New Article - Getting an Education in Search Engine Marketing

[thejenn]

Full Text: http://www.searchengineguide.com/laycock/003457.html

Some Snippets:

"The search marketing industry changes at such a fast pace that even if a university were to offer a degree in search marketing, the information they taught

"You won't want to start your education just anywhere though, there are just as many sites sharing outdated and dangerous information as there are sharing legitimate tried and true tips."

"In reality, the best education will come from the experience of optimizing that first site and seeing how different techniques impact its rankings."
--

What are your favorite sites for the industry? Any wonderful newsletters that some of us may not have heard of? How did you get your search marketing education?

Personally, I spent hours on sites like Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Guide, JimWorld and Webmaster World...then I started putting it to use and learning by trial and error...

[bragadocchio]

Hi Jennifer,

Here's what worked (and still works) for me:

Build web sites.
Make hobby sites.
Make serious sites.
Use them.
Play with them.
Try out different things with them.
Experiment and test.
Be patient.


When something goes wrong, don't get upset; get happy. It's your chance to learn something.

Read everything you can, but don't take those things as gospel. See above for how to tell what you see in a forum, or in an article works well.

Ask questions. There are lots of forums. The two that Jenn mentions are good ones, but there are a lot more. Find one (or more) that you feel comfortable in participating within, and participate. Lurking is fine and good, and will give you a taste for the personalities and practices on the forum. But you do learn more when you start actively conversing with others, and by keeping an open mind. And by trying stuff out yourself.

[hscpub]

Jennifer,

That is excellent.

We would be interested, potentially, in investing in a serious SEO program that would attract students and awards credible certification or degrees. It appears to still be a wide open and greatly underutilized segment of the market.

Alex Hammer, CEO
HSC Media

[Valerie]

A great article for those of us venturing into this new arena... I am attending a seminar this weekend - knowing that the investment I'm making is in myself. I could never get this knowledge/education from any school.

Thanks again for the assurance that I'm on the right path...
Valerie

[thejenn]

Valerie, good for you! Can I ask who's seminar you are attending? It is one of the national ones that travels, or a local one?

The beautiful part about seminars and the Web is that you can attend one, learn a ton, then come back to a forum like this one and brainstorm with other people about what you learned. Be sure to come back and share with us what you thought about the seminar!

[cre8pc]

There is the Search Engine College offered by Kalena Jordan and her husband, from WebRank.

The courses are taught by some familiar folks, like Karon Thackston and Dan Thies. The web site usability course is a self-study course given by myself.

There is certification offered, but more importantly, the instructors are people who are all active in the industry with their own businesses, memberships to SEMPO, involvement in organizing other organizations and running forums. Many of them speak at conferences such as Jill Whalen's SEO conference and Danny Sullivan's SES conferences.

Personally, I wouldn't choose to study from anyone who can't prove they're on top of things in this fast changing industry, and the Search Engine College fits that requirement

[upright]

If anyone is interested in a great SEO Training course, then you should seriously check out Bruce Clay's SEO ToolSet. It's an intense course, and probably more appropriate for the more advanced SEO in my opinion, but if you're serious about SEO and doing it right, I highly recommend checking it out.

[GHoward]

I purchased a set of books from a UK company called www.enable-uk.co.uk. They've proved invaluable in promoting my web sites. For those based in the UK they also run one day training courses based on the books.

[thinkpad]

Originally Posted by hscpub

Jennifer,

That is excellent.

We would be interested, potentially, in investing in a serious SEO program that would attract students and awards credible certification or degrees. It appears to still be a wide open and greatly underutilized segment of the market.

Alex Hammer, CEO
HSC Media

There aren't many Colleges that offer degree programs in internet marketing. The only school I know that offers a full degree is Rasmussen College, which has an Internet Marketing Degree. I think you can complete the degree either at their campus or online. Their adr is rasmussen.edu/programs/internet-marketing-overiew.asp

The University of British Columbia in Canada has a certificate in Web Analytics, which is a narrow niche of internet marketing. And, a few colleges offer an internet marketing elective as part of their marketing degrees. Haven't found any masters degree programs yet. If anybody does, please post.