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How To Learn SEO October 23, 2009

One very common question on search engine optimization (SEO) forums is, “How do I learn about SEO?” If you have no clue where to begin then read on.

Introduce yourself to SEO by reading a book

The best way to start your education journey is to read a book.  I know people on those SEO forums typically respond to the question with, “You’re in the right place!  Just read the forums and blogs and you’ll be an expert in a few days!”  NOT!  These are the same yahoos that will tell you that that you that changing the content on your page will increase its PageRank.

Start learning SEO by first reading a book on the subject.  There are many good books on SEO starting to come out.  Pretty much any of them will do.  Even reading one of the “Dummies” books on search engine optimization should suffice.

The goal is to get the fundamental terminology and concepts under your belt so that when you do start reading forums and blogs, you know how to call bullsh*t when so called “experts” give out bad advice.

Follow the SEO industry leaders online

Once you have a book (or two or three) under your belt, the next step is to delve into the online world of forums and blogs. But you need to do so with care.  There is a LOT of misinformation on the Web in regards to search engine optimziation.  Do NOT believe 99% of what you read.

So much of what is said online about SEO in forums and blogs is total BS being spouted out by people in 3rd world countries who hardly speak the language, much less understand even the most basic of SEO concepts.  They have learned a dozen buzzwords about SEO, have declared themselves SEO experts. and are now spreading their misinformation online in hopes of duping someone into hiring them as an SEO so they can make a few bucks to save them from their miserable, impoverished lifestyles.   These are NOT the people you want to follow or even listen to.

You should be following the industry leaders:  Aaron Wall, Danny Sullivan, Rand Fishkin, etc. – even people like Matt Cutts from Google’s spam team who is not necessarily an SEO, but provides a lot of insight into how the search engines work and rank URLs in their search engine results pages (SERPs).

Only after you’ve spent months learning about SEO should you venture out into personal SEO blogs and SEO forums like digitalpoint.com which are typically trolled by LOTS of bad SEO “experts” giving out bad information.  But you need to already have a solid base of search engine optimziation knowledge before going there so that you can distinguish between the 0.01% of useful information and the other 99.99% of pure bad information (or remedial information) that is spewed forth there on a daily basis.

SEO conferences

Pubcon is a conference put on once or twice per year by webmasterworld.com.  It is an EXCELLENT conference.  I’ve been the last several years and don’t plan to ever miss it if I can help it.  Not only are the 4 sessions great, but the networking opportunities there are incredible.

Though I’ve never been, I have heard similar stories about the Search Engine Strategies (SES) and Seach Marketing Expo (SMX) conferences as well.

Your quest for SEO knowledge

Good luck on your learning journey.  The quest for SEO knowledge should be never ending.  It is a constantly changing field of expertise.  And to be a good SEO you need to make it your mission to constantly be learning about it.