, nice blog. Take a look at ours for more SEO tips.
Posted 03 Aug 2009 at 11:02 am ¶SEO Junkies
Thanks for posting. This is just what I was looking for.
Posted 25 Aug 2009 at 3:56 am ¶These are all great SEO sites, especially the forums you listed. I hadn’t yet found a few of these and bookmarked immediately. Thanks for sharing the knowledge my SEO bro.
Posted 19 Oct 2009 at 6:00 pm ¶Good list for seo, thanks.
Posted 01 Nov 2009 at 5:43 am ¶Thanks for the post, it was useful for us.
Posted 05 Jan 2010 at 2:41 am ¶Oilchange.com is Toronto, Canada based web design and web development company offering search engine optimization (SEO), PPC, web design and web development services
Posted 10 Jun 2010 at 5:58 am ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 1
118 Google SEO Factors
Despite the colorful design this post by Vaughn Aubuchon is extremely rich in listing the factors that can positively and negatively influence your sites Google search engine optimization or SEO. This could come in handy in attempting to optimize your
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