How long did it take you to learn SEO?

I have been reading stories about webmasters that have limited knowledge, that post questions in forums about search engine optimization, then the same webmaster starts to offer paid search engine optimization services to others soon after.

In my opinion these webmasters make it hard for real search engine optimization experts to find good clients.

Many people do not trust search engine optimization experts and SEO Companies, because it is hard to tell the "good" from the "bad" when it comes to knowledge and experience, because too many webmasters are "faking it."

When it comes to experience, it always takes time to learn and develop skills, so someone maybe able to learn a lot about SEO in a short amount of time, but wisdom takes time.

How much time should someone spend learning, testing, researching, and working with search engine optimization before offering SEO services to others?

For SEO Experts and SEO Professionals:
How long did it take you to learn SEO?

 

Hey, Nobody has a proper answer for this. Learning will never end due to lack of resources. The best thing is get practiced with best results. Then we can allocate a time slot to learn and work with SEO. basically we need 3-4 months to do some research in SEO.

 

So, my assumption is that you're an expert? Right!

I have been learning SEO for 4 years now, and I'm still learning. Like I told you earlier. The day you stop learning, is the day you start dieing.

And how do you know that someone has limited knowledge on SEO? Because they asked a question they already knew, but just forgot?

No hard feelings; keep learning.

 

You never stop learning SEO.

Yeah, I see that in the blogging section all the time. People that have to clue what a subject is all about, start a blog on it, and then complain that they can't get any traffic or make any money. It comes from people associating some kind of status to the job...same as here in Vegas, I was a Bartender for years,and everyone glorifies that job like some kind of Bar God...everyone wants to be a bartender, but no one wants to learn how to make drinks...that is just the "shortcut " society that we live in.

You are right, it does make it extremely difficult to gain peoples trust with so many crappy service providers out there, and there are sooooo many SEO guys and companies out there constantly sending spam and PM's, I now just look at all of them as "fly by night" (no offense).

Many of them are only offering tricks, and not real solutions, looking for the desperate noob that will drop some money on a black hat technique. the dead giveaway for me is the general promise or guarantee of particular rank, or a certain amount of traffic, without knowing anything about the website.

I don't do SEO services anymore, but I was working for an SEO company 2 years ago, and yes it is difficult. may people view you like a mortgage telemarketer. The best and most consistent work comes from referrals so cherish every client you get and don't be scared to ask them to refer their friends.

 

hmansfield

Very well Said. I couldn't agree with you more.

I offer some SEO services and know a lot, but I definitely don't claim to know everything about SEO.

Any company or individual that guarantees your website a certain search engine position is pulling your leg. It's 100% impossible to guarantee a search engine position because they do not own the search engines. No SEO company or individual has control over Google, Yahoo or any other search engine for that matter. The search engine algorithm has the last word on determining where to rank your site.

 

I have been in SEO field from last 2 years and still learning. There are so many things to learn, it seems that this process of learning will never end.

 

Learning SEO is an ongoing process!

When it comes to search engine optimization, I feel it is important to learn from experience and not just rely on what someone else says.

I think it is important for people to not offer advise on a topic when using information from second hand sources.

I have been a webmaster for over 8 years and I have been learning SEO for over 6 years now. I have studied the cause and effect factors then analyzed results compared to results from other testing environments. (on more than 100 domain names)

I also feel that it is important to learn from hands on experience, not by just reading information about search engine optimization that other webmasters and SEO experts post.

 

I have read some SEO books and I know alot about it, what I need is practice, how long it takes? depending of your commitment

 

A basic learning will take 2-3 days. Rest of the learning will continue forever as learning is a never ending process.

 

About a week.

SEO Learing never ends because of the principal of change.

 

You will never know everything on SEO. we keep learning everyday. It is a try a error thing cos search engines hide the info that works. Most of what we do is guessing.

 

SEO its a myth.Just do what ever you can to gain backlinks from good and relative sites the truth is that you can do a little black hat seo everybody does.
But let me make a question are all seo practises apply to all kind of sites?

I think no.

For example if you have 50000 visitors per day at a rapidshare like site you are in the middle but if you can have 50000 visitors to a tech blog you are

Try to backlink a rapidshare site with forum posts and articles you are doomed but if you do that for a tech blog eventually u will make it happen.

 

ROFLMAO I thought you were going to say 2-3 years... which is more like it IMO and I live it all day every day of the year.

People who spend 2 or 3 days and think they have "a basic learning" are EXACTLY the crackpots that the OP is talking about.

Being a real SEO requires constant learning... and years of asimilating what you've learned.

 

Every thing is Changing, rules of google pr are also changing, slowly accumulated.

 

SEO changes everyday, new development tricks everdayy

 

Canonical As far as title tag relevancy is concerned, ask you a question relating to title tag relevancy?

Would you agree that using 63 characters in the title tag or far less is one of the best SCO tactics>

After doing SCO for a couple of years," I seen many different title tag relevancy and Google page rank websites that have over 100 keywords in the domain or title tags that have a page rank of five or more...........

For example which types of websites for wire or words in the title tag? And which types of websites require far less in the meta-tag? What does it matter vice versa>>>>>>

Today I found a blog with over 120 characters in the title tag that ranked five google page rank........ in the domain doesn't even relegate to the content......

Bottom line is this what is your recommendation as far as title tag relevancy is concerned comes to tagging the main index, and the sub pages>>> thank you very much all your SCO concerns are appreciated.....
here is one of my sites how would tage or would you use the title or is my title good? thepurestfishoil.com

 

i think we have to lean it all our life. google often changes its secrets, we have to always study. same as other search engines.

 

in a manner it is not how long but rather it is a process
SEO learning keeps going on - its not as if in the "good old days" when a person would get a degree hang it on the wall and that was your career - the banyuck with the degree whose father had a connection - told him "son go to university get degree" and voila - job through contacts and a degree on the wall
Its interesting in that first of all the barriers are greatly reduced
It used to take a great amount of resources to even set up a company
The office in the right area of town , a secretary , letterhead , an IBM Selectric typewriter - to get the font of success and much more
Now this can be done by a kid in the basement and work outsourced if need be
Its an attitude of interest , that peaks your interest and keeps you going
Most people in the web design field for the most part have interests and skills diametrically opposed to any SEO at all. You could tell them to learn , and give them the books for ever
At the most they would obtain only a smattering of understanding - and then pretend and actually believe that they were "experts at SEO"
This is what makes SEO so interesting. It takes a certain mindset to be interested at all , and work to learn and figure it all out.
It is true that the majority of SEO is simple drudgery , yet most people have little interest what so ever - even if they think that it is a good idea - most think simply by having a nice site made or bought on ebay that is all there is too it

 

SEO process of learning will never end.

 

Never stop learning. Algo's will change all the time, and if you don't stay up to date you will be the best marketer of the past. That's like the richest guy in the cemetery......