SEOmoz recently conducted an seo industry survey of more than 3,000 respondents and learned that seo’s are in fact mostly self taught. Interestingly enough self employed consultants are the majority of self learners. I imagine a lot of them were teaching each other in forums, bars (don’t laugh I’ve learned a thing or two about seo over drinks) and more recently on blogs as the community shares and analyzes information regularly. Rand Fishkin advises us to take this survey with a grain of salt.
…..The survey also did not attempt to control for any particular biasing, so there is certainly over-representation by those more likely to read SEOmoz, those more likely to take surveys, and those more likely to have found information about the survey itself (via email to SEOmoz members and posts on sites like SearchEngineLand and SERoundtable or others).
Nevertheless the survey reveals some trends and provides some insights. I’m just looking at the seo training here but head over to SEOmoz and take a closer look at the entire survey to get a better understanding of the seo community.
In general, we can see that most respondents are self-taught, followed by on-site training and formal classes. However, this graph breaks down responses by the type of company a respondant works for, and helps to answer questions like “If a respondent works at an SEM agency, how likely is it that he or she learned SEO and how does that compare to respondents at other types of companies?” The chart indicates that respondents from SEM agencies, and non-self-employed respondents in general, received on-site traning more often than, for instance, self employed consultants. This is probably not surprising, but knowing this kind of difference in source of SEO education might indicate broader differences between self-employed and non-self-employed SEOs. We’ll look at differences between these groups in more detail below, and this might be a great starting place for further analysis of the data by the reader.
Search Engine Strategies is offering sem training in Denver, Colorado on May 6th. The courses and instructors are listed below. Costs are $745 for half day and $1,345 for the full day. You can register here.
How to Effectively Use Social Media for Search Marketing Campaigns
Liana Evans, KeyRelevance
These workshops will provide you with the practices, applications, and hands-on exposure you need to become (and remain!) a top performer in your field. In the end, you will not only walk away with the knowledge and skills you need to be a successful search engine marketer, you will also jump-start your career and enhance your professional know-how
The seo training we offer combines both the art of internet marketing with the science of search engine optimization. Not only do we teach you how to take basic principles and apply them seamlessly into your site we also teach you how to address the art of the Internet through Social Media Marketing, Blogging, Competitive Intelligence and Keyword Research.
Here’s the first sem training consolidation I’ve seen and it looks to be awesome. Jim Boykin announced WBP has purchased SEO Class and is offerng 4 classes in New York, San Francisco, Dallas and Edinburgh, Scotland. Jim adds that as a bonus he’ll give the first 200 members of Internet Marketing Ninjas a free pass to one of the SEO Class Live Events. So Internet Marketing Ninjas and SEO Class, all under the same roof. Could other sem training consolidation be far behind?
There’s a pretty impressive lineup of instructors for the SEO Class in Troy, New York on April 11th including;
The SEMPO Institute is offering instructor led training to compliment their online training course. The cost of the live and online training is $750 per person. I personally like that approach since I learn better in a classroom setting than I do online or self study. Everybody has different learning styles so this is a good way to cover both. It will be interesting to see how this method works. So if you’re in the Boston area on March 28th, give it a go and let me know how it went.
Instructor-led training from SEMPO Institute will be held on March 28th at Bentley College’s Center for Marketing Technology in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Practical Search Marketing is one day of Search Marketing Training that builds on the well-reviewed Insider’s Guide to Search Marketing (formerly Fundamentals of Search Marketing).
Your instructors, Andy Komack and Derek Edmonds, are experienced search professionals who will intertwine theory, real-world examples and hands-on exercises on the following topics:
Search Engines
Keywords
Copywriting
Reporting
Search Advertising
Participants in the day’s training also receive Insider’s Guide to Search Marketing. This online and self-paced course will give you deeper coverage in the topics above and nine additional lessons.
Well now the shoe is on the other foot and I’ve been interviewed by Justin Seibert from the Direct Online Marketing Blog about none other than search engine marketing training. Hope you enjoy the read and Justin’s blog. Now I better get some people lined up to interview myself.
Ron Jones provides a great list of online seo training options and descriptions at Search Engine Watch. I’ve covered most of them here but he adds a few to his list. Ron is an Internet marketing consultant, trainer and owner of Symetri Internet Marketing, which provides strategic consulting and Internet marketing solutions.
Thanks Ron, look forward to your list of classroom training next week.
I hate SEO contests. Maybe it’s because I’ve been to busy working on my clients sites to have time to participate or maybe I know I couldn’t win one, although I did enter Marketing Pilgrims’ Search Engine Marketing Scholarship Contest a few years back with my article Shhhh!…..the dirty little secret about seo certfication. I didn’t win (I told you) but it did help me get a little exposure in the world of seo. Still any winner or loser in my case, is soon forgotten and we all move on.
But this is different, just look at the name of this contest. The SEO Charity Contest, now that sounds like a contest that means something. This was the second year that Bruce Clay, Inc. put this contest on. Here’s how it starts,
For the next two weeks, we’re inviting search engine marketers to contact a non-profit organization that you’re passionate about and whose Web site you feel could benefit from an organic search engine optimization campaign.
Last year’s winner was Keri Morgret who helped the Open Education Resource. This year there were so many great entries that they decided to award three tiers of prizes. Good on you people of BC! And the winners are……everybody that participated in my opinion.
Ryan will receive a free pass to the Search Engine Strategies Conference taking place in March, as well as a free seat in our SEOToolSet and Advanced Certification course.
If you’ve never been to a Search Engine Strategies event in New York City, this is a “must-attend”. The industry converges for a week of spirited discussion, high-level learning and attendees leave with actionable battle plans to go forward with for their companies. For SES Alumni, there will be so much new content and developments that you’ll need to stay on top of and should consider bringing your whole team!
Search Marketing Expo - SMX West February 26 - 28
Santa Clara Convention Center, California
Search Marketing Expo - SMX West is certain to be to the “must-attend” interactive and search engine marketing event of the year on the West Coast, delivering superior value to conference delegates and exhibit hall attendees alike.
SMX West has sessions designed just for you, whether you’re just starting in search marketing or you’re a seasoned expert. Your All Access registration pass gets you in to the more than 50 search marketing sessions on the agenda.
We deliver an in-depth 3 day training course covering search engine optimisation (SEO) principles, our SEO approach, strategies and methodologies and access to our SEOToolSet™. The course is presented by Bruce Clay, the President of Bruce Clay, Inc.
This SEO training course was presented for the first time in Australia in February 2007 and again in August. Attendees at the 2007 training courses included Australia’s leading organisations’ in the media, telecommunications, technology, entertainment, real estate and travel industries, as well as small to medium enterprises and entrepreneurs managing or building their own websites and seeking competitive advantage. We are happy to report, attendees at the 2007 courses rated the course an average of 4.8 out of a maximum 5
Search Engine Bootcamp is divided into four sessions covering all the important SEO and PPC topics plus a few that you may not even have thought about, each session is designed to cover important search marketing techniques.
For example, session one - PPC Essentials deals with keyword research, creative management and PPC “Quality” Scoring, all three topics work together to effect where you rank and what you pay per click on search engine advertising platforms like on either Google Adwords.
We also incorporate topics that have a bearing on both SEO and PPC, search term research for example is relevant to both topics and there is at least one “Key Topic” in each session.
Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo will hold sem training workshops in London on the Friday February 22nd after the conference. The training will include optimization and advertising strategies, tactics and best practices. In addition, SES is offering an additional month of free training, Market Motive, to all SES London attendees. These include online lessons as well as question and answer sessions with leading Internet marketers. Instructors for the sem training workshops include Greg Jarboe, Amanda Watlington, Jennifer Laycock, Christine Churchill and Matt Bailey.
About the Instructors
Greg Jarboe is the president and co-founder of SEO-PR, a search engine optimization firm and public relations agency with offices in San Francisco and Boston. He is also a partner in Newsforce, developer of an integrated suite of press release SEO tools.
SEO-PR has been praised by world-renowned search authority Danny Sullivan for “focusing on search as a public relations tool.” SEO-PR is one of 10 companies that Larry Chase’s Web Digest for Marketers named to its Who’s Who in SEO Experts. SEOmoz.org has put SEO-PR on its Recommended List of SEO Consultants, Experts, Firms and Service Providers.
Amanda G. Watlington Ph.D., A.P.R. Before setting up Searching for Profit, Amanda was director of research for a leading Search Engine Optimization firm. Her consultancy focuses on how businesses can leverage search engines and new media such as blogging, RSS and podcasting to achieve marketing objectives. She has over twenty years of experience as a communications, sales and business strategy consultant, and ten years as a Web marketer.
Jennifer Laycock is the Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Guide, an online publication aimed at educating Small Business owners about search engine marketing, viral marketing, social media marketing and blogging. Jennifer also operates as an independent online marketing consultant specializing in organic search marketing and viral marketing. Her clients have included companies like Verizon, American Greetings, Highlights for Children and Option-Line, a national crisis-pregnancy hotline. She is also the author of the popular e-books “The Small Business Guide to Search Engine Marketing” and “Zero Dollars, a Little Talent and Thirty Days.”
Christine Churchill the President of KeyRelevance, is a recognized expert in the field of Search Engine Marketing. She is a strong advocate for ethical search engine marketing, and was a member of the founding Board of Directors of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO).
Christine currently serves as the Chairman of the Dallas-Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association (DFWSEM). Ms. Churchill holds a Masters Degree in Business and has over 10 years online marketing.
Matt Bailey is president and founder of SiteLogic Marketing and an internationally recognized authority on search engine marketing, website analytics, usability, and accessibility. As a consulting and training company, SiteLogic focuses on helping organizations take control of their websites and their web marketing plans.
Sought after worldwide as a seminar presenter and teacher; Matt speaks regularly for The Direct Marketing Association; Search Engine Strategies Conferences and Training; the American Advertising Federation, and many private training seminars. Matt is known for his conversational, entertaining speaking style and his ability to make technical topics both understandable and practical.
Third Door Media announced they will hold the Search Marketing Expo in China this year, SMX Xiamen - April 18-19, and in October in Shanghai. I don’t think I’ve been more excited about a search marketing conference. I’ve participated in three search marketing conferences in China including two by Search Engine Strategies (Chris Sherman chaired) in partnership with TimeV Media. SES and TimeV Media parted ways and apparently SMX stepped in to fill the gap. Great move!
This makes the third China Search Marketing Tour which has also partnered with TimeV Media, even more exciting. If you’ve ever thought about going to China, now’s your chance. I’m the chairman but may not be unable to go on the entire tour. China and in fact the entire Asia Pacific region’s search maketing industry is growing rapidly. There are more and more search marketing events happening here and I think this is just the beginning of a successful run of events for SMX in Asia.
“Regardless of the source, the consensus is that internet and search marketing is growing and will continue to grow very rapidly in China,” said Chris Elwell, Third Door Media President. “We’re privileged to be associated with Inway Ni and the experienced team at Timev Media, which has produced search marketing events in China since 2004,” Elwell added.
“With 162 million internet users and 32% annual growth, China represents great opportunity for the global internet and search marketing community,” said Timev Media Vice President Inway Ni. “We’re very excited to working with the experienced Third Door Media team, including search marketing experts Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman, to bring the renowned Search Marketing Expo — SMX event brand to China. Together, we are confident we will provide valuable search marketing content in Chinese and other languages and markets,” Inway added.
When it comes to sem training there’s an abudance of seminars and conferences available today. Elite Retreat however sets itself apart by the number of instructors (or “leaders” as they are called) to student ratio. They also “screen” the applicants to make sure they are a good fit for the program. I have an idea that newbies aren’t accepted and you should have a good level of internet marketing experience to get the most out of this program. Here’s how they position it on their website;
Two days that will change your business life!
This event is very exclusive and has limited availability. Attendees will be chosen by an application only process. The purpose of this event is to take your business to another level. Bring your business plan or current site objectives with you and we will help you optimize your business structure.
I know that I sometimes sound like a fan boy when I talk about some of the SEOs I respect, but seriously, this was worth so more than the price tag. I made at least one good friend and a few awesome new business associates (more so than when you go to a big conference). The reason I think they should raise their price is because the size of the group made it special, and the info the we got was so much more specific than any other conference I’ve ever attended. More people will want to be at the next conference for sure, but I don’t know that it will be as effective. The price, certainly was worth it. Great job to all invovled in the Elite Retreat!
