Review: Optimistic About Optimization
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 23, 2012
For a relatively smart guy, I'm nearly clueless when it comes to the Internet.Now, I do know how to turn a computer on and off. I can navigate the Web. I'm able to type, send, delete, and put attachments onto emails with the best of them. I can use Windows to compose term papers replete with the appropriate sources. And I absolutely love using Google to seek out the most mundane of minutiae. ("Who won the All-Gaelic Football Championship in 1947?" The answer: County Kilkenny. Stuff like this would elicit a yawn from others, but absolutely mesmerizes me.)So Google is a friend. So is Avast!, the free---FREE---anti-virus software that I downloaded onto my HP Notebook a year ago. (Thank you, Clark Howard.) Since I'm a basic guy when it comes to computers, I eschew the bells and whistles that seemingly festoon countless name brands of electronic gadgets. (An app for writing thank-you notes? Really? You mean we've become so collectively lazy that picking up a writing instrument and expending the effort to compose what should be a genuine, heartfelt brief has now become obsolete?)Time, our ostensible fourth dimension, provides a paradigm under which all of us operate. In our society, we conduct all sorts of maneuvers to manage and guide our collective perceptions that drive us from Point A to Points B, C and beyond ad infinitum. We labor under a perception, right or wrong, that there is never enough of the stuff in which to accomplish what we do. Then when we do achieve our goals, we invariably fail to step back and appreciate our efforts; instead, we immediately set a higher, more challenging bar to surpass.Then we complain that life is too stressful.I understand the necessity of using time for streamlining one's work. Efficiency can be a wonderful concept when used appropriately with the proper mission and outcome(s) set forth. When we use the electronic panoply of countless information with which to perform our tasks, we learn to judiciously select only what is needed in order to convey the message. In our Information Age, which metastasizes ever larger on a daily basis, it's vital to get that message to reach as many individuals and Web sites as possible.Stephen Williams tackles this pressing issue in "SEO Tips: Boost Your Site by Being Seen More Online." The concept of SEO (search engine optimization) has flourished throughout the Internet as companies and individuals sell their technological savvy to numerous sites in a symbiotic give-and-take: those who practice SEO earn their fees, and the Website recipients have their sites configured to enable all search engines to efficiently direct all pertinent traffic to their business.In a 24/7/365 world, the sheer amount of business that is transacted is theoretically endless.For individuals and companies operating SEO-influenced Websites, so are the possibilities. It's a financial wet dream come true.In addition to promoting SEO, Williams stresses becoming marketing savvy. Being able to promote Websites by getting curious individuals to seek further information about what is being offered increases the chances that the particular product(s) will be sold for a price.Voila---profit.Hence the desire for SEOs.For the most part, SEOs are performed by licensed agencies that offer certain benefits for signing up with them, e.g. on-call tech support twenty-four hours a day. "SEO" offers the reader the option of doing SEO work themselves, and in so doing setting their own prices that are competitive with SEO firms. This assertion will be familiar to Williams' readers---he is a voice of compassion and encouragement, exhorting others to maximize their intellectual and working capital to not only benefit themselves, but also others.Since the goal of SEO is to reach as many people as possible, Williams stresses the importance of familiarizing ourselves with as many different SEO procedures as possible, and tells the writer that "(t)hese search engine optimization tips will boost your rank, your income, your (I)nternet influence and...your self-esteem." (intro.)In this regard, when I post reviews to Amazon, I enter highly specific words and phrases into the "Search Tags" section based upon the product that I am reviewing so that prospective customers will be directed to its Website location, thus creating exposure at every opportunity with the click of a button. As such, typing reviews has become a supplemental source of income for me, thus propulgating the cycle and benefitting everyone interested and/or involved.As my freelancing skills have been improving, so has my computer literacy (and my bank account). I am thankful for these opportunities that have presented themselves and Williams' tome, while not necessarily original, serves as a reminder that persistence and continuous self-improvement perpetuates numerous chances for helping not only ourselves, but others too.