May I call myself a SEO Expert or not?

I'll make that claim too

 

I suppose it depends what the definition of 'expert' is.

Am I an SEO ? Nope I am web marketer do I earn more from SEO than than web marketing? nope.

But there are a lot of SEO's who are making 7 figures annually.

 

I don't think there is a lot, but I'm sure there is some

there is a lot who talk a lot on forums but don't make very much

 

Quite. In my experience, people who call themselves SEO experts aren't. Those who really are experts don't need to call themselves anything.

 

LOL again we are down to definitions of 'a lot' I agree though that there are a lot of people who consider themselves SEO experts, but don't make that much.

Most of the People I know who are good SEO's simply set up their own sites, and make more that way. certainly a lot less hassle.

 

Came out a little more cocky than I anticipated. Sorry.

I'm not comparing myself to Aaron Wall, Shoemoney, Graywolf, Andy Fallon, or anyone like that. I'm just doing regional niche SEO stuff. Honestly it's low hanging fruit that you can hit out of the ballpark with barely any work. But, it does pay well. I don't call myself an expert SEO. But, why should I have to wait to get clients, and demand a high rate. For many regional small businesses, SEO seems like magic. I helped a client take a $2,000 a month business, and make it a $6,000 a month business in less than a month. For that I got paid a measly $2,000. I took a company that was paying $8,000 a year in Yellow Pages ads, and over $5 a click for PPC ads. And within two months, I have him in the top 10 of all his keywords. We don't know what impact that will have, but it should be well worth the $2,500 he paid me. And I guarantee you they think I'm an SEO expert, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

So, I disagree with the Wikipedia entry from Gypsy. You don't have to be recognized by your peers to be an expert, at least in the sense of SEO's being your peers. But if you take it literally, recognized by your peers, the people in your neighborhood, the people you deal with regularly, then I do agree.

Websters is a more accurate definition:

having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience

http://209.161.33.50/dictionary/expert

And isn't SEO stuff exactly that? Displaying special skill or knowledge? The reality is that less than 1 in 100,000 people have the knowledge someone could gain in a few afternoons of perusing these forums. And would they then be an expert? And who decides? My personal belief is the market does. I sure as hell am not being paid newbie market rates, I'm demanding $100-150 an hour for my work, and getting it.

I didn't choose to wait for anyone to decide I was an expert. Hell, I didn't even call myself an expert. I just shared what had happened when I did SEO work on my wife's site with a few friends. That led to three clients, which led to another few dozen clients, with no marketing whatsoever on my part. I doubt I'm going to make seven figures, but I'll break into six figures in less than my first 4 months in the business.

Being an expert isn't that big of a deal. And who cares really. The entire point of my post was that, you define yourself. You can choose to call yourself whatever you want, and either the market will agree with you or not. If it doesn't, you wont get clients. If it does, you'll do well. Don't expect anyone on DP forums, or anywhere else to decide for you.

M

 

GREAT post there, and no need to apologise

 

Marc its not just ur expertise but its how u market yourself. My seo used to just work with nda's(non disclosures) but now thank god he has finally got up the nerve to tell clients he must be able to show his work and he works for peanuts compared to you yet he has incredible google rankings for super difficult keywords. Being a good seo is only one aspect of doing well in this business as u have shown. Good part is one client finally said that if he takes all of their keywords to top 10 google they will find him a sales consultant and 5 more clients. He has almost finished teh clients job so things are ready to rock.

 

Posting in text-message-speak is definitely NOT a good way to market yourself.

 

Ok, so I guess we'd best get on defining 'special' because, used subjectively (meaning what is 'special' to one isn't to another), from this definition, we are ALL experts and the word becomes meaningless...

So the burger flipper at MacDonalds is an EXPERT if I percieve his 'skill' to be 'special' - don't U agree?

So, like I said, it's WORTH squat. A better word to be playing with might be 'pretentious' ....

I own 4 companies in the web development game and have clients from over 10 countries in our time. I have been in web development since 1998 and web marketing since around 2000...

SO

I am the CEO of a multinational corporation with 'offices' (off shore employees) in 5 Countries.... and I am an EXPERT in web development and marketing...

ha ha ha ha... don't that sound fine baby? Wanna see my income? Well, ain't worth SQUAT m'boy.... ( well more than yer $2500 ... I can charge that for ONE TARGET alone - still not rich tho) - I don't think I have EVER been referred to ( seriously) as an Expert of anything. It smacks of a child needing a cookie for being a 'good little SEO' . Yeesh...

So PERSONALLY, talk of calling oneself an expert means nothing and comes off a little pretentious and facetious .... and I am by no means a humble fella., but I still wouldn't go there

So, regardless of the semantics, I simply find it in poor taste....

 

yes, you're an seo expert

 

WHY? How can you say he/she is an expert? And expert is someone who can speak with ABSOLUTE conviction about ANY element of the field in which they work. Simply getting a site to rank for a phrase does not make someone an expert.

How would you handle getting a banned site re-instated? How would you go about dealing with horrendous cart abandonment? How would you deal with the need to hit global markets equally? How would you deal with the potential changes that are coming about in the search engine algorithms?

Experts MUST KNOW their industry past present and future.

Expert is an overrated word anyhow, nearly as puke inducing as Guru

Successful is a word you can measure, expert is NOT.

 

couldn't that mean you just hired 5 people from the buy/sell/trade section of the forum?

just busting your balls don't get upset

 

Ball busting is considered a form of sexual assault in many jurisdictions.

 

Actually your dead on.. that's my point.. I can call myself anything I want.. and it don't mean squat.

So it's all a tad silly for me really...

 

I can wear a dress and call myself Loretta, but when it comes time to reproduce and have kids I think people are going to work out I am not what I say I am

 

Lol nice name

 

Oh well, you can always wear a dress, call yourself loretta, get a sex change operation and adopt kids, and people will buy it.
There is always a way to fool people.

 

Now, to go back to the original question, if you can make project4hire.com rank first for "freelance web designer", I will call you SEO expert or whatever else you like.

 

Dont know about first but i know someone who can get it to the first page