Where to go with my web career...?

I need a little advice about where I am going with my web career and what I am actually trying to acheive.

I started out about 5 months ago learning CSS. I have a good knowledge of CSS now and am comfortable with it HTML as well.

Since then I have learned how to use Joomla and Wordpress and built a couple of ok sites with these different CMS.

I started to try and learn jQuery over the past month and it has just blown me away, this is programming and I am finding it very difficult!

At the same time I have been doing a lot of reading into SEO which I LOVE! and I am enjoying very much.

I have this perception that to be a good SEO you must be a good web designer and to be a good web designer you have to be good at html/css, some kind of scripting (jQuery for example) and PHP/MySQL. Is there any fact to this?

Are there any SEO's out there making good money who are not experts in jQuery and MySQL. Because I am very interested in SEO more so than JavaScript and PHP programming and I feel as though spending all of my time trying to become a programmer I can't actually get involved enough with the SEO side of things.

Also do you think its is a good move to go down the SEO path rather than the design/development path?

Appreciate any advice and guidance you experienced people can offer.

 

I'm in almost the exact same boat you are in... but I am 16

 

Well everyone and his dog is calling himself a SEO nowadays, so competition is tough and to make a living with search engine optimisation (getting clients) you need a success record otherwise you won't get any orders.
To achieve a success record which you can show possible clients, the best way is running some own sites with top rankings. To run own sites with top rankings you need to know how to build and design them. Got it? Try first to be a good designer and site builder, apply what you learned about SEO, improve it until you get good rankings for competetive KWs, then offer your service and you might have a chance.

 

The web brings a lot of competition. Very important to spend the time and money into your websites to sell whatever you are wanting to sell.

 

Is more important to always do your research I think. Online marketing is in a continuous change and movement.

 

I am in a similar situation. Anyone else have thoughts?

 

I think after becoming comfortable with HTML/CSS, you should start learning JavaScript. jQuery is a JavaScript framework so you should learn that before you try learning jQuery or else you'll probably find yourself lost. But if you are thinking of becoming a Joomla / WordPress developer then I would say instead of JavaScript, you should learn PHP and MySQL. Hope this helps you.

Regards,
-- Naif

 

Yes........ Yes........

 

I have this perception that to be a good SEO you must be a good web designer and to be a good web designer you have to be good at html/css, some kind of scripting (jQuery for example) and PHP/MySQL. Is there any fact to this?

I don't think this is true...
There is someone who is not expert in programing but also a good SEOer...

 

You can be a good SEO without any programming knowledge except HTML.

 

Up above the world so high... cheer-up Sky Is The Limit

 

I think I am going to put all my efforts into learning jquery, at least try to anyway.

 

I am contemplating studying a degree in computing and design, just to get some recognition in what I am learning however the degree does not target php, javascript and web design specifically.

Here is the degree I am interested in:

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/qualification/b44.htm

How does this look from an employabilty standpoint in webdesign/development?