SEO Fitness Workbook: The Seven Steps to Search Engine Optimization

My Review: The 1-sentence version: This book, which is written by Professor Jason McDonald, is the ultimate all-in-one SEO Search Engine Optimization book that can and does over-deliver. My Review: The full version: This book, which is written by Professor Jason McDonald, is a book that I got so much out of that you won’t believe how much I have got out of it. All right, it is not that insane. But, if we are going back to, say, 3 years ago, and someone told me that in the next 3 years, I will not only make my main site rank on Google’s 1st page of search results, not only make more than 0 transactions of the new patented product that I invented, but make half of all my transactions with clients who discovered me by landing on my main site, and most of whom are clients from the United States, I’d think that that is a naively optimistic prediction. And yet, here we are. To be sure, I’ve already made more than 0 transactions with my clients before I started reading this book. What makes this book helpful for me is that after I have just slightly implemented the principles in this book, my main site now ranks on the 1st page of Google – often in the top 3 positions – for most of my target keywords. Then, my main site began to bring in so many more clients for me that they now account for half of all my clients. Not only that, this main site of mine is now becoming one of the factors that bring me new job opportunities. So, let’s dig into this book. To read this book, we’ll basically need to first figure out “Well, what do we mean by Search Engine Optimization”. That would be in the 1st chapter of the book. Here are some of the other topics in this book: 1. Target keywords. 2. On-Page SEO. 3. Off-Page SEO. 4. Content SEO. 5. Metrics-which includes Google Analytics. Now, after I read some books from Professor Jason McDonald for the 1st time, I reached out to contact him. And then, I actually got replies from him. This is another thing about him: Of all the books of which I have read and have sent out messages to the authors, only about 1/3 of the authors replied to me, and Professor Jason McDonald is one of them. As he was replying to my messages, he was inviting me to the Social Media Marketing course that he offers @Stanford. That was such a huge opportunity for me – especially back then. The next thing you know, I finished the Social Media Marketing course that took place between October and December in 2020 @Stanford. The next thing you know, in 2021, I finished the SEO Search Engine Optimization course that was offered by him that took place between March and May @Stanford. As you probably have guessed, I do, in fact, highly recommend all of the books that are written by Professor Jason McDonald.

The book has a lot more info than just SEO. Most people with no experience in SEO may find the prospect of delving into the subject a bit daunting however this is not the case with the SEO Fitness Workbook . The analogies help a lot and are very easy to relate to with access to tutorials, free tools, templates for your own SEO project. I was nervous that SEO would be too difficult to understand without strong computer skills but this book is written in plain English and lays out SEO in a simple form so all us Newbies can understand and implement the knowledge learnt into our businesses . After you have learnt the basics and followed the rules as laid out in the SEO Fitness Workbook, you’ll become confident in ensuring your website communicates effectively to Google and to Humans as these are two very important criteria need to be included in your plan in order to be successful in SEO. Well worth the the purchase.

I needed help understand our SEO and I needed it in terms that I could understand. This book is perfect for me! Not only can I understand it, I appreciate that in the kindle version there are links directly to material that pertain to what Mr. McDonald is discussing. (In the printed version the links are written out, so you can also follow along). Not only has the book been incredibly helpful, but I had a question, and taking Mr. McDonalds advice to not be afraid to contact him, I sent him an email and within 48 hours he had responded to my question. I have never had that happen before, where I have contacted the author of a book and actually had them respond, so the fact that he is willing to go above and beyond even after the sale is amazing!

Book was a gift to an employee. Got no feedback.

I’m a small shop owner with an e-commerce website that I update on my own. Ive read quite a few SEO books and none compared to this book.. ever!! I was able to understand what I needed to do from this workbook. I have no background in any of this things and the simple terms that Jason used within the book and explaining the what and why and how was so refreshing. Although i have more reading and learning to do... i was already able to get my website in google searches with just a few things i did. I highly recommend this book to small business owners that does not have their in home web developers/tech!!

I am just starting out on my SEO journey, but I have already learned so much! I am starting to see where the issues in are my company's website. I am also gaining the confidence to be able to work with a web designer and really understand what I want out our website and how to use SEO to get us there! I also want to say that I had a very simple question which I emailed to Jason, and I was actually surprised that not only did he reply, but he replied quickly and with helpful information. To be fair in this review, this book is not the "easy road" to SEO success, but I feel like I am understanding the information to at least be able to confidently manage our digital marketing efforts.

This book is excellent and will give you a serious leg up in your online marketing efforts if you follow all the advice, which is laid out in an easy-to-follow "step" approach. I loved the plain-language style where the author avoids overwhelming you with SEO jargon, plus all the analogies he uses to make the concepts concrete (I will always think of SEO like looking for a job now). There are links throughout to worksheets and other free resources, which is really generous and represents a great value. There's some humour in here as well, and a couple of the jokes actually made me laugh out loud (never thought that'd happen reading a book on SEO). Buy this book if you have any interest in the "free marketing" that SEO offers (as you should if you're a business person!). It's an enjoyable and informative read and will serve as an amazing reference thereafter.

As an affiliate marketer, I am finding this book invaluable. For starters, I love the way Jason writes and I really like all the analagies he uses throughout the book to make the topic of SEO more accessible and meaningful. When you look at SEO in this way, it becomes less daunting, and you realize that you've been overthinking it and overanalysing it for fear of getting it wrong. The analagies that Jason uses make complete sense and when you approach your website and SEO like a real business, especially if you're an affiliate marketer, then you see things in a whole new light. Jason explains the common misconceptions about SEO, but highlights the important aspects of it, the do's and the don't, and for those who love visual aids, he links out in important sections to very helpful videos and tools. This really helps to explain things further so that you get a real sense of the whole SEO picture coming together. The SEO Fitness Workbook comes with Worksheets and action steps you really should take heed of and take, because then and only then, will you truly understand each piece of the SEO puzzle and how it all fits neatly together to help your business stand out from the crowd. With so much mis-information out there at present, Jason's SEO Fitness Workbook is a really breath of fresh air and I have it constantly open as my go-to reference guide while working on websites. It is the only complete guide I've been able to find, that covers every single aspect of SEO and explains it in a way that any lay person can understand. Plus, as another reviewer mentioned, Jason does include some humor, which makes learning about a topic like SEO all the more bearable and even fun at times! If like me, you have been finding the whole topic of SEO rather daunting, do yourself a favor and check out Jason's workbook. I sincerely doubt you'll be disappointed. Very grateful to Jason McDonald for writing such a detailed SEO resource. He truly is an SEO expert and I'm thrilled to be learning from him.

Bella

I've just finished summarizing the book and I'm amazed how many new connections I now understand. My absolute favorite part of the book is where he compares tags with poker cards (ace = title tag, queen = image alt-text, etc.). That’s awesome! What I found most helpful part for my own business is where he explains the "perfect" SEO structure for a website (landing pages around core keywords). It feels like a slap in the face when I look at my current website... but now I'm motivated to give more thought to my own structure. My favorite quote is this: "There aren't a thousand ways to an SEO-friendly website. There's just ONE way!" All in all, I really enjoyed reading his book. There were several parts where I just couldn't put the book down because it was so interesting and exciting. Great job!

SEO is long term. It requires some work, but in the end you'll get beautiful results. And this is the book that got me motivated. Written in an enthusiastic way as in his video's.