15 replies to this topic

[Jill]

We've talked a bit (okay a lot) in the Is There Such a Thing as Spam Anymore about incompetent SEOs and how my personal feeling is that at least 80% of SEOs couldn't rank themselves out of a paper bag.

So instead of being so negative, how can we help?

What does it really take to be a competent SEO, and how does one get there?

In this week's High Rankings® Advisor newsletter I talked about Getting Started in SEO and suggested:

The hardest part of SEO is not selling it; it pretty much sells itself. The hardest part is doing it.

I also suggested that people who wanted to get into SEO might try the following:

After you have some basic education, instead of trying to set up shop on your own, why not seek out established SEO companies, marketing companies, ad agencies, and Web design firms who are already doing some SEO, and see if they need an extra pair of hands? (You may even find these companies at the conference or seminar you attend.) There's a good chance that if they are good at what they do, many of them could use some additional help. Don't get too excited though -- they won't need you for the "fun" stuff at first, but more likely they will want to use you for the grunt work that nobody else wants to do. Unfortunately, stuff like keyword research, competitor analysis, link building, etc. are at the heart of a successful optimization campaign but can be awfully time-consuming. Most companies can always use help in this area, if you're willing to work at a fairly low wage in order to gain some great training.

And proceeded to list the benefits of doing things this way.

Does this make sense as a good way to get into the biz?

What other suggestions might you have?

[randfish]

I like that advice, Jill. I think it's spot on.

The only other way I can see to gain a good background is to keep working your day job and dedicate your nights to optimizing a personal site - a blog, small shop, or even just promoting something you do - hiking, cars, video games, cooking, whatever. Make a hooby site and try to make it rank.

What I love about this approach is that it gives you a personal connection to your site and a great devotion to the SERPs - you have something to gain from ranking, converting, researching, etc. even if it isn't monetary (you could always pop on some ads to make it so, of course).

[AlDugan]

I think it's a great way to get into the biz. Anyway to start out small is the best way to go I think. Personally, I started out with a smalltime personalized gifts web site and learned from the ground up. I read tons of SEO stuff all over the place for years (a lot of junk too but luckily the HighRankings newsletter set me straight.) I even had the honor of having one of my questions to Jill featured in her newsletter a few years back. That was exciting. 5 years after first discovering SEO I now have a full time SEo gig at a decent size software retailer and word of mouth has led to my first possible freelance opportunity as well.

Any, enough about me. My point is to take it slow, start small, and don't be afraid to ask questions. And make sure you have a well experienced skillset before trying to offer your services to others.

[Jill]

Oh Al, I've known your name was familiar since you joined here, now I remember why! Off to find that old newsletter with your question!

[Kal]

Sounds like a great way to get some experience Jill! And if you meet them in person at a conference or whatever, you could probably convince some of the larger firms to let you work remotely if you weren't located in the same city/country.

Another good way to find your SEO legs is to offer to do gratis work for charities and community organizations. They always appreciate the free help and unlike some pesky clients aren't in a hurry for fast results so you can tweak and tweak to your heart's content until you've fine-tuned your skills.

[Randy]

I certainly don't have a better solution of how to get started than getting hired on for what is basically an internship. But the problem is so many SEO shops out there teach such bad habits. If you got on with a good shop, you would pick up a lot of valuable information in a hurry. If you got on with a not-so-good shop, you would learn a lot of very bad stuff in a hurry.

It's harder to UN-learn something than it is to learn it in the first place, which is a risk.

It's a vicious circle that affects potential SEOs either way they approach it. Without any experience, a person wouldn't know what to trust and what to ignore. At least if you're doing it on your own site it doesn't harm anybody else if you do something you shouldn't.

They only way out of that loop is some sort of certification, and I just don't see that happening in the near future. I hope it does, but I don't expect it.

[donp]

I started out designing small websites. Learning how to structure the sites so they showed up for keywords just seemed to make sense to me and was always an early priority of my efforts. It wasn't until I had a few established high-ranking sites that I learned I was doing basic SEO - and when that lightbulb went on, whoa Nelly! I improved my income level dramatically.

If you want to get into the business on your own, you'll need credentials and nothing works better than a track record of past and current successes. Cold-call or network to pick up some website accounts, optimize them and build that track record. You don't need to be a coding expert, graphics designer or geek, just a solid head on your shoulders. Set the goal. Work the project. Get the prize.

[excell]

Agree, it's not rocket science, just do it, get the rungs on the board and it can go from there.

I don't think you need to start with another firm (mostly they will be based on formulas that are not transferable anyway, you need to be able to think for yourself if you are going to end up in the very good category).

I think there is plenty of room to start your own business, just don't expect to make good dollars right from the beginning. Offer assistance to businesses around you - you help them and the results help you, build it up from there. Be realistic about where you are and what you can acheive, results might surprise you.

[Jill]

I agree that you can certainly learn it on your own and go from there, just as most of us did.

BUT...I am most concerned with people charging for stuff that they really can't deliver. None of us can say exactly what we can do with any given site in terms of positioning and traffic, etc., but our years of experience and our track records do allow us to have a pretty good idea of what we can and can't provide.

My hope is that people who want to get into the SEO biz start out by doing it very cheaply (like most of us did) or even for free and then build up their track record from there.

These days with lots of SEO firms out there who are well-established, people new to the field have a unique opportunity to learn through an in-house job. I'm just not sure how many are exploring those avenues.

There are also a lot of businesses that need an in-house SEO to manage their site. That would be another way of learning before breaking out on your own.

[excell]

I am most concerned with people charging for stuff that they really can't deliver

Yes, and there seems to be a lot in that boat. They be the cowboys, might acheive head swelling success with certain techniques in the short term even but don't have the major basics down for the long term ride em out stability.

The industry requires good teeth... sticking ability, good roots (solid foundations)...if ever looking to work for others, check them thouroughly...are they going to keep quality control standards up as they expand and grow? Are thy more $ orientated than success orientated?

[SearchRank]

I think hiring on or even participating in an internship with an established SEO/SEM company is a good idea. The challenge is finding a good one. There are many wolves amongst the sheep and I am not necessarily talking white hats vs. black hats but rather really delivering what they promise or at least what they charge for.

Because I got into this game in its infancy back in 97, I had the luxury to learn as SEM evolved (it is still evolving). But another advantage I had before launching my own SEO/SEM business is that I practiced SEO on one of my own sites first - www.builderszone.com.

Launched in April 1997, we had no money back to promote builderszone.com. We therefore strictly relied on search engine traffic and word of mouth of course. After successfully marketing this site in the search engines we thought, why not offer the same service to our web design and hosting customers. So we did and were successful with their projects as well.

It one thing to get a textbook education on a subject but it is an entirely different thing to get a layperson's education in addition to the textbook knowledge. And not just one month of layperson experience but a good year or so because not every formula, tactic or whatever you want to call them that you will learn from a book, forum, newsletter, etc. works the same for every site. Each site presents its own goals and challenges. Rolling up your sleeves and getting into the workings of SEO/SEM and being successful at it will help (not guarantee) one to be a good SEO/SEM and build a great SEO/SEM business.

[Scottie]

Some tools you need in your pocket to be decent at SEO:

-Basic concepts of web design and a relationship with a good designer
-Foundation of simple HTML knowledge
-Familiarity with usability concepts
-General idea of how sites are ranked
-Recognition of dynamic issues and a relationship with a good programmer.
-Strong web research skills
-Good writing skills or a relationship with a good copywriter
-Creativity and common sense

You can't train the last one, but none of the above are very difficult for a motivated, relatively intelligent person to pick up.

Soooooo many people we see here and at other fora are so impatient- just give us the answers. I want a step-by-step guide to seo so I can hand it to my typing monkeys and have them go through it. It's not like that!

Yes, you can help a site (particularly a non-competitive arena) by simply doing keyword research (which may or may not result in the best phrases for the site) and writing new titles, slapping the keyword phrases on the page, and submitting the site to 50 directories. And that is more than a lot of people actually do... and charge a small fortune for!

But, if there are any coding issues that are stopping spiders, if you can't recognize a javascript or flash link, if you don't understand the concept of CSS and layers or recognize an invisible linked image... you won't be able to diagnose a choked or penalized site.

If you aren't creative and fairly savvy, you may not impact a site in a competitive market much, except for moving them from page 112 to page 86. Boy, they will be impressed...

But if you are smart enough to optimize for both competitive and non-competitive (alternate) phrases, create features that make a site bookmarkable and able to get natural links with ease, and find link that will send tons of qualified traffic (think, coupon sites or specials) you can actually impact their business as well as their rankings and be worth far more than what they paid you. (The nice thing is that translates into word-of-mouth referrals... )

If I were going to set up a training course for SEO's, I'd start by having them build their own site from the ground up. I'd have half of them code a "clean" site and the other half using every trick in the book. I'd have them all compete for the same silly no-competition phrase so that they could see for themselves what really works and what doesn't- with all sites having the same entry date, same tools at the student's disposal, and all things being generally equal.

Then I'd have some "mystery shoppers" search for and purchase from the sites to demonstrate that what may work for search, doesn't always work for people. Usability does count when it comes to making the sale, as does marketing savvy.

The real way to learn is by doing! You can't call yourself an SEO (IMO) if you've never optimzed a site and seen results from it.

[excell]

Excellent post Scottie

[Jill]

I just wanted to bump this since it was posted over the weekend, in case people missed it who may have wanted to read or post to it...

<bump>

[abandon]

Ammon posted what I would call a "totally awesome" intro to being an SEO on Cre8asite.

Obviously, I can't put the link up. Maybe someone else might want.