Is SEO Certification.org Worth Having?

[AppleCapitalGroup]

I am new to SEO and I am trying to get properly trained. Have the SEO Certification.org professional is worth it? What's your think? Are there any other certifications to have that will properly train you? I know google has one.

[glennfriesen]

SEOcertification.org certification is pretty much meaningless. I wouldn't trust it, and I don't know anyone else who would.

First, ask yourself if this certification provider is even up to snuff in their SEO skills. This particular site is not. Kris cracked me up on his post about seocertification.org :

"Before I’m even 10 seconds into the site I note that they didn’t even apply one of the most basic SEO fundamentals: Canonicalization

Observe:
http://seocertification.org
http://www.seocertification.org
http://www.seocertification.org/index.php
http://seocertification.org/index.php"

The lack of fundamental canonicalization on their site is just one of many telltale signs of weak SEO-fu. It's 3/13/2013 now, at almost 3:13p.m. and their site looks dated circa 2006. Goodness, they even have text written on to images..! And what's more, their images lack keyword-rich filenames and have no alt tags at all! images/featuredImage.jpg" alt="" /> just ain't good SEO. I wouldn't trust them to teach me. If they are true masters, such as, perhaps Yoast or SEOmoz, they'd practice what they preach.

A better way to learn and master SEO is to learn by doing.

Build your own site, and then optimize it for people and search engines. Follow the checklists and tremendous detail here at SEOmoz, and participate in the forums here if you can't find an answer for your question first by searching the SEOmoz blogs.

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If you want to learn SEO but don't want to develop your own site, you can always help build links to my site about rap similes and metaphors, Glennraps.com. Perhaps test your skills by trying to improve the ranking of the glennraps search result for https://www.google.com/search?q=haters+in+las+vegas&pws=0 

Good luck and godspeed!

[KaneJamison]

I absolutely agree as far as Google Adwords certification and recommend reading this post for more information on those:

• How to Become a Google Authorized Adwords, Analytics or Website Optimiser Consultant by Tom Critchlow

I don't tend to think of the Google certifications as SEO, strictly speaking, but for overall inbound / online marketing, they're absolutely respected, at least among other practitioners.

InboundMarketing.com is the closest thing to SEO certification that I have seen that I consider respectable. The courses they post are created by a number of well-respected authorities. Their FAQ says all courses are free, I assume that includes the exam as well.

[Dr-Pete]

Unfortunately, I haven't heard of many certifications that the industry respects. I think the MarketMotive program is a good one, but that's more for the training than the piece of paper, IMO.

It really depends on your goal. If it's for clients or your employer, get the certifications they value. It's all about perception, in that case. If it's for selling your services directly, I'm not sure I'd bother. The training can be good, but you still have to pound the pavement.

I'm Google AdWords certified, for example. It's a decent program, and some of my existing clients like that I have it, but when I first got it, it did little or nothing to bring in new clients. The training program itself is good, but you can do that without ever paying them a dime or taking the test.

Is there a specific aspect of SEO you're trying to learn?

[KaneJamison]

Do you already have a job where you can practice SEO? Alternatively, do you have a personal website you can practice on? That experience is far more valuable then a certification. I don't think it lends much credence to any SEO agencies that are hiring, they're looking for things like hustle & creative thinking.

Between reading every SEOMoz blog post ever written (or at least most of the ones written in the last 2-3 years), as well as the Beginners Guide to SEO, and actually doing it on a site, you'll learn most of what you need to know.

Just my 2 cents, I've never heard of SEOCertification.org but for all I know they might be reputable to someone...