Learning SEO...

[Jilo]

I have done a bit of research on Google for seo courses, and learning SEO. I want your advice on whether it's best to pay for any of these courses (not convinced about any of them though), or whether there are free resources you've used that have really helped you?

Any suggestions welcome!

 

[loredan]

Don't bother paying for the so called "SEO courses" ... you will find all the info you need for free. Read and learn all the basic things you can find...when you feel confident with your skills get an useless domain and try to rank it for a low competition keyphrase. Do a lot of experiments, learn from your mistakes, keep on reading and learning. Once you ranked for that keyphrase, move to a more competitive one and so on...

Hope this helps

 

[Aleksandar]

Why don't you buy some SEO book and start out easy. You'll find the most important things in there, and you can bookmark later some of the leading SEO sites/blogs or forums etc..

 

[Jilo]

Thanks loredan and aleksander... does anyone have any recommended books/articles/sites?

 

[Biggie]

Don't bother paying for the so called "SEO courses" ... you will find all the info you need for free. Read and learn all the basic things you can find...when you feel confident with your skills get an useless domain and try to rank it for a low competition keyphrase. Do a lot of experiments, learn from your mistakes, keep on reading and learning. Once you ranked for that keyphrase, move to a more competitive one and so on...

Hope this helps

totally agree

 

[Jilo]

I found a book in my local Waterstones called The Art of SEO... I bought it, and looks very useful so far.

 

[amplify]

PM sent to OP.

 

[DomainMagnate]

you can buy the book from seobook.com - it's pretty good.

 

[has2hands]

google gives you the basic foundation...spells it out for you here:

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/11/googles-seo-starter-guide.html

go down to the second paragraph, click: "Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide" and download and print the pdf. Print it out and read. You are now ahead of 90% of the "experts".

use: google's blog: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/

use: www.WebmasterWorld.com. Great forum on all topics.

Now you are better and smarter than most...just practice what you read and learn.

 

[tonyfloyd]

www.PrimeVisibility.com

Andrew Hazen - SEO master....

 

[Gerry]

A highly reviewed and recommended book is

Search Engine Optimization by Kristopher B. Jones



I have not finished this book yet but these Visual Blueprint series are great.

 

[Jilo]

Thanks for all answers! Very much appreciated.

 

[csitenet]

A tip, focus on 3 channels

Geo SEO (geo targeted SEO)
Mobile SEO
Viral SEO (youtube, videos, images)

Else your search will take you to very general information which is typically quite useless in this day and age, if you want proper results you need to explore some intermediate SEO strategies, even as a beginner, you will pick things up lot quicker and expand your horizons allowing for more innovative thinking. I've been training marketing directors in SEO & PPC for years now, one thing i tell everyone is what is written in the book is good, but not always right, SEO is as innovative as PPC, yuo can be creative and gain incredible results, results which you will never write about because you don't want anyone knowing your secrets.

 

[profecy]

Hey Jilo, I remember being in the same position a few years ago, I did buy a course or two and I think if you find a good one, it can definitely be of value. They were to me. However, the best way to learn is to go out there and try it out! Learn the very basics (i.e. how to find best terms, how to get links, etc.), create a simple site in a non-competitive niche and build rankings. That's what I did and it works so much better than sitting around reading ideas all day . Hope that helps!

 

[AbsoluteKC]

The first material everyone should read about SEO is the - Google SEO Starter Guide

http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

 

[Gerry]

The first material everyone should read about SEO is the - Google SEO Starter Guide

http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

Great link!

I had forgotten about this link for the "starter guide" and glad you mention it.

Bravo!

 

[ezimedia]

Why don't you buy some SEO book and start out easy. You'll find the most important things in there, and you can bookmark later some of the leading SEO sites/blogs or forums etc..

I agree... but do a search for free seo ebooks if you don't have any money to spend..

Also why not go to youtube and watch seo tutorial videos for free..

Tom

 

[draggar]

use: www.WebmasterWorld.com. Great forum on all topics.

That is a great forum (aside from this one ) for web development and SEO. I used to be on there often before I found my way here - I was even a paid subscriber for a few years.

That forum concentrates more on the development aspect and doesn't get much into domaining, though.

IMO the paid part of it isn't really worth it - unless they expanded it - a lot.

 

[Jilo]

Thanks a lot for all advice, trying out some techniques on a geo domain. From outside the top 20 pages a week or so ago, I'm now on top of the 4th page. The most challenging part is yet to come I think!

 

[draggar]

I found out a friend of mine (who writes articles in a niche) is very good at SEO yet he "knows nothing about computers and the internet thing". He writes like he talks and writes naturally. Granted, there isn't much competition for his subjects but I think it would also help with more competitive keywords.

Type like people talk and what they would look for.