Search Engine Marketing Kit Edition 2

[filth]

A few days ago I received the Search engine marketing kit edition2.

So far I am roughly 60 pages through the kit (out of a total of 347). So far the information given and tips suggested do look fairly sound.

However there are problems with this kit. For example they make references to the Google Site Flavored service. This *MUST* unchecked data from the 1st edition. Having searched google for this service (the page itself http://labs.google.com/personalized/siteflavored comes up as invalid) I notice that all references that I can find about it are from blog posts and articles from 3 years ago and nothing newer.

This does not fill me with confidence that the author is using references that are 3 years old and links not even working anymore.

This is not the only link I have found to be invalid and they have been submitted to the people dealing with errata.

Another errata I spotted was that it states the address for the kit is http://www.sitepoint.com/books/sem2/ which again is a 404 error. The errata page is said to be http://www.sitepoint.com/books/sem2/errata.php which also 404's (so I am not sure where the errata I have posted will actually be shown.

Now for the doozy

Today I put in the CD that comes with the kit and is marked as The Search Engine Marketing Kit CD- Rom. Now what do I see when I put the CD in my PC. Well I see the following title:-

Welcome to The Web Design Business Kit CD-ROM

Not only is it titled wrongly (well actually it isn't) you guessed it the actual content is wrong as well not just the html pages. The content of the CD is for the web design business kit.

I have contacted support regarding this and am currently awaiting a response.

[Simon Mackie]

Hi there,

Unfortunately, due to a manufacturing error a small batch of the Search Engine Marketing Kits contain the incorrect data on the CD-Rom (both The Search Engine Marketing Kit and the Web Design Business Kit were being printed at the same time). It looks like you're one of the people affected.

You should have already received an email from Shayne Tilley (our marketing manager) advising you of of the problem and letting you know a special location to download the files and confirm that we'll send out a new CD-Rom.

If you didn't get the email then send an email to books.removethis@.removethissitepoint.com with your order number and our customer support team will send you a copy of the documents.

Our apologies for any inconvenience, and rest assured that a new CD will be on its way to you very shortly.

[Turnkey Websites]

filth....is the SEO Kit worth the price/investment in general, or it is the information that we can read in forums and articles?

I m considering buying it but I dont want to pay to read what I already know or what I can learn from free forums and articles...

Despite the problems you had so far, do you think it is a good buy?

Thanks

[filth]

You should have already received an email from Shayne Tilley (our marketing manager) advising you of of the problem and letting you know a special location to download the files and confirm that we'll send out a new CD-Rom.

If you didn't get the email then send an email to books.removethis@.removethissitepoint.com with your order number and our customer support team will send you a copy of the documents.

I only received the email last night after pointing out the problem no emails regarding this had been received prior.

[filth]

filth....is the SEO Kit worth the price/investment in general, or it is the information that we can read in forums and articles?

I m considering buying it but I dont want to pay to read what I already know or what I can learn from free forums and articles...

Despite the problems you had so far, do you think it is a good buy?

Thanks

I am someone who does not know a huge amount about SEO so am looking at this to boost my knowledge a lot and so far it has. The majority of the information by all means you could get elsewhere by looking about but having something like this on hand in my opinion is better.

[ShayneTilley]

I only received the email last night after pointing out the problem no emails regarding this had been received prior.

Hi filth,

Can you PM your email address. You should have received the email last week and I'm hoping to investigate why you didn't.

Regards,

[filth]

pm sent

[seopaul]

You should have already received an email from Shayne Tilley (our marketing manager) advising you of of the problem and letting you know a special location to download the files and confirm that we'll send out a new CD-Rom.

If you didn't get the email then send an email to books.removethis@.removethissitepoint.com with your order number and our customer support team will send you a copy of the documents.

no offence but now i am annoyed, i received no email informing me about this problem just like the user "filth"

its obvious to me that there's a large number of people just like me and "filth" that received no email, i would suggest that Shayne Tilley needs to recheck the list and resend out emails as it wast done correctly first time around.

i am also disappointed with the findings that the user "filth" found regarding 3 year old links.

my question on this matter is a 2 part one

1st (sitepoints problem)
how did these get through the final checks? normally i wouldn't ask but with the wrong cd data being sent out im left wondering if any care went into the kit on your end.

2nd (authors & tech reviewers problem)

if old information was printed in the new REVISED!! edition i.e old links, how cutting edge is the information in the kit? i know the answer to this but i want to hear your opinion on this.

dont get me wrong this is a good kit as it pulls the experience of years of seo into one place.. and in the seo world experience is everything!!

but im not willing to be sold second hand rope.. is this new kit just a method to get more sales??

Regards

A very cheesed of SEO Consultant

SEOpaul

[Simon Mackie]

Hi SEOpaul,

1st (sitepoints problem)
how did these get through the final checks? normally i wouldn't ask but with the wrong cd data being sent out im left wondering if any care went into the kit on your end.

The wrong data being included was a manufacturing error. Both CDs were being manufactured at the same time, and somehow the data for the Business Kit ended up on both - we have implemented processes to ensure this never happens again. Emails were sent immediately to everyone who had bought the new edition informing them of the error, and details of how to download the contents of the CD from us. Unfortunately, it looks like a couple may have not arrived for some reason, so our apologies to you for that. Can you PM Shayne your details, too, please. You should also receive in the post a letter apologizing for the mistake and a replacement CD free of charge.

2nd (authors & tech reviewers problem)

if old information was printed in the new REVISED!! edition i.e old links, how cutting edge is the information in the kit? i know the answer to this but i want to hear your opinion on this.

The authors have updated the Kit thoroughly and it went through our normal tech edit process - but they did take the old material and update it, it isn't completely new from scratch. There should be no out-of-date material in the Kit, but, like all books, it's unlikely that the Kit is 100% error-free and it is possible that a link that should have been updated has slipped through. If you do find a mistake or dead link, please report it - http://www.sitepoint.com/contact?reason=typo

[calande]

If some one wants to sell his Search Engine Marketing Kit, I'm interested.