I came across Michael Martines blog this week. In it, he says that he managed to increase his blog’s subscriber count by nearly 200%, to 900 subscribers in just two short weeks, by offering a free eBook for subscribing to his blog.

eBook readers have always sounded like a great idea to me, but until this past holiday season, they’ve fallen short of expectations. Sony and Amazon have taken advantage of new technology to release eBook readers that they’re hoping will take off.

source: digital-lifestyles.info

Neither Amazon nor Sony have disclosed how many units they’ve actually sold, however Amazon did put out a press release boasting that they “sold out” their initial stock in just five and a half hours! In fact, at one point, the units were selling on eBay for $1,500!

OK, so e-books are gaining in popularity and becoming more common, but what does that mean for search engine marketers? Well, for starters, the readers are not limited to just books. They can also download your favorite magazines, newspapers and blogs.

As we continue to develop content strategies for our clients, it’s important to look at the viability of developing technologies as distribution channels and eBook is one of them……but only if we have a specific objective first. In Michaels case, his goal was to have as many RSS subscribers as possible and a platform for future offers and services.

Think about your clients. What are their objectives and how can adding eBooks to their site help? If they are trying to lower their operational costs and build brand image and/or awareness, they can re purpose existing marketing materials, case studies, or even previous blog postings, for eBook readers. By developing resource guides or “how-to” instructional series of books, they’ll keep traffic coming back, build relationships within their target market and establish themselves as leaders in their field.

Josh Spaulding provides a great step by step guide on how to add the eBook to your website. It’s too early to fully debate the investment vs. the impact, but if the readers continue to find a market, they present a range of exciting opportunities for those advertisers that learn to use it in an effective manner.

Add Jeff to your social network!

7 Responses to “SEO eBooks”

1. Michael Martine (2 comments.) Says:
   January 18th, 2008 at 11:18 am

   Thanks for the mention. I think it’s worth pointing out that my ebook is just a pdf and doesn’t need any special hardware to be read. Also, for some companies, an entire book may not be the way to go. White papers are often a great resource for business people who have little time and who are on the go.

2. Josh Spaulding Says:
   January 18th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

   Thanks for the plug, Tom. The popularity of ebooks is certainly on the rise and as long as people are using the WWW to find information they will also be useful.

   They are also a great way to make money and/or increase exposure etc, while providing a good resource to your clients.

   I’ve noticed alot of bloggers and marketers in general express their intimidation toward e-products, but it’s important for them to know that it’s really not that hard to create them if you have a good deal of knowledge on the subject within.

3. Annie Williams (1 comments.) Says:
   January 19th, 2008 at 8:14 am

   Thanks for giving e-books kudos. I believe the X, Y, & Millenium generations will embrace this technology, however the high cost of readers and the boredom of PDF’s will slow the transition, which is why I chose a 3D page-turning technology that provides a free reader to get into the e-book market. Marketers, authors, and family memories will soon be delivered via e-books because of their longevity, ease (and cost) of production, and society’s comfort level with the computer. Think Green - Read Online!

4. Michael Martine (2 comments.) Says:
   January 19th, 2008 at 9:15 am

   I chose a 3D page-turning technology that provides a free reader to get into the e-book market

   Sorry, but I hate those things. To me there is nothing more annoying than trying to force one kind of media to look like another, instead of taking advantage of its uniqueness.

5. Wii Boy (23 comments.) Says:
   June 18th, 2008 at 5:22 pm

   Browsing some of the archives on here and came to this thread hoping to find some software recommendations for creating e-books. What do people use and recommend?

6. Eva White (14 comments.) Says:
   June 22nd, 2008 at 10:19 pm

   If you have an ebook related to the content of your blog it would make sense that people would want to read it. I did not think that it would result in such a monumental increase in traffic. Congrats to you.

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   February 5th, 2008 at 12:16 am

   […] SEO eBooks – Tom explains how a simple eBook could increase readership by 200% […]

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