Is there a Step by Step Online Tutorial for SEOing?

[Giorgio68]

Hi People

I know this sounds like a real dumb question, but hey! I thought I would ask.

I am a newbie, and after continuously spending $165.00/day for my PPC adwords campaign for the last 5 years, I MUST get my site naturally ranked higher.

So as a newbie; yet understanding the basic principles about SEOing, I searched High and Low for an accredited course, an educational programme or anything that looked structured, and had a distinct step by step structure, and to my amazement I couldn't find much.

I did find Dan Thiess' online guide, the SEOMOZ guide, and  a few other bits n pieces.

It appears that SEO learning is all over the place.

I couldn't find any courses at the local universities either!

So I thought...well what does it take to become an SEO consultant if there's no real formal qualification as such?

And my answer was...Experience and proof of experience!

That is, a consultant of who has been around for quite a few years and can prove to potential customers that ... hey you see this website www.????.com notice how it's ranked #1 ? That's because of me!

So I thought, I would post this question to the forum and

1. See if there is some formidable training course with a valued and recognised qualification upon completion?

2. If I am able to work for a consultant at no charge to them at all in exchange for their knowledge.

I have a wealth of experience in business and people management, and Yes I do have some Web Development and IT experience.

But I know to some consultants this is a big ask, so I thought I would put it out there! (you never know until you ask.)

In the meantime if anyone could possibly guide for a step by step program...that would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

George

[Giorgio68]

Hi Phil

Sincere thanks for your post/reply.

I apologise for not getting back to you earlier.

"Better late than never!"

[PhilGraham-SlateInboundMarketi]

I'll add a little bit to the excellent answers already given in this thread.

SEOMoz is a treasure trove of information on SEO without a doubt so you are in the right place.

I just wanted to comment on the criteria of an SEO being able to show a website in the #1 position.

While that is good, you need to dig a little deeper because some bad SEO's utilize nothing but churn and burn strategies that might get them a #1 spot for a few days/weeks/months, and during that time they might be doing a product launch or going for new clients, only to eventually have their #1 site(s) tank because it was built on sand using black hat and other nefarious methods.

When looking for and judging an SEO, look a little deeper and check for longer term results.

Hope that helps.

[Giorgio68]

Thanks Jeremy, I will def check out distilled u.

Just to make sure I get the right co., do you have their web url?

Thanks

George

[Giorgio68]

Thanks Sylvana. I never thought of Lynda.com and I will def look it up!

I see you are in the Bridal industry (like me) which country?

George

[Giorgio68]

Hi John

I really appreciate your detailed and honest answer.

As you can imagine I have hunted high and low over the internet, and thankfully I cam across SEOMOZ.

All of the people in the community have been so helpful, and like you John, have been willing to share their knowledge.

Thanks again, and I do hope that we maybe able to exchange ideas in the future.

Like you, I have many hats for my business

[Giorgio68]

Thanks so much for your reply Dan and more importantly the link..

[jeremycbray]

SEOmoz is a great resource, for further learning i would advise you to look at distilled u. Distilled are an amazing seo company, and great provider of education

[BridalHotspot]

They have really comprehensive video tutorials on www.lynda.com and they are well explained and make me understand the whole SEO thing a lot better. There is no accredited diploma upon finishing the tutorials, but the things you learn are usable right away.

They also do other tutorials on other subjects like Google Analytics, Adwords, webdesign and a lot more, so I think it is worth to have a look there by using the free 7 day trial.

[Johnny4B]

Hi George,

Firstly, I am not sure you will find a better resource for materials ,seminars, tutorials, and most importantly people than you will at SEO Moz (and no, I am not paid to say that)

The wealth of information here, not only in documented material, but in the community's know how is staggering.

At the top of the page is a tab dedicated for learning the basic SEO techniques ... and let me tell you once you master those, they kind of give you a great base for going forward.

There are tons, and I mean tons of websites offering advanced training SEO courses out there, do they offer an official accreditation at the end, I would be very skeptical.

I am sure though, where are you live, there must be some colleges offering qualification in SEO, most of these courses will offer a lot more like below, and usually don't come under the title "Diploma in SEO", most usually because they cover so much might be advertised as "Diploma in Digital Marketing"

Digital Marketing, SEO, PPC, Email Marketing, DDA, Mobile, Analytics, Social Marketing.

I live in Ireland, I do know of at least official accreditation  in above that can be done online, to be frank and honest, I am not sure you would learn much doing the course that you couldn't learn from studying the content is SEO Moz

A brief synopsis of the catergrised SEO section of the  course is listed below

• Keyword Research
• How Google Works
• Search Engine Factors
• OnPage & OffPage Optimisation
• Meta Tags, Images, Content, Video
• Links and how to get them

Not exactly mind blowing new techniques covered above, yes its the base for everything, but nothing you cant teach yourself with the resources available here. (maybe the academics will disagree with me).

My opinion for what its worth is, the better "SEO experts" are people with a great understanding of the basics with a talent for developing their own skillset through tweaking the fundamentals as they go, its not necessarily something they where thought, not something they read in a book, but usually something they learned through good old trial and error ....

Lastly, obviously I cant offer anything in relation to some top consultant taking you under their wings, but without doubt, I imagine those sort of people will teach you more than any SEO course, though finding someone to that that may be quite hard.

Lastly, you could look at the Google resources for training with them, they cover a lot of the basics, I know they do charge, and cover aspects in PPC and analytics and GWT ... they can be done by individuals as opposed to just agencies

http://www.google.com/intl/en/adwords/partnerprograms/index.html

Hope that helps, not sure it answered your question, and  I am far from discouraging folk from educating themselves ... I am just saying be wary of the magnitude of so called SEO experts offering training courses online

Regards

John

[generalzod]

There aren't really any SEO qualifications that are worth anything. However having a good understanding of Google Analytics will help you in your own SEO campaigns - and you can get a qualification for that: http://www.google.com/analytics/learn/

I know you've seen them already, but there is so much information from reputable sources (such as SEOMoz) that I would spend some time reading their guides. There are also a ton of books on the topic at Amazon - just look for something with good feedback.

Hope this helps,