Learn how to stay on top of the search engines reading newsletters and forums

Search engine newsletters, discussion lists and resources that will be a valuable asset to anyone who truly has an ongoing interest or need to stay current with the latest search engine information. I suggest that at least one member of your staff subscribe to at least a couple of these resources. Each of them are different and I've described them to make the choice easier for someone with limited time to choose the most relevant one for their situation.

The industry standard and recognized authority is Search Engine Watch from Danny Sullivan and SEW editor Chris Sherman. SearchEngineWatch has both a free and a (longer and more detailed) paid version of it's newsletter available by email and archived online. SearchEngineWatch has the ear of the search engine industry and runs quotes, commentary and insider answers from search engine CEO's and top staff (where many newsletters simply speculate and offer anecdotal information).

The paid membership is $60 for six months or yearly at $90.

Subscription form is available at the page above and archives of past issues are at:

One VERY valuable subscription for everyone following search engine issues is the I-Search Discussion list where both search engine specialists and newbies learn from each other, discuss the latest trends, ask questions and share knowledge about the search engines. Moderated by Andrew Goodman of Traffick.com and author of the "How to Maximize Google Adwords" ebook. I-Search Subscription is $10 monthly and is available at the following URL:

I-Search since February of 1998 through August of 2003 are archived for background information at the following URL:

I'm a big fan of Search Engine Marketer and Optimization specialist Shari Thurow and her straightforward, ethical style. Both Shari and expert SEM guru Frederick Marckini share the best of publisher ClickZ's Search engine newsletter "Search Results". This is one of four search related publications from internet.com publisher ClickZ and both subscription and archives are available here:

As an avid reader of most of these lists, I publish my own irregularly distributed newsletter with commentary and some instruction for those seeking a better understanding of major issues at the major search engines. You can subscribe at the following URL:

A great all-around free search engine news resource that is available by email and online is Pandia Search World which is a European (in English) perspective, but turns out to be not very different from US information. Good resource. Two ezines available. The Bi-Monthly Pandia Post is an original article ezine produced by them. The Pandia Search World is a search engine news aggregator. Both available from the following URL:

Axandra Search Engine Ranking Facts newsletter is distributed by the makers of search engine ranking software Arelis and IBP (both valuable search engine marketing tools worthy of consideration). The newsletter follows industry trends and commentary. Available at:

Another software maker that distributes a regular newsletter is First Place Software's "MarketPosition Newsletter". This newsletter comments on the industry as well as discussing features, uses and updates of their widely used and extremely useful Web Position Gold search engine ranking and reporting software. Subscription information and archives both available at the following URL:

Finally, About.com is a very well respected source of information about the most popular topics on the web. Search is addressed from the perspective of the searcher in this "Guide Site" which offers a weekly newsletter as well. Contributed articles and commentary from current guide Jennifer Laycock bring the perspective of the searcher looking for information together with those seeking to be found for relevant search phrases. Subscribe at:

http://websearch.about.com/gi/pages/mmail.htm

Many of these newsletters are available by Rich Site Summary (or Really Simple Syndication) XML feeds if you have and use an RSS reader on your system. RSS is a blogging technology that allows you to subscribe to news or commentary that you choose and to avoid further clogging already overloaded email inboxes. More about RSS XML feeds can be accessed from most of the sites that offer the service by looking for the small rectangular orange and white "RSS" or "XML" logos on any of those sites offering that service. Or simply visit the About.com RSS page at:

http://websearch.about.com/b/s.htm

Speaking of blogs, there are several bloggers that emphasize and discuss search engine issues. The best of those is from search engine marketer, Andrew Goodman, who is also moderator of the I-Search Discussion list mentioned above and author of the well respected book "Unleash the Power of Google AdWords". Andrew maintains the blog with entries commenting and linking to search engine marketing industry news and developments at the following URL:

http://www.traffick.com

I'll leave it to you to find more blogs since it's an endless search and Traffick.com is the best search related blog.

Here are a few links to Search Engine Discussion Forums where members can post and read all the latest minutia of search.

Cre8asiteForums.com
WebmasterWorld.com
HighRankings.com
SEO-News.com
JimWorld.com
iHelpYouServices.com

Whether you'd rather receive your newsletters by email, read them via RSS, or prefer visiting discussion forums to gain the latest information, I highly recommend using these resources to keep abreast of the most important issues related to search engine positioning, marketing and ranking.