Book Review – How to Build Traffic to Your Website
Whenever I find a book about getting traffic to websites, it piques my interest. It does this for two reasons. The first is I may learn a new technique or two for generating traffic. The second reason is I can let me readers know about it. When I saw this book on how to build traffic, I had to stop and read it.
My initial assessment is that I am underwhelmed. The book is well-written and even current in its content. However, it has some shortcomings that will be covered in this review. You will see why I gave the book a three-star rating.
Author: Jim Lewis
In the Digital World, the Bar Has Been Raised High
When you write a book on any subject related to digital marketing, it has to stand out and be spectacular. Many authors have written books over the years related to digital marketing and there are some that are outstanding.
Authors may get away with not writing a spectacular book when something fundamental changes in the industry and they are the first to write about it. And that certainly happens frequently. However, this book fails on both levels. It doesn’t stand out, and there is no fundamental change that people need to be aware of.
It’s likely the author published this book to use as part of a lead generation strategy. There is nothing wrong with this, by the way. It’s a valid means to gain clients by either giving away a book or to sell it cheap enough to attract buyers and cover some of the costs of the promotion.
However, the subject matter needs to live up to a higher standard than the level that this book was written. I can’t help but wonder who the author was targeting with this book. If he is going after intermediate bloggers, he should be prepared to get dinged with reviews stating the book contains nothing new. And these marketers would be within their right to leave such reviews.
On the other hand, if this book is meant for complete newbies in the digital marketing space, the book will teach high-level concepts. But, these newbies will be unable to create traffic from the information contained in the book. They will have much more to learn before they see results from the strategies. They will not be able to go from theory to practical application without more instruction.
The author may feel I am being too critical for a book that costs 99 cents. If the category was anything other than a topic in the digital marketing space, I may agree. As mentioned, however, the bar has been set high in this field.
Amazon Is Seen By Everyone
While the author is within his right to use the book as a lead generation mechanism, publishing it on Amazon subjects the book to serious criticism. Other reviewers may not likely be as gentile in their assessment. Perhaps I’ll be proven wrong. I love to see authors succeed as I am part of that group. But, I owe my readers a truthful review.
Guest Post Swapping - Bad Idea
One warning to note: in the book, the author mentions participating in guest post swaps with other bloggers. Google discourages this practice, and it could lead to penalties by the search engine. This doesn’t apply to guest posting in general. Don’t use guest posting simply as a means to get backlinks, even though that may be the end result. Swapping guest posts is too easy to get caught.
The Book Is Well Written
As far as I can tell, there were no apparent grammar errors. The book is well written and easy to read. The topics are current, although you should consider setting aside the technique of swapping guest posts as warned above.
Probably the most glaring flaw of the book is the title. If you use the phrase “How To” in the title, it should describe step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish what the book topic is about. For instance, if you wrote a book on how to make money in the stock market, you are going to find serious push back if your advice is to buy low and sell high.
Summary
I paid 99 cents for the book and that is not going to break anyone’s bank. If you want to use the book as a high-level overview on how to get traffic, or you want a refresher for those who are experienced, then go for it.
