Search Engine Marketing knowledge is a very prized possession. Many people want to learn how to do search for themselves or for their company. However, they don´t know how to begin the educational process. I asked my fellow SEMpdx members how they would advise a new entrant into this field.
Scott Orth (GTS Services): Other than on the job training, there are four things a newbie can and should do to learn SEO:
1) Prepare yourself for endless hours of reading and research. SEO never stops, it´s always changing, and your participation will never end.
2) Spend a lot of time on SEOmoz.org. There is a ton of information there including informative blog posts, articles and research papers. SEOmoz is a must for any newbie.
3) Purchase the books “Search Engine Marketing, Inc.”and “SEOBook”.
4) Test, test, test! Buy a dozen domains, host them in various places, and play around. Test what you´ve learned in number 2 and 3 above – after all, the only way to become truly successful in SEO is through personally experiencing what does and does not work.
As a bonus – if you have the chance, attend conferences and ask questions. You can learn a lot from the presenters, as well as other attendees.
Tracy Chapman (Ignite Web Marketing Services): To this day, the way I learn the most about search engine marketing is through reading information from quality online resources. My favorites include ClickZ, Marketing Vox, Search Engine Land, Search Marketing Standard, Search Engine Watch, High Rankings Advisor, eMarketer and MarketingSherpa. Whether you are just starting out, or consider yourself a pro, the latest and best information is always available in these publications.
To improve on your skills as a search marketer, you should read the website content, sign up for RSS feeds or online newsletters, read the blogs, and take advantage of any special content that may be offered, like webinars. I´ve also found that even when I´m not actually utilizing a particular search marketing strategy for a client at a given time, if I understand it and know what´s going on in that area, I can answer clients´ questions, make intelligent recommendations, and provide more value to them as a search marketing professional. Reading good information regularly is definitely the way to go.
Scott Hendison (Search Commander): Depending on your budget, there are a number of search engine marketing classes available from industry experts like Bruce Clay, Jill Whalen, and the one that I attended, John Alexander and Robin Nobles´ Search Engine Workshops.
These two to four day seminars are well structured, and take beginners through the entire process from start to finish. After attending any of those sessions, the beginning marketer will have a strong grasp of all the basic concepts.
For the more budget conscious, the best way would be to read what established industry experts have to offer. Many world-class experts have educational areas on their website, or have offered publications for sale at a nominal fee.
Aaron Wall´s SEOBook is a great read, that will provide a good foundation for any Internet marketer, and I have my own SEO 101 section of my website, where I offer a growing number of articles geared towards the beginning Internet Marketer, including information on both paid and natural search.
Whether you are a seasoned veteran or a rookie SEO, it´s important to stay current, and be sure that any information you are following has a recent copyright date. Search engine algorithms do change from time to time, and you might be reading information that is outdated.
Benjamin Lloyd (Amplify Interactive): When asked by a ‘newbie´ about how to learn about search engine marketing, I have to revert to my own personal experiences, and those of the people that work with me. We´ve all come into it differently, but the common thread is that everyone starts by reading and learning on their own (reading newsletters, white papers, case studies, etc.) The toughest part of this step is learning to discern good advice from bad. There is plenty of good advice out there, but there is a lot more bad and/or misguided advice. So ask around or look to trusted colleagues & resources (like SEMpdx) to find out which newsletters they subscribe to, white papers they find valuable, etc.
The thing you´ll quickly find however is that everyone has access to pretty much the same materials. So, you have to learn how to apply the things you read about, and have them make business sense. By and large, I recommend experimenting with your own site first before EVER suggesting that someone apply their ideas to a client, or your company´s site. And always understand how you´re going to measure effectiveness. The biggest mistake here is that newbies and those unfamiliar with search tend to focus on the wrong metrics.
Up until now, learning about search has very much been a solo exercise or ‘apprentice´ type engagement. These days there are actually courses and/or consultants you can pay for training. And of course there are still communities and forums that can be pretty reliable.
As search evolves – it´s become less of a technical exercise and more of a marketing exercise. This is good news all around, but it doesn´t mean that the average marketer can succeed at search, just like I couldn´t expect to walk into an advertising agency and develop a successful print ad campaign right off the bat.
Stanford Davis (Straight-On): “The Best Way to Learn Search Marketing is as Easy as 1,2,3…er 4”
1) Read a SEM book, or take a course to learn fundamentals
2) Use SEO software for up to the minute guidance for specific pages
3) Do it, and measure results.
4) Attend SEM events and seminars and consider joining a SEM professional organization
Planet Ocean has published “The Unfair Advantage Book on Winning the Search Engine Wars” for about 10 years and updates it monthly. It provides detailed tips and instructions for search engine marketing and explanations of how search works. SEMPO also provides an extensive online course.
Learn by doing and observing results. Besides doing searches by hand to see how you are doing, you can the above mentioned software tools to measure, organize, analyze, and report results in a meaningful way.
Kent Schnepp (EngineWorks): As a full-service search marketing company, we have found that individuals who come to EngineWorks with design and development experience tend to be best suited for our search marketing engineer positions. Having fundamental knowledge of proper site structure, information architecture, and dynamic URLs makes for rapid understanding of search optimization techniques and best practices. In addition to design and development exposure, individuals new to search engine marketing can accelerate their learning curve by researching industry articles, blogs, and white papers, and by attending professional events such as Searchfest and SMX.
Hallie Janssen (Anvil Media): An excellent way for a newbie to learn search engine marketing is to attend a conference. Beyond the main benefit of gaining additional knowledge of SEM, other paybacks include networking with industry peers and engine, software and service representatives; business and lead development; and bolstering knowledge of peripheral SEM topics such as web design, social media, and affiliate marketing. There are all types of conferences and surely one that will meet your interest and budget. The two biggest SEM-focused conferences are Search Engine Strategies (SES) and Search Marketing Expo (SMX). These two conference marketers also have smaller niche events that might speak more to the niche you might be going after: SES Travel, SES Latino, and SMX Local are just a few. SES also has a newer conference that is just for training, aptly named SES Training. Other bigger SEM conferences are WebmasterWorld´s Pubcon and Search Insider Summit. Outside of the SEM conferences lies a whole slue of Internet advertising conferences that are sure to broaden your knowledgebase: ad:tech, DMA Annual Conference, DM Days, eTail, eMetrics Summit, Internet Retailer Conference, OMMA, Shop.org, Travel Industry Association Annual Conference and WOMMA events.
Todd Mintz (S.R. Clarke): A few points that haven´t been made so far:
Trying to learn SEM by reading through forums can be an intimidating, overwhelming, frustrating experience because the “signal-to-noise” ration is very high. Besides, Barry & Tamar at Search Engine Roundtable cover all the important stuff that´s said in the forums anyway. I would find the top couple dozen SEM bloggers, add their blogs to your feedreader, and read everything they write.
I haven´t been to SEO Class, but they certainly have an all-star roster of teachers.
And of course, I recommend Search Engine Guide for SEM Beginners. The strength of SEG is that Jennifer and the other SEG writers are excellent at explaining concepts without getting overly technical.
support.shoplineapp
yourcustomersshoes
digitalbloggers
thekingdom
getshogun
eclincher
footwearnews
de.wordpress
demoup-cliplister
getsparrow
scitepress
stories.flipkart
kelaudio
prefixbox
shopping.google
kamelrestaurant
foodnetwork
seroundtable
leshalimar
blog.ekomi
wyomind
retaildetail
magetrend
ecommerceguide
amzinsight
atmosphere
yotpo
apps.vtex
shopping.google
spiegel.medill.northwestern
paulgraham
scottberkun
differencebetween
waylink
tylerbryden
fluentin3months
omniglot
englishcollege
daytranslations
universeofmemory
myusf.usfca
cola.unh
class-descriptions.northwestern
nccu
ursinus
cwsp.ncsu
fitnyc
howardcc
openlab.citytech.cuny
aworldoflanguagelearners
rlf
vitalsource
facesoflearning
press.umich
whitman
tutor.uiowa
writing.rochester
writingcooperative
agnesscott
thefrenchexperiment
blupete
eppic.la.psu
morainevalley
smcm
hume.stanford
redshelf
dodsoco.ogc.osd.mil
introvertdear
verblio
uapress.arizona
getlitt
library.madonna
grinnell
english.uoregon
blogc13
oberlin
umt
aopsacademy
mtholyoke
millswyck
colgate
alearningaday.blog
corestandards
csuohio
ivybusiness.iastate
vwu
writing-speech.dartmouth
mycll
docs.lib.purdue
uefap
learningenglish.voanews
unr.mywconline
linguisticsociety
uefap
janerendell
bell-foundation
mantex
ukla
sites.allegheny
nhbs
bulletins.psu
global.oup
bethevoice.sg
emmashopebook
eltteacher2writer
myenglishteacher
macmillandictionaryblog
forum.wordreference
whiteswritingwhiteness.ed
ihworld
ell.stackexchange
ncertfrexa
gianfrancoconti
antimoon
languagetutoring
lingq
pdfdrive
speakenglishpodcast
thefluentlife
writingcenter.tamu
fluentlanguage
americanenglish.state
fclar.unesp
capman
ingles
esteve
oposinet
rmittraining
ibe.unesco
atlantis-press
varron.expertscolumn
ncertbooks.guru
blairexamenglish
bond
bartleby
researchers.mq
pearsonpte
files.eric.ed
language-testing-service
germanpod101
tracktest
www2.klett
gu.se
classofchoice
elachieve
strumenticattline
eas-milan
linguaviva
economia.unipd
revistia
shanghai.nyu
languagecert
global-exam
ef
ile-international
caravelle-academy
prepa-test-toeic
iibc-global
u-bordeaux-montaigne
languageadvisor
davidcrystal
ontesol
powerofwordsacademy
edugains
journals.sfu
englishexperts
supermentor
toeicbrasil
periodicos.unipampa
estudarfora
raiseademy
e-journal.ikhac.id
resume
shawnee
myperfectresume
sxu
inside.manhattan
www2.naz
np
studentaffairs.pitt
csusb
rezi.ai
buffalo
careercenter.georgetown
fullerton
jobscan
suffolk
career.uoregon
career.kzoo
career.virginia
lakeorionschools
andrews
studentaffairs.jhu
unh
career.ucsf
ws-test.cc.stonybrook
graduate.bankstreet
career.fsu
snow
career.ucla
tscpl
higheredjobs
una
csumb
palmbeachstate
career.asu
lsc
whittier
smith
hire.ucmerced
oacs.eku
esu
campbell
umass
careers.usc
beam.stanford
resumecoach
westga
lasell
uafs
coverlettersandresume
purchase
unwsp
resume
sclrnell
successworks.wisc
careers.las.iastate
highpoint
standout-cv
askamanager
hays
youthcentral.vic
career.albany
career.uci
capd.mit
sipalumbia
careerlostate
enhancv
guideddiscovery.guilford
your.yale
jhsph
interexchange
bridgespan
randstad
algonquincollege.libguides
wcupa
weber
au.hudson
career.arizona
esursera
greatresumesfast
theresumewriters
perthresume
successfulresume
student.mq
hwpi.harvard
iworkfor.sa
skillsroad
includeability
studentweb.bhtafe
aapathways
employmentplus
dreamjobconsulting
clientcentric
selectresumes
studentsuper
publicserviceresumes
eventbrite
careerslrossy.nsw
online.mit
resumes
upresearch.lonestar
echoaustralia
resumescoverletters.wixsite
simplegermany
cals.ncsu
nyu
simmons
csulb
pittstate
bakeru
oxy
kickresume
alumni.hbs
presby
myfuture
resumelab
libguides.gprc.ab
fhu
utsc.utoronto
unice
nmc
careers.ucsc
nexgent
ptursera
students.wustl
cdspei
libguides.vcc
michaelpage
resume.uwo
library.ucalgary
eng.mcmaster
experiencescanada
jobillico
socialworklumbia
youthareworking
canadajobs
careers.queensu
niefs
sales-i
wearenotsales
saleshacker
salesloft
nordstrom
highspot
texasfarmbureau
hpsalescentral
macrumors
outreach
comptroller.texas
macys
syracuse
explore.zoom.us
steamdbfo
hudsonreporter
floridarevenue
help.shopify
weeklyad.target
autotrader
streamlinedsalestax
christies
urbanoutfitters
insidesales
apps.irs
dor.mo
estatesales
www1.state.nj.us
dnr.state.mn.us
stereogum
ritx-fl-sales.bswa
nj
adidas
toyota
statesman
lovethesales
matalan
www2.hm
debenhams
direct.asda
houseoffraser
selfridges
marksandspencer
secretsales
shs-sales
tuclothing.sainsburys
aster
nisra
boots
decathlon
ovhcloud
beresfords
troubador
thewhitecompany
salesconfidence
ipswichstar
connexionfrance
asos
brandalley
act
thehipstore
salesharks
dpd
boohoo
businesssalesplus
uefa
publishingperspectives
thescottishfarmer
jonasflorinus
packaging-gateway
dorothyperkins
sumup
smiggle
wearecatalyst
drivingsales
gap
riverisland
propertymark
roman
harrods
salesgeek
haart
jewson
office
visitderby
arnoldclark
stags
meandem
uniqlo
beyondsales.unilever.tr
ozsale
aa.tr
global.hsmai
careers.hilti.tr
toptalent
reply
sales.hpcl
tax.virginia
mairie-sales
bathandbodyworks
nutshell
salesgravy
vidyard
dillards
acosta
reitmans
snov
cloudtask
seismic
salesplus.tr
vijaysales
jesus-sales
salesmanago
villarrealcf
getapp
techsales
musicsales
alteuaire
leansales
ring
nogracias
yoursales
holtrenfrew
theiconic
glassons
cottonon
forevernew
beginningboutique
m.witchery
jd-sports
carsales
sephora
countryroad
adairs
mimco
crazysales
salesethos
stockandland
takingshape
hussh
salesreps
au.news.yahoo
t2tea
drive
clickfrenzy
carsguide
bikesales
pickles
stfrancistholic
amartfurniture
cleanenergycouncil
dealsdirect
begacheese
brewsnews
premium.goauto
boatsonline
charlesstewart
abelproperty
ragtrader
worldsbiggestgaragesale
nationalsalesacademy
foreignminister
tomshardware
briantracy
tyrepowersale
fiveteams
smd.rub
sales-perfect
sales-people
evz
united-sales
bahnhof
go-for-sales
fortuna-sales-marketing
compris-sales
sales-up-conference
pact-sales
galeria
otto
teufel
newsales24
sales-unit
salesjob
wayfair
agile-sales-company
salessummit
wi-sales
salesfactory
franz-sales-haus
salesviewer
